stressed baby

[FiReBaNaNa]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - a veiled, male, about 3.5 months. i have had him about a week, i wouldn't be this conserned but he is always dark never a brighter color!!!
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? never
Feeding - crickets and mealworms im getting a order of silks butter and pheonix worms. whatever he'll eat. once a day. gut load em with taters kale greens corn meal etc....
Supplements - t-rex chameleon dust
Watering - drip system, and spray 3-4 times
Fecal Description - it is yellow white and black and solid
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? no
History - i got him from theveiledchameleon.com

Cage Info:
Cage Type - reptarium 38 gallon totally temp. i think 16x16x30
Lighting - exo terra 5.0 compact dual canopy, and a 60 watt exo terra night glo
Temperature - on the top basking it reads 90, mid reads about 76-80 the floor upper 60's Lowest overnight temp is 70
Humidity - the humidity DOES NOT go below 40% i keep it humid by spritsing the cage three to four times a day and a humidifier
Plants - i use a small umbrella plant right now as i said its temp.
Placement - its in my room wich i go in there in and out not very often, the cage is about 3 ft of the floor, and i live in central texas

Current Problem - does not relaxe he is always stressed or shows those dark colors

 

[Jakedn]

How long have you had the chameleon?

 

[summoner12]

please show us some pictures of your setup.

you are using a coil 5.0 from exo terra? you might want to replace it with a linear tube lamp. Use the Reptisu 5.0 from Zoo Med.

I think the dark colors are from not being warm enough. I am not a fan of the canopy fixtures. If you just got the fixture, try and return it. It is a good idea to use clip lights so you can aim the light in a more 'natural' way. This also lets you place the lamp above a basking spot and at an angle so the cham can flatten out and 'catch' the rays of light.

 

[Elizadolots]

Congratulations on filling out the form without being asked! How sure are you on your temps? I ask because they seem warm enough (maybe too warm at 90 degrees? I'm not sure, but I think I've seen lower temps suggested) but staying dark is--as Summoner points out--often part of "warming up".

Don't make changes based on my idea of temps, because I'm not an expert. I'm just trying to help you give the best information for when the experts start answering.

 

[AReptile]

Eliza is right 90 is too high of a temp for a baby veiled. Lower the basking spot to 80-83 and that should be good for him. You've only had him for a week good chance he isn't completely adjusted to his new home yet. Mine took around that long to get comfortable after I got her home.

 

[Elizadolots]

Eliza is right 90 is too high of a temp for a baby veiled. Lower the basking spot to 80-83 and that should be good for him. You've only had him for a week good chance he isn't completely adjusted to his new home yet. Mine took around that long to get comfortable after I got her home.

I actually question his thermometer...it sounds like the chameleon is trying to warm up...that would suggest the temperature is not too high.

 

[Jakedn]

90 degrees is not too high for a 3.5 month old veiled. I was even advised by my vet to raise temps to low 90's when my veiled was around that age to help him recover from being sick.

However, unless you are sure your thermometer is 100 percent accurate it could be risky if the temperature is higher than it is telling you as young chameleons are not very good at thermoregulating themselves.

 

[Elizadolots]

I think it's usually advised to up the temp on a sick chameleon...

Inability to thermo-regulate is one of those things that people new to chameleons (as I am) have a hard time getting our heads around...but,when I think about it, I've been out in the sun until I burned. It didn't seem hot while I did it....so, I guess it's not weird at all.

It's up to us to make sure the environment is safe.

 

[chamelisa]

90 degrees is not too high for a 3.5 month old veiled. I was even advised by my vet to raise temps to low 90's when my veiled was around that age to help him recover from being sick.

However, unless you are sure your thermometer is 100 percent accurate it could be risky if the temperature is higher than it is telling you as young chameleons are not very good at thermoregulating themselves.

Actually, they come out of the egg with all the skills of the adults. It is ultimately us, the keepers, who fail to provide them with the right environment.

Keeping chameleons in the right sized cages as they grow up helps us provide a better controlled temperature gradient.

 

[buddhacham]

Is he sleeping properly with the the light you have on at night. Even though a lot of those advertise 'very little visible light', its possible he still sees it.

 

[summoner12]

Lights shouldn't be used on a cage at night. Chams don't need a night light. If the cage were to be dropping in temp below 65*F using a heat emitter would be a better solution than keeping the cham up with a night time heat lamp.