Just urates?

[chelizard]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, male, guessing ~1-1.5 years old? Wild caught in Florida about two weeks ago, mailed to my home on the west coast ~1 week ago.
• Handling - Not at all. He went straight from the box he was mailed in to his enclosure. I handled him for a few minutes when I caught him two weeks ago, and he was placed into a box by a company that ships live animals last week.
• Feeding - Fed 6 adult crickets dusted with calcium w/o vit D on Wednesday (day of arrival). Fed 6 adult crickets + 2 superworms on Friday, dusted with Miner-All. Fed 8 calcium dusted crickets today, Monday, and a few superworm yesterday.
• Crickets are gut-loaded with carrots and Josh's Frogs Premium Cricket Cuisine. My plan is to feed him 6 adult crickets dusted with calcium (no vit D) every other day, and once per week to also include a few superworms. I'll also dust crickets with Miner-All 2x/month.
• Supplements - ReptiCalcium w/o D3 on every feeding. Sticky Tongue Farms Indoor Miner-All 2x/mo. Also bought ReptiVite but haven't used it yet.
• Watering - Manually misting warm water for 2-3 minutes each day, once when I wake up at 7:30am and once around when his lights go off at 7:30pm. I have seen him drinking some droplet off leaves but not that often. I also have a clear water glass near a vine that looks emptier, but haven't seen him drink from it.
• Fecal Description - Not tested for parasites yet but plan to do that in about 2 weeks when he's acclimated to his new home. No feces today but gelatinous and crunchy orange urates. Last poop was on Friday.
• History - Wild caught in southern Florida. Mellow affect compared to other WC chameleons.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 24x24x48 Reptibreeze XL screen cage.
• Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 T8 bulb (18”) with typical reptile bulb hooded housing resting on top of the cage. 100W frosted incandescent bulb in an 8.5" ceramic dome with dimmer, turned down to ~80% brightness or so for ideal basking temperature. Daily lighting: 7am – 7:30pm for both bulbs.
• Temperature - measure with a temp/hygrometer at the top and middle of cage. Infrared thermometer used to measure other areas.
  Daytime Temps
  Basking spot: 80-84 degrees F. Center of cage: 76 degrees F. Bottom of cage: 73-75 deg F.
  Evening Temps: ~67-72 deg F.
• Humidity - Daytime: 42-55%. Evening: 65-80%. Misting 2x/day in morning and evening. Running warm mist humidifier for 8 hours in the evening right next to the cage. Using temp/hygrometer to measure humidity.
• Plants - Tons of live plants, including: pothos, prayer plant (maranta), bromeliads, two schefflera, snake plant, one philodendron. I built a frame inside the cage so there is nothing touching the floor. There's a tray on the bottom that I can pull out to rinse and drain. There's also manzanita branches in there that I collected, sanded, washed, sanitized and dried.
• Placement - Cage is next to my desk and in the side of a large living room, ~10 feet from large glass french doors and a heating vent. Bottom of cage is about 2 feet off the floor, top of cage is about 6 feet high. It sits on top of a tall wooden TV stand and is surrounded by tall plants.
• Location - Northern California.

Current Problem - He pooped 3 days ago (Friday May 29) and it was normal-looking, brown. Today I found a huge orange urate but couldn’t find a poop anywhere near it. Is this normal for them to expel urates without poop?

He is in the middle of molting. Acting normally from what I have read is typical behavior – wakes up with lights, ate out of my hand today!, basks for a couple hours then patrols, goes to sleeping spot a bit before lights turn off. He’s mostly been black/dark colored other than sleep but some colors showed today.

Uploaded some photos of his urates today, one photo is after I squished them. Plus a couple basking pics and one sleeping photo.

 

[chelizard]

JUST KIDDING he pooped! And it’s big! (I’m learning a lot here and wanna do right by my chameleon)

 

[MissSkittles]

Is he still bloated?
Will be going thru your husbandry in a few.

 

[chelizard]

Is he still bloated?
Will be going thru your husbandry in a few.

Thank you so much!

He is not bloated anymore. He did a pretty enormous poop that I found later, which had fallen to the bottom of the enclosure.

(not sure how to / if I can edit the original post title and pics. The photos were when he was bloating and he wasn't bloated today.)

