Babies turning black

[BigBlue]

Hi All,

I have 9 baby veilds that are about 7 weeks old now. Just tonight I noticed something very strange. When one of the babies went scurring across the floor of their cage (they have been raised in a large tupperware container with a reptisun 5 over top) it caused a few few of them to drop and turn very dark. Any idea what would cause this. They have been great until today when I noticed them getting very dark. Any ideas?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Our babies will do this when they get upset. They can turn almost black. A few of them will do this as soon as they see me. But only when they are just born, til about 2 weeks old. Then they get over it.

But also they will do this if they are too cold. What are their temps?

 

[Julirs]

As long as they turn back to normal colors they should be fine. They do this when stressed.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

As long as they turn back to normal colors they should be fine. They do this when stressed.

That's right. My guys will do it off and on for the first couple of weeks. But when I walk away, or the stress is over, they turn back to green.

BigBlue- are yours turning back to green again after a short period of time, or staying dark?

In the instance you described- my guess is that the one baby started to walk across when he saw you, and that the others turned dark when they saw you. They can do it instantaneously it seems. This can happen if you approach quickly, especially if you are wearing a very vibrant color or pattern. That would be my guess, since this is not something you've observed before.

 

[BigBlue]

Hi guys,
I just recently checked in on them an they are sleeping now and all appear green except one of them. I will check in the morning to see if they all have come around. I figured it was a defence mechanism.
Thanks for your help, I will update in the morning.
Big(worried)Blue

 

[BigBlue]

Hi Guys,

I checked on them this morning and most of them were still black. After a few hours they seem to be coming aroung, turning green although very slowly. I will continue to monitor them. I must admit this one had me scared and confused as they all turned so fast. It seems one sends out a distress signal and they all go black really fast and drop and curl. They are getting bigger and this all started when a few of the babies escaped from their enclosure. I now have the enclosure covered.

 

[Julirs]

Like Gesang said-what are their temps? It is a little concerning that they are still black.

 

[BigBlue]

Temps are 75. No basking light just 36" uvb tube.

 

[Champhibians]

They are cold. you need to up it to around 80

 

[Julirs]

Yep-up around 80-they are almost 2 months old!

 

[BigBlue]

OK will do.
Thanks for your help.

 

[BigBlue]

I have raised the temps to 81 degrees and I see an improvement in them. This is the first time raising so many babie (30 in all). The first 20 went before I had to raise the temps on them and I wasn't quite sure when I was to raise the temps. I am always learning thanks to this forum.
Thanks again for all the help.

 

[wheresstimpy]

maybe too many in the same container?

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

I have raised the temps to 81 degrees and I see an improvement in them. This is the first time raising so many babie (30 in all). The first 20 went before I had to raise the temps on them and I wasn't quite sure when I was to raise the temps. I am always learning thanks to this forum.
Thanks again for all the help.

Good. Glad you raised the temps. We keep our babies at about 80 degrees from the time they hatch out. Our veiled babies are kept at about 85 degrees, as the highest temp in their bin. SOme people keep them a bit cooler.

If baby chams are not kept warm enough, they will have a hard time fighting any infections that may come along, and will be especially at risk for URI.

SOme of the baby care sheets that I have read online are very vague about heat source. SOme only say that you should not give them a basking area. This is true. But they still need to be kept warm enough. We use a low wattage (generally 50w) UVA bulb over their plastic tubs. We have thermometers in the tub to track temps.

Warning: the heat in a tub will not dissipate like it will in a screen cage. It can build to dangerous levels. We keep the bulb a pretty good distance above the tub, and placed on one end. This creates something of a chimney effect and allows air currents to move up and out of the bin. I just wouldn't want you to get their bin all set up and head off to work, only to come home and find that their temps had raised to dangerous levels.

We actually have neighbors with access to our cham room. There have been times that we've been unable to return home at the right time, and have called friends or neighbors to go check on our chams- specifically temp levels, and turn off lights if necessary. I'm not really into that "it takes a village" stuff. But sometimes it does. We have great neighbors.