I bought my "boy" back in August when "he" would have been about a couple of months old. However I'm now inclined to believe my he is a she....

[Shoey]

To keep it relatively short, I bought Jerry from a local reptile store in August, when he would have been no older than 2 months old. The shop assured me he was a male, as I was not in the market for a female, due to it being my first Cham, and I understand husbandry for a female is slightly more difficult.
As I was new to this, and due to his young age, it was hard to determine anything different than male.

Moving on, more recently I've noticed a change in temperament. He was always very inquisitive and he is very docile - by this I mean I can get into his enclosure and move things around, put my hand right up next to him and he shows no aggression or will to flee to the back of his enclosure. This hasn't necessarily changed, but he is a little moodier.

He also isn't growing as much as I'd expect for a male, his veil is significantly shorter than most males, and his colours aren't as vibrant. I've also noticed a slightly "plumpness" in the body (which definitely isn't a result of being overfed) as well as eyes being closed at times during the day.

I am concerned as I have not prepared for a female and do not have any a sandbox for egg laying, in fact, I'm not clued up on the husbandry at all.

Please see images attached.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, I don't want to waste anytime in correcting the husbandry.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. His colors look male to me and I believe I do see his tarsal spur. If he were a female, you wouldn’t be seeing such defined vertical color bars. They do get moodier as they grow older. As for slow growth and short casque, we can review all of your husbandry if you like. Just copy/paste the help form from here https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/ and someone can look it over for you.

 

[nightanole]

Need pics of the back feets, from the rear...

But looks like a male. Bout 6-9 months old. Should start lookin like a man in the next 90 days, and suffer from TVS, teenage veiled syndrome.

 

[Shoey]

He definitely does have tarsal spurs, but I read that isn't necessarily conclusive! However, if he is male, that's a relief...

Please see the below details:

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, 6-9months old, had him 6 months.
• Handling - Very infrequent, handled no more than 4 times since we've had him, although we do hand feed and he is very comfortable with our presence in his enclosure, if he walks out onto the hand willingly, we handle for a few minutes, if not we leave him (Only "forced" out once for vet purposes).
• Feeding - Crickets and Dubia Roaches.. (Guilty of over feeding mealworms early on, however have completely removed them from diet for now.) Dubias are in a feeding dish that he takes when he wants. Hand-fed three crickets a day but does often grab loose ones in his enclosure? Gut loaded on Repashy Bug Burger and occasional carrots, sweet potato, apple etc.
  (Gutloading was poor for a while, discovered we were using veg that was providing very little nutrients - swapped those out for better ones and the bug burger.)
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Dusting Zoomed Reptivite every week or two, calcium without D3 (zoomed) once a week.
• Watering - Dripper and misting? mist about twice or three times a day for 15 seconds? See him drink regularly.
• Fecal Description - Consistency seems fine, not too hard or soft, brown to dark-brown in colour with urates.
• History - Appears to sleep during the day... had vet visits but seems to be nothing to determine the cause - ruled out vitamin A deficiency and no signs out eye infections?

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Reptibreeze 46x46x91 (or very close to those dimensions)
• Lighting - UVB = Arcadia ProT5 6%, 24W.... Basking/Heat = ExoTerra Intense Basking Spot 100w. Both lights come on automatically at 10am and turn off at 10pm.
• Temperature - 25 degree C (floor) to 33-34 degree C (Basking). 24 degrees lowest night temp. Zoomed Digital Thermometers used.
• Humidity - 70%? Misting and dripper contributes. Hydrometer.
• Plants - No live plants, actually picking them all up tomorrow.
• Placement - Cage located next to computer desk near the window? Very quiet, not high traffic area? Top of the cage is 1.4 meters off floor.
• Location - North England

 

[Shoey]

Need pics of the back feets, from the rear...

But looks like a male. Bout 6-9 months old. Should start lookin like a man in the next 90 days, and suffer from TVS, teenage veiled syndrome.

He certainly does have spurs, must be a male. Just worried about his size, whether he's underweight, to pale etc.

Does he look like a good weight, tried to weigh him in the past but it was very difficult (and inconclusive) and don't want to put him through that again.

 

[MissSkittles]

Your husbandry looks ok. Of course I do have a few suggestions and attaching some graphics for you.
You could add a bit more variety to his diet. Don’t forget to give some treats. Not sure if you can bsfl, but if you let them pupate into flies they are great treats to be hunted down. He’s still growing a bit so you could give him an extra cricket a few days a week.
You need to be lightly dusting all feeders at every feeding with calcium without D3 (except for when using a different supplement) You should be using the Reptivite one feeding every other week. Does your ReptiVite have D3? If so, great! If not, you’ll need to get a calcium with D3 to be given one feeding every other week, alternating with the ReptiVite.
It would be better to increase misting time to at least 2 minutes. Is best done right before lights go on and off and mid day if wanted. For additional hydration, if your night time temps get below at least 21c, you can add a cool mist humidifier to boost humidity all the way up. This simulates the natural hydration chams get in the wild from fog.
Did you get a fecal done while at the vet? If not, I’d suggest it strongly since you’re concerned about his growth.
He is ready for his big boy enclosure of at least 60x60x120 or equivalent. If you can go even larger, that would be awesome.
Basking temps are too high. Try to keep it no higher than 29c. If you can get it cooler at night, that would be great.
Humidity is way too high for daytime. You don’t want it to get above 50%. Ideal is between 30-50%. If you mist 3 times a day, you won’t need a dripper.
Yes! All live safe and washed plants are best. You can attach the fake ones to the outside of the enclosure for added privacy.
You’ll want to get his enclosure a bit higher. Height = safety for chameleons.
You’ve got a good start…just need to make some tweaks and you’ll be spot on.