 

[MissSkittles]

I talk a lot so breaking this into two parts.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, male, guessing ~1-1.5 years old? Wild caught in Florida about two weeks ago, mailed to my home on the west coast ~1 week ago. That’s cool! You caught your own! Wow!
• Handling - Not at all. He went straight from the box he was mailed in to his enclosure. I handled him for a few minutes when I caught him two weeks ago, and he was placed into a box by a company that ships live animals last week. You’ll definitely want to work on building trust with him. Here’s a great blog on that. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
• Feeding - Fed 6 adult crickets dusted with calcium w/o vit D on Wednesday (day of arrival). Fed 6 adult crickets + 2 superworms on Friday, dusted with Miner-All. Fed 8 calcium dusted crickets today, Monday, and a few superworm yesterday. You’ll want to lightly dust every feeding with the calcium without D3. Is the Miner-all the indoor or outdoor formula? I’m lacking knowledge on the frequency it should be used, but usually the multivitamin is used one feeding every other week. I’ll either get back to you about that or tag a member who should know. Crickets are a good staple feeder, but variety is always best. Attaching graphic below.
• Crickets are gut-loaded with carrots and Josh's Frogs Premium Cricket Cuisine. I’m not familiar with that, but I would advise adding some fresh produce as well to the diet of your bugs. Healthy insects are more nutritious. My plan is to feed him 6 adult crickets dusted with calcium (no vit D) every other day, and once per week to also include a few superworms. I'll also dust crickets with Miner-All 2x/month. Ohhh… You already know what to do with the supplements. Carry on. Superworms are fatty and so you do want to limit them to treat status. I’d suggest monitoring your guy’s weight on a routine basis. Veileds can very easily become overweight. Monitoring his face and casque for puffing out is also a good way.
• Supplements - ReptiCalcium w/o D3 on every feeding. Sticky Tongue Farms Indoor Miner-All 2x/mo. Also bought ReptiVite but haven't used it yet.
• Watering - Manually misting warm water for 2-3 minutes each day, once when I wake up at 7:30am and once around when his lights go off at 7:30pm. I have seen him drinking some droplet off leaves but not that often. Many chameleons are secretive about drinking, so monitor the color of the urate. The one he passed isn’t bad. The dark orange is presumably since he hadn’t pooped in awhile. I also have a clear water glass near a vine that looks emptier, but haven't seen him drink from it. Most of us here don’t believe in the water glass or bowl. Chameleons can’t really identify still water and so it’s mainly just a way to grow bacterial soup in your enclosure. If you feel he isn’t hydrated enough, you could add a one minute mid day misting or use a dripper for about 15 minutes.
• Fecal Description - Not tested for parasites yet but plan to do that in about 2 weeks when he's acclimated to his new home. No feces today but gelatinous and crunchy orange urates. Last poop was on Friday. He definitely needs a wellness visit and fecal.
• History - Wild caught in southern Florida. Mellow affect compared to other WC chameleons.
• To be continued….
• 
  

 

[MissSkittles]

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 24x24x48 Reptibreeze XL screen cage. That is the minimum, so perfect. However, I do like to suggest giving him a double wide if you’re able. I attached two XL ReptiBreezes together for my guys and they used all the space. https://chameleonacademy.com/double-wide-chameleon-cage-project/
• Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 T8 bulb (18”) with typical reptile bulb hooded housing resting on top of the cage. The standard is a T5 with either a 5.0 or 6% and then you’ll want the basking area to be 8-9” below the lights. With a T8, you’ll need to use a 10.0 bulb and the distance between light and basking area would be more like 6-7” I believe. 100W frosted incandescent bulb in an 8.5" ceramic dome with dimmer, turned down to ~80% brightness or so for ideal basking temperature. Daily lighting: 7am – 7:30pm for both bulbs. Excellent schedule.
• Temperature - measure with a temp/hygrometer at the top and middle of cage. Infrared thermometer used to measure other areas.
  Daytime Temps
  Basking spot: 80-84 degrees F. Center of cage: 76 degrees F. Bottom of cage: 73-75 deg F. Perfect
  Evening Temps: ~67-72 deg F. Nice nighttime drop. If you can consistently attain a night temp below at least 68-70, you could add a cool mist fogger/humidifier for a few hours to boost humidity. That simulates natural hydration as they get in the wild thru fog.
• Humidity - Daytime: 42-55%. Evening: 65-80%. Misting 2x/day in morning and evening. Running warm mist humidifier for 8 hours in the evening right next to the cage. Not warm…needs to be cool. Think hot and dry, cold and wet as being the ideals. Heat plus humidity increases risks for respiratory infection. The only way that the wild chams in FL avoid this is unlimited ventilation. Using temp/hygrometer to measure humidity.
• Plants - Tons of live plants, including: pothos, prayer plant (maranta), bromeliads, two schefflera, snake plant, one philodendron. I built a frame inside the cage so there is nothing touching the floor. There's a tray on the bottom that I can pull out to rinse and drain. There's also manzanita branches in there that I collected, sanded, washed, sanitized and dried. Excellent! Am always jealous of you guys and your ability to gather manzanita.
• Placement - Cage is next to my desk and in the side of a large living room, ~10 feet from large glass french doors and a heating vent. Bottom of cage is about 2 feet off the floor, top of cage is about 6 feet high. It sits on top of a tall wooden TV stand and is surrounded by tall plants. Ok, is that a heavy traffic area? Lots of people or other animals around? If so, make sure he has ample hiding places and you could maybe raise him up a bit higher.
• Location - Northern California.

