Male Veiled Looks Healthy, Eats But is Awfully SKINNY!!!!!

[DJBMURDER]

I know that they get skinny to absorb heat from the UVB rays and sunlight and to hide but my male just finished shedding, has been eating good (dust with calcium w/o D3 He seems hydrated, colors look good, hes always all over the cage and active, but seems so darn skinny...he is about 8-12 months old...any ideas? Is this normal? He eats anywhere from 4-8 dusted crickets a day

He's a male veiled in a reptibreeze 18x18x36 with a hibiscus tree, plenty of foilage, gets watered plenty and the temps are perfect...is this just something to expect with veileds? I got him from a breeder...he seems healthy...am i just a over worried parent? LOL.

P.S. My female I adopted that is 18 months old is gravid and is eating good and warming up to me She's so beautiful and I believe she has translucent genes in her? I dont know. But please help me with the male

 

[CamiGirl89]

You will want to consider getting him a cage that is 24x24x48 soon, especially at his age! He needs some more space! But males are known to be build thinner than the females. They can puff out and look fat, or suck it in and look really thin. Can you post a picture of your male, as well as some info about his enclosure? Lights, temp, plants, watering habits, etc? My female looks like a little chunk next to my male, who looks lean and muscular until he is relaxing... then he has a pot belly. Typical man, I guess

 

[DJBMURDER]

lol so true, my female is nice and chubby, ill get a pic of him but now that I look at him I think I'm just overreacting, when I hold him he is pudgy and when he's sleeping hes pudgy. But when I get a chance I'll post a pic, Im not so worried anymore, I think he's fine I can't wait to breed these two wonderful creatures. Only question is, since my male is smaller (and a tad younger) than my female, will that affect the possibilities of them mating?


and ya, the male is in a 18x18x36 reptibreeze 5.0 reptibulb UVB lamp standard 75 watt bulb for basking, hibiscus tree in center, vines and fake foilage around the tree. I'll post pics of the set up...Female is in a 30x24x18 screen cage with a hibiscus bush and foilage as well and a reptibulb 10 bulb and a standard 75 watt for basking. They get misted 2-4 times a day. They both seem healthy just the male is tricky but I think I'm just paranoid


ill have to wait til they're both in bed to get pics lol

 

[CamiGirl89]

The age difference won't matter. So long as he is nearly the age of your female (especially with him being near a year old) he should be fine. But he really does need a bigger cage, he is plenty big enough to graduate!

 

[DJBMURDER]

updated with pics, and like i stated in the post above yours, ill get pics of both of them once they are sleeping, dont want to stress them out

 

[carol5208]

Can I make a suggestion?.... I would get the cages up off the floor. Put them on some type of table or stand or something. It must feel very unnatural for them to be so low to the ground. Definitely get a bigger cage for the male and what kind of temps are you getting using a regular lamp like that that is SO high up off the cage?

 

[SonTigerPantherCham]

Hi Carol, that was my first thought as well, they need to be off the ground, can't imagine my home is in the tress but I'm living on the ground. Must be intimidating to say the least.
Suzi turned me on to great shelving from hd, for 20.00 dollars, individual bakers racks that a 24x24x48 fits great on.

 

[DJBMURDER]

so what shelves do you suggest? Ikea? and the heat lamp is high until i get a clamp like the others...temps are about 70-78 at night basking is 85-90 daytime with rest of the cage 80-85

 

[Elizadolots]

My suggestion would be cheap tables from IKEA. They have some pretty affordable ones.

You can work with them to create drainage for your cages.

 

[DJBMURDER]

i added pictures the female is healthy as can be and i think the male is too i just made it worse by buggin him trying to take pics and as you can see the lighting is terrible


ya after pestering them i realized they are both healthy and fine, im following their care to a T with the exception of maybe having them sit up higher, the only thing is where they sit now the natural sunlight hits them perfectly, and my male isnt as big as I think you guys are assuming...i think he still can be in the 18x18x36 for a little longer, maybe a month or two. Gosh I'm such a worry wort here I was at 1AM taking the hibiscus plants out, buggin these guys (and gal) while they were sleeping to get pictures only to find out I'm worrying for nothing. I hope I didn't stress them out too much. Anyways, Thank you all for your concern and help!