Going dark, walking on ground, clawing at glass.

[carol5208]

No, you don't need a fan. But I would get a cage before 6 months. That cage will be WAY too small for a 6 month old Veild. Way too short. They like to be tall and high. Get a 24 X 24 X 48 that is the appropriate size for an adult or juvenile. What do you think your night temps are?

 

[Leon911]

Yeah, I will get a nice screen cage in less time then that. I'm not sure how fast they grow but I'm told that they grow shockingly fast. I'd say night temp is in the low 60s maybe at 62-65. Is that okay for a cham as small as him or should I leave the heat lamp on but farther away?

 

[carol5208]

For an adult it is fine, then can take temps down into the 50's but being as young as he is, I am not 100% sure on that.You took on quite a task with a 3 week old. You could leave it on and it if he wants to warm up then it will be his choice to go to that side of the cage. Just make sure the whole cage is not the same temp, so if he wants to be cool, then he can.

 

[chamelisa]

If he's 3 weeks old then the glass tank is fine. Save your money to make a good set up when he gets a little older. He needs humidity when that young. But the position of your lighting is not beneficial to him. You will need to place the UVB light over the enclosure.

Regarding the yellow in his urates, this can be a sign that he's getting dehydrated. Maybe, maybe not. But just make sure you mist him frequently since he's so young. Don't keep him wet, just frequently and gently misted.

When you make the adjustment in lighting, please post another photo. If you have already, then disregard this. I haven't gone through all of the posts.

Best wishes!

 

[Syn]

Glass is very easy to heat up and stay hot. If you are going to keep him in an aquarium, be sure to carefully monitor temperatures with a probe.
The heat could very well be a cause of his yellow urates, but it is hard to know.

 

[Leon911]

Ok, thanks for the help. It gets to be 65 with the light off, I think I'll leave it off for the night.
I find that putting ice cubes and letting them drip is more effective then misting. I have watched him drink using both techniques but he seams to be more interested in the droplets from ice cubes and he gets scared when I open the cage or when something is moving over top of his head.
Tomorrow I'm going to get a humidity detector and some better food for the crickets because they are not eating the lettuce, apple, and carrot I put in the cage.

I hope that I'm doing everything okay

 

[Syn]

You shouldn't have any lights on at night anyway, rather a ceramic heat emitter or similar if it is too cold.

I am not sure if icecubes are a good idea, it might make him cold.
I remember reading an article about letting some animal lick ice in cold weather and it made the animal sick. I wish I remembered where...

Instead of using ice cubes just make a dripper. There are several threads that show you how to make an effective dripper. Try out the search button.

Make sure you get something digital to measure humidity as well as heat.

If you are letting the crickets out around the cage, they shouldn't be left in overnight.
Remove them and put them in another container. Feed them things like sweet potato, carrots, and other nutritious foods.
Do not offer spinach or broccoli as they have oxalates which bind to calcium to prevent absorption. In the long run too much of the oxalates could cause MBD.

Do a little more reading on chameleons here:
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

 

[kinyonga]

Its a little cool...80-82F would be better for the basking spot. Also, ice cubes produce cold water which would further lower his body temperature. You need to be careful using a dripper at that age anyhow since it could aspirate the water. IMHO its best to mist the cage.

I would recommend using a long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 for a UVB light. If you get a double hood, you can use one UVB tube light and one regular white tube and you shouldn't need a basking light then.

If you need to have some heat on at night I would recommend you to get a ceramic heat "bulb" so your chameleon can have darkness at night.

You said..."I just put some crickets in the cage and when I opened up the cage he started to puff himself up and the crest underneath his jaw got inflated until it extended beyond his lower jaw"...he's scared of you.

Here's some information you might like to read...

Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

For hatchlings, I keep the temperature more moderate (low 80's) since their small bodies heat up and cool off and dehydrate more quickly than an adult's does.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it.

If you dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. (Some UVB lights have been known to cause health issues, so the most often recommended one is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light.) D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it.

Dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while.

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs....so its important too. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you and your parents to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/

 

[summoner12]

Cage Idea:

 

[Leon911]

Thanks for the advice, I'll look into a good screen cage when he gets bigger. Today he spent a lot of the time exploring the cage to places where he hasn't been yet, including close to the ground and on the "cold" side of the aquarium. As he is exploring he creating dark patterns with his skin. This could be because he is stressed or nervous about exploring a new place. I'm not sure. I am hoping that he will go back to his usual lime green color.

 

[Syn]

I don't think that cage is big enough to have a warm side and a cold side, or the temperature gradient you'd want.

