Dark baby veiled chameleon

[ataraxia]

Hi, i would not worry to much on your new little one throwing dark colors right now. He is in a new environment and needs time to adjust. I know he is new and all you want to do is to admire this new little fella but the best thing to do is to leave him be and only do periodical check ups on him. Let him examine his new home and get use to the new sites before introducing yourself more often.

I would suggest you to read this https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

 

[cswan19]

Okay, thank you so much for all the replies, tips and help.
I removed the soil and put slightly moist paper towels on the bottom instead.
I'm glad you told me not to feed him meal worms before he ate them
Tomorrow I will let a few calcium dusted crickets free roam his cage. I have been misting him with warm water periodically throughout the day to keep him hydrated and able to drink. Thank you so much for all of your help.
-christie

 

[cswan19]

Just an update

Lights out for this little guy
Beautiful color as he sleeps:

 

[lancaster0861]

Yea so he was showing some pretty good colors up until you tried to feed him? That kind of sounds like he may be starting to relax and calm a bit, but was caught of guard by the feeding attempt. I bet if you go ahead and throw those crickets in tomorrow and let them roam while leaving him alone he will come around pretty quickly! Sounds exciting!

 

[cswan19]

Sorry guys, that pic didnt show up I was trying to post it off of my phone, but it didnt work.

here it is, he looks so incredible!! extremely happy to call this guy my own:

Yes, I think he is already starting to do better, I will put those crickets in for him tomorrow and I'm sure he will like to get his belly full haha, again thank you thank you thank you for all your help!

-Christie

 

[cswan19]

I put about 10 extra small crickets into my chameleons cage this morning and he ate ALL of them! It was pretty cool watching him eat haha and hes been displaying beautiful colors all day, seems as though hes beginning to get comfortable in his new home.
How many crickets a day should I feed him?

Also I think I've decided on the name Malibu!

Heres a pic of his colors when I woke up this morning:

Pretty handsome guy

 

[LLLReptile]

That is awesome Enjoy !

Scott - LLLReptile & Supply

 

[ReptileLove18]

at this age, you can put some more in there and he can keep eating!! as they get to be adults we cant let them gorge themselves but at this age they can eat as much as they please since they are growing!! so glad to hear he's eating good. however, about 4 hours before you shut down his lights you need to pull out any left over food because they need that time to finish digesting under the basking light
that is a very cute name, suits him nicely!

 

[cswan19]

When will it be okay for me to start handling him? I want him to be tame and not dread handling at some point and I want him to get used to me.

Also how many hours a day should babies be sleeping. Hes on a vine basking under his heat lamp with his eyes closed, is he sleeping or just enjoying the light?

Thanks!

 

[ReptileLove18]

you should generally let him settle in for several days before you handle him. when you do try to handle him, dont force him. what you'll want to do is put you hand slowly into the enclosure and place it slightly under and next to whatever he is on. hold still. he may climb on to your hand. if he does, let him climb on your arms for tops 4 mins and then guide him back into the enlosure. you can increase the amount of time you have him out slowly and i wouldnt handle him more then once every couple of days to start with. if he doesnt climb onto your hand, try again later on you can also try inticing him into your hand with food.
he shouldnt be sleeping during the day. he should be getting 12 hours of lights on and 12 hours of lights of so no sleeping during the day. try to turn his lights on and off at the same time every day or get a timer for them. he may just be digesting the 10 crickets he ate earlier and not actually asleep tho so dont stress yet!! he needs the heat from the lamp to digest so thats probably whats he doing