New chameleon I bought from CL

[Newchameleonowner]

Hi forum,
I bought a female veiled chameleon off cl on Sunday and wanted to know if it looks healthy, the owner says it is two years old and has fed it nothing but crickets and carrots ( I am now feeding it crickets,dubias, and super worms with gutloads of oatmeal, chia seeds, carrots and flukes cricket supplements plus calcium hydrate gels) I am starting to worry because it's color is turning grey and I have to hold her sometimes but she won't drink off the little dropper although I mist her twice a day and keep the temps from basking to 85-90 and ambient at 70-80 her humidity levels are at a 80-90 max her poops were orange/black but have now changed to sometimes brown white or black/orange. If she does not drink from the little dripper after I must her cage I take her outside to one of my plants and must her with the garden hose because so far that's the only method I found that works . Attached are pics if her cage the plants I use are hibiscus and a small pothos plant. She used to have substrate f sand and just two sticks but since I got her I got her the plant. Is there any recommendations?

 

[Newchameleonowner]

Sorry wrong picture upload, here are the pictures

 

[Newchameleonowner]

heres more

 

[Newchameleonowner]

Hi forum,
I bought a female veiled chameleon off cl on Sunday and wanted to know if it looks healthy, the owner says it is two years old and has fed it nothing but crickets and carrots ( I am now feeding it crickets,dubias, and super worms with gutloads of oatmeal, chia seeds, carrots and flukes cricket supplements plus calcium hydrate gels) I am starting to worry because it's color is turning grey and I have to hold her sometimes but she won't drink off the little dropper although I mist her twice a day and keep the temps from basking to 85-90 and ambient at 70-80 her humidity levels are at a 80-90 max her poops were orange/black but have now changed to sometimes brown white or black/orange. If she does not drink from the little dripper after I must her cage I take her outside to one of my plants and must her with the garden hose because so far that's the only method I found that works . Attached are pics if her cage the plants I use are hibiscus and a small pothos plant. She used to have substrate f sand and just two sticks but since I got her I got her the plant. Is there any recommendations?

Blah sorry "must" = mist

 

[FlChamMom]

Make sure she has a lay bin. A female cham will lay infertile eggs, if she does not have a suitible place to lay them she can become eggbound. There are instructions in the blog section of the forums. Make sure to dust the feeders with calcium daily- the ladies need strong bones to lay eggs!

 

[ChameleonKing1911]

A female veiled should usually be a shade of green with some spots. If her defecates are orange that means she is either VERY dehydrated most likely be due to dehydration. Or she is sick and defecates are orange because of diarrhea and her not drinking and her grey color. Chameleons dont like to be handled so keep it at 1 time a week at the most. Also my chameleon would drink from his dripper so I had a water bowl at the top of his cage with a bubble filter from the dollar store in it so it would clean the water. He drank form that. Also chameleons lay eggs even if the eggs are unfertilized so you should build an egg laying bin if you notice your chameleon is on the bottom of her cage alot. She may also be about to shed and she will eat alot less when shedding or about to shed.

 

[Newchameleonowner]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon: Veiled Cham, Female, 2 years old and about 3 days
Handling - Daily, since if it does not drink water while misting i take it outside and mist it on one of my outside plants
Feeding - Gut loaded crickets (chia seeds, carrots, oatmeal, plus flukers calcium hydrate and flukers cricket food) Dubias with same gutload as crickets and superworms)
Supplements - Calcium without d3 everyday, havent done with d3 or multiviatiomins
Watering - Hand mist 2x plus little dripper, if not drinking then outside and mist with waterhose
Fecal Description -When I first got her her poop has been brown with orange, now it fluctuates between orange/brown, and white/brown, perhaps the dubia i feed her are too big?
History - I am not the original owner, owner sold me the chameleon on CL for 85 including her small viv which im planning on changing in 2 weeks when i get my paycheck, she had sanding substrate which i removed as it was interfering with my draining system and it disturb me to know that she could get impacted from feeding her in her cage as she wont eat from my hand.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Combo appears to be 16x16x12?
Lighting -UVB 100 Reptile 26 W and infrared lightbulb
Temperature - Cage floor 60-79 Basking around 85-103
Humidity -I use a combo temp/hyg and min 30 and max of 88
Plants -I have a small pothos plant and a medium hibiscus
Placement - My room, about my height which is about 5'9
Location - Southern California

Current Problem - Coloring, overall asking the community if it looks healthy or any pointers?

 

[Newchameleonowner]

Make sure she has a lay bin. A female cham will lay infertile eggs, if she does not have a suitible place to lay them she can become eggbound. There are instructions in the blog section of the forums. Make sure to dust the feeders with calcium daily- the ladies need strong bones to lay eggs!

What do you recommend as a substrate i have so organic soil laying around from when i replanted her hibiscus plant, would that be enough to put in a tray?

 

[FlChamMom]

For my female, I have a 14 " deep container with play sand I keep damp. My container is a small bathroom trashcan. Some people use soil or soil mixed with sand- the important thing is making sure it will hold a tunnel for when she digs.

Oh and she needs a much bigger cage-at least 36x18. No substrate on bottom of cage. Use calcium w/ D3 and multivitamins 2x monthly.

 

[Newchameleonowner]

For my female, I have a 14 " deep container with play sand I keep damp. My container is a small bathroom trashcan. Some people use soil or soil mixed with sand- the important thing is making sure it will hold a tunnel for when she digs.

From the pictures, can you tell if it's healthy or not? I will try to observe her more as she's not used to me yet i try to let her do her own thing until she needs her misting or feeding.

 

[FlChamMom]

I can't see anything glaring from the pics you posted. Granted they are not clear pics. Make sure her arms are straight ( no 2nd elbows), bulgy eyes (not sunken). If you could post a side picture outside of the cage that would help. It is great that you are doing research- Good luck with her!

 

[Newchameleonowner]

thank u and here they are