Concerned about behavior

[Refinnej]

Good morning everyone,

I have a veiled chameleon who is roughly seven/eight months old. I adore the guy and have some recent concerns about him.

I live in PA, so right now we are going through a rather cold spell. This past Sunday night I moved Leon, our chameleon, into a warmer room to make sure that he stays warm during these really cold times. However, since I moved him his behavior is definitely different. In the past, every time I'd open his cage to clean, feed, whatever, he would run to the opposite end and if I got to close would puff up and try to act scary. I don't really handle him much as I know that can stress them out, so I let him go about his grumpy business. However, since he's been moved to the other room I can go right in and even do so much as move him myself without much fuss. I did this once to put in a new roach dish for him to have.

He still has a great strong grip and everything else seems fine except for his lack of caring if I'm around. He doesn't seem to move about his cage as much as he had before either. I'm fairly sure he's eating and give him all of the correct supplements. His cage is around 85 degrees and I try to mist as often as possible, but because of the screen cage, the humidity doesn't last for a long period of time.

Is this normal behavior due to him moving? I know they can be easily stressed.

I'd appreciate any help as this is my first chameleon and I adore him and want to make sure I'm doing all I can.

 

[NHenn]

Hello, and welcome to the forums!

I live in PA as well and you are right it has been rather cold lately lol. I would have to say that he is acting like that due to the move or another change. Something is either stressing him out that is in the room or has been placed in his cage. He might just need some time to adjust but if there is something obvious that might be upsetting him I would move it.

I had something like this happen with my one panther. I got a new misting system awhile back and placed a nozzle in his cage. From that moment on for a good week or so he was scared by this nozzle and wouldn't move around and didn't care if I was in his cage or moving him. I decided to remove the nozzle and make sure that was the problem and 15 minutes later he was back to his normal self. I now have it mounted outside his cage and he could care less about it.

Hopefully this helps a little.

 

[Refinnej]

Thanks. I have a bearded dragon in the room as well, but she's on the opposite end of the room, so I'm not sure if that's it. I plan on putting plastic on the windows in the room he was originally in and then maybe moving him back later tonight. Do you think that'd be okay to move him again? or just leave him where he's at now?

 

[ashutt19]

I had to move my guy to a warmer room also. He's normally very calm and never afraid of me. But since I moved him last week he is very grumpy and even snapped at me once. I'm chalking it up to the stress of moving and praying for a warm up soon.

 

[EpicWin]

He's probably getting used to you... It could be that him seeing you go to the effort of moving him from a colder room to a warmer room made him realize you're on his side.

I had a moment like this with my cham and ever since, he's been attached to me like glue.

He had fallen off his vine one evening and wandered to my bed (I was free-ranging at the time) and when I came into my room and saw him, he looked so scared and his coloring was REALLY weird (top half, dark... bottom half, really light, like a yinyang).

Anyway, I gently scooped him up and held him for a while and his coloring went back to normal and his tail curled up, so I put him close to his vine and he crawled back on and went to sleep.

After this, any time I was near him, he'd wrap his tail around his vine and get on his back legs and outstretch his hands to me.

It's the most adorable thing I've ever seen and I really had no idea a chameleon could exhibit such seemingly emotional body language.

I really wouldn't be surprised if your lil guy is getting a bit attached to you. I could be wrong, of course, but it sounds familiar.

He should be fine tho! Maybe get a space heater for the room if you don't already have one. They work wonders for warming up a cold room. Just make sure you direct it towards a wall or something, opposite of your cham.

Cheers!

Travis & Heisenberg

 

[Refinnej]

Good News: Leon is back to his grumpy self it seems! First time I've been happy to see one of my reptiles annoyed at my presence.

 

[EpicWin]

Good News: Leon is back to his grumpy self it seems! First time I've been happy to see one of my reptiles annoyed at my presence.

hahaha! Congrats! Glad he's okay.

 

[jami]

female panther cham strange behaviour

Hi guys and good morning from the UK!

Im quite concerned about my 6 month female panther chameleon behaviour at the moment.
She is eating and pooing very well and should be shedding soon. So no worries here. BUT,
She is constantly walking the floor of vivarium almost aimlessly scratching in the same bottom corner. I have put a 18" × 18" nesting bin using play sand but she doesn't seem interested digging in there.
She is also mimicking the same behaviour at the same corner but at the top of the viv, constantly scratching scratching and scratching!
This concerns me because some times during her great escape she loses grip and ends up hanging via her tail banging herself (looks painful) and she has dropped to bottom of viv.
I feel that her diet is constant with the correct supplements.
I've thought that with it being a large glass vivarium she might be seeing her reflection or a reflection of some sort.
I have meshed all sides of viv but behaviour still continues. ?...
Please help, many thanks Jamie

 

[Veiled chameleons121]

its probably because of the stress of the move he should be acting normal in a few weeks, just let him get used to it

 

[Veiled chameleons121]

Hi guys and good morning from the UK!

Im quite concerned about my 6 month female panther chameleon behaviour at the moment.
She is eating and pooing very well and should be shedding soon. So no worries here. BUT,
She is constantly walking the floor of vivarium almost aimlessly scratching in the same bottom corner. I have put a 18" × 18" nesting bin using play sand but she doesn't seem interested digging in there.
She is also mimicking the same behaviour at the same corner but at the top of the viv, constantly scratching scratching and scratching!
This concerns me because some times during her great escape she loses grip and ends up hanging via her tail banging herself (looks painful) and she has dropped to bottom of viv.
I feel that her diet is constant with the correct supplements.
I've thought that with it being a large glass vivarium she might be seeing her reflection or a reflection of some sort.
I have meshed all sides of viv but behaviour still continues. ?...
Please help, many thanks Jamie

Haha it is a lovely morning here in England!!!

she's a female and so she's getting closer to maturity, shes digging to lay eggs, nothing to be worried about

 

[ChamAllen]

Good News: Leon is back to his grumpy self it seems! First time I've been happy to see one of my reptiles annoyed at my presence.

You must remember that Veileds are only happy when they're miserable. If they don't attempt to kill someone or something by noon their entire day is ruined. A nice veiled is often a sick veiled.

My male veiled, Osama bin Allen, comes from Yemen where his name literally means "Human hating rotten little bastard."