Petsmart rescued veiled. I'm worried. My first chameleon

brandodelro

New Member
Chameleon Info:Your Chameleon*- The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Male veiled. Was told by petsmart he's around 5 months. Had him 4 days

Handling*- How often do you handle your chameleon? Havnt handled him yet.

Feeding*- What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? 8 small crickets every morning at 730 am and 2 small mealworms left in his bowl for snacks. Homemade gut load for the crickets consists of romaine lettuce carrots collard greens apples spinich and mustard leaves. The firat day I had him I dusted his crickets with repcal with d3 and herptivite. The following three days just half his crickets with calcium without d3 or phosphorus. His mealworms don't get dusted.

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? Mist 3 times per day for 1 minute 30 seconds each time. The little dripper dripping every 14 seconds. Reptisafe water conditioner used with all water supplies. He drinks a lot. Loves to sit under his dripper.

Fecal Description*- Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Dark brown-black. Idk if he's been tested.

History*- Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. So I told myself I wouldn't get a chameleon from a big box pet store but I found him at petsmart in a smaller then ten gallon glass tank so I had to rescue him it sickened me the garbage care they take of their animals. He had a bowl of standing water the misted him twice a day and fed him four crickets every morning with no suppliments. He had moss in there almost nothing to climb. They dis have a uvb flourescent bulb and the temp inside said 88º f. They didn't know what sex he was but he has tarsal spurs. They said he was in that cage for about three months. I don't know if he was captive born or not.

Cage Info:Cage Type*- Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? All screen cage 18"x18"x30"

Lighting*- What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Reptisun 5.0 uvb bulb with a 60 watt zoomed basking bulb. Auto timer on at 7 am off at 730 pm

Temperature*- What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? 72 degrees at the base and basking at 89 degrees. One analog and one digital thermometer 72-75 overnight. Lowest temp has been 64 degrees

Humidity*- What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity I keep between 50 and 70. Measured with analog humidity gauge. Misting dripper live plant.

Plants*- Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? One 22 inch tall ficus tree

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? In its own spare bedroom I bought a lock with a key so no one but me can go in there. The air vent has been sealed and there's no fans. The cage is on the ground untill tonight when I can build a stand.

Location*- Where are you geographically located? Seattle Washington

Current Problem*-
The current problem you are concerned about.

So as stated above I got this guy from petsmart. Had to rescue him out of that prison. Ffs makes me heated. Anyways I'm worried about him. When he walks upside down his legs will shake or quiver. Everytime I'm around he is dark with bright green stripes. When he sleeps or is alone he is bright green. He eats all his food so far everyday and hangs upside down under his dripper and drinks. He skeeps upside down so I don't think he's weak or has mbd. But he is my firat and don't want to take chances. Could his shaking and dark color be because he is frightened by me or because he's not used to his surroundings yet? His veil isn't round and his legs look in perfect shape. Idk what to think of this. He has no problem eating and his tounge is really long. Longer than most I've seen. Any insight would be awsome! If he's sick in anyway I'd like to know so I can take him to the vet right now. Thank you.

http://i1355.photobucket.com/albums/q701/raidersog1/20130708_214434_zps2877d110.jpg
 
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Welcome to the forums,

Really glad you did your research thus far and filled out the information sheet! Really HELPS out A LOT. Kind of strange that a new member figured it out.

From what I can see, you seem like you have a pretty solid set up. Nothing in your husbandry is wrong. You're spot on which is another shocker from a new chameleon owner.

Basking spot and ambient temp are fine.

Your cham will take a solid month to get used to his new home. They're usually skiddish and do weird things. Yours is probably climbing all over the screen, hanging out on the bottom, top, everywhere. They're just exploring and making sure their new home is safe. Your cham just went from a small glass enclosure to a larger house so it'll take some time.

Try not to handle your cham much, and just open his cage door to feed/clean. Don't handle him for a good 3 weeks til he's settled in.

As for sex, he's def a male if he has the tarsal spurs.

majority of all chams turn dark in color when they're basking or stressed out. They're extremely bright when fired up (mad // pissed off). Sometimes being dark in color could mean they're cold aswell or even sick.

