The past couple days my veiled has had some pretty dark coloration

[kinyonga]

@CamrynTheCham22 ...female veileds and Panthers are always hungry and constant overfeeding especially once they are adult will make them fat, have huge clutches, may push them to develop MBD, prolapse, and have egglaying issues. Both species can produce eggs without having mated once they are mature so it's important to have a suitable egglaying bin in the cage at all times once they are mature (their color will tell you when they're ready to start producing eggs). The container should be opaque and at least 12" deep x 12" x 8" and filled with washed playsand that is moist enough to hold a tunnel. Failure to produce a suitable bin can lead to eggbinding and death.

8 crickets or same calories from some other insect every other day should be fine....maybe slightly less because you're providing veggies, etc too.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

My chameleon does have a laying bin in her cage. Is every other day feeding too often for her? Also, I thought that she might be gravid, but she hasn't touched her lay bin.

 

[KeopiCat]

My chameleon does have a laying bin in her cage. Is every other day feeding too often for her? Also, I thought that she might be gravid, but she hasn't touched her lay bin.

Based on what Kinyonga said I think every other day is just fine ^^

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Ok thanks

 

[CharlesYamaguchi]

@kinyonga , so it is normal for veileds to everything all at once? I just fed my female, and she ate everything that was in her cup. I feed her every other day because she is almost a year old, although she seems to ALWAYS be hungry. I do not want her to become overweight, and I know too much of anything can cause obesity in chameleons. Should I get her on a different feeding schedule? I feed her on average 8 small dubia roaches every feeding, and sometimes I throw in apples/kale/carrots/etc. as treats. I thought this was an okay schedule, but she always goes to her food bowl and just sits on the rim and stares into it, waiting for food, even on the days I am not feeding her.

Well, completely stop feeding the apple and probably keep the vegetables down to once a week. Females are ALWAYS hungry. Basic instinct drives them to eat as much as possible as much as they can as in the wild, resources are at a minimum and they need to eat what they can whenever to be able to successfully produce eggs. Their instinct has yet to catch up with the constant availability of food in captivity haha She must learn to slow down. If it really bothers you...and sometimes it bothers me too, although alternating food days is very good, I sometimes will offer them 2 superworms, or 2 crickets or something just to keep them from feeling hungry..nobody likes that either. But fat is bad. Their fat pads are located at a good place for them but also bad place for them. In females they are back there just before their back legs and can get very thick. This can complicate egg laying for them as the eggs would have a problem getting past. This is no good.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Today I minced up about 1/8 of an apple and gave her one single piece, smaller than one square centimeter, and she ate everything else but the minced apple piece. Normally I gutload the roaches with it, but it is always mixed in with other things, mostly vegetables and greens. I will make sure to cut out apple entirely. What would you say are the most nutritious and beneficial foods for chameleons? I also thought she might be eating this way because she actually has eggs, because her colors are also dark (I am thinking she is gravid) but she hasn't touched her lay bin. I was going to move her into a larger, deeper lay bin that wouldn't fit into the cage once I saw her starting to dig, but I haven't seen her even go to that bottom section of her cage.

 

[kinyonga]

@CharlesYamaguchi said..."completely stop feeding the apple"...why??

 

[kinyonga]

@Bmjo ...how's your chameleon doing now?

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Is it because the apple has a high sugar content? Sorry, should I post a new thread?

 

[CharlesYamaguchi]

@kinyonga and @CamrynTheCham22 chameleons do not have the capacity to process sugars as we do. It is an unnatural food source for them and causes undue difficulty on their organs to digest. There is absolute no benefit to feeding fruit to chameleons.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Okay, that is what I thought. When I went to my local reptile shop, the owner (fluent in the language of chameleons) told me something similar, that chameleons couldn't process the sugar and it would sort of overload them. He told me that there were much more nutritional things to feed a chameleon. Thank you for the advice.

 

[CharlesYamaguchi]

You got it @CamrynTheCham22 Thank you for being a responsible owner who continues to learn and grow with their chameleon This is nice to see.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Also, I am looking for a better UVB because the one I have now is 10.0 spiral. Any suggestions on where I can find a good one? I thought my spiral was fine until I saw that there was better options. . .

