Chameleon skin colors

[MariaG]

I have a young chameleon, not sure the age. I am a new chameleon owner. I was wondering what the small skin blotches were from on his side and if his skin looks healthy. Thank you!

 

[Fchamel]

It looks normal to me. Chameleons have distinct colorings. Let's see if we can identify the gender. Take a picture of it's back feet please.

 

[Fchamel]

I'd say 3 months old maybe

 

[MariaG]

Here are his feet. The person at Petco said he's a boy.

 

[MariaG]

Here is his cage setup. I have been debating on the 75watt heat light or the 100 watt light bulb. The 75 watt keeps the temperature at 81 in his hottest spot and the 100watt can get up to 95. I have two sides of the cage blocked with a piece of tarp to keep the humidity and heat in. There's also a piece of thin metal at the top (with the exception of light holes) to help keep the heat in. I have an automatic mister that is set for 60sec every hour. I also spray if it looks dry. The plants are not real, except for his live moss vine. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for his habitat.

 

[Fchamel]

Okay, I see some things that need to be changed. I will tag a member or two for a husbandry review
@MissSkittles @Beman

 

[MissSkittles]

Here is his cage setup. I have been debating on the 75watt heat light or the 100 watt light bulb. The 75 watt keeps the temperature at 81 in his hottest spot and the 100watt can get up to 95. I have two sides of the cage blocked with a piece of tarp to keep the humidity and heat in. There's also a piece of thin metal at the top (with the exception of light holes) to help keep the heat in. I have an automatic mister that is set for 60sec every hour. I also spray if it looks dry. The plants are not real, except for his live moss vine. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for his habitat.

Hi and welcome! I have many suggestions for your enclosure set up. Rather than go back and forth with tons of Q&A, can you answer the following and then I can go over it and offer in depth help. Just cut/paste with your answers.

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[MariaG]

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Veiled Chameleon, Male, Not sure the age, I've only had him for a week.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• I handle him everyday, not for very long because I don't want to cause him stress. When I come home from work and I look into his cage he climbs over to the door where I'm at and sits right in front of me. If I pick him up he turns bright green.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• At the moment, I am feeding medium sized crickets (what petco reccomended). I am putting between 3-5 crickets in his cage a day. I make sure I see him eat at least one in front of me each day, so I know he ate that day. I put crickets in the cage in the morning before I leave for work and when I get home at 4. I have not gut-loaded before, I could use some suggestions.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• I have dusted the crickets with a calcium sublement that I got from petco. The brand is ReptiCalcium. I have a sample packet of "Zoo Meds" Reptivite - reptile vitamins that I have not tried yet.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Yes I see him drinking. I have an automatic mister that is set on 1hr. for 60sec duration. I was contemplating getting another one to spray the other side of the cage. I also use a spray bottle to spray the plants if they look dry between mists. I use bottled water to fill the sprayer and mister.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• I have seen his fecal matter twice since we got him this past Saturday. It was brown and it had white on the end of it. The white was a solid but it had watery stuff around it. He has not been tested for parasites that I know of.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
• i was not told much about him when I got him except that he is a boy.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• The cage is a Reptibreeze open air black aluminum screen cage size Medium (16" x 16" x 30"). I have put a piece of tarp (cut to fit) on two outer sides of the cage to help hold in the moisture and heat. There is a piece of tin (cut to fit with circles cut for the lamp) on the top of the cage to keep the heat in.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• I have not exactly figured the lighting out exactly. I have a combo dual lamp with a 5.0 UVB reptisun bulb on one side and I've been switching the other lamp between a 60W daylight blue bulb and a 100Watt bulb to try and get the daytime temperature right. For night, I have a single light dome which has a 100W heat/black light bulb. I also have a red 75w night bulb (ZooMed) that I haven't used because I thought it might be too bright for him. I was considering not putting a heat lamp on at night to let the temperature drop.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• With the 100W daytime bulb, the temperature can get a little over 95degrees in the basking area and the back corner (I have two thermometers and one for humidity). If I use the daytime blue 60W bulb, the temperature will be a little over 80 degrees. At night, with the black light 100W bulb, it is about 90 degrees. I am trying to leave it off tonight because I think it is too hot. I measure the temps with two thermometers, one is a dual that also measure humidity which is located in the top corner under the heat lamp and the other is a digital that has a cord that drops halfway down the back corner in the cage.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• The humidity levels have been between 40% (at night) and 60% during the day after misting. It is challenging to keep the humidity levels higher than 60%.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• I do not have live plants. I have real wood/sticks, that have been purified. I have a live moss vine. The rest of the plants in the bottom and the moss in the bottom are fake.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• The cage is located on a nightstand in my basement room. There is a ceiling fan which is never used. There is a vent on the ceiling, which is closed. It can be a high traffic area because I have 2 small kids that run in the hallway outside the room. I am not sure the exact height of the cage relative to the room floor. He is about eye level when I look in there. The cage is a taller than me standing in front of it.
• Location - Where are you geographically located?
• I am in Cape Girardeau, MO. It gets hot and humid (98 degrees) in the summer and cold (can get down to 10 degrees) in the winter.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

I am looking for suggestions on the heat temperature, cage suggestions, feeding and food suggestions, and what type bulbs to use, and any other helpful suggestions! This is my first chameleon and I have not had him very long but I want to take the best care of him. Thank you!

