male yemen digging

[matt88]

i have a 15 week old yemen chameleon called reggie and he digging up the substrate down 1 side of his viv y is this cheers for your help

 

[Kate]

Could he be trying to get a feeder? It is not recommended to have substrate at the bottom of his viv. It is possible for him to swallow a bit and become impacted. It is also difficult to clean . Some do manage but most prefer not to use it. The other thing that comes to mind is are you sure your he is not a she? Females dig to lay their eggs. At 15 weeks it would be too young. Just a thought.

 

[tenchijin]

The only time I've seen this is with a restless chameleon who's trying to get out of the enclosure. He keeps walking against the wall/sides and thus begins digging as there's nowhere to go.

Could be a sign that the environment is not right for him- too hot? Too cold? Water? You'll have to look for those things.

 

[matt88]

been told its a he did wonder if its a she my self but been reassured its a male its only once a day he digs up the side he seems happys other wise eats fine an seem happy

 

[tenchijin]

It's really easy to identify males. The tarsal spurs are very obvious.

 

[matt88]

will the spurs be visable at 15 weeks old

 

[Reganold]

visible from birth usually

 

[Olimpia]

Do you have a proper thermometer in the cage with him? I would take a closer look at all your temperatures, to make sure that the basking spot is not too hot and that the ambient temperature of the cage is not very hot either. It sounds mainly like he's trying to escape, and escape downwards usually means the top of the cage is too hot. For a young veiled you want his basking spot to be about 85*F and his ambient temperature to be between 70-75*F.

And yes, tarsal spurs are visible right out of the egg.

 

[matt88]

yer temps are all good maybe hes just scared

 

[Olimpia]

Maybe you could post photos of his cage so we could take a look? It's not super normal for chameleons to dig around on the bottom of a cage, since they prefer to be up higher at all costs unless they have to (with the rare exception) so it might be good to see if anything is a stressor or an issue so we can nip it in the butt.

You don't want him to be scared too long or he could decline in health pretty quickly. Or he may not be scared at all, but with photos it might be easier to tell.

 

[matt88]

will get 1 on asap cheers for the help