Help! Chameleon is pale

KarltheCham

New Member
Hello there, I have an almost 1 year old male panther Chameleon and for a few weeks his colors have been quite pale, I am getting worried. He’s on Rep-Cal multivitamins and a d3 calcium every other Sunday. We got him a new UVB and heat lamps to see if that would help, and it hasn’t been improving, not really what else to do.
 

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What are the temperatures in your enclosure? How far away is his basking branch from the top of his enclosure? What type of uvb bulb do you use? Linear or coil? What wattage is your heat bulb?
I'm asking because when a chameleon turns a lighter color it often means they are trying to cool their body temperature because they are overheating, so possibly that could be what's going on here. He also seems like he's using that leaf to shield his body, so that also could support the overheating theory.
 
What are the temperatures in your enclosure? How far away is his basking branch from the top of his enclosure? What type of uvb bulb do you use? Linear or coil? What wattage is your heat bulb?
I'm asking because when a chameleon turns a lighter color it often means they are trying to cool their body temperature because they are overheating, so possibly that could be what's going on here. He also seems like he's using that leaf to shield his body, so that also could support the overheating theory.
Yeah that makes sense! The temp in basking is reading about 92, basking spot is about 4 inches from the lamps, I have two 60 watt bulbs in that, the uvb is a linear and it’s a Reprisun T8 10.0 uvb, maybe I’ll try turning off one of the heat bulbs during the day ?
 
Regarding the supplements...it's recommended that he gets a phos free calcium powder dusted lightly on all the insects just before feeding them to him for all feedings but one a week. On that one day it's recommended that you alternate between a phos free calcium/D3 powder dusted lightly on the insects and a vitamin powder with a prEformed source of vitamin powder on the opposite two days that you don't use the calcium powder.
RepCal vitamins (herptivite) has beta carotene prOformed vitamin A in it.

I don't think this has anything to do with his pale colors.
 
Yeah that makes sense! The temp in basking is reading about 92, basking spot is about 4 inches from the lamps, I have two 60 watt bulbs in that, the uvb is a linear and it’s a Reprisun T8 10.0 uvb, maybe I’ll try turning off one of the heat bulbs during the day ?
The basking is definitely too hot. It should be closer to something like low to mid 80s. The really hot basking temps are outdated, most keepers are trying to do their best to replicate the real conditions in their natural habits. I would suggest only using a single 60 watt bulb & definitely lowering your basking branch at least 2-4'' lower and see if that helps your little guy out.
 
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