Is he ok? (First post)

[ILoveAminoAcids]

First post! I recently got a young veiled male. He is showing some odd colouring, and I am not sure what is going on!

We have him in his habitat at 32 degrees (C) basking spot, and 25-26 degree (C) ambient temperature through the day. Humidity is about 60% in day and 90%+ at night.

My worry is that he is being exposed to high UV or maybe is getting too close? Maybe he is too cold? His basking spot is about 5 inches under the heat lamp, however, he doesn’t really go up there! The other spot in the top left corner of his tank is a fake rock with a little food bowl that we put crickets and other insects into. He mostly lingers there, but he lays sideways at an angle with his eyes open.

UV bulb is about 5, and we use a ceramic heater (no light for the heater).

Is this normal colouring? Is there anything to be concerned about?

Thank you!

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. I’m not sure what coloring you’re asking about and it’s kind of hard to see him in your pics. Maybe you can provide some clearer pics and explain what color or area you’re concerned bout.
I can tell you that a few things need to be improved. 32c is a bit too hot for him. A much better temp is 29c at basking area. Your ambient temps are ok, but they too could be a bit cooler. Just wondering why you’ve opted for a ceramic heater instead of a heat light. Chameleons generally gravitate towards the brightest area for heat and basking. Unless your night temps are well below around 16-17c, you have no need for heat at night, especially if you are boosting your humidity. Ideal daytime humidity for veiled is between 30-50%. At night, you only want to raise it if your temps are below at least 21c. Heat plus high humidity greatly increases risks for respiratory infection.
The distance you want between basking area and your lights is 20-22 cm. This distance provides the ideal uvb levels when using a T5 fixture with either Arcadia 6% or ReptiSun 5.0 uvb bulb. Any closer and he’s getting far too much uvb and at risk for burns from basking light. I’m guessing g the black thing poking thru the screen is your ceramic heat bulb. Having that inside and without even any protection surrounding it adds another risk for burns.
Maybe you can provide some additional pics of your entire enclosure, to give us a better idea of what all you have. It can be a bit tough getting started with a chameleon, especially with so much wrong and crazy info out there. I can guide to to some great resources, like https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/ and Neptune The Chameleon on YouTube, and of course here we are a great source for personalized assistance and just sharing the joys of keeping these spectacular animals.