 

[Leon911]

Okay so today was okay except for one instance where he went dark patterny colors and walked along the bottom of the cage and to the corners of the glass. I know that this is a very bad sign that something is not right with the cage. I tried adjusting the heat lamp to make it a little bit hotter and eventually he climbed back to his usual perch and went back to normal color.
There seams to be some dispute about the proper cage temperature as well. One book says veiled like it up to 100 F and another says low 70 during the day.

I also got a humidity detector and put it at the bottom of the cage but naturally the humidity changes when I mist him. I did not see him eat today but I assume that he did because he has been eating the last few days.

I want to make the conditions perfect for him, can anyone offer some ideas?

 

[don22283]

He could be seeing his reflection in the glass. Chameleons are very territtorial. They turn colors according to the temperature, and How they feel... Make sure you have the right temperature, and humidity level that's suitable for your veil. I think 100 is to much. I keep it about 85 at day. 75 at night. Another thing you can do is see if you can flip your tank the long way up. They like the height. For Humidity I ran a hose from an household to my cage. Also get this thing called the little dripper, because they don't drink from a dish.

 

[Leon911]

He guys sorry for all the posts but I'm not absolutely sure if my chameleon is happy. Today when I put crickets in his cage he waved his arms and stuff and climbed on my hand in an attempt to get out I think. I let him crawl on me for a bit but eventually put him back in his cage. I have tried to rearrange it and move stuff away from the glass and higher up, but again, I'm not sure if he is happy.
I can only seam to get the temperature to about 70 in the cage using the 75w heat lamp in the previous pictures. Should I be increasing the temperature and if so, by what means? I could purchase an additional heat lamp, or a more powerful one.

 

[Trace]

I'd move the heat lamp a little closer to the tank to get the basking area to between 80-82. As other people have mentioned, just make sure the entire tank does not get too hot.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this so far but chameleons in a new situation or cage (in your case both) do spend the first few days to the first few weeks (depending on the personality of the animal) cruising around getting used to the surroundings both inside and outside the enclosure. Unless your guy is not eating or drinking or is acting lethargic, everything sounds fairly normal to me.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Do as others have suggstd and put the uvb bulb directly on top of the cage. You need to ditch that coiled bulb you have. Its a piece of crap, get a fluorescent tube 5.0 reptiglo or reptisun. Then Ditch the red heat emiter. Another waste of money. Get an ordinary 60 watt household incandescent bulb and buy a dome heat fixture from HD or Lowes. Place the uvb and the heat lights so that the animal can be basking under the heat and also be under the uvb at the same time. It helps if you place the heat fixture at an angle and angle the heat toward the uvb basking spot.

Also your probe for the thermometer needs to be attached to the basking branch where the cham will be basking and spending most of his time. As its sitting on top of the cage giving you false readings because its not under the lights in the same place as the lizard.

You need to buy some basic books on chams and start reading on husbandry and diet asap.

 

[Leon911]

Ok man, UVB has been placed on the top of the cage and I will look into replacing both lights. I have a dome fixture that I can put over the heat lamp in the mean time. I've read two basic books on veiled chameleons before I brought the lizard home but I am trying to get as much accurate information as possible. I only asked about the temperature because the books contradicted each other.

 

[Leon911]

Here are some of the latest pictures of his behavior yesterday when he was crawling along the bottom, and the latest set up.

He seamed okay today, and I think the drip system is effective. I didn't witness any dramatically dark colors. I also didn't see him eat a cricket, but he could have when I wasn't looking.

 

[Silkyslim]

At the least you should cover up the exposed bulb with some Tin foil to make sure that all that light and heat is directed towards the cage, otherwise you are only using the thing to less than 50% of its capacity. ALso, supplements are very important for a developing cham. Here are the 3 that I use. I see you are only using 2. Does your calcium contain D3 or not? Non D3 calcium is the most used one, it should be used daily with the other 2 ( Calcium w/ D3 & the muti vit). Here are some pics to give you a better idea as to what you want to achieve when you are dusting. I also noticed the massive amount of powder in your feeder cup, this could help save money and vet bills in the future if you end up over supplementing.

The first pic is a cricket with waaay too much powder, the next 2 are the look I try to go for when I dust, and the last one is a pic of the 3 supplements I use and the container I dust with and the spoon I use to ensure I don't use too much.

 

[Leon911]

Ok thats a good idea, I'll to that with the Tin Foil. I have calcium and vitamins both with D3. I try to coat the crickets as much as possible because when I put them in the humid cage they lose some of the power on themselves.

Those look like some pretty big crickets, I feed my little guy only 1/4 inch for the time being.