cleofish347
New Member
I recently purchased a baby veiled chameleon from petco. The employees told me he was about 4 months old but when I came home I realized that he was much younger seeing as he is only about as large as my thumb! Even though I have done my research I'm still quite confused about some things. I have come to notice that it is a boy based on the spurs on his hind legs. I believe he is somewhere around 2 months old. When I first got him he was very social and enjoyed being on and around people. Keep in mind I have only had him for a few hours and I don't know if him taking a sudden turn in personality is based on him adapting to human interaction or if I should be concerned. From what I have read on veiled chameleon care sheets I discovered that they do not like to be handled and it can cause them great stress that can kill them, but on some of the youtube videos I have watched many people have said that they would highly recommend handling your chameleon daily. I'm very confused on what I should do, do I hold him or not? Also I'm concerned about his heat lamp situation. I purchased all of the necessary items at the same time I purchased my veiled chameleon with the help of the store manager. He pointed me to an adjustable heat lamp instead of a heat rock. He said that heat rocks can cause injuries or even death to chameleons. So I did purchase the heat lamp along with a heat light that also provides UVB rays. But I noticed that when he was basking he would come really close to the light and would almost pant as if he was a dog. I don't know if and what I'm doing wrong seeing as the employees were very vague. I think that part of my problem is that he is still so small and I have yet to see him eat or drink anything. And every time I do handle him he almost wheezes and I'm worried that I am either hurting him or he is hissing at me. If you could maybe help me and give some information that would be greatly appreciated by both me and my baby veiled chameleon. Thank you so much!
