Sudden Color Change

[Harry]

Hey guys

I own 2 veil chameleons. 1 male and 1 female who are both a year old. For the entire year i owned them the female has been a plain green most of the time. However yesterday I noticed shes turned dark with a lot of yellow all over. Ive never seen her with this design and its continued for about 2 days without her turning back to her plain green. Any ideas why?

 

[sdheli420]

did they mate..those are gravid (preggo) colors..or maybe shes producing a clutch of infertile eggs..

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Those colors usually indicate gravid/breeding colors.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

"If she is not receptive, she will let both you and the male know by hissing loudly, gaping, rocking back and forth on a branch, and drastically changing her color to black with yellow and green stripes or spots"

That's an article on breeding Veilds.

 

[Harry]

awesome. i guessed thats why but i wasn't too sure. thanks guys

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Is she in view of the male while she's in her cage?

 

[sdheli420]

Is she in view of the male while she's in her cage?

or is she housed with the male..whats goin on?? did they mate, or can they just see eachother..

either way you need a digging\laying bin available for the female for when she needs to deposit eggs..obviously shes at that age now..

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Ooh that just tworks my cookies when someone goes offline in the middle or beginning of a thread.

 

[Harry]

Theyve always been together in the same cage. Would the dirt in my ficus plant be ok?

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

What? They should not be in the same cage. That's a disaster waiting to happen. How big is the cage? They will fight and injure eachother.

 

[Harry]

i know i havent been able to get another cage yet. but theyve been mostly ok with each other.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

How big is their cage? Why did you get two chameleons if you only had one cage? "So far". From her stressful colors she apparently isn't doing very good being with the male, she's denying him to mate, and they will most likely fight.

 

[Harry]

its big enough. and it was my first time so i figured why not get 2. this is the first time shes ever changed changed colors. theyre usually fine together

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

How big is "big enough"? Usually doesn't mean it'll stay that way. One fight and they could injure eachother terribly.

 

[Harry]

I cant check right now

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Do you have an estimate in feet?

 

[camimom]

The only time people house chameleons together, are because theya re pygmies which can be, or becuase they are to be bred. You should neer house chams together. as Karma said, they can kill each other.
Unless your cage is 5 ft long and 10 ft high, it is not big enough for two chams.
It also sounds like you are new to chams, which means.. you have no idea how to handle a gravid female, or what to do with eggs WHEN she lays them.
THis was a very bad idea.
I understand the want to have many chams, but you should not have gotten two when you couldnt house them seperately.
However, whats done is done.
You NEED to get a second cage, and seperate them. and I mean visually too, they cannot see each other.
Next, you need to get a laying bin put together for you female, as she more than likely has mated and you have eggs on the way.
YOU need to read this, ASAP.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[sdheli420]

I free range my chams on a huge tree and they still need more room..if you have a large cage i suggest splitting it in the middle for now, put carboard down the middle, and split it up so its identical on each side..yes they were fine before, well now they arent, they are both sexually mature..shes stressed since she cant escape the male, he will push her to a fight (you never even want a preggo person to fight!!!)..also you will need a laying bucket, not 4 inches of moistend soil but 12 inches deep at least..

 

[allencg101]

Theyve always been together in the same cage. Would the dirt in my ficus plant be ok?

you should read jannb's blog on preparing for a clutch and no i would not keep them in the cage yes they are getting along great but in my experience with male veileds they are very horny and he will keep trying to get it on with her if led in there and she should be seperated cause this time takes alot out of her and can stress her out. get a laying bin ready for her and make sure you up her calcium with everyfeeding and see if she will drink from an i drop and if she does after she gets done laying get some liquid calcium and try feeding her that way as well as with dusting her food cause this will help her recover also up her water intake this will help keep her well hydrated and lubed up inside and can help prevent her from being egg bound. best of luck.