Baby’s Age

[Hollys]

I am a first time chameleon mommy (it was an unintended rescue situation but now I’m in love and want to spoil him rotten )
Anyway I am curious how old he is. It is important so I can know how to best care for him, know how much time I have before this next size enclosure, and helps me piece together the history of his treatment before he got here (there’s a long story and reason why)…. Anyone (who knows what they’re talking about) care to give an age estimate? (I have teeny tiny hands btw lol)

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome! Are you sure you have a boy? Does he have some protruding bumps on his back feet (called tarsal spurs)? Pics of my boy’s below. I can’t really determine age until gender is determined. The pic of my little guy he was 4 months old. From the size alone of your chameleon, I’d guess it’s about 4-5 months at least, but if male should be showing the vertical stripes like my guy.
Although correct care is important for all chams, it’s even more so if you do have a girl. If you’d like, we can review all of your husbandry and ensure all is correct. Just ask & I’ll give you the questions to answer.

 

[Lindasjackson]

She’s a cutie,

 

[Carloscruz]

Hi and welcome! Are you sure you have a boy? Does he have some protruding bumps on his back feet (called tarsal spurs)? Pics of my boy’s below. I can’t really determine age until gender is determined. The pic of my little guy he was 4 months old. From the size alone of your chameleon, I’d guess it’s about 4-5 months at least, but if male should be showing the vertical stripes like my guy.
Although correct care is important for all chams, it’s even more so if you do have a girl. If you’d like, we can review all of your husbandry and ensure all is correct. Just ask & I’ll give you the questions to answer.

Is that hammlet when he was smaller

 

[Hollys]

I thought this was a tarsal spur?

 

[Hollys]

And in the right here, that little heel?

 

[Hollys]

S/he is presumed to have had horrible husbandry prior to our taking her/him in so I have wondered if there’s some “failure to thrive” kinds of issues... This little one has put in weight and turned green in the last week since we got him or her. We got it a reptibreeze with vines and a love ficus and some other climbing branches and faux leaves (for now. We have UVB bulb and flood light warming bulbs on, no red light at night. I have been researching a LOT and plan on constructing a chameleon palace soon.) I started dusting the bugs with calcium and gave the chameleon vitamin dusted ones for a couple of days. S/he is drinking water now and her poops are huge and beautiful. S/he keeps checking things off of my list for “if they’re gonna make it or not” so it’s pretty thrilling! 🤩 I just want to know what to finally name this little nugget and if/ when I need to be ready for eggs! I thought I saw little heel Spurs… I’ll try to get a better pic tomorrow.

 

[MissSkittles]

Is that hammlet when he was smaller

Yes, that’s my big boy. 🤗

 

[MissSkittles]

S/he is presumed to have had horrible husbandry prior to our taking her/him in so I have wondered if there’s some “failure to thrive” kinds of issues... This little one has put in weight and turned green in the last week since we got him or her. We got it a reptibreeze with vines and a love ficus and some other climbing branches and faux leaves (for now. We have UVB bulb and flood light warming bulbs on, no red light at night. I have been researching a LOT and plan on constructing a chameleon palace soon.) I started dusting the bugs with calcium and gave the chameleon vitamin dusted ones for a couple of days. S/he is drinking water now and her poops are huge and beautiful. S/he keeps checking things off of my list for “if they’re gonna make it or not” so it’s pretty thrilling! 🤩 I just want to know what to finally name this little nugget and if/ when I need to be ready for eggs! I thought I saw little heel Spurs… I’ll try to get a better pic tomorrow.

Hard to tell if those are spurs or not, but I think they may be. A clearer pic would definitely help. Veileds tend to grow quite fast and if your little one didn’t receive proper nutrition, it’s growth could have been slowed a bit.
You’ll want to dust every feeding with a phosphorus free calcium without D3. Calcium with D3 and multivitamins are used for one feeding every other week. It’s best to alternate them, so weeks 1&3 would be D3 and weeks 2&4 would be multivitamin. Uvb should be a linear T5 with either a ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% and placed about 8-9” above basking area. Basking temps I’d keep around 80f. You’ll want lots of safe live plants and lots of vines and branches to give plenty of little chameleon roads to travel. Basically you want to recreate a forest edge, with some areas to take shade in.
Attaching feeder and gutloading graphics. Keeping your feeder bugs well fed will give your cham more nutrition from them. A variety of staple feeders is best and rule of thumb for size is anything bigger than the space between the eyes is too big.
The best source for accurate and up to date care guidelines is https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-basics/ Of course, the forum is always great for input, guidance and just sharing our experiences.

 

[Fchamel]

Those are definitely Spurs. Boy!

 

[Beman]

I am on the edge... The first pic looks female... No defined spur. The second looks male small spur... Maybe a few clearer pics and looking at the foot from the side. Sometimes pics from the back can be miss leading.

 

[Fchamel]

I see spur here

 

[Hollys]

Here are some more pix to show foot and size

 

[Beman]

I would post more pics here in the next few weeks. I think you have a little girl.
Spurs are more defined than what I am seeing in your pics.

Like this... He was approximately 3-4 months here.




And this is him the day prior for size comparison.

 

[Hollys]

What a dreamy guy! I’ll definitely see what pix I can get in the coming days/weeks. Thank you!

 

[kinyonga]

If your chameleon is a female then you do realize she can produce eggs without having been mated..right? Controlling her diet and temperatures will be important to prevent her from having reproductive issues.

 

[Hollys]

Of course- one of the reasons I’m trying to sex/ age this little one.

 

[MissSkittles]

Usually it’s super easy to determine gender on veileds, but like everyone else, I’m stumped. Although not common, some females have been found to have tiny spurs. We may have to wait a few weeks to see if your cham develops the vertical bars that only males have. Right now I’d say just focus on getting this little one healthy and all of your care as perfect as possible and time will prove out gender. If in say about a month you don’t see the bars, I think it’s safe to assume female.

 

[Hollys]

Usually it’s super easy to determine gender on veileds, but like everyone else, I’m stumped. Although not common, some females have been found to have tiny spurs. We may have to wait a few weeks to see if your cham develops the vertical bars that only males have. Right now I’d say just focus on getting this little one healthy and all of your care as perfect as possible and time will prove out gender. If in say about a month you don’t see the bars, I think it’s safe to assume female.

Sounds like a good plan 💚