Is my chameleon happy?

[Stiffy]

Hello!

I am new to the site as well as chameleons. 2 weeks ago I purchased a veil chameleon and after 2 house changes, multiple bulbs, light fixtures, fake plants, and different heat sources, I finally configured a high heat and humidity top half and a cooler with higher humidity lower half cage. I ditched the fake plants in exchange for 2 chameleon safe live plants and jungle vine.

He seems happier now.. As happy as he can be I suppose... He's currently going through his first shed and I have been making sure he's well hydrated by checking his fecal waste and its half white half yellow which I read should be like if he's getting enough water. He does drink from a water dish, I've watched him do this every morning and I do spray the plants to ensure there's plenty of droplets as well as regulating the humidity.

Over the last couple days though instead of being a bright vibrant green with bold almost pink stripes, he looks kinda dull with more of a darker green and maroon color stripes. Is this because he's shedding?

Does this mean he's stressed about something? He has a very good appetite eating a mix of crickets and meal worms and the occasional leafy green.

Is there anything else I should be doing to make him happier? He moves around well and his meals have a light dusting with calcium and a multiple vitamin. He doesn't seem bothered by my presents.. He will sit there and watch me as I mist or change his water or food, but he does seem apprehensive of my husband and kids but getting more comfortable.

Despite the ridiculous amounts of money and time i have invested trying to make his home a perfect captivity and unable to let him roam around like other more social reptiles, I do enjoy his company and watching him thrive and climb around his home. I do want him to be happy and vibrant like he was a few days ago.

 

[Kate]

Hi and welcome to the world of Cham keeping. It sounds as if he has had lot of adjustment to his home over the last two weeks it might benefit him to be left to settle for a week or two. My Cham hates it when I change his plants and sulks for a week.LOL The change of colour could be because he is going to shed, it could also be to do with the temps in his viv. You don't say how old he is. Could he fall into his water dish? Most chams don't drink from a water dish. What supplements are you using?
It sounds as if you are hooked! Pics would be nice.

 

[dom1959]

ah yes,
i struggled with this for like a month.
then i decided to accept that perfect
doesn't exist. that i would do the best
i could. with patience and love and enjoy
what i created. doesn't mean i don't strive to improve.
but if they are eating sleeping pooping and generally
look good i can't do more than that!
the coloration could be from shed, what type cham is it?
and the rule is... pics or you are a liar sir!(or ma'am)

 

[Stiffy]

Dexter is a male veiled, I am not sure how old he is.. The pet store I purchased him from said that in 6 months he will be a full grown adult.. But from what research I have done.. the pet store likes to lie ;( and they did not disclose at what age they reach adulthood

Here is a before the shed pic, the day I brought him home when he was in his sad little cage the pet store told me that I had everything I needed to have a happy cham... another lie ;(

 

[Stiffy]

Since I live in Montana and its winter here, heat has been a HUGE struggle, especially since we have a horrible electric furnace so our house is only like 66-67. I had to upgrade his all screened in cage to a 20x20x18 with a glass bottom and 2 glass sides and then 2 screened in sides and a screened in roof. I have a small fan that keeps the air circulating to prevent it from getting stale.

I have a tropical UV bulb and then a 75W black light night time heat bulb that stays on 24/7 and then a 100W ceramic heat emitter over his basking corner that stays on for 13.5 hours and then shuts off for another 10.5 so there is a night time temperature drop of about 10-15 degrees. The UV lighting is on the same timer so it follows the same schedule as the heat emitter to give him a day and night without mixing up his routine if I sleep in on the weekends..

I am using 2:1 tablespoons of Flukers Repta Calcium and then Flukers Reptile Vitamin, they are mixed in a pepper shaker and then I sprinkle it in the container his meal goes in for a dusting prior to feeding him.

I have jungle vine that goes from the top of the cage to the bottom and every which way in between (without overcrowding the cage) so he can move freely in between the 2 live plants (a pothos and a spider plant) and then a couple vines that go to the bottom where a larger piece of tree branch as well as a horizontal line cross the bottom so he can access his water dish.

He seemed to immediately recognize it as a water source and every morning makes his way down on the vines and drinks from it. I change the water daily or if cricket makes its way in, but he has never expressed any interest in going near the water any other time.

The top of his cage on his basking vine is 93 degrees F with humidity at around 55-60% and then the bottom of the cage the temp is 85 degrees F with humidity closer to 80%. At night the top have will drop between 80-85 and the bottom drops to the mid 70s. (This was a feat that made me very proud of !!!! In the all screen cage, I could not get the temp above 70 and he stayed a dark green and would not eat and barely moved. )

He now moves freely between the 2 levels and eats like a pig!! He is surprisingly active unless there are giant eyeballs gawking at him and then he gets a little timid, but like I said.. just in the last day or 2 I noticed him a bit not like himself.....

