Size and Shedding

4everyoung

New Member
Aprox how big should a male veiled chameleon be at 8-9 months? This question kinda goes into my next. How often should a cham shed at that age too?? its been 3 months since his last shed and that last one was done in 2 parts (both parts only taking a day each but still tummy and rest of body were done seperate)

He eats, drinks and is active but honestly the shedding worries me. Oh and I should mention that about a month before his last shed he had tail rot we think from a improper shed that happened about a day before the problem started. He lost ~1/2" overall but has recovered fine and is using the tail as normal.

After reading some on here im getting a little more worried about him.

His poop is usually solid except for yesterday it was a little more runny and the white is all white except a little at the end.

Pics of him can be seen here http://aechambers.spaces.live.com/

oh my baby Please help :(
 
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A few Questions:

What are you feeding him?
What Quantity?
How Often are you feeding?
What are your Suplimentations/gutloading? How Often?
What is the Humidity in the cage?
What is his size Snout to Vent, and over all length?

Chams grow at diffrent rates, depending on food intake and quality. Shedding depends on Growth, Humidity, and suplimentation.
From the sounds of it, you are off on one or more of these things. If you can give us the info above, people may be able to help you find or remedy a issue that you are having.

Frank
 
I have posted pics from today in the member galleries under 4everyoung (mind the darkness of him in some.. he was getting mad at my mom for trying to take his picture.)

I feed him wax worms (3 or so a week) and crickets (5-8 a day) (he was eating upwards of 10+ a day) at the begining he was eating some mealworms but he didn't seem to like them much. He gets fed everyday.

His crickets get powdered ~2 week (dont remember the name of the stuff and its at home) The crickets get fed fresh veggies and fruit pretty much daily and are given easy water and buggy bites.

The humidity is usally about 50 in the cage it is occasionaly down towards 30 but that is only when the mister has run out of water to spray. Often when I get up in the morning its up at 70.

From snout to vent he is 5" and 9" in total. (he lost ~1/2" to the tail rot)

He has a Exo Terra 8.0 Fluorescent and a halogen heat lamp. He had a mercury vapor bulb but it died on my last week.

Any thoughts on him would be greatly appreciated
 
He is eating, he is drinking. You don't describe any MBD. Humidity could be a bit higher IMO, but it isn't terrible. The sheds are obviously a problem, and if your humidity is down in the 30% range a lot, you should definately consider using a humidifier. Do you weigh your cham? Is he growing? If he is growing and isn't shedding, then he may be retaining his sheds, which is not good. Showers help, but by your description of the poo, it sounds like he is hydrated. What are your temps? Sorry, I don't keep a veiled, so I have no idea of the size it should be at 8-9 months. Really, without a lot of information from a lot of people, that isn't a great measurement anyhow. Just like people, some are genetically larger or smaller. How about a couple clear shots of your cham? I see a chameleon in that cage, but it is far from clear enough to really get an idea of what is going on. Pictures of your set up may help also.

Heika
 
The size seems alright to me. It is better to have a chameleon grow slow then to fast. With proper care a veiled will reach full size in 12-15 months. The figures I constantly see in relation to maxium size is 18"-24". Captive veileds can reach 24" but it is more common from what I have seen and read to be in the 18"-20" size.

If I read the way you described the shed to have happened correctly that does not really sound to uncommon. The abdomen region is far easier for them to get off because of its flexibility. They can go from round to flat in an instant. The arms, tails, eyes and head usually take a little bit longer for them to work off. I have noticed my will work themselves through the thicker brush to get the harder areas off. It is also not to uncommon for them to eat their old skin. Sometimes you will hear them hiss as this situation can be aggravating for them. I have seen them use their back legs to try to scrap it off from time to time. The sheds can start any where on their bodies. I think the main concern with shedding is when it takes a long time to slough their skin. A couple of days probably not a big deal. Anything longer and I think drying out the cage to help the rest come off is in order.


One thing I have noticed is when I have changed anything in their cages they seem to go into sheds. I very rarely do this but it always seems to happen like that. I am not sure if that is just me or if there is something behind it.

I do not know anything of tail rot in chameleons. I have heard of it in iguanas hear and there. I do not really think this will effect his overall growth other then the little bit removed but like I said never really read (or heard) anything about this in chameleons.

I my opinion the lowest I would let the humidity get with veileds is 50%. Maybe trying to spray the cage a couple more times a day or increase the durations of the mist. The humidifer is not a bad option as most of the veileds I have seen do not like mistings a great deal.

The set-up I am currently working on will mist for three minutes right before the lights come on and an hour before the lights go out. The humidifer will run a couple of times a day to keep the humidity up with a constant dripper. I think this mimics what they would experience in the wild as close as I can without putting them at to get a risk for dehydrating. I have noticed that regardless of how much I mist the only times I have seen them drink from the mistings is in the morning and before the lights go out. I am currently just misting with a dripper.

This link shows a good way to incorporate a humidifer into your existing set-up or maybe one for the future.
www.chameleonnews.com/humidifier.html
 
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Well I gave Garret a shower tonight and needless to say he HATED IT.

He didn't want to come out of his cage to put him into it and practicaly lept onto my hands when I was taking him out.

We are working on getting a humidifing system rigged up.. i had one temp in there and he seemed to be interested in it but all it was really doing was making a pool in the bottom of the cage. I hope this new attempt works.
 
Well after weeks of baths, 2 different humidfiers, and a move to a new apartment I am glad to say that yesterday afternoon Garret started shedding. (yes thats right it almost took 6 months) Its pretty much full body by the looks of it. Wierd thing is that I dont have a humidifier in the cage with him right now.. I guess the new apt is just more humid. I know my new temp/humidity gage says its over 50 all the time.

YAY GARRET!
 
One thing I have noticed is when I have changed anything in their cages they seem to go into sheds. I very rarely do this but it always seems to happen like that. I am not sure if that is just me or if there is something behind it.

Yesterday I put my cham in a newly constructed cage (this one has a much sturdier construction and better drainage than the one I was using), and as you suggested, Jordan, the very first thing he did in the new environment was shed...
 
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