Help! What’s with this color??

[KiwiMom19]

Kiwi is a 6 month old female panther chameleon and we have had her for about 10 days. We are limiting handling down to almost nothing. She has been bright when we got her but now she is darker often. What am I doing wrong?? Or is this just her basking?? New owner! Help please!

 

[kinyonga]

Do you have an egg bin in her cage?

 

[KiwiMom19]

Do you have an egg bin in her cage?

I have deep coco substrate for her to dig in if she wanted to lay by I have not seen her on the floor. She has explored her terrarium and is rather out going.

 

[Gingero]

She looks gravid to me. How deep is the substrate?

 

[KiwiMom19]

It’s about 3-4 inches of substrate

 

[Gingero]

Yikes. Okay so that’s your problem. You’ll want closer to 12 inches of substrate. She needs it deep enough so that she can dig a hole.

Check this out: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/egg-laying-and-the-laying-bin.345/

 

[KiwiMom19]

Ok I will add more tonight! Thank you so much for the help! I will be able to watch her tomorrow and see how she does.
Side note, at night when her Daylights are off she seem brighter and more comfortable. Maybe she is too warm also? I am getting a small fan to circulate twice daily also to keep the temperatures around the 90s.what would be the ideal basking temp for her?
Thanks again!

 

[Gingero]

Ooh yeah that’s too hot for her. You want an 80-85F basking temp and 75-80F ambient temps.

 

[MissSkittles]

Personally I’d get rid of the coco substrate and leave bare floor. Much more hygienic. Best lay bin is either washed play sand or play sand/organic soil mix, moistened enough to hold a tunnel. I just learned this past week that some do indeed create quite a tunnel.

 

[KiwiMom19]

Thank you for the info!