Need some advice about chameleon behavior and or possible issue

Dgk5989

New Member
Hello, i am a beginner owner of a year old veiled and I need some advice.

Your chameleon- Martin (15 month old Male veiled and owned him since march 2021)

Handling- I handle him about none to twice a day to try to give him natural sun

Feeding- feeding everyday - crickets, mealworms, superworms, BSFL, hornworms as a treat all gutloaded with carrots, collard greens, mustard greens, apples, turnip greens

Supplements- a local reptile shops supplements calcium w/o d3 every feeding
Calcium with d3/multi vitamin twice a month

Watering- we use a dripper and mistking that goes off 30 min before lights on for 4 min (4:15 am) and 30 min after lights off (4:30) 4 min and at 6pm9:45pm and 1am for 2 min

Fecal description- urates are white sometimes slightly yellow and brown poop is moist, I don’t really see him drink but we are trying to get him to drink more

Cage- 2x2x4 screen cage

Lighting- 50 wat heat bulb exo terra lights on at 5am off at 4pm
Reptisun 5.0 HO t5 linear bulb (we replace every 6 months) lights on 4:30 off at 4pm

Temperature- basking 85-90
Ambient 75-77 Lower part of cage around 73 all measured with temp gun so might or might not be accurate

Humidity- stays around 50-63% during day average is 54% and between 75-90% at night

Plants- we use live plants - pothos, draceana, JAPANESE ARALIA as center plant and mixture of real branches and bendy vines

Placement- he has spent his entire life in the living room. Is near ceiling fan but we never use it since it stresses him out and the vent near him is closed

Location- Sacramento, CA

Current problem- so I need some advice, I’ve seen him gape every so often in the basking area and I know that’s temperature regulation and a couple times in the cool areas but I get so over protective and think it’s a possible URI, so about a month ago I took him to the vet because I saw him point his nose up once and didn’t want to risk it, no other clear symptoms of uri (no bubbles, no wheezing or popping, no discharge, nor taking big gulps of air) but the people at the reptile shop and the vet said he looks healthy, they did a swab for bacteria from his saliva which didn’t have any and vet didn’t see the need for culture sensitive test. He was shedding at that time and he’s getting ready to shed again and gaping again. So I’m wanting to see if it’s related to shedding, also since we got him he has always sit on his branch a little weird (sits at a slight angle) and looks like his head is pointed slightly up but not really and wanting to know what you guys think and if I should go back to the vet or monitor him
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By any means am i an expert but are you misting a total of 14 min in a 24 hr cycle? I live in a total different climate but that seems like alot. I mist 2 times daily for 2 min and it barely dries up. Does your enclosure Have a chance to dry out in-between mistings?
 
I am betting he is much hotter than you think. How are you determining the basking temp, probe temp gauge, temp gun? Basking Temp for a male veiled should be 80-85max.
 
By any means am i an expert but are you misting a total of 14 min in a 24 hr cycle? I live in a total different climate but that seems like alot. I mist 2 times daily for 2 min and it barely dries up. Does your enclosure Have a chance to dry out in-between mistings?
Yes after the morning misting it dries after an hour and I wake up at 4 am for work and it’s dry before the misting but I can tone down the mistings if you think it’s too much
 
I am betting he is much hotter than you think. How are you determining the basking temp, probe temp gauge, temp gun? Basking Temp for a male veiled should be 80-85max.
I have the temp gun to monitor the temp and have a digital hygrometer that shows humidity and temp which is near the cooler side and reads 75-77 for his ambient, house is kept at 75 and it’s also summer time here but other than the accuracy in the gun I have no idea how accurate it is
 
There is nothing wrong with long misting sessions.... These should be based on your environment, species, and cage. For example I am in Arizona. I run three 5 minute misting sessions. Morning and then two in the evening. All are run when the basking fixture either has not kicked on yet or has already kicked off for the day so that the cage is cooler.
 
I have the temp gun to monitor the temp and have a digital hygrometer that shows humidity and temp which is near the cooler side and reads 75-77 for his ambient, house is kept at 75 and it’s also summer time here but other than the accuracy in the gun I have no idea how accurate it is
Ok temp gun will only measure surface temp. Go to the store tomorrow and get a temp gauge with a probe, zoo med makes one. Hook the probe on the branch below the heat.
I am betting it is much warmer than you are thinking it is... Looks like he sits pretty close to it as well even though it is raised off the screen.
So if the probe is reading 90 at the branch you can bet it is more like 93 at the back and 95 at the casque.
 
Last time I weighed him when we took him to the last visit he was 180 grams and I will go get the probe to see if it’s too hot
180 is a lot in cham world depending on his total length... So we base weight on total length. So a Veiled male that is 14-15 inches long tip of nose to end of tail should be 125-140 grams

I will go through your help form tomorrow for you as well.
 
Your chameleon- Martin (15 month old Male veiled and owned him since march 2021)
Handling- I handle him about none to twice a day to try to give him natural sun
Feeding- feeding everyday - crickets, mealworms, superworms, BSFL, hornworms as a treat all gutloaded with carrots, collard greens, mustard greens, apples, turnip greens
Supplements- a local reptile shops supplements calcium w/o d3 every feeding
Calcium with d3/multi vitamin twice a month So I would make sure your getting the right supplements from the shop. Always makes me nervous when people buy unlabeled supplements. Are you doing a multivitamin? What calcium with D3 are you using, take a pic for me.

Watering- we use a dripper and mistking that goes off 30 min before lights on for 4 min (4:15 am) and 30 min after lights off (4:30) 4 min and at 6pm9:45pm and 1am for 2 min

Fecal description- urates are white sometimes slightly yellow and brown poop is moist, I don’t really see him drink but we are trying to get him to drink more Providing a dripper can be helpful. Some will not drink unless they see water movement. A plastic solo cup with a few pin holes in the bottom of it sit it on the cage top and put ice cubes in it. It will provide a slow drip on to the plants below.

Cage- 2x2x4 screen cage
Lighting- 50 wat heat bulb exo terra lights on at 5am off at 4pm
Reptisun 5.0 HO t5 linear bulb (we replace every 6 months) lights on 4:30 off at 4pm

Temperature- basking 85-90 Too hot basking should be no hotter than 80-85max.
Ambient 75-77 Lower part of cage around 73 all measured with temp gun so might or might not be accurate These are fine. Make sure your getting a temp drop at night below 70 is best. And can be cooler than that.

Humidity- stays around 50-63% during day average is 54% and between 75-90% at night
Plants- we use live plants - pothos, draceana, JAPANESE ARALIA as center plant and mixture of real branches and bendy vines
Placement- he has spent his entire life in the living room. Is near ceiling fan but we never use it since it stresses him out and the vent near him is closed


Not really anything I see of concern. :)
 
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