Thank you all

[BillH]

I would like to thank you all for all the wonderful information that is contained here and the sharing of the vast amount of knowledge you all have.
To give a little background... I am an Animal Control Officer and have just become a foster parent of a veiled chameleon. If anyone is interested, the lady that owned her is facing numerous charges and several more now thanks to the information I have gathered here.

One question I do have is: Is there any way to tell the age of a veiled? She is about 4 inches from the tip of her nose to the base of her tail and almost two inches tall. The suspect is being very uncooperative and will not give us any info on any of the animals she had there so anything would be helpful.
Also… any tips anyone has would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping the Judge will grant me permanent custody of her.

Thank you all again for all the great info contained here!!!!!

Bill

 

[justjumpit621]

Possibly less than a year. My female veiled chameleon is 5 1/2 inches from nose to vent and she is a little over a year.

 

[Miss Lily]

Hi and welcome! Sounds like she's still only a baby, unless she has been so badly cared for that her growth has been stunted. Poor thing! This forum is a great place for everything chameleon! They are such wonderful creatures and so rewarding to keep - I am glad that her keeper will be charged. Good luck!

 

[Carlton]

As for care tips, there is an article titled "Raising Kitty the Veiled Chameleon" on the forum that can tell you all about them. Also, some of the sponsor websites have great care info too, especially for a well known species like the veiled. This is the first time I've heard of animal control making use of a chameleon to document abuse/neglect. More power to you!! We are very glad to have you.

 

[laurie]

Welcome to the forum. Out of thousands of members you may be the only animal control officer. Isn't it nice to be special? But hey we are all special. we are chameleon owners and now so are you even if it is not the little veiled you will NEED to have a chameleon, trust me on this.

 

[xanthoman]

if you plan on keeping it, you will have your homework cut out for you, i think you will find its not like keeping other animals http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/ a pic of it on your hand would be helpful , that would be my guess somewhere between 8mo- 1yr/ i would be interested in knowing the conditions you refered to, if you are at liberty to discuss them

 

[BillH]

thank you for the link. I have been doing so much reading on the veiles that my eyes have bugged out. I have found the more I learn the more there is to learn.

I have fallen in love with her already. I do hope I get to kkep her but if I don't I will be getting another.

The chameleon was not the reason for the charges actually. The dogs and cats were the main cause of us being there but after the conditions we saw we took everything and I have charged her with numerous violations. Severalof those stemming from the great info I got here. We actually took out 4 dogs, 12 cats, 2 large parots, 3 snakes and the chameleon. The chame was in a 10 gal glass aquarium with a screen top, no water or misting bottle present(urate is yellow) and pine shavings as substrate. The ony light was from a 50 watt white heatlight. There was a there was a fake rock cricket feeder and two feet of flexi vine in with her. That is about all I can release right now. After everythign is done I can go into more detail if anyone is interested.

I will try to get a good pic of her as soon as I can. Right now every time anyone goes near her she gets brownish stripes on her and has her mouth open hissing. I am trying my best not to stress her out any more than she already has been.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!

Can you post a picture of her please....I'd like to see the condition she's in.

Does she have good straight arms? Can she hold her body up off the branches?

You said..."The chame was in a 10 gal glass aquarium with a screen top"...depending on where you live the aquarium itself would not be...but its too small.

You said..."no water or misting bottle present(urate is yellow)"I wonder how it got water??

You said..."pine shavings as substrate"...pine is said to contain oils that are toxic to chameleons.

You said..."The ony light was from a 50 watt white heatlight."...if she had no UVB and no supplements chances are that she has MBD...which is why I asked to see the picture of her.

They are amazing creatures and I hope she will do well for you!
One more thing...I would provide her with a place to dig in case she has to lay eggs.

 

[warpdrive]

Hi Bill,

yes, all the info, both good and bad can be quite overwelming at times.
my best advice to you is to just keep things simple for right now.

in other words. stick to the basics.
if her cage is fine, then good for now.
if her temps and humidity are ok for now, then great.
is she eating a good diet of mixed insects and maybe some fruits/vegies, then no need to go too crazy about gutloading right now.

in time, just by reading a few threads here in this forum, you will learn and understand how to keep her better and have a better life.
no need to have to crunch your brain trying to learn everything all at once.

if your not sure about anything, then ask questions.
trust me, there are plenty of great people here that will give you the best advice.

above all, we realy need a photo.
this photo realy needs to be large enough so we can see plenty of detail on this animal.
chameleons have a habit of hiding any problems that they may have...but many of us can spot problems using a few good pics.
the other problem with chameleons is that once they get sick or develop a problem, they go down hill fast...so if we see a photo, we might be able to catch something before it's too late.

Right now every time anyone goes near her she gets brownish stripes on her and has her mouth open hissing. I am trying my best not to stress her out any more than she already has been.

after you said the above, I'm kinda wondering if she is on a table or something that is just too low for her comfort level.
chams like hight. they like to be above you.
my females cage sits on a dresser that is 4.5' tall, so the bottom of her cage starts there, and the top is well above my head.
try a higher table or a tall dresser to put her cage on.
yet in time she will calm down more and get used to everyone in the house.

again, welcome to the forums.

Harry

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Thank god for people like you sir. You will be rewarded in the next life for all that you have done to help gods creatures. People like the lady in question should be really scared to close their eyes at night.

 

[joeandsoph]

Looking forward to a pic

 

[nosytrish]

good luck!