Am I Doing This Right??

[gabidesimini]

I recently bought a baby female veiled chameleon. I got her a week ago. She is about 4-5 inches, head to tail. She is in a 16x16x30 screened in cage. Lots of real plants, vines, and branches in her cage. She has a basking light and the UVB light that are on from 6am-9pm. She has a heating bulb (that gives off no light, just heat) on 24 hours- I live in Indiana so it's our winter season. She is normally green, sometimes she will get brown sports or turn a very light brown. Her poop is white. I mist her plants 3 times a day. She seems to love her home, and she's active (often walking around her cage). She ate the first 4-5 days I got her. Small crickets and wax worms. I fed her 3-4 wax worms in the morning and probably 5 small crickets at night. The last 2 days though, she hasn't ate. Also, she let me pet her about the 4th day I had her. She seemed open to me. But now, everytime my hand gets to close to her, she backs way up and sometimes hisses at me. I understand that she still might be stressed and getting used to her new environment. But she is my first chameleon and I wanted to make sure I'm doing everything right. My two questions are- why has she stopped eating and why is she hissing at me? Suggestions and any help will be appreciated, thank you!

 

[Bleu]

When I got my baby male he started hissing to, but he was always hungry. She might just be super stressed. If this continues I would take her to the vet. Has she shed yet?

 

[gabidesimini]

When I got my baby male he started hissing to, but he was always hungry. She might just be super stressed. If this continues I would take her to the vet. Has she shed yet?

I figured she was stressed, but it still worries me. And no, she has not

 

[Bleu]

Do you know how old she is?

 

[gabidesimini]

Do you know how old she is?

I'm not sure, I just know that she's still a baby and she's about 4-5 inches from head to tail

 

[Bleu]

If you find out how old she is, tell me. My friend has a chameleon who has only shed once in a month, but when I had my Cham as a baby he sheded around once a week. For now I would recommend that you keep an eye on her. If this continues take her to an expert.

 

[Bleu]

I need to go get chameleon food. If anything new happens her you can start a conversation with me. Otherwise someone else may be able help you.

 

[gabidesimini]

I need to go get chameleon food. If anything new happens her you can start a conversation with me. Otherwise someone else may be able help you.

Okay, thank you very much!!!

 

[Connorology]

I would recommend checking your temperatures and humidity levels against the recommended guidelines (https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/) and then disturbing her as little as possible. I never handle or pet new animals until they've settled in for at least two weeks.

Do you have some pictures you could post of the enclosure? It sounds like you're doing everything right but pictures could help confirm nothing weird is going on. Also, under the health sub-forum there's a questionaire for keepers seeking advice to fill out (basically all of the information that would be needed in order for an experienced keeper to assist you). It might be helpful to fill that out and post there.

I hope these general suggestions may be helpful- I've never raised baby veileds before so I'll leave specific suggestions to members experienced in that avenue.

Good luck!

 

[AlienCreeper]

I recently bought a baby female veiled chameleon. I got her a week ago. She is about 4-5 inches, head to tail. She is in a 16x16x30 screened in cage. Lots of real plants, vines, and branches in her cage. She has a basking light and the UVB light that are on from 6am-9pm. She has a heating bulb (that gives off no light, just heat) on 24 hours- I live in Indiana so it's our winter season. She is normally green, sometimes she will get brown sports or turn a very light brown. Her poop is white. I mist her plants 3 times a day. She seems to love her home, and she's active (often walking around her cage). She ate the first 4-5 days I got her. Small crickets and wax worms. I fed her 3-4 wax worms in the morning and probably 5 small crickets at night. The last 2 days though, she hasn't ate. Also, she let me pet her about the 4th day I had her. She seemed open to me. But now, everytime my hand gets to close to her, she backs way up and sometimes hisses at me. I understand that she still might be stressed and getting used to her new environment. But she is my first chameleon and I wanted to make sure I'm doing everything right. My two questions are- why has she stopped eating and why is she hissing at me? Suggestions and any help will be appreciated, thank you!

