Please Help!?

[Chameleon crazy]

I got my new chameleon a few days ago. She lives in a 15 gal. aquarium (until I get her screen cage) with everything else she could need. She even eats alot. But she is ALWAYS really dark colors!?

Please help me and Izzy!?

 

[Phatturk]

A few months ago I got my first Chameleons also and I was worried about it's colors a lot as well. You REALLY need the screen cage and proper heating, lighting, and humidity control and everything else but even after that my chams still had a darker color almost all the time unless very very relaxed (sleeping or late in the afternoon) then they were a super bright green color. Now at about 6 months old they are pretty comfortable with their conditions and stay a nice green color most of the time. I don't know if it was something to do with their age or just getting used to their new homes for several months.

 

[Tygerr]

Please describe your lighting setup. Also, what are the basking and ambient temperatures in the cage?
How old is your chameleon, and what size is it?
A photo of your chameleon would help a lot too.

Dark colours can often indicate discomfort and stress in a chameleon, but more often than not, dark colours indicate that the chameleon is trying to absorb as much heat as it can, which may indicate that it is not warm enough. But don't heat up the cage before you know exactly what the temps inside the cage are. Young chameleons can easily get overheated.

 

[jesseesperto]

your cham may see reflections in the glass. and you also look bigger in the reflection. that causes stress. You have plants and branches in there? She needs spots to hide, it makes them happy. also dont have the tank so you look down in it or in it. your cham will feel more secure if it is above your head. Why did you get a cham in a tank? Usally the cage and set up is first then shop for your new friend. The tank is bad news get your cham out of there..you def need to know the temp as well. Tygerr made very good points. You need to tell more in detail what you have.

 

[Chameleon crazy]

Please describe your lighting setup. Also, what are the basking and ambient temperatures in the cage?
How old is your chameleon, and what size is it?
A photo of your chameleon would help a lot too.

Dark colours can often indicate discomfort and stress in a chameleon, but more often than not, dark colours indicate that the chameleon is trying to absorb as much heat as it can, which may indicate that it is not warm enough. But don't heat up the cage before you know exactly what the temps inside the cage are. Young chameleons can easily get overheated.

During the day she has a 60 watt. heating bulb. And at night she has a 75 watt. NightGlow buld.

The basking temp. is 90-98 F. And the ambient temp. is 82-87 F.

I think she is about 3 months old. (she was at the pet store for two months)and her size is about 7 in. from the tip of her tail to her nose.

I will post pics a.s.a.p.

I do have an artifical plant and branches for her. Her Pothos plant will be placed in there as soon as I get it cleaned and replanted in SAFE soil.

The reason she is in the tank is because I was assured at the pet store that this was the best thing to keep her in. I'm having a large screen cage built for her.

And also, when she was at the pet store she was in a tank with three other chameleons, and they were 98% of the time light green. Could she be stressed from moving? I've had her for about 5 days.

The only times when she is light green with yellow spots is either at night when she is sleeping, when she is eating,or when she is out crawling aroud my room.

Please help me and Izzy?!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

To start with she needs a UVB light.
This is critical for her whole life....but especially so now when she's young.
A zoomed 5.0 is the flourescent lamp of choice.
The night time light needs to go away.
These animals require at least a 10 to 15 degree drop in temp at night.

-Brad

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

A few more sources of info just in case you haven't seen them:

http://www.chameleonsdish.com/

http://www.chameleonnews.com/ especially http://www.chameleonnews.com/ref.html

http://www.adcham.com/

These sites will help fill-in a lot of the details with great write-ups and tons of photos.