Baby veiled help?

[Chamgirl13]

Hey i just recently got a baby veiled chameleon and hes been doing fine for the past week or so that ive had him but just today he has started randomly climbing the side of his cage and changing colors? his temperature is around 90 f during the day, goes to around 80 at night humidity is always between 50 and 60 %

i guess its possible he might be stressed because while moving his cage last night he got shaken around a bit and did change his color then but has seemed fine seance. hes been eating fine and has been moving around in his cage but when i went in to check today he was climbing the side and changed color? help please!

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

90 is a bit too hot, basking should be 80 and night should cool from 60-70.

 

[Chamgirl13]

but then why would he be climbing closer to the light if its too hot?

 

[carol5208]

the whole cage is 90 or the basking area? What type of lighting are you using for UVB and basking?

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

If it's too hot he may be trying to get on the screen to get OUT of the cage.

 

[Thezillaman21]

i dont know alot about baby veileds but anychance hes just being playful?
is he going lighter or darker colors????

 

[camimom]

When my guy was little, after he got comfy, he started cage cruising everywhere. its normal.

 

[Chamgirl13]

he has a long tube light for uv light and he has a basking light too i think they are both repti glow brand? i took your advice and pulled the light higher up to cool the tank down and he is acting more active than usual but still dark
it was just the basking spot that was 90 which was about half way up the tank its around 95 at the top of the tank where he keeps climbing cooler at the bottom i read that babies take warmer temperatures to keep them from getting sick

also earlier i read that veilds arent supposed to be misted?? i have been misting him and keep the humidity at about 50 % but what was with what i read earlier? i did notice he doesnt like it when i mist the tank

 

[camimom]

he has a long tube light for uv light and he has a basking light too i think they are both repti glow brand? i took your advice and pulled the light higher up to cool the tank down and he is acting more active than usual but still dark
it was just the basking spot that was 90 which was about half way up the tank its around 95 at the top of the tank where he keeps climbing cooler at the bottom i read that babies take warmer temperatures to keep them from getting sick

also earlier i read that veilds arent supposed to be misted?? i have been misting him and keep the humidity at about 50 % but what was with what i read earlier? i did notice he doesnt like it when i mist the tank

1- babies like cooler temps, around 85.
2- where did you read that veileds arent supposed to be misted? they HAVE to be misted, maybe not the cham himself, but his leaves. thats how they drink, since they wont drink standing water. they dont ofen like being misted as babies, mine would freak out as a baby, but now he just tolerates it so he can drink.

 

[Chamgirl13]

yea i thought that he would still need to be misted and ive been doing it regularly i just wanted to make sure because of what i had read
other than misting him i have a drip system and a shallow pond in there i think he actually likes to drink from the pond best
i hope it is normal but he has just started doing it today! he has been turning darker and overall he has been darker all day than he normally is and when i reached in to take out the crickets he didnt eat he went totally dark dark dark! my friend thinks hes getting close to shedding but he dosent have any more experience than me with it so im not sure he is on both his sides it looks like his scales are outlined in white does that mean shedding?

 

[camimom]

yea i thought that he would still need to be misted and ive been doing it regularly i just wanted to make sure because of what i had read
other than misting him i have a drip system and a shallow pond in there i think he actually likes to drink from the pond best
i hope it is normal but he has just started doing it today! he has been turning darker and overall he has been darker all day than he normally is and when i reached in to take out the crickets he didnt eat he went totally dark dark dark! my friend thinks hes getting close to shedding but he dosent have any more experience than me with it so im not sure he is on both his sides it looks like his scales are outlined in white does that mean shedding?

Pls remove the 'pond'. they can breed bacteria. unles you plan on cleaning it thoroughly everyday, which many dont have time to do. Post a pic of him if you are concerned on his color. They go dark when stressed, so its possible your hand getting in his home made him unhappy.

 

[Chamgirl13]

thats him in the avatar picture if you look close you can see the white on his sides i was talking about he looks a little blue ish because of the uv bulb but look where the white light is shining on him and thats the color i was talking about
idk he probably did turn dark dark because he didnt like me leaning in his cage but then i take him out once a day just to look at him and check that he isnt dehydrated and he climbs on my hand no problem and dosnt change color
also i do clean the pond every day when i got him i didnt have a drip system but i had the pond so i put that in there to make sure he had something to drink all the time and he took to it

 

[Chamgirl13]

also an afterthought i did end up turning on his lights way early today because i had to go see the doctor and wouldnt be home for a long time and my mom bought him a new stand that would let the water drain out of the floor of his cage better and now it is always dry on the floor those are the only things i have changed would that cause it?

 

[Chris Jury]

It sounds to me like moving his cage around has annoyed him, which may pass in a day or two. If not, we'll need to figure out what is in fact annoying him.

Also, I would supply a basking site temperature of around 90-95 F, along with an ambient temp away from the basking light not higher than 80 F. I see the suggestion of only providing this species with a basking temperature of 80-85 F quite often here, and the suggestion is utterly bizarre IMHO. Babies and juveniles are competent thermoregulators, just as adults are, though it is definitely a good idea to avoid extremes in any conditions (babies do best when babied). Nonetheless, this species, along with most chameleons, actively thermoregulates to maintain a preferred body tempeture that is, on average, around 85 F, however they sometimes choose body temps as low as about 80 F or as high as about 90 F. They need to be able to choose to get up to at least 90 F and down to at least 80 F with very little effort. They are flexible to a degree, so forcing them to cope with lower temperatures is somewhat tolerable, but is unnatural for growing babies, and probably isn't doing them any favors. These animals are heliophiles.

Again, I must stress, the animal needs access to both warm AND cool temps to function properly--a gradient of at least 80 F to 90 F is a good target, with perhaps another 5 F on both ends preferable where feasible.

 

[Chamgirl13]

alright thank you! the general idea seems to be that hes agitated and seance the white outline around his scales has spread and i read somewhere that when veilds shed it looks white im guessing that hes trying to shed i was really worried that maybe he was dehydrated from not letting me mist him
i have some trouble keeping it cool enough for him more than i have the problem of it being too hot usually i think i need to get another thermometer for the bottom of his tank its just usually pretty warm anywhere in my house!
everyone has been very helpful thank you!

 

[tiffany7693]

same thing

Mine is doing the same thing, he started it today.. he shedded this morning so i dont know if that has anything to do with it.. but he is climbing up and down the side of his cage. hopefully its normal