If you cham is eating fine and does great then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. And being dark colored when he's around you just simply means he knows your present and he's stressed out. After 3 weeks try and introduce your veiled a FEW treats such as ONE or TWO super worms, maybe a waxworm or TWO, hornworms, silkworms, reptiworms, butterworms, etc. I emphasize ONE OR TWO because if you overdose your cham on crack they'll go on food strikes. Usually those feeders are culprits but they help you build a bond with your cham to hand feed. Silkworms and hornworms are great feeders and you can even feed those off 2-3 times a week if you wanted too, but be prepared for watery stools from their fecal.

Overall great set up and great start on your enclosure. Sounds like you did a bunch of research.

-Gabe
 
Hi there, welcome to the forum. You always take a chance when you rescue a Cham from a shop where good husbandry is lacking.your set up seems ok but I would try and get some more plants in there so he can hid if he wants to. Your gut loading needs to be wet and dry. Check out sandrachameleons blogs on here. A range of different feeders would be good. Your supplements should be plain calcium without d3 daily. Calcium with d3 twice a month and a multivitamin twice a month. I would feed him as much as he can eat just now as he is still quite young. Congratulations on your new buddy.:)
 
Hi there, welcome to the forum. You always take a chance when you rescue a Cham from a shop where good husbandry is lacking.your set up seems ok but I would try and get some more plants in there so he can hid if he wants to. Your gut loading needs to be wet and dry. Check out sandrachameleons blogs on here. A range of different feeders would be good. Your supplements should be plain calcium without d3 daily. Calcium with d3 twice a month and a multivitamin twice a month. I would feed him as much as he can eat just now as he is still quite young. Congratulations on your new buddy.:)
I second this.

Pics would help of your enclosure. I didn't even mention that! Just be sure theres tons of foliage for your little guy to climb around and hide under.

Also pics of your veiled would help aswell. We can identify if your guy looks lethargic, dehydrated, etc.
 
Welcome to the Chameleon Forums and congrats on your new veiled. He/she doesn't look bad. Males have spurs (little bumps) on the heels of their back feet. I keep veileds and love them dearly. They are so sweet when loved and show the best personalities. I have a blog linked below for how I keep veileds with great success. I also recommend more vine and branches for him to move around on.....maybe that will keep him off the screen. They can loose their nails in the screen and that can cause an infection. If he continues to do that you might want to line the inside of the cage with the plastic fencing.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...ng-veiled-panther-chameleons.html#comment1721

More great in for here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/
 
Welcome to the forums,

Really glad you did your research thus far and filled out the information sheet! Really HELPS out A LOT. Kind of strange that a new member figured it out.

From what I can see, you seem like you have a pretty solid set up. Nothing in your husbandry is wrong. You're spot on which is another shocker from a new chameleon owner.

Basking spot and ambient temp are fine.

Your cham will take a solid month to get used to his new home. They're usually skiddish and do weird things. Yours is probably climbing all over the screen, hanging out on the bottom, top, everywhere. They're just exploring and making sure their new home is safe. Your cham just went from a small glass enclosure to a larger house so it'll take some time.

Try not to handle your cham much, and just open his cage door to feed/clean. Don't handle him for a good 3 weeks til he's settled in.

As for sex, he's def a male if he has the tarsal spurs.

majority of all chams turn dark in color when they're basking or stressed out. They're extremely bright when fired up (mad // pissed off). Sometimes being dark in color could mean they're cold aswell or even sick.

If you cham is eating fine and does great then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. And being dark colored when he's around you just simply means he knows your present and he's stressed out. After 3 weeks try and introduce your veiled a FEW treats such as ONE or TWO super worms, maybe a waxworm or TWO, hornworms, silkworms, reptiworms, butterworms, etc. I emphasize ONE OR TWO because if you overdose your cham on crack they'll go on food strikes. Usually those feeders are culprits but they help you build a bond with your cham to hand feed. Silkworms and hornworms are great feeders and you can even feed those off 2-3 times a week if you wanted too, but be prepared for watery stools from their fecal.

Overall great set up and great start on your enclosure. Sounds like you did a bunch of research.

-Gabe

Yes I researched and had a cage set up to figure the temps and such for two months before I started to seek a cham. Went with veiled because all research points to them as the most adaptive and easy going. I will have pics soon. Thanks so much everyone.
 
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