should I be worried?

[Momma Lauren]

I just viewed a couple pictures of someone's veild at 2 and 4 months old. I know every cham is different but her cham looked so green, colorful and healthy and now, well.. I'm worried about my cham.

I bought my male cham 2 weeks ago. The pet store I bought him from said he's approx 2-3 months old. Although he has grown since I got him he doesn't compare in size to this member's cham at all. He's much smaller and the point on his head (sry I don't know the technical name for it) is no where near the size of her chams. The only time he is a bright green color is when he sleeps. He stays a brown/green (more brown than green) color otherwise. Never has he showed any pretty blue/turquoise color.

I tell my boyfriend all the time that he doesn't seem happy? Does that seems silly to think?

I have only held him twice (the day I bought him and one other time, just recently) The second time I tried to hold him he hauled ass and made a screeching noise

I have also been worrying about him not drinking. Do some chameleons just not drink at all? Granted, I am not home most of the day but I have yet to see him drink. I thought maybe misting him while I mist his plants would be a good idea but he absolutely hates to be misted.

The past couple of afternoons I have noticed that he sometimes will sit there with his mouth open for no apparent reason.

Should I be worried??

 

[jannb]

I think you should fill out the ask for help form and post a few pictures of your little man. The mouth open could mean he's too hot. https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Momma Lauren]

I am leaving work now. I'll fill out the 'ask for help' form when I get home and I'll also take some pictures of him.

Thanks.

 

[EmilioPichardo]

i dont think you should mist at him str8, if you are not home most of the time to mist him 4-5 times a day then you should get a misting system and it just depends some could be colorful from the beg other may be brown and change later

 

[Momma Lauren]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon. Male. 2-3 months of age. He has beenin my care for 2 weeks.

Handling - Hardly ever. We've held him 3 timesin the 2 weeks we've had him.

Feeding - I feed my cham crickets. 10 a day. We feed him all 10 in the morning around 7:30am. Currently I am gutloading the crickets with hibicus leaves, carrots and 'Total Bites' all in one diet with spirulina vitamins and minerals.

Supplements - We dust the crickets every morning with Chameleon calcium plus. We have yet to dust the crickets with d3 (we've only had him 2 weeks)

Watering - We current have a dripper and are misting the cage twice a day for approximately one minute at a time. I have yet to see my chameleon drink.

Fecal Description - His droppings are a dark color. I haven't noticed anything our of the ordinary. In the past 2 weeks I've seen approximately 5-6 droppings.

History - My cham was born in the pet store that I purchased him from. Other than his age I don't know much about him.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - His cage is screen and is 2.6 ft high, 1.5 ft deep and 2.5 feet wide.

Lighting - We turn the lights on at 7am and turn them off around 8pm. We currently have a dual light fixture with a 5.0 uvb 13w repti glo spiral light and a 50w zoomed repti basking spot lamp. I have ordered a 5.0 uvb tube light from LLCreptile.com b/c I was told from a couple members on here that the spiral 5.0 uvb light could cause eye damage.

Temperature - I currently do not have a temp gauge in the cage. I am waiting on it to arrive from LLLreptiles.com. My cham's 'basking spot' is approx. 10 inches from the light, which is directly on top of the cage.

Humidity - I am not sure of the humidity. Again, I am waiting on it to arrive from LLLReptiles.com. I have a dripper, one live plant and I mist 2x a day.

Plants - I have one live plant. It is a Schefflera.

Placement - The cage is in the living room. It is not near any air vents or fans, however, it is near a high traffic area. The top of the cage is 4.5 feet from the floor.

Location - Central Florida.

Current Problem - Current problems are stated above/below

The first attatched picture is when we got him 2 weeks ago. The second picture was taken 5 minutes ago.

 

[Momma Lauren]

i dont think you should mist at him str8, if you are not home most of the time to mist him 4-5 times a day then you should get a misting system and it just depends some could be colorful from the beg other may be brown and change later

I have learned my lesson. When I misted him I stressed him out and pissed him off. I will not do it again. I will look into getting a misting system.
As for his color- I shouldn't worry if he he isn't colorful?

 

[DavidBuchan]

Get the temps and humidity certain, asap. But it seems fine to me. I would say he's definitely on the young end of 2-3 months but he might be just getting ready for a growth spurt (has he shed yet with you?). They do grow quick.......it's never too early to introduce variety into the food, even if you are gutloading you can't use only crickets. Let him eat all he wants for a few days and see if he looks bigger soon!
As for colour, I wouldn't worry yet (since he's still eating well, he must have settled in). Maybe he would like more leafiness, but chams do get more colourful later on.

 

[dodge]

personally id say it looks rather healthy, as long as his poos correct colour, thickness with the correct urine, like others have stated get humidity and heat sensors asap, as for misting and drinking, i never seen mine drink for 2 months and would always run away from misting, now it runs into the mist and opens its mouth for the water.

lovely cham too

 

[jannb]

He looks good. He does look young and could be younger than they told you or be a preemie like my Elly. https://www.chameleonforums.com/baby-elly-her-mom-dad-photos-60341/
I would feed him more. He should be eating 15 to 18 small feeders a day. Get him some small worms. Horns and silks are excellent feeders. I buy mine here: www.coastalsilkworms.com East coast. You also need to gut load better and he needs three supplements. Have you checked our my blog for new keepers? https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[Momma Lauren]

Get the temps and humidity certain, asap. But it seems fine to me. I would say he's definitely on the young end of 2-3 months but he might be just getting ready for a growth spurt (has he shed yet with you?). They do grow quick.......it's never too early to introduce variety into the food, even if you are gutloading you can't use only crickets. Let him eat all he wants for a few days and see if he looks bigger soon!
As for colour, I wouldn't worry yet (since he's still eating well, he must have settled in). Maybe he would like more leafiness, but chams do get more colourful later on.

