Thank you for your response. I have given feedback in red
My chameleon:
•Female Veiled Chameleon approximately 5 months old but I query this. She has been with me the last 3 months.
She looks older than 5 months. Im not the best with age but I would say 8 months to a year.
•She is handled very much on her terms. I leave her door open and she makes her way onto my lap or into my hand. This may be 6 times a day, once a day or every few days!! I leave it to her to decide if she wants to come out.
•She is fed crickets and locusts at 8am and 2pm daily. Approx 5 locusts and 3 crickets each time.
This is too much. At her age she should be fed once in the morning every other day. Over feeding can lead to obesity and egg laying problems. They are gutloaded with Apple, Cucumber, Orange, Strawberries (Dependent what I have available)
will attach gut loading graphic along with feeder graphic to help guide. dusted with calcium and/or vitamin supplements.
Locusts are a good staple diet for them. An occasional waxworm is good as well. variety is best with chameleons. Some other main diets are Crickets, silkworms, and more.
•Her food is dusted with repticalcium without D3 every feed. Every other Wednesday they are dusted with reptivite vitamins without D3. And every other Wednesday opposite to the vitamins they are dusted with repticalcium with D3.
•I mist her twice daily using a spray bottle. I mist for approx 3-4 minutes ensuring the leaves and branches have sufficient droplets. Myself and my partner have seen her drink.
•Her faeces is dark brown and never see any remnants of her food in it. It is well formed not runny. Her urate is white and usually she has droplets of light yellow water when I see it coming out ?
I must say she hasn’t had a poo for last 2 days guess because she’s not eating and her urate today appears yellowish.
it’s always a good idea to have a fecal done to check for parasites
A few weeks ago I give her a treat of 2 waxworms and her poop was slightly runny. I panicked and phoned the vet but didn’t follow through as after 2 days her poop was normal again. She hasn’t been tested for parasites.
•I bought her from a reptile place in a garden centre. I go there often for her food and they appear to love and care for their animals. I can’t give any further info than that though I’m afraid.
Husbandry:
•She has a mesh cage. H: 30” W: 16” L:16”
this really is too small for an adult. Minimum size is 24x24x48” or equivalent. Will post pic that shows the size difference.
I will provide a picture.
•I will provide a picture of the type of lighting she has. Bulbs are Arcadia 50W UVA solar basking spotlight and Zoomed reptisun 5.0 UVB. Lights on at 7.45am lights off 7.45pm. They are on a timer so time schedule never changes.
the uvb that you have is a coil, which isn’t able to provide adequate levels unless your cham is 3” away. You need to get a linear T5HO fixture with either a 5.0 Repti sun or 6% Arcadia uvb bulb. I’d also switch out the blue bulb for an old fashioned incandescent one. Colored lights aren’t good for cham eyes.
•Basking spot approx 90 does swing tho dependent on temp of house and cage floor between 70-75. Lowest overnight temp 65. I have thermometers in her viv to measure this.
90 is a bit high in my opinion. Mine has basking spots at about 85.
•I feel like a terrible mum. I have never measured the humidity of her cage. I thought the misting would suffice enough but I will buy a humidity measurer tomorrow.
If you spray her twice a day for 3-4 mins, then the humidity should be fine. knowing your humidity is important. During the day it needs to be between 30-50%. At night when cool, it can get as high as 100%. High heat+high humidity= respiratory infection.
•I don’t have live plants in her viv!! I have fake ones.
Even If you don't have bioactive soil, you can still put potted plants inside her cage. Fake ones are fine You need to replace all the fake with real. Veileds like to nibble their plants and have been known to eat fake ones, which can cause impaction. Pothos is always a favorite...easy to grow, nice vines to add extra cham roads and big leaves to hide behind, drink from and nibble.
•Her cage is located in my living room next to my sofa. There is only myself, my partner and the dog here so there is not a lot going on in the house. She isn’t near any air vents, banging doors or fans. The top of the cage is 52” from the floor.
this could be a bit higher. Chams feel safest when they can look down upon us and their world.
•We live in North Wales in United Kingdom.
I notice the green carpet in your enclosure...I suggest getting rid of it. They are hard to keep clean and dry enough so that they don’t become a bacterial breeding ground.
I can’t see how big your lay bin is, but it needs to be at least 12x12” and with at least 9” of soil moist enough to hold a tunnel without collapsing. Most use washed play sand. Is a good idea to keep the lay bin as a permanent part of the enclosure to avoid guessing when it’s needed and the stress of moving it in/out. Once she starts to go dig in her bin, you’ll need to give her absolute privacy. I cover the visible sides of my girls enclosures with a light sheet. I have made peep holes so I can monitor their progress without them seeing me. If they see you, they may stop digging. Laying can take up to a couple of days. To avoid disturbing her, add a dripper instead of misting. Once she’s done, she’ll be back on her basking branch looking dirty and much thinner. Give her a good long misting and feed her very well for a few days.
Laying really takes a lot out of them so you’ll want to try to reduce how frequently she lays as well as clutch size. This article is a great resource for doing that. http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html
The answer to your question is that she's about to lay. are you informed about laying female veileds? you will need a laying bin with at least 6 inches of soil. The laying system takes anywhere from 1-3 weeks. they do it about every 3-4 months. They will eat less but are still healthy. Mine didn't eat for 2 weeks her first time laying. Also I would say cut down on the handling as it's stressful for them to go through the process.
