New Chameleon owner

[micmosh]

Hi I just got my male veiled chameleon 5 days ago. His name is Kato and he is very stubborn. He is young but I am not sure his age because I got him at Petco. He is still very scared of me and runs away if I open the door, I haven't held him since I put him in the cage for the first time. For the past few days, I have been putting mealworms and crickets in a cup and he has been eating from. I read that if I hand feed him, he will be more comfortable with my hand. Today he ate a mealworm and cricket from my hand. It took him about 10 minutes both times to get used to my hand in the cage and approach the cricket. I have been trying to be near him as much as I can and I open the cage door so he does not get cage defensive. Every time I am in the room I put a plant next to his cage and keep the door open to see if he wants to come out. I also have Galapagos Moss Vines in the cage and today was the first time he starting the bite at them and eat some. I'm a little worried that it is bad for him, but its real moss. A couple of times I say blackish dots forming when I went close so I don't think he likes me very much. Does anyone have any tips on getting your chameleon to like you? Is there anything that I'm doing wrong? I would love any tips from when you first got your chameleon!! (Also I've done so much research, I just want to know some chameleon owner tips) I attached a picture of him and my cage set up

 

[Ares05]

Hello! Welcome to the forums. Congrats on your new little friend!

Do not try to handle him. He is in a brand new place. At the moment, you are a big scary predator to him. With time, you can work on hand feeding and bonding. Keep in mind, you want to go at his pace. They are finicky creatures!

It is not recommended to purchase chameleons, or honestly any reptiles for that matter, from Petco. They can potentially carry parasites and/or disease.

I also see some issues with your setup. When you get around to it, please fill out this form. Be accurate and detailed. Try not to miss any questions!

**Be sure to include lots of close-up pictures of your chameleon.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[micmosh]

Hello! Welcome to the forums. Congrats on your new little friend!

Do not try to handle him. He is in a brand new place. At the moment, you are a big scary predator to him. With time, you can work on hand feeding and bonding. Keep in mind, you want to go at his pace. They are finicky creatures!

It is not recommended to purchase chameleons, or honestly any reptiles for that matter, from Petco. They can potentially carry parasites and/or disease.

I also see some issues with your setup. When you get around to it, please fill out this form. Be accurate and detailed. Try not to miss any questions!

**Be sure to include lots of close-up pictures of your chameleon.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Veiled chameleon, male, age unknown but still young. I've had him for 5 days
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Never handled
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Feeding about 12 crickets a day (as much as he will eat) In the mornings I try to hand feed and if he doesn't I put about 5 in his cup and about 3 mealworms. Then during the day, I try to hand feed, but he has only done it 2 times. I feed my crickets those orange cubes that are cricket food.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • I use repti-calcium without d3 and i put it on all of the crickets and mealworms
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • I have a little dripper that is turned on during the day and then i mist about 3 times a day. I have seen him drinking about once a day
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • His poop is small and white and not tested
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • 18x18x30, screen
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • I have a UVB light and dayligght blue lighting bulb. I keep both on 12 hours during the day and off 12 hours at night
  • I just recently purchased a reptisun dome and t5 5.0 UVB bulb and a 75w basking bulb to switch it but it has not come in yet
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • I have thermometers to measure the temp and at the top, it is between 80-85 f and at the bottom its 70f
  • Overnight the lowest is 65 at the bottom and 70 at the top
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • I have moss to maintain humidity and the levels are between 60%-70% and i mist consistently and the little dripper provides water
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • I have live moss from the Galapagos
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • It is in the corner of my room not near any fans and it is on a 3 ish foot table
• Location - Where are you geographically located?
  • located in CT

Current Problem; very scared of me, tips for hand feeding and getting him used to me and he ate some moss

 

[Ares05]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Veiled chameleon, male, age unknown but still young. I've had him for 5 days
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Never handled
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Feeding about 12 crickets a day (as much as he will eat) In the mornings I try to hand feed and if he doesn't I put about 5 in his cup and about 3 mealworms. Then during the day, I try to hand feed, but he has only done it 2 times. I feed my crickets those orange cubes that are cricket food.

Stop feeding mealworms. Feed him as many crickets as he will eat.

For gutload, those orange cubes aren't very good. You re going to want to use leafy greens, and variety of different veggies and fruits. It is also recommended to use some sort of commercial gutload, such as Cricket Crack or Bug Burger.

• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • I use repti-calcium without d3 and i put it on all of the crickets and mealworms

You are off to a good start! Keep doing this. But, you will also need a vitamin powder ( I use reptivite WITHOUT d3 ) and a calcium WITH d3 powder. Here is the schedule!

Calcium w/o d3 each day.
Calcium with d3 ONCE every 2 weeks.
Multivitamin W/o D3 ONCE every 2 weeks. Alternate the weeks.

• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • I have a little dripper that is turned on during the day and then i mist about 3 times a day. I have seen him drinking about once a day

I would mist for 2-4 minutes in the morning and then in the evening. You can do a mid day mist if you want but he should be fine since you have a dripper.

Make sure you have a little container or a maybe a live plant for the drips to fall into, so you don't have a pool of water on the floor of your cage.

• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • His poop is small and white and not tested

I would test him as soon as possible.

Are you only seeing white (Urates?) Or are you seeing a solid brown part aswell?

• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • 18x18x30, screen

This size is fine for his age. You will want t upgrade him to a larger screen/glass/hybrid cage as he grows.

• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • I have a UVB light and dayligght blue lighting bulb. I keep both on 12 hours during the day and off 12 hours at night
  • I just recently purchased a reptisun dome and t5 5.0 UVB bulb and a 75w basking bulb to switch it but it has not come in yet

Your current lights aren't sufficient, good that you are getting different ones.

