Is anything wrong with my chameleon?
- Thread starter Caarson
- Start date
Thermal burns...
http://chamworld.blogspot.ca/2008/01/health-chapter-f-burn.html
http://chamworld.blogspot.ca/2008/01/health-chapter-f-burn.html
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
Same here, i enjoy different perspectives on things, no problem with that. Just didn't want you to take it the wrong way. I'm pretty new to chams as well. i learn something new from this forum everyday.
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
D8 I am sorry I don't mean to drop knowledge T^T I just want to be loved
As far as what lights I used, there were two incidents where it happened, one that happened was just pure stupidity, it was a halogen (not spot light I don't think) one of the incandescent ones, but it was much too strong. That was my first mistake with Ryker in the beginning. The other one... I think I was using a regular just 75 watt bulb and had it so that the temp was around 90 degrees (sometimes like a degree or two higher) and he burned himself worse than with the halogen. I think it's because the halogen was visible to the eye much quicker.
As far as what lights I used, there were two incidents where it happened, one that happened was just pure stupidity, it was a halogen (not spot light I don't think) one of the incandescent ones, but it was much too strong. That was my first mistake with Ryker in the beginning. The other one... I think I was using a regular just 75 watt bulb and had it so that the temp was around 90 degrees (sometimes like a degree or two higher) and he burned himself worse than with the halogen. I think it's because the halogen was visible to the eye much quicker.
Caarson
Member
I've turned down the temp from 105 to 85. The thermal device was quite litterly infront of my bulb so that could have been the cause.
I'd also like to point out that in Saudia Arabia its in the triple digits.
(https://www.google.com/search?q=tem...l=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#spf=1)
Of course I still will be turning down the temp as instructed.
I'd also like to update that no matter what I do he still seems to have those eyes. Ever since I did turn down the temps though, the chameleon seems to be drinking less, even though it still has those eyes.
I'm also wondering if I should turn off the bulb, as my current tempature without the bulb is 81 degrees.
I'd appreciate it so much if I could get more information! You've been so helpful so far!
Glen the Jackson's
Member
imo i would def not turn off the basking bulb, he needs to sit under a direct heat source to properly digest
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
They are in florida where it gets the triple digits as well. I'd imagine it would be a little different than a basking bulb though since it focuses the heat to a spot, but idk I've wondered this myself. They probably wouldn't be out basking in full sunlight and triple digits for very long, and aren't they found in cooler parts of saudi arabia? Could be off with that, hope someone will come who knows more about veileds.
No one has seemed to say anything about the bark chips, surprised lol.
No one has seemed to say anything about the bark chips, surprised lol.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
I have a veiled I keep outside and he disappears into the foliage anytime the ambient temps get above 90F. He'll blanch--a sign of stress--if he can't get cooler.
Heat builds up. It is why you can literally fry an egg on a sidewalk in the sunlight in cool weather. Measuring the air temperature at the basking spot is not the same as measuring the skin temperature of a chameleon that is sitting probably 3 inches higher on the perch than people take temperatures of.
Years ago I went to sleep on a heating pad set on low. The heat built up and I ended up with huge burn in my back that was a very deep hole. It never hurt.
Graves923
Chameleon Enthusiast
Im concerned with your misting and supplement schedules which are both crucial to keeping a healthy chameleon along with optimal basking temps.
Just because the chams experience tripe digit temps in the wild doesnt mean we should replicate it in captivity when we know they thrive at lower and safer basking temps. Just my 2 cents on the topic.
To the OP, check out the veiled chameleon caresheet that was posted a few posts ago. Adjust your husbandry to mimic the caresheet.
When misting with a hand mister, make sure you are spraying for 2-4 minutes at a time. 3 or 4 pumps is not enough for the cham which is why it is drinking everytime you mist
Just because the chams experience tripe digit temps in the wild doesnt mean we should replicate it in captivity when we know they thrive at lower and safer basking temps. Just my 2 cents on the topic.
To the OP, check out the veiled chameleon caresheet that was posted a few posts ago. Adjust your husbandry to mimic the caresheet.
When misting with a hand mister, make sure you are spraying for 2-4 minutes at a time. 3 or 4 pumps is not enough for the cham which is why it is drinking everytime you mist
poison
Avid Member
Hi, most reptiles would much rather warm up faster and retreat to cover. There's always room for improvement in reptile keeping. I'm sure veileds are exposed to 125+ surface areas in the wild. Whether they use it or not I have no clue but even this is not danger skin burning temp unless over exposed if what andee says is true that they won't move then yes ther can be a problem with these temps. Though I feel like there's more to be known about Andees accident that Id like to know.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
Saudi Arabia is a very big place. The US mainland is only 3.7 times bigger. The climate and geography on the Arabian Peninsula varies. The temperatures and weather conditions on the coastal plains at the base of the escarpment are dramatically different from the top of the escarpment which might only be one or two miles away from each other based on a map. The escarpment rises as a vertical wall--it's a hairy drive to go up or down that escarpment, believe me. I had to close my eyes around a few hair pin corners more times than not.
