help please! male or female!?

[jayychameleon]

hello, ive had my veiled chameleon that i was told is a male for a few months now, but im having doubts that "he" is a male. the casque seems rather small and i cant seem to find any spurs.. supposedly he is 8-9 months old. they told me he was 6-7 months old when i got him in feburary, its april now. im going to attach some pictures. i just want to make sure im caring for my friend in the right manner, thank you!

 

[rcc760]

Looks like a female to me. She's also rather stout--she may be carrying eggs. Don't take my word on that though; my female cham is younger than yours and has not shown any signs of eggs yet. Therefore, I can't say for sure whether yours is or not.

 

[jayychameleon]

Looks like a female to me. She's also rather stout--she may be carrying eggs. Don't take my word on that though; my female cham is younger than yours and has not shown any signs of eggs yet. Therefore, I can't say for sure whether yours is or not.

ugh.. i wish it was easier to tell. this whole time i was sure it was a male, but i never really knew how to tell until recently. i had just taken the stores word for it because they deal with chameleons quite often and have lots of reptiles. should i try putting something down just incase, to see if "she" lays eggs? some of the pictures make him/her look fat, but heres one looking normal a couple days ago, thanks for the quick reply as well! much appreciated

 

[rcc760]

ugh.. i wish it was easier to tell. this whole time i was sure it was a male, but i never really knew how to tell until recently. i had just taken the stores word for it because they deal with chameleons quite often and have lots of reptiles. should i try putting something down just incase, to see if "she" lays eggs? some of the pictures make him/her look fat, but heres one looking normal a couple days ago, thanks for the quick reply as well! much appreciated

What store did you get her from? If it was a Petco of Petsmart, don't trust a thing they say. They don't know what they're talking about haha.

If it were me, I'd have something down. Even though the "normal" picture makes her appear skinnier, I'd still be cautious for her age.

"He" doesn't have spurs, the casque is small, and the coloring seems more in line with a female. Sorry buddy, you probably just gained a lot of stress haha. Females are worrisome! They're all rewarding of course, but there is additional stress with females.

And no problem! I just so happened to be browsing the site when you posted. Happy to help.

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Looks female to me, but I am not a veiled expert. @jannb is a pro! @Kristen Wilkins would know too!

 

[jayychameleon]

What store did you get her from? If it was a Petco of Petsmart, don't trust a thing they say. They don't know what they're talking about haha.

If it were me, I'd have something down. Even though the "normal" picture makes her appear skinnier, I'd still be cautious for her age.

"He" doesn't have spurs, the casque is small, and the coloring seems more in line with a female. Sorry buddy, you probably just gained a lot of stress haha. Females are worrisome! They're all rewarding of course, but there is additional stress with females.

And no problem! I just so happened to be browsing the site when you posted. Happy to help.

i got it from a store named "pure paradise pets", they deal mostly with reptiles, they have a ton of lizards and snakes, and have a couple other small animals. im definately stressing right now.. i had read females were more worrisome, and i wanted to avoid that as i already have bad anxiety haha.. im going to do some research on how to make a laying bin. if you have any advice on that, specifically on how to fit one in a medium reptibreeze, id appreciate it. im going to be upgrading to a dragonstrand atrium but theyre currently sold out. also if anyone else has any input please do so!!

 

[jayychameleon]

Looks female to me, but I am not a veiled expert. @jannb is a pro! @Kristen Wilkins would know too!

thank you, i appreciate that a lot!

 

[Goose502]

ugh.. i wish it was easier to tell. this whole time i was sure it was a male, but i never really knew how to tell until recently. i had just taken the stores word for it because they deal with chameleons quite often and have lots of reptiles. should i try putting something down just incase, to see if "she" lays eggs? some of the pictures make him/her look fat, but heres one looking normal a couple days ago, thanks for the quick reply as well! much appreciated

Honestly, if the store couldn’t correctly sex a veiled chameleon, I wouldn’t take their advice on anything.

 

[jayychameleon]

Honestly, if the store couldn’t correctly sex a veiled chameleon, I wouldn’t take their advice on anything.

youre right. if in fact it is a female (which its looking like it is), then in hindsight, i wouldnt have believed them. but they didnt tell me it MIGHT be a male, they told me he IS a male, and at the time i couldnt tell the difference unfortunately.

 

[jayychameleon]

i just took a few more pictures incase it helps at all

 

[Goose502]

She’s definitely a lady.

 

[jayychameleon]

She’s definitely a lady.

ahhhh O_O.. this is devastating yet exciting news... i hope treating her like a male since ive got her hasnt been detrimental to her health at all im always so worried, she seems healthy to me, what do you think by looking at the pictures? and how bad is it that ive been caring for her like a male?

 

[jayychameleon]

She’s definitely a lady.

also shes been a little bit more restless than normal lately. its been getting warm out so i bought an outdoor free range plant, and ever since ive taken her out there she comes to the door quite frequently. could she be looking for somewhere to lay? or just wanting to free range

 

[Goose502]

The only difference in care is providing a laying bin. She’s gonna lay a clutch whether she’s been bred or not, so it’s important. She looks ok to me, but I haven’t delt with veileds in over 15 years. If I could stumble along and successfully(accidentally) hatch a clutch, you will be fine with all the resources here.

 

[jayychameleon]

The only difference in care is providing a laying bin. She’s gonna lay a clutch whether she’s been bred or not, so it’s important. She looks ok to me, but I haven’t delt with veileds in over 15 years. If I could stumble along and successfully(accidentally) hatch a clutch, you will be fine with all the resources here.

thank you so much for your time, and the words of advice. im going to learn about making a laying bin for her

 

[jayychameleon]

im going to go buy a 5 gallon bucket today to place in her enclosure, can anyone point me in the right direction of which soil to use, i had watched a video and they used earthgro topsoil, but i cant find it anywhere

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

An organic soil is best make sure there’s nothing else in it . 50-50 mix soil sand . Make sure you can make tunnels without collapsing . Also make sure To add a branch just Incase she is a digger and the tunnel collapses she could get out . Best of luck .

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Also I’m not sure where you are keeping her temps but you want temps to be a bit lower for females. Slow her down on feeders . This will help with smaller clutches .

 

[jayychameleon]

Also I’m not sure where you are keeping her temps but you want temps to be a bit lower for females. Slow her down on feeders . This will help with smaller clutches .

thank you for the information i appreciate it a lot, really. i went and grabbed these, i had read that you want "clean" sand. does what i bought work? im attaching a picture.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

thank you for the information i appreciate it a lot, really. i went and grabbed these, i had read that you want "clean" sand. does what i bought work? im attaching a picture.

Does the soil have coconut fiber ? Or is it coconut fiber ?