What are your daytime/night time temps and humidity? Chameleons don't recognize a "no light" heat source so I would do away with that all together. They also require a night time drop in temperature, so unless your ambient temps get below 60 at night then there is no need for a night time heat source. Also, no reason to feed at night as they should be sleeping, and crickets will bite and chew on her while she sleeps Morning time is the best time to feed so they have time to bask and digest their food

 

[gabidesimini]

I would recommend checking your temperatures and humidity levels against the recommended guidelines (https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/) and then disturbing her as little as possible. I never handle or pet new animals until they've settled in for at least two weeks.

Do you have some pictures you could post of the enclosure? It sounds like you're doing everything right but pictures could help confirm nothing weird is going on. Also, under the health sub-forum there's a questionaire for keepers seeking advice to fill out (basically all of the information that would be needed in order for an experienced keeper to assist you). It might be helpful to fill that out and post there.

I hope these general suggestions may be helpful- I've never raised baby veileds before so I'll leave specific suggestions to members experienced in that avenue.

Good luck!

I will definitely check the humidity and temp, and here is a pic of her enclosure. Thank you!

 

[gabidesimini]

What are your daytime/night time temps and humidity? Chameleons don't recognize a "no light" heat source so I would do away with that all together. They also require a night time drop in temperature, so unless your ambient temps get below 60 at night then there is no need for a night time heat source. Also, no reason to feed at night as they should be sleeping, and crickets will bite and chew on her while she sleeps Morning time is the best time to feed so they have time to bask and digest their food

About 90 in the day, 65-70 at night. Should I still get rid of the heat source at night? And okay, I read that I should be feeding her 2 times a day, but once is good?

 

[AlienCreeper]

90 is a bit high for ambient temp, it should be more around 70-80 with a basking spot of around 90. So I would say it's likely safe to get rid of that 24 hour heat source. This is assuming that the cage is in your home and night time temps dont drop below 60 in your home or around the cage. As for feeding, I would give her at least 10-15 small crickets in the morning to munch on throughout the day. She won't be eating anything after lights out. Here is a good little care sheet on veileds. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[alphakenc]

fed her 3-4 wax worms in the morning and probably 5 small crickets at night. The last 2 days though, she hasn't ate. Also,

Wax worms has no nutrition values,try some silkworms,cause once the cham gets addicted to the wax worms,it will be hard to get her off on that,remember to gutloaded your feeders,what they eats its what they become in the future.

 

[gabidesimini]

90 is a bit high for ambient temp, it should be more around 70-80 with a basking spot of around 90. So I would say it's likely safe to get rid of that 24 hour heat source. This is assuming that the cage is in your home and night time temps dont drop below 60 in your home or around the cage. As for feeding, I would give her at least 10-15 small crickets in the morning to munch on throughout the day. She won't be eating anything after lights out. Here is a good little care sheet on veileds. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Okay, thank you very much!

 

[gabidesimini]

Wax worms has no nutrition values,try some silkworms,cause once the cham gets addicted to the wax worms,it will be hard to get her off on that,remember to gutloaded your feeders,what they eats its what they become in the future.

Okay, that's very helpful, thank you!

 

[AlienCreeper]

Waxworms are about as nutritious as crickets, but they have about 3 times the amount of fat :/ I would go with silkworms like alpha said, or hornworms,phoenix worms, or butter worms.

 

[gabidesimini]

Waxworms are about as nutritious as crickets, but they have about 3 times the amount of fat :/ I would go with silkworms like alpha said, or hornworms,phoenix worms, or butter worms.

Okay thank you

 

[MSMorgan]

Gabi,

All good above posted advice for your little female veiled. Looking at your enclosure, I see that you have a repti-hammock in there as well as coco fiber on the floor, is that correct? Please remove the coco and go with a bare floor (not as esthetical pleasing, but better/easier to clean and less of a chance that your cham will ingest something other than a feeder. Also, please return the hammock and add more branches and vines at an appropriate height to that spot, so that your new little girl has a more "natural" place to bask. You might add a hanging pothos to your upper back right corner to achieve this and give her more cover. Lots to read and discover as you take the plunge into chameleon keeping. Hope to see you post more soon.

 

[alphakenc]

Okay, that's very helpful, thank you!

Ur more than welcome,enjoy and have fun