Current Problem - He pooped 3 days ago (Friday May 29) and it was normal-looking, brown. Today I found a huge orange urate but couldn’t find a poop anywhere near it. Is this normal for them to expel urates without poop?
I’ll be disregarding this since he’s pooped.
He is in the middle of molting. Acting normally from what I have read is typical behavior – wakes up with lights, ate out of my hand today!, Wow! basks for a couple hours then patrols, goes to sleeping spot a bit before lights turn off. Sounds like he’s settling in nicely. He’s mostly been black/dark colored other than sleep but some colors showed today. He is used to much higher temps, so it may take a bit for him to adjust to not being baked.

Uploaded some photos of his urates today, one photo is after I squished them. Plus a couple basking pics and one sleeping photo.
You’re doing great! Just a couple of improvements/changes needed.

 

[chelizard]

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 24x24x48 Reptibreeze XL screen cage. That is the minimum, so perfect. However, I do like to suggest giving him a double wide if you’re able. I attached two XL ReptiBreezes together for my guys and they used all the space. https://chameleonacademy.com/double-wide-chameleon-cage-project/
• Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 T8 bulb (18”) with typical reptile bulb hooded housing resting on top of the cage. The standard is a T5 with either a 5.0 or 6% and then you’ll want the basking area to be 8-9” below the lights. With a T8, you’ll need to use a 10.0 bulb and the distance between light and basking area would be more like 6-7” I believe. 100W frosted incandescent bulb in an 8.5" ceramic dome with dimmer, turned down to ~80% brightness or so for ideal basking temperature. Daily lighting: 7am – 7:30pm for both bulbs. Excellent schedule.
• Temperature - measure with a temp/hygrometer at the top and middle of cage. Infrared thermometer used to measure other areas.
  Daytime Temps
  Basking spot: 80-84 degrees F. Center of cage: 76 degrees F. Bottom of cage: 73-75 deg F. Perfect
  Evening Temps: ~67-72 deg F. Nice nighttime drop. If you can consistently attain a night temp below at least 68-70, you could add a cool mist fogger/humidifier for a few hours to boost humidity. That simulates natural hydration as they get in the wild thru fog.
• Humidity - Daytime: 42-55%. Evening: 65-80%. Misting 2x/day in morning and evening. Running warm mist humidifier for 8 hours in the evening right next to the cage. Not warm…needs to be cool. Think hot and dry, cold and wet as being the ideals. Heat plus humidity increases risks for respiratory infection. The only way that the wild chams in FL avoid this is unlimited ventilation. Using temp/hygrometer to measure humidity.
• Plants - Tons of live plants, including: pothos, prayer plant (maranta), bromeliads, two schefflera, snake plant, one philodendron. I built a frame inside the cage so there is nothing touching the floor. There's a tray on the bottom that I can pull out to rinse and drain. There's also manzanita branches in there that I collected, sanded, washed, sanitized and dried. Excellent! Am always jealous of you guys and your ability to gather manzanita.
• Placement - Cage is next to my desk and in the side of a large living room, ~10 feet from large glass french doors and a heating vent. Bottom of cage is about 2 feet off the floor, top of cage is about 6 feet high. It sits on top of a tall wooden TV stand and is surrounded by tall plants. Ok, is that a heavy traffic area? Lots of people or other animals around? If so, make sure he has ample hiding places and you could maybe raise him up a bit higher.
• Location - Northern California.

Current Problem - He pooped 3 days ago (Friday May 29) and it was normal-looking, brown. Today I found a huge orange urate but couldn’t find a poop anywhere near it. Is this normal for them to expel urates without poop?
I’ll be disregarding this since he’s pooped.
He is in the middle of molting. Acting normally from what I have read is typical behavior – wakes up with lights, ate out of my hand today!, Wow! basks for a couple hours then patrols, goes to sleeping spot a bit before lights turn off. Sounds like he’s settling in nicely. He’s mostly been black/dark colored other than sleep but some colors showed today. He is used to much higher temps, so it may take a bit for him to adjust to not being baked.

Uploaded some photos of his urates today, one photo is after I squished them. Plus a couple basking pics and one sleeping photo.
You’re doing great! Just a couple of improvements/changes needed.

Thank you sooo so much for the detailed response. It's really helpful and I love learning more.

Will go ahead and improve my crickets' diet, mix up the staple feeders and upgrade the UVB bulb. It's currently about 12" from his basking branch because I was allowing space for his casque, but I have a way better concept of distance after reading the ZooMed guide on bulb distance from Chameleon Academy.

We have a cat and my two beastie boys have met each other, and seem pretty disinterested in one another (fortunately!). Adding another foot of height seems totally doable, and got a pitcher plant to add to the collection today

Great point on temp difference affecting color! Didn't consider that and makes a ton of sense. Really appreciate your input