Riyadh is nowhere near where veileds are found. While it is 100F in at 4:00 p.m. today in Riyadh, it is only 80F in Khamis Mushait which is in the area Veiled chameleons are found in--the south west of Saudi Arabia. You can see from the map attached that they are not found on the coastal plain but on the escarpment.
Here is a map of their distribution:
http://maps.iucnredlist.org/map.html?id=176306
The night time temps for Khamis Mushait drop to 60F at this time of year while the nighttime temps in Riyadh drop to Kahamis Mushait's daytime high. You just can't compare the two places. It is similar to someone suggesting that since Veileds can live in the Florida Everglades year round they should be able to live in Washington, DC, since both are in the US.
Here's a link to the current weather in Abha right in the middle of Veiled territory:
http://www.accuweather.com/en/sa/abha/296644/weather-forecast/296644
Here is a link to a tourist web site for Abha. Have a look at the photos here. You can see it isn't the bleak desert that is most of the Saudi Arabia.
https://saudiarabiatourismadvisor.w...ces-to-visit-in-abha-tourism-at-saudi-arabia/
One other thing few people are taking into account is that the climate in the area has changed drastically over the past 20,000 years. It used to be lush, with lakes in the Empty Quarter, which is now the largest sand desert in the world. The Empty Quarter is just to the east of Khamis Mushait in the south of Saudi Arabia. Veiled chameleons evolved long before the Arabian Peninsula became the dry wasteland it is now.
I don't know why your chameleon has "wrinkly eyes," but it could be a state of chronic dehydration which often leads to kidney failure. Those eyes could be the sign of kidney failure. Chameleons often pull in their eyes when stressed by picture taking, which might explain the sire's "wrinkly eyes" as you put it.
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jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
Yes, that is very common to see in Saudi Arabia and I guess Yemen where this video was filmed. I've seen a lot more people on a bus/truck than that! The video was to show you a veiled in the wild so you would have a bit more of an understanding of them.
Here's another veiled in Yemen:
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
Here's another:
poison
Avid Member
I watched it. I'm really not too sure what I'm supposed to take from it :/. I see a Cham climbing I tree, I knew they did that 
. It would have been more helpful if this man measured temperatures and studied it. I'd love to see something like that. It also doesn't seem to be too sunny out in the video.
. It would have been more helpful if this man measured temperatures and studied it. I'd love to see something like that. It also doesn't seem to be too sunny out in the video.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
I watched it. I'm really not too sure what I'm supposed to take from it :/. I see a Cham climbing I tree, I knew they did that
Do you want every bit of information handed to you on a silver platter? Do you not have any intellectual curiosity of your own?
Try googling temperatures in the cities and towns in the map of the Veiled's habitat.
Seeing where they live and thrive in the wild--even where on the tree--might help you figure out how to have them thrive in your care.
It's no wonder chameleons do so poorly in captivity. I'm sorry for being so harsh, but really, if you are going to keep a species of animal that most people manage to kill in a very short period of time, it behooves you to try to do a bit of research on them.
poison
Avid Member
Woah there buddy no need to be so cranky smile. I assume you're one of the people on here that are considered "knowledgeable "? I question everything as I think is the smartest thing to do when working with live animals. You showed me a video of a veiled climbing a tree... lol what am I supposed to get off that? We were talking about the basking temps of them these videos were not helpful to that subject. If I google the temps of that country it will give me the ambient temps, ambient temp isthe temperature in the air, I wanna know the basking/suface spot that they are seen basking at. I have had what I consider success with one specimen of veiled (lived to 6). If you can't answer my question of what temps they bask at in he wild doesn't mean you gotta get defensive. If you don't know then you don't know. Me and you both have things we can learn it seems. We should stick together and find out what temps they bask at in the wild. Sound like a plan?
smile. I assume you're one of the people on here that are considered "knowledgeable "? I question everything as I think is the smartest thing to do when working with live animals. You showed me a video of a veiled climbing a tree... lol what am I supposed to get off that? We were talking about the basking temps of them these videos were not helpful to that subject. If I google the temps of that country it will give me the ambient temps, ambient temp isthe temperature in the air, I wanna know the basking/suface spot that they are seen basking at. I have had what I consider success with one specimen of veiled (lived to 6). If you can't answer my question of what temps they bask at in he wild doesn't mean you gotta get defensive. If you don't know then you don't know. Me and you both have things we can learn it seems. We should stick together and find out what temps they bask at in the wild. Sound like a plan? 
