Strange behaviour

joneill

New Member
Hi everyone, my 9 month old male veiled was acting very strangely this evening and I am desperate to find out what could be wrong. He did not eat anything today and was trying to get out of his cage by attempting to climb up the glass. I opened the door and he climbed onto my hand for the first time since I bought him. Usually he hisses at me and puffs himself up. Anyway, he climbed up my arm and all over me and was not aggressive at all. I thought he may be stressed if he could see his reflection so I put in more plants and vines to cover up all the gaps but he still wanted to get out. This time he was climbing on the wire mesh ceiling and hanging upside down. So I once again placed my hand near him and he immediately climbed down onto it. He just kept walking and climbing, always wanting to go higher up. Then I thought that maybe the crickets were stressing him out so I removed all of them then put him back in his cage. He went in reluctantly but now is hanging on a vine asleep. I have not had him for long, only a month, but he has been so happy, eating, drinking, basking, sitting looking around, sleeping when I switch off the lights. His behaviour today made me feel very nervous and I wonder if anyone else has had the same experience with their veiled and what the problem could be? I wish he could tell me whats wrong, I want to fix the problem but need to know what it is. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
How big is his enclosure? Where are you located?

Fill out the how to ask for help form. You said you use glass, so gotta be careful (I suggest reading up Chris Anderson's thread "For everyone that KNOWS you can't keep chameleons in a glass cage" or something like that.).
 
His enclosure is glass with a metal mesh top and the dimensions are 60cm wide x 45cm high x 40cm deep. I have bought a bigger enclosure but am still setting it up. I live in Crestholme, KZN, South Africa and it is autumn now. The temperatures in his enclosure are as follows: 20-22 deg C ambient and 28-32 deg C basking. I have been feeding him silkworms, superworms, mealworms and crickets (all food is gutloaded for a few days prior to feeding). There is a water dripper set up in one corner of the enclosure and I mist once a day with warm water. The plants are all artificial but I have set up a flexarium with live plants outside just have not been able to get him there as he does not like to be handled.
 
His enclosure is glass with a metal mesh top and the dimensions are 60cm wide x 45cm high x 40cm deep. I have bought a bigger enclosure but am still setting it up. I live in Crestholme, KZN, South Africa and it is autumn now. The temperatures in his enclosure are as follows: 20-22 deg C ambient and 28-32 deg C basking. I have been feeding him silkworms, superworms, mealworms and crickets (all food is gutloaded for a few days prior to feeding). There is a water dripper set up in one corner of the enclosure and I mist once a day with warm water. The plants are all artificial but I have set up a flexarium with live plants outside just have not been able to get him there as he does not like to be handled.

If your cham is the one in your avatar, that is WAY too small of an enclosure. Temperatures are too low for a veiled. His basking spot (if he is an adult)should be at 35-38 deg C and the lows around 24 deg C around the enclosure. You should hurry up and build the enclosure which should be at least 120cm high, 60 cm wide, and 60 cm deep. You should mist more than once a day. They need water, plenty of it. Mist at least three times a day with (not warm) but room temperature water. (Who likes to drink warm water??). Veileds are know plant eaters so having real plants is a very good idea. Scheffleras, pothos, ficus are the most used. I prefer the schefflera.

What is your supplement schedule?

You have to supplement with calcium WITHOUT D3 every feeding, calcium WITH D3 twice a month, and multi-vitamins twice a month.
 
Thanks for your reply veiled chams. I am almost done with the bigger enclosure, just need to secure branches and attach basking light. I got him from a local exotic pet shop, rescued him actually cos his enclosure was a wooden box totally sealed with no mesh and glass door and one small plastic excuse for a tree. The enclosure was half the size of the one he is in right now. It was sad really and I thought I was doing the right thing by getting him out of there and into a bigger enclosure with space to climb. Then I read about veiled chameleons and decided to buy a bigger enclosure which is the one I am going to transfer him to. By the way, if I need to increase the temp inside the enclosure, can I use an incandescent bulb for this purpose and is it ok to use it at night as well cos the room temperature is around 16 deg C? The flexarium that I have put together outside is 122cm high x 76cm wide x 42cm deep and it has only live plants inside, namely ficus, gardena and fraylinia. I really want to put him in there for a couple of hours on the weekend cos we have beautiful sunshine here in South Africa but he does not like to be handled and I am still working on how to get him from his inside enclosure to his outside one.
 