I noticed his head started to shed last night and when I woke up this morning he was in considerable more shed mode. Its on his back and covered his entire face and its starting to flake off his eyes and now his nose has finally shed completely. Since hes shedding I have increased the misting to make sure the humidity stays higher.

I finally found the as close as its going to get in a Montana Winter for buying a cham on a whim habitat assembled a few days ago and just really noticed the change in behavior and color last night/this morning. I do hope its shedding..

This spring/summer my husband is a terrific builder so he is going to construct a significantly larger enclosure for him so he has more room as he gets bigger. I am very excited for that!!! and without a/c in my house, an all screen house will be much much easier to regulate!

Here are a few pictures I tried to capture the true extent of his shedding, but unfortunately without taking him out.. its hard to do

 

[Stiffy]

Here is a better picture to cover his current shedding I just took

 

[dom1959]

shedding is a very exciting time!
good luck!

 

[Stiffy]

Thank you! I was not prepared for this and was unaware they shed like humans with a sunburn.. How long does this process take? How often does this happen? Now that he's got a size-able chunk off his face and side, you can really see a more vibrant color and where the skin is still attached especially on his tail you can see the dull color.

I hope we get through this shed okay, he is very edgy tonight and looks so vulnerable

 

[Ladybones]

Mist him often in warm water often, that will help the shedding process go easier for him. It should only take a few day's to up to a week, But in some cases it can take up to 2 weeks to completely shed They are grouchy during the shed time and it will be clock work, next month around this time he will shed again. Be prepared to feed him alot after shedding as they are really hungry right afterwards.

 

[Kate]

You sound as if you are really working hard at this. I wouldn't go as far as saying that the pet shop lied, it's more of a case that some employees couldn't care and haven't got a clue. As he is indoors can I suggest you change your supplement to anything not Fluckers and aim to supplement plain phosphorous fee calcium without d3 most feeds an a calcium with d3 twice a month and a multivit twice a month. Can you switch your black light to an ordinary household bulb. You want to imitate the sun and black doesn't do that. One of the reasons we don't use water dishes is that inscects drown in them and chams poop in them, they are just not clean and can't be there 24/7. A night time drop to low 50s is good as it sloes down their metabolic rate allowing him to sleep.

 

[Stiffy]

thank you kate! are there any supplement brands that you recommend and i will make the switch immediately! he has most of the old skin off, just a little bit on his crest mouth and feet with some toward the end of his tail to go. He let me use a warm water q tip to roll some of the big chunks off of him.. his cage is a MESS now with dead skin! how soon after the shed is complete would you recommend i clean? i dont want to disturb him immediately after if that will stress him too much!

With the lights, due to the heating issue im having in my house right now, i leave the black light on 24/7 and then i have 2 uv bulbs to create sunlight inside for him and the plants, i can change the black light to a day light bulb, but i need some form of heat other than the ceramic heat emitter during the day. to keep light from interfering with him at night, just the black light at night keeps it from getting too cold but enough to create a temp drop from the day!

now that his sides have shed, his bright vibrant lime green is back. he does seem very vulnerable right now though but it hasnt changed his step! hes been rocking from the vines all night lol

 

[crocky]

If your house is 66-67 at night that should be ok without any additional heat at night. During the day as Kate mentioned use a household bulb to get the basking spot to the correct temp. I always use a dimmer so I can adjust as needed. I would ditch the lack light and heat emitter and use the UV with a regular plant daylight bulb then a household bulb for heating if possible. I keep my house at 68 day and night and the room my Cham is in is about 3-4 degrees cooler all the time and vice versa in the summer. But with the bulbs I use it keeps the cage temp where it should be. Just my two cents. Also you said tropical UV, is that a 5.0

 

[Kate]

thank you kate! are there any supplement brands that you recommend and i will make the switch immediately! he has most of the old skin off, just a little bit on his crest mouth and feet with some toward the end of his tail to go. He let me use a warm water q tip to roll some of the big chunks off of him.. his cage is a MESS now with dead skin! how soon after the shed is complete would you recommend i clean? i dont want to disturb him immediately after if that will stress him too much!

With the lights, due to the heating issue im having in my house right now, i leave the black light on 24/7 and then i have 2 uv bulbs to create sunlight inside for him and the plants, i can change the black light to a day light bulb, but i need some form of heat other than the ceramic heat emitter during the day. to keep light from interfering with him at night, just the black light at night keeps it from getting too cold but enough to create a temp drop from the day!

now that his sides have shed, his bright vibrant lime green is back. he does seem very vulnerable right now though but it hasnt changed his step! hes been rocking from the vines all night lol

I use my heat emitter at night. I have it plugged into a pulse proportional thermostat set to come on if temps drop lower than 60. The supplements we get in uk are different from over the pond. I hear sticky tongue is good. Sandra chameleon has done lots of research on different supplements .You will find her blogs on here.