Stir Crazy

[Lamour]

My male veiled wakes up at 8. He usually goes and warms up under his basking spot for a bit. But after he is all woken up he will spend at least half the day walking to the bottom of his cage trying to get out! He tries the bottom, the top, and all the corners around the plants and stuff. He ends up going up, down, and in general circles just trying to escape all day. Unfortunately this is quite annoying because he wakes me up rustling around

Now the problem is, I don't know what to do! He clearly seems like he does not want to be in the cage and I feel bad ignoring that he wants out. I try letting him out to explore but all he does every time is climb onto my geckos tank and try to get inside
Does he just want out so bad because he wants in the other tank, also why does he want in there so bad? If I set up a spot outside his cage will he stay there or still just climb down? I don't want to set up a whole free range spot if he won't even use it

 

[AngieL]

Hi there! Perhaps there is a reason he's not happy in his environment. Can you please fill out this form https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ and maybe someone can give you an idea of what that could be. He will most definately be wanting to eat the geckos! Thats probably why he always goes over ti them. Is there any chance you could put them somewhere out of sight? They could be annoying him

 

[Lamour]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - His name is Clyde, a male veiled. Around a year old I think. I've had him for 6 months I'd say but that doesn't sound right so I'm not sure.
Handling - He is handled at least twice a day.
Feeding - Gets crickets by a cup feeder each morning. Dusted with plain calcium. Fed flukers dry cricket diet. I give him around 10 I'd say but he doesn't eat as much as he used too.
Supplements - Plain calcium each feeding. Multivitamin twice a month.
Watering - Using a misting system 2-3 times a day for about a minute. Also hand mist with warm water if he is having problems shedding.
Fecal Description - White urate and solid brown poop. Not tested yet but bringing a sample in with his next appointment in December.
History - Clyde had mbd and gets liquid calcium twice a day, goes to the vet every month (now starting every 3 months). He came from a pet store called Todays Pets. All his supplies are Exo Terra brand for the most part, his cage is from FlChams.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Screen mesh cage 24x24x48. Using paper towels on the bottom and plastic pot holders to catch water, which are emptied regularly.
Lighting - Using repti sun coil bulbs. Have a basking bulb, uvb bulb, and plant light. Uvb is a 10.0, basking is a 75w I think and plant is a 6500k daylight bulb. Schedule is 8am-8pm on a timer.
Temperature - Temperature is around 80 and basking spot is in the 90s. Night time drops to 70s. Using dials but also have a digital thermo-hydro meter.
Humidity - Humidity is usually in the 40-50s. I have 4 live plants in the cage.
Plants - I have two pothos, a spider plant, and a parlor palm. Also a few fake plants for cover and lots of vines.
Placement - Cage is in my room in a corner. Kind of close to a vent but it always kept closed. Cage is on a cabinet/table about a foot off the ground.
Location - Maryland, in the 70s here now so getting a bit cold for outside time.

The geckos are on the same wall as his cage and there is a deak in between them. They are not visible to each other unless Clyde gets out and climbs on their tank. Maybe he just remembers they are over there, the geckos tank was also used as Clydes cage for awhile before I got his large screen cage. He could think it's his I guess

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

I am curious to see what the other members say because my little guy does the same thing.

 

[Lamour]

Clyde does it all day till he is completely worn out haha. I'm just not sure about setting up a free range if he only wants out to go bother my gecko.

 

[pssh]

He could be trying to eat them or maybe he's looking for a lady friend. You could try a free range but he might still try to climb down. You could test it out and see how it goes. He might be content to be uncaged during the day or he could just be a roamer.

Make sure you give him D3 at least twice a month (or does the multivitamin have D3?)

 

[Preekoo]

I would try and raise his cage up, it seemed to settle my guy down. He's about 9 months now and he always use to crawl around every where all day when he was in his smaller cage that sat on my desk. Now he's in a 24x24x36 on my dresser and his basking spot is really high up and now most of the day he sits up there. He use to hide all the time when he was in the smaller cage because he was able to be looked down upon and it use to freak him out a lil. Idk just a thought

 

[Lamour]

The size of plants I'd like to use for free ranging are like $50
I think the multivitamin has some D3 in it but it probably couldn't hurt to do a separate dusting so I'll look into getting some.

 

[pssh]

The size of plants I'd like to use for free ranging are like $50
I think the multivitamin has some D3 in it but it probably couldn't hurt to do a separate dusting so I'll look into getting some.

Try using pothos. You can hang them or make a stand for them. Plus they just keep growing and growing so you can make the FR bigger and bigger if you want.

I would try and raise his cage up, it seemed to settle my guy down. He's about 9 months now and he always use to crawl around every where all day when he was in his smaller cage that sat on my desk. Now he's in a 24x24x36 on my dresser and his basking spot is really high up and now most of the day he sits up there. He use to hide all the time when he was in the smaller cage because he was able to be looked down upon and it use to freak him out a lil. Idk just a thought

Try this too! If you looks down on him, he can be trying to find a place where he feels safer.

 

[Lamour]

The top of the cage is a bit higher than my head as it stands now, I can't even reach things on top of it without standing on something. Unfortunately I have to use fake trees and plants for a free range. My room is in the basement so it's hard keeping live plants alive down here, I don't think a big free range plant would stay healthy long.

 

[pssh]

If you use a 6500k Bulb above the pothos with the UVB and what not it should do fine. Pothos don't need a lot of light. Plus the pothos can be hung one under the other without either touching the ground (so he cant climb down to the floor.) Fake plants can work too, but since he's a veiled he might try to eat them. If he does end up swallowing one it could impact him (which could end up being fatal.)

As for the height, make sure the basking spot is above your head. My veiled gets upset if the baskig area isn't above my head. It's easier because I'm short, but it's important for him.