New Chameleon Owner, getting concerned :(

[RustyAmnesia]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male about 6-7 month old veiled chameleon. I've had it for about a month and a half now?
Handling - Never, tried leaving hand in cage for 20-30 minutes a few times a week for him to get used to me but he never seems to come near
Feeding - Crickets - about 15-20 a day, dusted with exo terra multi vitamin powder He also eats the occasional mealworm, I don't give him too many as I read they're hard on their system
Supplements - Exo terra multi vitamin powder supplement
Watering - I mist 3-5 times daily.
Fecal Description -. His poop is brownish/black


Cage Info:
Cage Type - I have an exoterra glass enclosure, approx. 16x16x30 I believe

Lighting - I have a 100 w daylight basking spot bulb and a 13 w reptile uvb100 bulb (both bulbs are exoterra)

Temperature - Temp at basking light, around 30 celcius, temp near bottom of cage... 20? Lowest overnight temp 19 celcisu? I have a temperature humidity gage.

Humidity - Before misting around 20% after a 2 min misting 50-60%? I mist. I measure by using a humidity gauge

Plants - plastic, with some vines

Placement - in a small room, opposite to a fish tank, no one goes in the room but me and my boyfriend

Location - I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada


Current Problem - He's never been green, except at the pet store, when we brought him home, he was a light orangy colour, and ever since hes been a red colour (but apparently they don't go red, but a dark brown) he has a good appetite, I mist him frequently, I've never seen him drink though, but then I've never sat and watched for him to drink. He sleeps during the night, but just sits on his high branch all day towards the light, moves around to eat and hide in the leaves but that's about it.

I know when they're dark brown/red they're stressed but I'm not sure what I can do to fix it, I've talked to the pet store I bought him from and they said I seem to be doing everything properly. I've yet to handle him, the pet store said they know he has a temperament problem and that they were trying to hold him a few minutes a day, however I've yet to be able to hold him, I leave my hand in the tank for about 20 minutes and try and let him come to me but he never does

I'm just getting worried because he's never been green.. and I know that's not a good thing

Does anyone here have any suggestions/tips?

http://imgur.com/ZhTCWtj
http://imgur.com/ZGlfirv
here are some pictures of The Professor (as I call him, i've yet to come up with a proper awesome name yet) today, he started shedding this morning

http://imgur.com/4liuhUR
here is a picture of the lighting/dripper setup

http://imgur.com/U7STcCI
and here is a picture of the entire enclosure

sidenote: I had the waterall/fountain running, but then one day I accidentally shut it off, and a few hours later I went back into the room and realized it was off, but also noticed the professor was a little bit more green so I left it off.

 

[Lovereps]

Welcome to the forum!
Sorry your cham is having a problem.
Your petstore probably thinks that all the advice they've given is right but all too often that isn't true.
There is an excellent caresheet written by the forum moderators, which lists the important details of what your cham needs to stay healthy and long-lived.
It is here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

One thing that I've noticed is that you're using a multivitamin every day.
For a chameleon, this is much too often.
The daily dusting should be plain calcium powder
2x a month calcium with D3 should be used
and
2x a month a multivitamin powder.

Waterfalls are not recommended for chameleons. Often they just serve as sources of bacteria.
In the wild, chams drink the water drops off of leaves .
Your misting and adding a dripper to drip water onto the leaves are both good things to do.
More info is here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/water/

Chams are shy and having enough leaves to hide behind is essential for them to not feel stressed.

You can tell if he is drinking enough by his urates.
Chams poop out 2 things: a solid urate, which will be very white if he is drinking enough and the dark colored feces.

A diet that consists of a variety of insects, which are themselves fed a nutritious diet is recommended to help maintain a healthy cham.
More details on that are here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/

 

[RustyAmnesia]

Thank you so much!

Do you have any idea why he's so red? Someone suggested its because of the way I have my UVB bulb, that the uvb rays aren't going low enough into the tank to reach the chameleon so he's turning the dark brown/reddish colour to try and absorb some of the rays...

 

[BeBoSON]

Hey,
Welcome to the forum.

Are you dusting multivitamin every time you feed him?
It should only be supplementing multivitamin once every 2 weeks. Along with Calcium with D3 once every 2 weeks and just regular calcium between those dustings.

My cham hates fish, and they weird him out for some reason. You might want to try changing his point of view to where he can't see them. Just my suggestion.

 

[carol5208]

that cage is just way too small for a chameleon of that size. Get yourself a 24 X 24 X48 screen cage and he will be a lot happier. Also remove the dirt from the bottom. They can eat the dirt and get sick.