 

[MissSkittles]

Give me a bit of time to go thru it all.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ll be putting my feedback in bold.

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Veiled Chameleon, Male, Not sure the age, I've only had him for a week. I do see some little tarsal spurs, so I’ll agree that you have a male. For age, I’m going to guesstimate around 3 to 3 1/2 months old.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• I handle him everyday, not for very long because I don't want to cause him stress. When I come home from work and I look into his cage he climbs over to the door where I'm at and sits right in front of me. If I pick him up he turns bright green. While we want our chameleons to like us and enjoy our attentions, the truth is they don’t at all (especially veileds). They see us as a way to escape their enclosure if they are unhappy in it. Turning bright green is a stress color. I do try to handle or gently stroke the chins of my chameleons to reinforce that they can trust I won’t hurt them, but my veileds aren’t thrilled with it.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• At the moment, I am feeding medium sized crickets (what petco reccomended). I am putting between 3-5 crickets in his cage a day. I make sure I see him eat at least one in front of me each day, so I know he ate that day. I put crickets in the cage in the morning before I leave for work and when I get home at 4. I have not gut-loaded before, I could use some suggestions. Crickets are good, but you should be giving small or about 1/4” ones and much more of them. Veileds grow super fast and ones around your age should be getting around 12-15 small feeders, twice daily. When he starts showing his stripes/patterns, cut back to just once a day. Every 3-4 weeks you’ll want to gradually reduce the amount of feeders so that by the time he’s around 10 months old, he’s getting 3-4 feeders every other day or three days a week. You’ll also want to add more variety of feeders. Roaches, silkworms, bsfl, etc are all great staple feeders. Just as important, is making sure you feed your buggies well so that they’ll be more nutritious. The various orange cubes and such are really only good for hydration and not nutrition. Gutloading is feeding the feeders at least 24 hours before giving them to your animal. I skip that and just keep my insect feeders well fed all the time. Attaching graphics for you.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• I have dusted the crickets with a calcium sublement that I got from petco. The brand is ReptiCalcium. I have a sample packet of "Zoo Meds" Reptivite - reptile vitamins that I have not tried yet. Does either the calcium or Reptivite contain D3? I’m guessing Petco sold you the chameleon kit, which contains the packet of Reptivite with D3. You’ll need to lightly dust at every feeding (or daily if feeding twice a day) with calcium without D3. Then one feeding every other week you’ll dust with the Reptivite with D3. This is the regimen I use for all my chams.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Yes I see him drinking. I have an automatic mister that is set on 1hr. for 60sec duration. I was contemplating getting another one to spray the other side of the cage. I also use a spray bottle to spray the plants if they look dry between mists. I use bottled water to fill the sprayer and mister. You don’t want or need to mist so often, but you do want to mist for longer. It’s better to mist for at least 2 minutes, 2-3 times a day…just before lights go on and off and at mid day you can either do another misting or use a dripper for about 15-20 minutes. You want the enclosure to dry out between mistings.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• I have seen his fecal matter twice since we got him this past Saturday. It was brown and it had white on the end of it. The white was a solid but it had watery stuff around it. He has not been tested for parasites that I know of. I don’t believe any of the chain pet stores test for parasites routinely. As he’s from Petco, I would strongly advise to have him tested for parasites. The brown is the poo and the white is urate (or urine). White or even with a little bit of yellow on the end is normal and healthy. All yellow or orange indicates dehydration.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
• i was not told much about him when I got him except that he is a boy.

This is turning out too long, so, to be continued….

 

[MissSkittles]

