I just recently got a chameleon and he's a veiled chameleon and he's 4 months old. He's always super dark when hes in his cage and gets so bright lime green when I take him out. Does that just mean he likes having out time? Also he's always hanging on the top of the cage where the ubv light is. Is there a reason for these strange actions or is he just being a chameleon
Chameleon always dark
- Thread starter Kaylee489
- Start date
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, male, And 4-5 months old
Handling - hold him daily for like 10 minutes
Feeding - Medium crickets. about 10 a day.
Supplements - i use zoo med multi vitamins one day and just calcium the next and no cricket dusting on Sunday's
Watering - Spray bottle, I spray him like 4 times a day. Cause my house is pretty dry and I have a dripper that goes a couple times a day for like 15 minutes
Fecal Description - black nugget and white stuff along with it
History- my friend rescued him from pet smart when he was Tiny and I bought him about a week ago
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Exo terra zip up one. It's pretty big
Lighting - I have a 10.0 ubv light and then a 100 watt heat bulb.
Temperature - his basking spot is between 80-90F
Humidity - Usualy 50%
Plants - I have two live plants in there.
Placement - On a plastic rack. With holes for water draning
Location - Port Alberni bc. Canada
Current Problem - My veild chameleon is super dark in his cage but lightens a lot when I take him out. And also is hanging right under the ubv light a lot
Your Chameleon - Veiled, male, And 4-5 months old
Handling - hold him daily for like 10 minutes
Feeding - Medium crickets. about 10 a day.
Supplements - i use zoo med multi vitamins one day and just calcium the next and no cricket dusting on Sunday's
Watering - Spray bottle, I spray him like 4 times a day. Cause my house is pretty dry and I have a dripper that goes a couple times a day for like 15 minutes
Fecal Description - black nugget and white stuff along with it
History- my friend rescued him from pet smart when he was Tiny and I bought him about a week ago
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Exo terra zip up one. It's pretty big
Lighting - I have a 10.0 ubv light and then a 100 watt heat bulb.
Temperature - his basking spot is between 80-90F
Humidity - Usualy 50%
Plants - I have two live plants in there.
Placement - On a plastic rack. With holes for water draning
Location - Port Alberni bc. Canada
Current Problem - My veild chameleon is super dark in his cage but lightens a lot when I take him out. And also is hanging right under the ubv light a lot
But I thought when there dark there angry/stressed and when there light there happy lol
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
There are a lot of reasons why he could be dark in the cage. It could be as simple as he is basking under the lights. It could be stress or illness.
Can you post a picture of the cage and try to get one of him being dark so we can see what you are seeing?
The bright green is most likely a stress response. He's brand new to you and probably a bit overwhelmed. I suggest you not handle him at all and let him get used to life in his new home.
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Ok thank you! I thought it was the other way around. I thought he wasn't happy in his cage or something lol
His basking spot is at 80-90f and that light that is super close is his ubv. I have the heat uva one up higher cause it was way too hot
brownie64
Avid Member
I said at least 90 degrease in fact it can be as hot as 95 degrease 80 degrease would be a little cold for a veiled of his size. I'm glad to hear that isn't his basking light right above him. He might be a little too cold that might be why he is on the top of his enclosure.
I was told 95 is the max and could even be too hot. He's a big boy for only being 4 months.
JGuinan007
Avid Member
He looks hungry. What, how many and how often does he eat?
I feed him about 10 crickets maybe a couple extra a day. And I just ordered wax and horn worms to give him as treats. He doesn't eat all the crickets in his cage so I don't think he's hungry.
brownie64
Avid Member
I would of guessed him to be 5-6 months old he is a big boy for his age. I kept them at 90-95 for years it's not to hot they need the heat to digest their food. Veiled live in a desert plateau in the wild in Yemen.
Yeah he was just taken away from his sister so that might be another reason he's stressed out.
The person I got him from had him on this supplement routine so I don't wanna really change it up. He has lots of chameleons. And rescues them. I just wanted to do everything the person that had him before so he's not stressed out from so much cage