Thanks for your reply veiled chams. I am almost done with the bigger enclosure, just need to secure branches and attach basking light. I got him from a local exotic pet shop, rescued him actually cos his enclosure was a wooden box totally sealed with no mesh and glass door and one small plastic excuse for a tree. The enclosure was half the size of the one he is in right now. It was sad really and I thought I was doing the right thing by getting him out of there and into a bigger enclosure with space to climb. Then I read about veiled chameleons and decided to buy a bigger enclosure which is the one I am going to transfer him to. By the way, if I need to increase the temp inside the enclosure, can I use an incandescent bulb for this purpose and is it ok to use it at night as well cos the room temperature is around 16 deg C? The flexarium that I have put together outside is 122cm high x 76cm wide x 42cm deep and it has only live plants inside, namely ficus, gardena and fraylinia. I really want to put him in there for a couple of hours on the weekend cos we have beautiful sunshine here in South Africa but he does not like to be handled and I am still working on how to get him from his inside enclosure to his outside one.

Chameleons rarely "love" to be handled, although some will argue the contrary. My veiled doesnt, lol. That enclosure size is good. You do not want to have lights on at night. (do yo ever see any in the wild? no). At 16 deg C, you will not need a heat source unless it goes below that. Veiled chameleons can take temperatures down to 10 deg C. If you keep him indoors, temperatures should not be a problem. A household bulb is fine, as long as it provides you with the right temperatures.

If you do house him indoors, follow the supplement schedule I have you before and also you need a UVB bulb. Idk if the Reptisun 5.0 linear bulb is found in S. Africa, but you will need an equivalent. If outdoors, the cham will get the UVB from the sun, thus you will not need the UVB bulb and will not have to supplement with calcium WITH D3.
 
He does have a reptisun UVB bulb as well as a 75W spotlight. I dust crickets and worms with calcium every day and give multivitamin and calcium with D3 once a week. The incandescent bulb is one that emits heat without any light so thought I could use that in addition to the spotlight to increase the heat.
 
He does have a reptisun UVB bulb as well as a 75W spotlight. I dust crickets and worms with calcium every day and give multivitamin and calcium with D3 once a week. The incandescent bulb is one that emits heat without any light so thought I could use that in addition to the spotlight to increase the heat.

Make sure the reptisun is the 5.0.. the D3 and multi-vit are twice a month. excess in these are harmful. The heat emitter youre talking about can be used, but is not necessary. If you want to increase heat, I'd just get a larger wattage in the light bulb, but be careful that the distance between the bulb and the basking spot is large enough so the cham does not burn himself. Too many times this happens and it is such a reckless occurrence, with a very simple prevention.
 
Make sure the reptisun is the 5.0.. the D3 and multi-vit are twice a month. excess in these are harmful. The heat emitter youre talking about can be used, but is not necessary. If you want to increase heat, I'd just get a larger wattage in the light bulb, but be careful that the distance between the bulb and the basking spot is large enough so the cham does not burn himself. Too many times this happens and it is such a reckless occurrence, with a very simple prevention.

This is all good info. I think the original question has been sort of answered, but just to add my bit I think the unusual behaviour probably is just because he needs more room (especially to be high up) - the top of the viv should be above your head height if you can, this will make him feel much more comfortable. The vit schedule is important so make the d3 every 2 weeks and the multi vit the other 2 weeks.
And there is no need for a light at night. they can get to 60-65F at night and be ok. They need dark to sleep properly.
 
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