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• The cage is a Reptibreeze open air black aluminum screen cage size Medium (16" x 16" x 30"). I have put a piece of tarp (cut to fit) on two outer sides of the cage to help hold in the moisture and heat. There is a piece of tin (cut to fit with circles cut for the lamp) on the top of the cage to keep the heat in. This size is perfect for a little one, but he’s going to grow big, fast and will be needing at least a 2x2x4’ enclosure.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• I have not exactly figured the lighting out exactly. I have a combo dual lamp with a 5.0 UVB reptisun bulb on one side and I've been switching the other lamp between a 60W daylight blue bulb and a 100Watt bulb to try and get the daytime temperature right. For night, I have a single light dome which has a 100W heat/black light bulb. I also have a red 75w night bulb (ZooMed) that I haven't used because I thought it might be too bright for him. I was considering not putting a heat lamp on at night to let the temperature drop. This is one of the biggest problems with the chameleon kit…incorrect lighting. The dual dome light is great…just not for correct uvb. The screw in uvb bulbs aren’t able to provide the correct levels at any distance farther than 2-3” away. The standard uvb and what you’ll need to get is a linear T5HO fixture with either a ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% uvb bulb. Petco does not sell these. However, Petsmart does sell Arcadia ProT5 which includes the 6% uvb bulb. You’ll want the fixture to be long enough to span the width of your enclosure, so at least 24”. Then your basking area should be about 8-9” down from the light. However, little ones love to walk along the screen top and can easily get burned. You’ll need to elevate your lights at least a few inches above the screen top. I use wire baskets from the dollar store to raise my lights.
  For basking, skip the colored bulbs as they can be harmful to sensitive cham eyes. No lights at all at night. This too needs to be raised off the screen. Keeping a 12 hour on/off schedule is best and timers are our best friends for this.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• With the 100W daytime bulb, the temperature can get a little over 95degrees in the basking area and the back corner (I have two thermometers and one for humidity). If I use the daytime blue 60W bulb, the temperature will be a little over 80 degrees. 95 is too hot! 80 is perfect! When he’s all grown up, his temp can get a bit higher to about 84-85. At night, with the black light 100W bulb, it is about 90 degrees. I am trying to leave it off tonight because I think it is too hot. You want it to get cool at night. Veileds can handle temps as low as the 60’s, but if you can get it below 70, it would be perfect. I measure the temps with two thermometers, one is a dual that also measure humidity which is located in the top corner under the heat lamp and the other is a digital that has a cord that drops halfway down the back corner in the cage. The dual (analog) one is notoriously unreliable. Stick with digital with a probe.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• The humidity levels have been between 40% (at night) and 60% during the day after misting. It is challenging to keep the humidity levels higher than 60%. Ok…you’ve got it backwards though. Daytime we want lower humidity levels of between 30-50%. At night, if you can achieve a good temp drop below around 70, you can boost your humidity as high as 100%. That simulates the natural hydration they get from fog in the wild. Personally, I’m not able to get that desired ideal temp drop at night, so therefore I can’t boost my humidity much.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• I do not have live plants. I have real wood/sticks, that have been purified. I have a live moss vine. The rest of the plants in the bottom and the moss in the bottom are fake. You need to get all safe and live plants. Veileds are plant nibblers and have been known to get impacted from eating fake leaves. Hang the fake on the outside of the enclosure for extra privacy. Attaching safe plant list. You don’t need to purify natural branches…just give a good wash/scrub with some dish soap and an even better rinse with the hose and they’re good to go. Avoid pine and other sappy or highly aromatic trees. I hate to tell you, but the mossy vine poses an impaction risk too. Some plants may need special lighting, which is where that now empty space in your dual dome light comes in handy.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• The cage is located on a nightstand in my basement room. There is a ceiling fan which is never used. There is a vent on the ceiling, which is closed. It can be a high traffic area because I have 2 small kids that run in the hallway outside the room. I am not sure the exact height of the cage relative to the room floor. He is about eye level when I look in there. The cage is a taller than me standing in front of it. Good. Height = safety for chameleons. Chameleons have poor hearing but are sensitive to vibration. Do make sure the little ones can’t get into your enclosure! There have been some tragic stories of small kids playing with members animals on here.
• Location - Where are you geographically located?
• I am in Cape Girardeau, MO. It gets hot and humid (98 degrees) in the summer and cold (can get down to 10 degrees) in the winter.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

I am looking for suggestions on the heat temperature, cage suggestions, feeding and food suggestions, and what type bulbs to use, and any other helpful suggestions! This is my first chameleon and I have not had him very long but I want to take the best care of him. Thank you!
I’m so very glad that you are here and want to give your cute little guy the best life! There are some additional things I want to add. If you are using the repti carpet that came with the kit, toss it. Bare floor is more hygienic and easier to keep clean. You’ll want to add a feeding station somewhere that is within easy view of the basking branch. There are a few different commercially available ones or you can devise your own.
I’ve told you what to do, but not really why. If you want to learn all of the whys and then some, check out https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/ Make sure to really explore the site and do give the podcasts a listen. If you prefer video, Chameleon Academy has a few on YouTube, but Neptune the chameleon has a ton. Of course, ask any questions you have here and share your progress, your little guy’s growth and take full advantage of our wonderful little community here.
Since it feels like I’ve been so critical, I do want to let you know that many of us (myself included) started where you are.

 

[MariaG]

Thank you for all of your advice! I will continue to work on his cage improvements this weekend!

 

[MariaG]

One more question, how do you store the food while you are gutloading them?

 

[MissSkittles]

One more question, how do you store the food while you are gutloading them?

I just plop into the feeder bins as much as I think they’ll eat in a day or two. Remove any uneaten food so it doesn’t mold and get nasty. You could put the food on a piece of foil or parchment paper.

 

[MariaG]

Update: I've updated his cage to real plants and removed most of the fake ones. I left the two fake vines because he likes to climb on those. I have started gut-loading the crickets. I keep them in a cricket keeper and feed them mustard greens that I process in a food processor with Mazuri gut-loading diet on top.