 

[CharlesYamaguchi]

I would either go with the UVB metal halide bulb from ExoTerra or go with an Arcadia 12% from reptile basics Exoterra linear are kind of lame. Do not get those. If you do not want to order and just want to go local, a Zoomed 10.0 will be better than the spiral but I go with more power

 

[Bmjo]

@Bmjo ...how's your chameleon doing now?

He is eating and his coloration varies throughout the day this morning he was a yellow and turquoise i really love the way his colors are coming thx for checking in

 

[kinyonga]

@Bmjo .....good to hear he's eating and more colorful!

 

[Bmjo]

@Bmjo .....good to hear he's eating and more colorful!

I’ve been looking on a forum and it says that a healthy chameleon should always have its eyes open and be standing but my chameleon will move in the morning then perch with his eyes closed and when i open the door he will open his eyes and move around i have him in a 18x18x36 should i move him into a bigger enclosure

 

[kinyonga]

A healthy chameleon should have its eyes open during the day. There must be something going on.

Did you change the supplements yet? Has he had a fecal test done for parasites?

I cut and pasted this from your other thread so I won't have to keep going back looking for it....hope you don't mind...

chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - male veiled chameleon about 5 months I’ve had him for about 2 weeks
• Handling - Everyday to put a teabag on his eye and feed him because he cannot see
• Feeding - 5-6 pieces of shredded carrot and i try to get at least 1-2 wax worms a day
• Supplements - Rep cal multivitamin and calcium with d3
• Watering - Dripper/misting 4-5 times a day for about 25 seconds
• Fecal Description - Yellow
• History - The guy at the reptile shop said he’s a good eater and he had him for 4 months prior

Cage Info:

• Cage Type- open screen 18x18x36
• Lighting - 60 watt uvb and 65 watt heat lamp
• Temperature- basking is about 87 bottom of tank near mid 70s
• Humidity - About 60% i use a warm mist humidifier and mist him 5x a day i use a humidity gadge
• Plants - No live plants
• Placement - on a rack about 5 feet off ground have 2 sides of cage blocked off not in a high traffic area
• Location - Michigan

 

[kinyonga]

@CharlesYamaguchi ...you said..."chameleons do not have the capacity to process sugars as we do. It is an unnatural food source for them and causes undue difficulty on their organs to digest" ...do you have any studies that were done concerning this or can you tell me how you know this please? I've given a bit of apple in the gutload/food for the insects and to the veileds and other reptiles for years and my veiled females almost all ways live to be over 7 and I take almost all of their bodies in for necropsy to a vet college and none of them say anything about organ damage...so I'm curious.

 

[Bmjo]

A healthy chameleon should have its eyes open during the day. There must be something going on.

Did you change the supplements yet? Has he had a fecal test done for parasites?

I cut and pasted this from your other thread so I won't have to keep going back looking for it....hope you don't mind...

chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - male veiled chameleon about 5 months I’ve had him for about 2 weeks
• Handling - Everyday to put a teabag on his eye and feed him because he cannot see
• Feeding - 5-6 pieces of shredded carrot and i try to get at least 1-2 wax worms a day
• Supplements - Rep cal multivitamin and calcium with d3
• Watering - Dripper/misting 4-5 times a day for about 25 seconds
• Fecal Description - Yellow
• History - The guy at the reptile shop said he’s a good eater and he had him for 4 months prior

Cage Info:

• Cage Type- open screen 18x18x36
• Lighting - 60 watt uvb and 65 watt heat lamp
• Temperature- basking is about 87 bottom of tank near mid 70s
• Humidity - About 60% i use a warm mist humidifier and mist him 5x a day i use a humidity gadge
• Plants - No live plants
• Placement - on a rack about 5 feet off ground have 2 sides of cage blocked off not in a high traffic area
• Location - Michigan

I just started the change of his supplements and no he hasn’t been tested for parasites my parents said they won’t pay for a lizard to go to the vet