So you are getting a t5ho 5.0 reptisun bulb, yes? And then the dome for the basking bulb. If this is the case, you are good in this category.

Also, make sure the basking bulb you ordered is plain white. No colors.

• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • I have thermometers to measure the temp and at the top, it is between 80-85 f and at the bottom its 70f
  • Overnight the lowest is 65 at the bottom and 70 at the top

Make sure your thermometer are digital ones, not the stick-on circles.

Your temperatures, assuming they are correct, are good.

• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • I have moss to maintain humidity and the levels are between 60%-70% and i mist consistently and the little dripper provides water

I would personally toss the moss. For the daytime, you only need about 30-40 percent humidity. Nighttime you need 70-100. For nighttime, you can use a fogger to get the humidity up.

• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • I have live moss from the Galapagos

Safe plant list - http://veiledchameleon.com/safe-plant-list
You are going to want to get some live plants to fill out the empty space in his enclosure. I would toss the fake ones. You just go to your local nursery or home depot or lowes, and get some safe plants. Repot the plant with topsoil and rinse both sides of the leaves with water throughly. Cover the exposed dirt with large river rocks.

I would also go outside and grab some nice sturdy branches. Wash them with a bit of soap and pour boiling water over them, then cold, then boiling, then cold, and dry off. Arrange them horizontally in the cage to give him lots of places to perch and climb.

• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • It is in the corner of my room not near any fans and it is on a 3 ish foot table
• Location - Where are you geographically located?
  • located in CT

Gutloading and Food sheets!

 

[micmosh]

his poop is all white, no brown stuff, i was getting worried about that.

 

[Ares05]

Hmm. He is eating, yes?

Post some closeup pictures of him and some of his fecal matter.

 

[micmosh]

I know the orange part means hes not hydrated enough, so ive been consistently giving him water.

 

[Ares05]

Fairly sure you have a girl.

The urate looks good. A tiny bit of orange is fine, you really should only worry if its more than 50% orange.

Remove the bark chips immediately. Is there any chance she ate one?

@kinyonga what do you think?

 

[micmosh]

Fairly sure you have a girl.

The urate looks good. A tiny bit of orange is fine, you really should only worry if its more than 50% orange.

Remove the bark chips immediately. Is there any chance she ate one?

@kinyonga what do you think?

No he hasn't gone to the bottom yet. And i thought he was a boy because of the little balls on the back of his back feet. Also, how should I continue to feed him? He is very hesitant when I try to hand feed him and often runs away when my hand comes in

 

[micmosh]

No he hasn't gone to the bottom yet. And i thought he was a boy because of the little balls on the back of his back feet. Also, how should I continue to feed him? He is very hesitant when I try to hand feed him and often runs away when my hand comes in

 

[Ares05]

If she runs away, leave her be. Remember you have only had her for a very short amount of time. Once she gets more settled in you can work on bonding/handfeeding.

Lately there has been females showing small spurs on the back of their feet. Other indicators, such as her smaller casque and the female coloring is why I think female.

I would put as many crickets/feeders as she will eat in a day in the cup, and then let her do her thing. Take out the cup at the end of the day and see if she ate any.

You are positive she has been eating?

Have you looked over my corrections on the form you filled out? Its important you correct your care as soon as you can.

 

[micmosh]

If she runs away, leave her be. Remember you have only had her for a very short amount of time. Once she gets more settled in you can work on bonding/handfeeding.

Lately there has been females showing small spurs on the back of their feet. Other indicators, such as her smaller casque and the female coloring is why I think female.

I would put as many crickets/feeders as she will eat in a day in the cup, and then let her do her thing. Take out the cup at the end of the day and see if she ate any.

You are positive she has been eating?

Oh interesting, Is there a way i can tell for sure is she is a boy or a girl? Yes I have seen her eat 12 crickets the first day, then 10, then 12 and then like 8 and today she only ate 3

 

[Ares05]

Judging by her colors, casque, and the base of her tail she looks female to me. As she matures you will need to setup a laybox, to lay eggs, along with reducing her temperatures and drastically cutting back food intake. Once mature she will produce eggs, and lay them, multiple times a year regardless of male contact.

If she really hasn't pooped properly, along with the fact her appetite declining I would be a bit concerned. I tagged @kinyonga to get her input.

 

[kinyonga]

If it's a girl you need to put a laybin in the cage now.

@Ares05 ...that's all I have to say...you covered the rest of it!
Food catch on the urates...lack of poop!

 

[micmosh]

If it's a girl you need to put a laybin in the cage now.

@Ares05 ...that's all I have to say...you covered the rest of it!
Food catch on the urates...lack of poop!

So she is a girl?

 

[Ares05]

@kinyonga I was mainly wondering about the lack of brown fecal matter in the poop. Cham has only been dropping Urates, despite eating.

Yeah, I would say she's a girl.

 

[AmandaS]

Maybe she is still getting used to her new home...though if she is dropping urates you would think she would poo too

 

[kinyonga]

If there is no poop part then I hope she didn't ingest some of the substrate or moss and is impacted. (Don't panic yet...just keep an eye on the chameleon and look for poop.) Is the chameleon still eating well? Look around the cage floor to see if you can find some poop.

 

[Ares05]

OP said she was eating up to 12 crickets when they first got her but has now declined to eating 3.

 

[kinyonga]

OP said she was eating up to 12 crickets when they first got her but has now declined to eating 3.

I thought I read about a decreased appetite...but only went back to the question answers to see what was said. Should have reread the whole thread! That makes an impaction more likely.