Update on Koopa

[MoniqueC]

She's eating! I say she because I checked her hind legs yesterday and they are pretty smooth, but I'll check again as she gets older. Koopa won't touch meal worms but loves her dusted crickets. I've only seen her drink once or twice but she dosent seem to have sunken eyes or brown to show dehydration. I just bought a mister! It supposed to go off every four hours for three seconds but sometimes if I feel the cage is too dry or the mister cycle is working properly I have a spray bottle on hand.

Now, I've noticed since I got Koopa on the first of Janurary she squeaks/chirps! Not very often, I've noticed Koopa only does it before I feed her. It looks like a yawn but a little chirp comes out kind of like "mom! I'm hungry!"
Is this common? Has your Cham does this before a feeding? It's quite interesting, I didn't think they made any sound. Also, she'll turn light green with dark, almost black spots when misted or I come up to the cage. Is that a stress mood? Cause when I went to check on her hind legs (very delicately, I made sure she was aware I was close to her space) the spots went away when she ended up crawling on my hand.

Chameleons are intriguing creatures for sure!

 

[MeruJack]

It's a she.

"For Veiled Chameleons: Look for tarsal spurs. Males are born with little bumps on the back of their hind legs. If they don't appear to have these little bumps, then they are be females." Look at the picture. See the little bump on the back of his foot? That's a tarsal spur.

The spurs are present at birth. So if your chameleon doesn't have them yet, she'll never get them and that means you have a girl.

 

[MoniqueC]

Ohh. I was hoping for a male. But I love her regardless. Looks like I'll be reading up on female veiled a bit more. Thank you

 

[zlew]

When she does the squeaking sound, does she puff her body up, push out her chin, and open her mouth wide? Possibly lift her front legs under her chin? It's a defense type of thing, the hiss and make themselves look big to scare off predators. She could be annoyed that you are going into her cage, but then be fine with it once you give her food. Mine will always hiss at me unless he sees food.

 

[ChamDE86]

Hey Monique,

I caught this and didn't know if it was a typo... "I just bought a mister! It supposed to go off every four hours for three seconds". If not, then 3 seconds is not enough. I would set it to mist for at least 2-3 minutes. Sometimes it takes a while for chams to start drinking.

 

[MoniqueC]

I see, I thought that would be too long because the water just falls off the leaves to the bottom (by the way, no more substrate; pulled it out) and it'll drown some of her crickets. Is it recommended to makeshift a drainage system or just leave the water?

 

[zlew]

I just drilled holes in the bottom of mine and placed plastic tubs under it. There's no need for anything complicated, unless you want the extra challenge.