Melon, the Veiled Chameleon, how old are you?

[CaseyJean]

Just got my cham, from Petland, so naturally, I have no idea how old he/she is! Need to know so I'm sure when I should get a new wired enclosure, Melon is in a glass enclosure right now and I've had him/her for approximately one day. Somebody help!

Attached a photo of him/her. Length from head to tail is about 10in, 1.5in wide, 1.5in tall.

 

[AngieL]

To check the sex of your new friend you only need to look at the back oh the hind feet. If male you will see a little toe like spur. The females don't have the spur.

Just from the look of the casque I would say sub adult 6-8 months or older and I think I see some colours coming through. A picture of him/her on your hand would be a good indication of size.

The colours I see look to be more female than male but the spur test will tell you 100%

 

[CaseyJean]

I believe it is a female, thank you! I also suspected she was around that age, is it necessary that I move her to a wired cage instead?

 

[AngieL]

A lot of people keep them in glass tanks with great success but I am not one of them you will want her in a decent sized enclosure so if the mesh is bigger then it may be a good idea.

She will need a laying bin too so you will need room for something at least 12 inches round and deep. Here's a great blog and video about egg laying needs
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

These helped me greatly and I hope they are useful to you too!

 

[Decadancin]

Hey CaseyJean, I would say you've got about a five or six month old girl there. (Hard to tell without seeing the back legs, but by the size of the casque and length of her body that would be my guess. Here's a great link for basic husbandry needs for veileds and the laying bin info is there as well.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

As for when to put your cham into a larger enclosure, she should be big enough now. You will need at least an 18 x 18 x 36" tall enclosure (for a girl), but I'd go with a 24 x 24 x 48 just to give her extra room. Lots of great site sponsors carry enclosures and if you search the "Enclosures and Supplies" section you can get some great ideas.

A lot of the info here will not match what the pet stores will tell you, but there are a lot of success stories here and unfortunately not so many from the pet stores advice.

Best of luck with your new little one and I can't wait to see more pictures!

PM me if you've got any questions!

Here's a look at the tarsal spur...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/images/veiled_thumb3.jpg