Chameleon staying on one leaf?

BubbaVeiled

Member
Hey all. Bubba's been doing good the past couple weeks I would say. He loves eating fruit flies! He'll eat the pinhead crickets but I think he likes the fruit flies more. (Might have something to do with the cricket jumping on him once and he freaked out). Anyways he usually is patrolling his cage and really active. Today though he ate bugs in the morning, and for the whole rest of the day he's just been sitting on the same leaf not really moving around much. I turned on his basking light earlier because I am moving to the north soon and he's going to have to get used to it being on. (I live in the south right now so I never really turn on the basking light.) Anyways, I turned it on for like 20 minutes and he just froze and stared at the light and didn't really move. I think he's scared of the basking light? It's a natural soft white light incandescent. I turned it off a long time ago but he's still just sitting on the same leaf with his tail curled not moving. Is this normal? Do chameleons sometimes just have days where they chill? His eyes haven't closed at all. So he isn't sleeping. He's just been sitting hunched on one peace looking around for like 2 hours now.
 
This is how he's been looking. Is he ok?
 

Attachments

  • 20210811_150024.jpg
    20210811_150024.jpg
    118.6 KB · Views: 109
  • 20210811_150045.jpg
    20210811_150045.jpg
    116.8 KB · Views: 120
  • 20210811_150030.jpg
    20210811_150030.jpg
    110 KB · Views: 112
Are your temps okay or are they high in the enclosure? He’s not gaping so my guess is he’s fine, just make sure his temps and humidity are okay.
 
Bubba needs live plants. Plastic and silk plants aren’t good for chams especially for veileds because they like to eat them and can get impacted.
 
Yeah I'm getting dragon strands soon and then will get live plants. I have a shefflera and a pothos at the bottom right now growing. The temps are usually 70-80 degrees throughout the day and humidity is always 50-70 percent.
 
Just the normal 78 degrees area. Like I said he's usually pretty active going around his cage hunting bugs. But after I tried turning the basking lamp on for like 15 minutes he just has not moved much
 
The temps are usually 70-80 degrees throughout the day and humidity is always 50-70 percent.
70-80 degrees is fine, but can you be more specific about the humidity levels. When is the humidity 50-70%? Is this all day? At night? The more info you give, the better we can assist you.

70% humidity at night would be a little low, especially with fake plants. Real plants help keep the humidity up at night by collecting the water on their leaves. At night, aim for 75-100% humidity. For the day, aim for 30-50% humidity. These numbers follow the natural humidity cycles encountered in the wild.

Also, can you send a picture of your entire enclosure including the lights used at the top of the cage. Are you using a linear uvb light?

Also, how many branches do you have in there for him to walk on?
 
It's 50-70 percent all the time. I know that's a bit high but that's the area I live in currently. I mist the lad at night to get the humidity higher. I'm using a T5 5.0 HO Uvb bulb that's pretty new. Probably have a little over 10 branches attached to the cage, and a bunch of tiny branches growing up the cage from the shefflera tree Im growing at the bottom. He likes drinking water off of the fake leaves for some reason. He can't eat the fake leaves at the moment because he's so tiny. I'm taking them out in like a month. Here's some enclosure pics
 
It's 50-70 percent all the time. I know that's a bit high but that's the area I live in currently. I mist the lad at night to get the humidity higher. I'm using a T5 5.0 HO Uvb bulb that's pretty new. Probably have a little over 10 branches attached to the cage, and a bunch of tiny branches growing up the cage from the shefflera tree Im growing at the bottom. He likes drinking water off of the fake leaves for some reason. He can't eat the fake leaves at the moment because he's so tiny. I'm taking them out in like a month. Here's some enclosure pics
How high above is the T5 5.0 HO uvb bulb from the nearest branch?

As for the humidity, as long as you have good airflow in the room and that you are not misting during the day. Your humidity range should be fine. You really want to try to get it as close to or below 50% as possible.

I'm not familiar with baby veiled chameleon behavior so I'll tag @jannb to see if she has any insight. @Beman will also be able to help with veiled care.

Fill out this below so we can double-check to make sure everything is good. The more detail you provide, the better we can assist you. The fact that his eyes aren't closed is a good thing. If there is anything wrong with your care, it is still completely fixable and hasn't done any harm so you can sleep easy.

Here's the form:
Chameleon Info:
  • 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.
 
Back
Top Bottom