I probably should have just bought a temp and humidity gauge in the store but they were so much cheaper online. I was trying to save money

He has not shed with me yet. How early do they usually shed? As one member has mentioned he could be younger than 3 months old.

 

[Momma Lauren]

personally id say it looks rather healthy, as long as his poos correct colour, thickness with the correct urine, like others have stated get humidity and heat sensors asap, as for misting and drinking, i never seen mine drink for 2 months and would always run away from misting, now it runs into the mist and opens its mouth for the water.

lovely cham too

I hope one day he'll run towards the water when I mist right now he's afraid of everything,....rightfully so.

 

[Momma Lauren]

He looks good. He does look young and could be younger than they told you or be a preemie like my Elly. https://www.chameleonforums.com/baby-elly-her-mom-dad-photos-60341/
I would feed him more. He should be eating 15 to 18 small feeders a day. Get him some small worms. Horns and silks are excellent feeders. I buy mine here: www.coastalsilkworms.com East coast. You also need to gut load better and he needs three supplements. Have you checked our my blog for new keepers? https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

Right now all I have is calcium plus, which I am dusting the crickets everyday. So the only other 'dusters' I need is calcium with D3 (twice a month) and a mult vitamin (once a month). I've had him only 2 weeks so I guess it's time for the calcium with D3.

I will start gutloading the crickets with more than just carrots and hibiscus leaves. Greens, oranges, apples... is there one thing that is better than the other?

I'll get some silk worms as well. Those should just be placed in a small bowl at the bottom of the cage??

I have bookmarked the new keepers blog. Thank you very much

 

[Momma Lauren]

what should the temp and humidity be at?

 

[jannb]

Basking temp about 80. Lower in the cage mid 70's. Humidity 50 or so and higher after misting.

I'm not sure what the calcium plus is. He need calcium without D3 everyday, calcium with D3 twice a month and the multi vit. once or twice a month.

 

[Momma Lauren]

Basking temp about 80. Lower in the cage mid 70's. Humidity 50 or so and higher after misting.

I'm not sure what the calcium plus is. He need calcium without D3 everyday, calcium with D3 twice a month and the multi vit. once or twice a month.

I'm assuming that the bottle I have is your typical calcium without D3. I could be wrong though? It is what the petstore reccomended with every feeding
Attatched is a picture of the bottle of calcium plus (plus the lights and gutloading food for the crickets). Is this specfic calcium (without D3 I'm assuming) sufficient enough?

 

[jannb]

In the best interest of your chameleon I wouldn't use any of that stuff the pet store sold you that you have pictured. Have you checked out my blog? https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
I have links with pictures and where you can buy all the supplies that you will need to keep your chameleon healthy. Most chameleon supplies have to be bought on line. Most pet store do not carry any of these supplies.

If you just bought that stuff pictured I'd try taking it back to the pet store for a refund.

 

[cantgetagoodsn]

As for a misting system I HIGHLY recommend a mist king. It's more expensive than some of the other you'll see but 110% worth it. Marty responds to my emails usually within 15 minutes max, and I needed a power supply that of course went out the day before I'm receiving my Cham, but he's sending me another already. Great customer support!

 

[Momma Lauren]

In the best interest of your chameleon I wouldn't use any of that stuff the pet store sold you that you have pictured. Have you checked out my blog? https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
I have links with pictures and where you can buy all the supplies that you will need to keep your chameleon healthy. Most chameleon supplies have to be bought on line. Most pet store do not carry any of these supplies.

If you just bought that stuff pictured I'd try taking it back to the pet store for a refund.

I have checked out your blog. Until now I thought the stuff I had was sufficient enough. I guess that's what I get for trusting the pet store ::rolls eyes:: Unfortuantly I have already used the calcium plus the pet store sold me so I can't return it.

I have just ordered the 13th, 15th and 17th like you reccomended.

Thank you all for your helpful information.

I will check into the mist king my next paycheck... this little cham is becoming very expensive!! If I would have done everything right the first time I could have saved some money!! I will blame the petstore for their lack of knowledge!!!

**edit to add** I just recieved the new light set up from LLLReptiles!! So I will no longer use the repti glo UVB light in the picture above. I was told to keep the basking light... any thoughts?

 

[jannb]

I have checked out your blog. Until now I thought the stuff I had was sufficient enough. I guess that's what I get for trusting the pet store ::rolls eyes:: Unfortuantly I have already used the calcium plus the pet store sold me so I can't return it.

I have just ordered the 13th, 15th and 17th like you reccomended.

Thank you all for your helpful information.

I will check into the mist king my next paycheck... this little cham is becoming very expensive!! If I would have done everything right the first time I could have saved some money!! I will blame the petstore for their lack of knowledge!!!

**edit to add** I just recieved the new light set up from LLLReptiles!! So I will no longer use the repti glo UVB light in the picture above. I was told to keep the basking light... any thoughts?

I would think a 50 watt spot light would get that little tiny thing way too hot. With young ones like that in FL I don't need a basking light at all. If you are having trouble keeping him 80 under the UVB light try a 15 or 25 watt house hold bulb.

 

[Momma Lauren]

I would think a 50 watt spot light would get that little tiny thing way too hot. With young ones like that in FL I don't need a basking light at all. If you are having trouble keeping him 80 under the UVB light try a 15 or 25 watt house hold bulb.

Hmmm... could this explain why sometimes he has his mouth open for no apparent reason? My temp and humidity gauges should be here any day now. I'll have to check the temps for certain. In the meantime I do you think it would hurt to go ahead and switch the 50w bulb for a 15 or 25w?