Hello! can anyone help me with my chameleons age? I got her from a petco a few months ago and they didn’t know her age and they said she’s a female but that’s all they knew. i’m new to keeping reptiles and wanna know how old she is. Also how much would i feed her at this age because she looks pretty big. i’ve been feeding her super worms ( not every feed, i’ll give her 2 every week or so) and she eats about 10-15 medium crickets everyday. should she be eating every other day with less bugs ? please help. ( these photos of her were took a few days ago)
Age!!
- Thread starter lenalee
- Start date
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi and welcome! 
I’m going to guesstimate that your pretty little lady is at least 5-6 months old. I’m basing this on the size of her casque and that it appears she may be developing her patterns/colors. The best advice I can offer about feeding is in my blog - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/ This will go over some of the most important aspects of caring for a female, including how much to feed.
I tend to be quite a mother hen when it comes to lady veileds, so I’d like to ask if you could post some more pics of her enclosure, including the lights and floor. Additionally, if you’d like to have a full husbandry review to make certain you have everything as perfect as can be, just ask. Very often the pet stores mean well, but lack accurate husbandry information.
I’m going to guesstimate that your pretty little lady is at least 5-6 months old. I’m basing this on the size of her casque and that it appears she may be developing her patterns/colors. The best advice I can offer about feeding is in my blog - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/ This will go over some of the most important aspects of caring for a female, including how much to feed.I tend to be quite a mother hen when it comes to lady veileds, so I’d like to ask if you could post some more pics of her enclosure, including the lights and floor. Additionally, if you’d like to have a full husbandry review to make certain you have everything as perfect as can be, just ask. Very often the pet stores mean well, but lack accurate husbandry information.
yes!! i quickly learned that pet stores are not where you want to get any reptile. my local petco had my chameleon ( stitch ) in a enclosure with like 3 other chameleons with mixed genders and they keep leopard geckos and beardies in enclosures with over like 10 of them. ) and thank you for all the information! i read your blog and it helped a lot more with understanding of females. because i had one chameleon before her but it was a boy and as you know husbandry is completely different than with a female. but here are pictures of her cage! ( im
very aware she needs a higher basking spot and foliage but i have a screen cage and i’ve been searching on how to attach branches that high up. i know in hybrid enclosures they have branch holders that are like suctioned to the glass but i can’t exactly do that with screens) and i went plant shopping at walmart and lows and they had lots of plants but the only one i could find by its actual name is the pothos and i bought two of them, one is in the back left of the enclosure and the other one is in the front as you can see. also i have the correct uvb linear light and she has a 75 watt basking bulb in the dome! also she’s still very scared of me so when the time comes that i would have to weigh her how would i do that? i don’t wanna scare her or force her out the cage.
very aware she needs a higher basking spot and foliage but i have a screen cage and i’ve been searching on how to attach branches that high up. i know in hybrid enclosures they have branch holders that are like suctioned to the glass but i can’t exactly do that with screens) and i went plant shopping at walmart and lows and they had lots of plants but the only one i could find by its actual name is the pothos and i bought two of them, one is in the back left of the enclosure and the other one is in the front as you can see. also i have the correct uvb linear light and she has a 75 watt basking bulb in the dome! also she’s still very scared of me so when the time comes that i would have to weigh her how would i do that? i don’t wanna scare her or force her out the cage.
Attachments
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
I think it’s easier to attach things with screen enclosures than glass or other solid sided enclosures…more options. There are Dragon Ledges, which are fantastic! https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ When utilized to their fullest, they can hold a significant amount of weight. I’ve got some of my enclosures set up with garden trellis, which while it doesn’t hold as much as the Dragon Ledges, it is strong enough to hold plants and branches. Others have created little scaffolding type frames which are attached to the frame of the enclosure. Just don’t attach to the screen itself or it will rip. I find it easiest to attach my framework (trellis or ledges) with the enclosure taken apart. If you have a helper though, you may be able to attach the framework to an assembled enclosure. Pics below of how I’ve used ledges and trellis and set up my enclosures. I have graduated all of my chams to double sized bioactive in case you’re wondering what exactly you’re looking at.
I would advise to use only safe live and washed plants as our veiled girls love to nibble their plants. Pothos is perfection imo. I like having a taller center plant, like a schefflera or money tree and then surround it with other plants. A neat trick is to have a pothos down low and train it to grow upwards. The leaves get larger as it gets higher. Attaching a safe plant list, but a more detailed source is https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
I would suggest getting a digital thermometer/hygrometer. The analog type that you have is notorious for quickly becoming inaccurate.
Both of these were for a panther chameleon, so I was able to use different plants.
I would advise to use only safe live and washed plants as our veiled girls love to nibble their plants. Pothos is perfection imo. I like having a taller center plant, like a schefflera or money tree and then surround it with other plants. A neat trick is to have a pothos down low and train it to grow upwards. The leaves get larger as it gets higher. Attaching a safe plant list, but a more detailed source is https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
I would suggest getting a digital thermometer/hygrometer. The analog type that you have is notorious for quickly becoming inaccurate.
Both of these were for a panther chameleon, so I was able to use different plants.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Almost forgot… https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/ will help you to work on building trust with your little beauty. However, veileds are notorious for their attitudes and literal hissiness. We still work on building and maintaining trust with them though. I’ve had my girl Stella for six years and she is still fierce and tries to bite me at every opportunity (usually after realizing that my fingers aren’t big juicy worms she can eat). She isn’t afraid of me though and when I do hold her, she is pretty calm and doesn’t freak out, knowing that I won’t hurt her.
