New, new, and oh... new.

silentECHO

New Member
Hi everyone. Only my second posting on here. Here is what I need advice on.

I have a roughly 6-7 month old Veiled Chameleon. I have raised him (at work) since we was super small and decided the other day (when someone was finally interested in buying him) that I didn't want anyone but me buying him (since I worked extremely hard with my team to keep him alive.) Therefore, I bought him and brought him home yesterday morning. He is in a tall bird cage, with a live hibiscus plant & lots of climbing branches along with a 5.0 UVB bulb, a 6500k bulb and a 60watt night bulb. The room he is in stays in the mid-70s, since I have 19 other reptiles kept in the same room. This chameleon is my first though. I am a hypochondriac with all my pets, so a chameleon was probably the worst pet for me to bring home, but I became very attached to him. I also have a dripper at the top of the cage as well. I fed him yesterday afternoon, out of a cup, because I haven't put the screening onto the bird cage yet. He ate 2-3 crickets out of the cup and hasn't ate since. He perches himself up at the top of the cage and moved slightly around yesterday.

I know that he is stressed, since he hasn't really moved much since I brought him home, but how do I know if he is doing good or not? He's lightly colored right now, which tells me he has calmed down, compared to the dark greens he was showing yesterday. I literally check on him a million times through out the day and hopefully tomorrow I am going to be putting "sheets" up around him, so that maybe any of the other reptiles he can see, won't upset him as well.

Just want to know what signs to look for and when to calm down :)
 
other reptiles will stress the chameleon, my chameleon puffs up and hisses at me when i bring my bearded dragon out around my room
 
Hi everyone. Only my second posting on here. Here is what I need advice on.

I have a roughly 6-7 month old Veiled Chameleon. I have raised him (at work) since we was super small and decided the other day (when someone was finally interested in buying him) that I didn't want anyone but me buying him (since I worked extremely hard with my team to keep him alive.) Therefore, I bought him and brought him home yesterday morning. He is in a tall bird cage, with a live hibiscus plant & lots of climbing branches along with a 5.0 UVB bulb, a 6500k bulb and a 60watt night bulb. The room he is in stays in the mid-70s, since I have 19 other reptiles kept in the same room. This chameleon is my first though. I am a hypochondriac with all my pets, so a chameleon was probably the worst pet for me to bring home, but I became very attached to him. I also have a dripper at the top of the cage as well. I fed him yesterday afternoon, out of a cup, because I haven't put the screening onto the bird cage yet. He ate 2-3 crickets out of the cup and hasn't ate since. He perches himself up at the top of the cage and moved slightly around yesterday.

I know that he is stressed, since he hasn't really moved much since I brought him home, but how do I know if he is doing good or not? He's lightly colored right now, which tells me he has calmed down, compared to the dark greens he was showing yesterday. I literally check on him a million times through out the day and hopefully tomorrow I am going to be putting "sheets" up around him, so that maybe any of the other reptiles he can see, won't upset him as well.

Just want to know what signs to look for and when to calm down :)

remove your nightbulb it disturbs chameleons at night
 
He in a new environment which is scary to him and he needs time to settle in but totally agree with chnk the site of other reptile is a major stress as they could be seen as predictors/ threats. Try putting some barricades/screens to block the view.

Good luck with him thoug it's clear you spent a lot of time/effort getting him healthy.
 
The night bulb is not needed, they need darkness to sleep.

The 6500k bulb is probably a grow light for the plants, so you need a regular house bulb for basking.

You want his basking temp to be around 83-86ish.

what supplements are you using?

And for the record, veileds aren't that hard to care for, just specialized.

once you get into a routine, its fairly easy.
 
I would say your biggest challenge may be your other reptiles. Anything that might seem to be a predator, will continue to stress him. Also the sheer size of other reptile could be seen as a threat. A snake is a predator for sure, if you have a large monitor, for example, he may not thrive. Is there any way to get him away from the other reptiles or at least turn his cage so he does not see them, and try not to walk by his cage holding one so he could see it.
 
The night bulb is on during the day, not at night. I find that any basking bulb I put on top of his cage ultimately ends up being too much, with all the other bulbs we have going in the room.

No large snakes, but I do have a small sand boa.

We are moving in the next couple of weeks and he will actually be going into my office and will be the only one in there, but right now I can't move him anywhere else because I have cats and they will stress him out a thousand times more than the other reptiles. I put a barricade up so I am hoping that helps.

I am cup feeding and last night/this morning, he has ate between 10-15, so we are making progress. Supplement wise, he is getting calcium (no D3) everyday.

I will have to take pictures here soon so everyone can see the set-up. I just have no clue how to post them. Will get on that soon :)

Thanks for the advice.
 
seems like you're in the right path and doing all the necessary adjustments. congratulations.
 
You came to the right place for advice! I'm a first time owner too, and I couldn't have done it without these folks, and the information I found here. :D

Welcome to the forums!
 
Back
Top Bottom