Dark color when he is basking

[julissabriseno]

Concern: Is it normal for my male veiled to be a dark dark green color when basking? and when he starts to walk towards a different part of the cage he turns to a normal brighter green color...
and where are you storing your crickets in order to prevent them from dying fast?


Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - male veiled chameleon; 4 months old
• Handling - just have handled him to for transfer from container to cage (just got him yesterday)
• Feeding - Crickets are staple. Along with dusting of supplements and eats about 8-10 crickets everyday
• Supplements - Every feeding gets calcium without D3, and 2 times a month calcium with d3 and multivitamin
• Watering - misting 3 times a day for 2 minutes
• Fecal Description - healthy looking poops multiple times a week.
• History - I purchased him from a local reptile store

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 2x2x4
• Lighting - Exoterra 75w 120v basking lamp. Arcadia d3 6%uvb 15w reptile lamp in a t8 Reptisun ballast. Biodude Grow and Glow 18w 96led lamp for the plants. Lights and mister are on a 12 on 12 off timer from 8 am- 8 pm
• Temperature - 84° max at basking spot, 75° average at bottom of enclosure. Lowest overnight temp is 64.
• Humidity - humidity stays at 50% mostly and will reach 60%
• Plants - pathos and paradise bird, I will be switching out the paradise bird with a corn leaf plant, I just don't want the cage to bare in case he falls and hits the ground.
• Placement - my cage is in my bedroom, I have a small fan in my room, but is only on when it gets hot. there is two windows that let light and sunlight in at peak hours.
• Location - Southern California

 

[Beman]

Normal.... They darken up when they are absorbing the heat....

I made my own bins... Use toilet paper or paper towel rolls or cardboard egg carton for them to crawl on. Make sure your gutloading well so they are eating and not going after each other. If they are all cramped in a tiny space they will die off faster.

 

[julissabriseno]

I am gut loading them and storing my crickets in a large cricket keeper that houses about 150 large crickets. I am keeping them outside in the shade, is that okay? It rather hot where I live.

 

[Beman]

I am gut loading them and storing my crickets in a large cricket keeper that houses about 150 large crickets. I am keeping them outside in the shade, is that okay? It rather hot where I live.

Nope you need to bring them inside unless you want to deal with other bugs getting into them and you want them to boil. lol And I know the large cricket keeper says it stores that many but I would go with a bigger tub... You want two because you need to clean and rotate bins every 2 or 3 days. If you don't they get disgusting.
What are you gutloading with?

 

[Serbianchameleon]

Its normal. They get darker and bigger because thats how they absorb heat faster.

 

[julissabriseno]

Nope you need to bring them inside unless you want to deal with other bugs getting into them and you want them to boil. lol And I know the large cricket keeper says it stores that many but I would go with a bigger tub... You want two because you need to clean and rotate bins every 2 or 3 days. If you don't they get disgusting.
What are you gutloading with?

alright I will definitely do that, any tips on how to eliminate the smell of crickets? I am gut-loading with flukes orange cube diet

 

[Beman]

alright I will definitely do that, any tips on how to eliminate the smell of crickets? I am gut-loading with flukes orange cube diet

So that is not a good gutload. Essentially it only gives them water... Toss it. Either do a variety of fresh veg or get a commercial gutload like repashy bug burger to mix and use.

As far as the smell. It is about keeping them clean and not in hot conditions. the hotter they are the more they will smell. If you are not rotating the bins and getting rid of die offs every 2-3 days then it will smell no matter what you do. But having the larger bin helps with lots of areas for them to climb.

 

[Beman]

Concern: Is it normal for my male veiled to be a dark dark green color when basking? and when he starts to walk towards a different part of the cage he turns to a normal brighter green color...
and where are you storing your crickets in order to prevent them from dying fast?


Chameleon Info:

I am going to give my feedback in red bold.


Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - male veiled chameleon; 4 months old
• Handling - just have handled him to for transfer from container to cage (just got him yesterday)
• Feeding - Crickets are staple. Along with dusting of supplements and eats about 8-10 crickets everyday Should be feeding at least 12 small crickets every day in the first half of the day so it can digest them. What are you gutloading with? Are you free feeding or cup feeding?
• Supplements - Every feeding gets calcium without D3, and 2 times a month calcium with d3 and multivitamin Make sure you are lightly dusting. Do not want powdered donuts.
• Watering - misting 3 times a day for 2 minutes. Do not mist him directly. Mist all the plants so that they are dripping.
• Fecal Description - healthy looking poops multiple times a week. I would still get a fecal test done to make sure there is not a parasite issue. what do the urates look like?
• History - I purchased him from a local reptile store

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 2x2x4
• Lighting - Exoterra 75w 120v basking lamp. Arcadia d3 6%uvb 15w reptile lamp in a t8 Reptisun ballast. Biodude Grow and Glow 18w 96led lamp for the plants. Lights and mister are on a 12 on 12 off timer from 8 am- 8 pm You want to upgrade the lighting to a T5HO 24inch fixture with a 5.0 or 6% bulb.
• Temperature - 84° max at basking spot, 75° average at bottom of enclosure. Lowest overnight temp is 64. Make sure basking is no hotter then 84.
• Humidity - humidity stays at 50% mostly and will reach 60% typically you want humidity between 30-50% max during the day. Can use a cool mist humidifier at night to get 100% humidity levels.
• Plants - pathos and paradise bird, I will be switching out the paradise bird with a corn leaf plant, I just don't want the cage to bare in case he falls and hits the ground. Many more branches needed. If you can get a dwarf umbrella plant these are really good and have small diameter branches that are better for babies. Try to find a taller one to fill out the cage better.
• Placement - my cage is in my bedroom, I have a small fan in my room, but is only on when it gets hot. there is two windows that let light and sunlight in at peak hours. Need to move up off the floor on to a table. I would move the enclosure away from the closet with the reflective door.
• Location - Southern California

Great resources. https://chameleonacademy.com/
www.chameleonbreeder.com