 

[kinyonga]

Did you get the eye issue solved?

 

[Shoey]

Did you get the eye issue solved?

No not really, he used to scratch it religiously, but no longer does this. However he does have them closed a lot.... He still feeds fine, drinks fine, but unfortunately where I am in the U.K, its 30 miles to the closest reptile vet (the one I used) and after that it could be 50+ miles away.

I can't for the life of me figure it out.

 

[Shoey]

Your husbandry looks ok. Of course I do have a few suggestions and attaching some graphics for you.
You could add a bit more variety to his diet. Don’t forget to give some treats. Not sure if you can bsfl, but if you let them pupate into flies they are great treats to be hunted down. He’s still growing a bit so you could give him an extra cricket a few days a week.
You need to be lightly dusting all feeders at every feeding with calcium without D3 (except for when using a different supplement) You should be using the Reptivite one feeding every other week. Does your ReptiVite have D3? If so, great! If not, you’ll need to get a calcium with D3 to be given one feeding every other week, alternating with the ReptiVite.
It would be better to increase misting time to at least 2 minutes. Is best done right before lights go on and off and mid day if wanted. For additional hydration, if your night time temps get below at least 21c, you can add a cool mist humidifier to boost humidity all the way up. This simulates the natural hydration chams get in the wild from fog.
Did you get a fecal done while at the vet? If not, I’d suggest it strongly since you’re concerned about his growth.
He is ready for his big boy enclosure of at least 60x60x120 or equivalent. If you can go even larger, that would be awesome.
Basking temps are too high. Try to keep it no higher than 29c. If you can get it cooler at night, that would be great.
Humidity is way too high for daytime. You don’t want it to get above 50%. Ideal is between 30-50%. If you mist 3 times a day, you won’t need a dripper.
Yes! All live safe and washed plants are best. You can attach the fake ones to the outside of the enclosure for added privacy.
You’ll want to get his enclosure a bit higher. Height = safety for chameleons.
You’ve got a good start…just need to make some tweaks and you’ll be spot on.
View attachment 319398View attachment 319399View attachment 319400

Thanks for putting the time an effort into this reply, its very much appreciated!

Regarding the basking temp and the night time temp, it was the vet that suggested it should be higher for both, before basking was maybe 29ish, with ambient around 25 and night-time between 19 and 22. So I have adjusted them to the levels he suggested.

Should I reduce these? I still have the original cooler bulb? He did say the eye problem could be a result of the lower temps resulting in a compromised immune system, and that if it was an infection he would be better equipped to fight it if the temp was raised to appropriate levels.

It's definitely difficult to find any solid, and universally excepted advice, its hurts my head

The plant suggestions are very helpful, will take these with me tomorrow, and I'll look at ordering him a larger enclosure too.

some of those feeders listed I'm finding hard to source near me, most shops only seem to have Mealworms, Calciworms, Crickets, Dubias and locusts. I have ordered silkworms in the past, but he was reluctant to eat them and I found it particularly difficult to keep them alive despite following instructions, although I'm happy to give it another shot.

I'm not sure if I have missed anything, but I've certainly taken head of everything you've said!

 

[Shoey]

Did you get the eye issue solved?

I apologise for the quality, it is taken through the screen as his eye would open if I got too close.... but this is frequent, he would bask with one eye closed and the other open...sometimes with both closed.

I understand its not a good sign, but I really can't put a finger on the issue and neither could the vet.

 

[kinyonga]

You really need to get the eye issue solved IMHO. I can't help you with it because I'm not a vet and there are too many possibilities of what is wrong with it for me to guess at.

 

[MissSkittles]

Thanks for putting the time an effort into this reply, its very much appreciated!

Regarding the basking temp and the night time temp, it was the vet that suggested it should be higher for both, before basking was maybe 29ish, with ambient around 25 and night-time between 19 and 22. So I have adjusted them to the levels he suggested.

Should I reduce these? I still have the original cooler bulb? He did say the eye problem could be a result of the lower temps resulting in a compromised immune system, and that if it was an infection he would be better equipped to fight it if the temp was raised to appropriate levels.

It's definitely difficult to find any solid, and universally excepted advice, its hurts my head

The plant suggestions are very helpful, will take these with me tomorrow, and I'll look at ordering him a larger enclosure too.

some of those feeders listed I'm finding hard to source near me, most shops only seem to have Mealworms, Calciworms, Crickets, Dubias and locusts. I have ordered silkworms in the past, but he was reluctant to eat them and I found it particularly difficult to keep them alive despite following instructions, although I'm happy to give it another shot.

I'm not sure if I have missed anything, but I've certainly taken head of everything you've said!

I can’t tell you to go against what your vet has advised (unless it was something totally outrageous). I can tell you that the best place for correct and up to date chameleon care and then some is https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-basics/ Do make sure to check out the podcasts. They delve deeper into so many various topics from well respected guests.

 

[corynnonthecob]

He certainly does have spurs, must be a male. Just worried about his size, whether he's underweight, to pale etc.

Does he look like a good weight, tried to weigh him in the past but it was very difficult (and inconclusive) and don't want to put him through that again.

weighing him can be weighing a plant (a small one) and then putting him on, its less distressing for them rather than holding them on a balance.

as for the eye thing, I AM NOT an expert, however, my chameleon was closing its eyes for a few minutes at a time during the day. Then I got the proper UVB and supplements and she perked right up! if I were you I would make sure you have the proper supplements for age and gender and make sure your UVB is linear.