Questions about my new Chameleon

tigerx

New Member
Hello, I just bough a baby veiled chameleon from a local reptile show and I had a couple questions.

I see pictures of beautiful chameleons with all shades of colors but mine is usually just grey or a pale green, will he ever become more vibrant?

How much can I take him out without over stressing him? How can I make him more friendly?

Finally I usually feed my bearded dragon freeze dried crickets, any chance I could get my Chameleon to do the same?

Thanks!
 
Baby veileds are not usually very colorful. This comes with maturity. Mine did not show much color until he was 6 months old. He is likely stressed. Those darker colors can be a sign of stress or possibly that he is cold. Read up on their care requirements to make sure you're doing everything correctly.

As for taming him, chameleons generally don't like to be handled a lot, so I wouldn't recommend you try to handle him too often, and not at all for the first few weeks. Easiest thing to start with is get him to eat out of your hand, but again, give him a few weeks to settle in first.

You should not feed dried crickets. I doubt he would eat them anyways. The more the feeder moves, the more interested your chameleon will be, but more importantly, you HAVE to make sure the feeders are properly gut loaded, so obviously, you need live feeders :D. Read this to start http://https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/

You've definitely come to the right place for help and information. I have learned a TON from the experts here. Keep reading and ask lots of questions. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the replies!

I appreciate the info CLP, I'll definitely leave him for a little while to get use to everything. As for temperature I need to buy a thermometer but if this says anything he has a new 100W basking light but it is 7-8 inches away from him. Gut loading crickets I'll have to look up, not sure how to do that.

Stalincat, ya he eats dead crickets, I might start buying live ones it's just really annoying going to buy them all the time and having them die on me.
 
You'll definitely want to get a thermometer. A temp gun (has a little laser that you can aim at a specific spot to take the temps at any location - i.e. right on the branch closest to the basking spot). I would hazzard to guess that the basking light is too strong. You have to be careful as they can burn themselves if the spot is too hot. My younger male (almost 1 year old) has a 75 watt about 7-8 inches from his branch and that gets upwards of 90F. I would recommend getting a lower wattage light in there - maybe 75 max until you can be sure its not too hot. The basking spot for a baby veiled should only be about 85F. See here for specific care parameters for veileds: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

The link I provided in my first reply will help you with the gutloading. Just realized the link wasn't working - it is now!
 
Temp

I've found his basking spot to be about 80 degrees, and there's a nice gradient for him. However; what confuses me is when he goes to the cool side he turns bright green, when he goes under the basking light he turns a dark brown or grey. I thought it was suppose to be the other way around?

Also, how can I give him fruit/greens to eat as well as crickets? He doesn't seem to be interested.
 
Darker colours will absorb the heat more my two are darker under the basing spots till they get charged up. I tend to use live plants and my two eat those (just ensure they're safe and pesticide free) and they don't take much notice of greens. IMO it's more important to ensure the crickets have all the nutrients in them (apple, carrots, greens peppers and sweet corn I use with occasionally some orange)
 
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