Veiled chameleon age?

[BubbaVeiled]

i think his colors will be pretty cool when he grows up then! translucent is usually easier to tell. what did the breeder/place say about him, did they say anything about him being translucent, or making you pay more for that possible reasoning?

I got him off of flchams. It didn't say translucent. It did say he would be 2 months old though but I really feel like he's only 1 month.. which sucks for a first timer like me. This is the dad I got the baby from

 

[Beman]

I got him off of flchams. It didn't say translucent. It did say he would be 2 months old though but I really feel like he's only 1 month.. which sucks for a first timer like me. This is the dad I got the baby from

That line of chams (if baby is actually from that line) is not a translucent line. Translucents literally have patches of skin that are pink see through. These patches can change as they mature to more white or even black patches holding some of the pink or none at all. How they start out is not how they look as a mature adult. If you scroll down this link it shows the colors of this morph. https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/

 

[BubbaVeiled]

Is it normal for little kid chameleons to be pale-ish?

 

[Beman]

Is it normal for little kid chameleons to be pale-ish?

I would fill out the form below by copy pasting it into your response. Be detailed in your responses and post pics of the entire enclosure including the lights on top. Babies this young are fragile they need things to be right from the jump or they can decline rapidly. Include some more pics of the baby so we can try to figure out what you mean by pale.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[BubbaVeiled]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - veiled, male, flchams said two months but he looks like a 1 month to me . I got him yesterday
• Handling - I look at him from far away.
• Feeding - he has not eaten yet. I have a food bowl of black soldier fly larvae, superworms, dubias, and a couple wax worms dusted with calcium w/o d3. I just left it sitting in there. I jiggled the bowl in front of him from a safe distance and he was staring at it like he wanted to eat some. I can see his ribs and I think he's hungry. I took the advice from earlier in the thread and am going to purchase tiny crickets as soon as I'm done posting this response. Hopefully he'll eat those.
• Supplements - all repcal. Have calcium with and without D3. And reptivite multivitamins. When he starts actually eating I'm going to lightly dust calcium no D3 daily, then alternate calcium with D3 and reptivite every week. (1 Saturday calcium D3, 1 Saturday reptivite)
• Watering - dripper on the top, mist for about 2 minutes before lights on, and once throughout the day, random mist at night as well. (Will mist more but it is very humid where I live, so I'm holding off until I move 9n October.) He did not drink yesterday, but this morning I moved the dripper to a new spot, and he ran over to the leaves and drank for like 10 minutes. I think he just learned what the dripper was for.
• Fecal Description - he has only pooped once. It was small, but the urate was mostly creamy white. I'm going to fecal test soon
• History - not much. Got him off of flchams. I got him yesterday and love him

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 2x2x4 mesh cage
• Lighting - 60 watt soft white light for basks. I usually keep it off past 12 in the afternoon because it gets hot where I live. I use a T5 HO UVB 5.0 light.
• Temperature - it is about 78 near the bottom and 85 at the top. I know it's too hot but I live in the south and there's a heat wave going on right now. He hasn't been gaping at all so I think he's not too hot. I have a digital thermometer on the bottom door of the cage, and a digital probe thermometer I use too.
• Humidity - Typically between 50 and 60 percent. Again, I know it's too humid, but I live in the south during a heat wave and do not know how to reduce humidity. This is why I only mist during night time or in the morning before the oven like temperature comes on outside. I have a digital hygrometer and analogue and I usually just compare the two.
• Plants - I have a shefflera tree and a pothos growing in the bottom right now. I do have fake silk ivy on the walls that I will be removing as soon as I get dragon strands in a month or two. I know fake plants are bad, but as of right now he's too small and weak to bite off the silk leaves.
• Placement - in my room. I typically point the floor fan at his cage from far away to cool him off and try to dry off the cage a bit. It is not a high traffic area. Me and my woman are pretty chill relaxed guys and we keep the tv on super dim at night time. The cage is about 6 and a half feet from the floor to the top of the cage. He is always looking down to us and watching us.
• Location - Augusta GA

Current Problem - He hasn't eaten yet. I think the bugs might be too big or too foreign for him? Or maybe he's still just nervous about the new house? Also I can't for the life of me figure out his color. Sometimes he looks like a healthy slightly dark green, then sometimes he has brown zones on the top of him, and then sometimes he has like a white tint to him. I can't tell if he's white or not is the main issue.

 

[BubbaVeiled]

Here is pics of him

 

[BubbaVeiled]

Here's some more pics

 

[Beman]

@BubbaVeiled Ok see all my feedback in bold. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - veiled, male, flchams said two months but he looks like a 1 month to me . I got him yesterday Ok looking at these pics I doubt if he is older then a month.
• Handling - I look at him from far away. Good keep stress low. Babies this young are delicate and stressing them out can cause issues.
• Feeding - he has not eaten yet. I have a food bowl of black soldier fly larvae, superworms, dubias, and a couple wax worms dusted with calcium w/o d3. I just left it sitting in there. I jiggled the bowl in front of him from a safe distance and he was staring at it like he wanted to eat some. I can see his ribs and I think he's hungry. I took the advice from earlier in the thread and am going to purchase tiny crickets as soon as I'm done posting this response. Hopefully he'll eat those. Ok the food is too big I can tell by the shadow of the feeders in the bowl. Did you find tiny crickets? Do you have any solid colored bowls? The clear he may hit from the outside thinking he can get to them through the clear side. Also that bowl looks quite deep and he is really young so I am not sure if his tongue is long enough to tag feeders in the bottom of that bowl. So I would go with a shorter plastic bowl maybe no deeper then 2 inches. Make sure it is positioned so baby can easily get to it and see down into it. Getting a baby this young eating is very very important. Gahnns crickets make be able to overnight ship them to you. 1/8 size no larger. order at least 1000 to make it worth it. Babies this young are not limited to feeder amounts. You just let them eat. https://www.ghann.com/Live-Crickets-C2.aspx They can easily take down 40-50 a day when they are this young.
• Supplements - all repcal. Have calcium with and without D3. And reptivite multivitamins. When he starts actually eating I'm going to lightly dust calcium no D3 daily, then alternate calcium with D3 and reptivite every week. (1 Saturday calcium D3, 1 Saturday reptivite) So this is fine just make sure the reptivite is the without D3 version.
• Watering - dripper on the top, mist for about 2 minutes before lights on, and once throughout the day, random mist at night as well. (Will mist more but it is very humid where I live, so I'm holding off until I move 9n October.) He did not drink yesterday, but this morning I moved the dripper to a new spot, and he ran over to the leaves and drank for like 10 minutes. I think he just learned what the dripper was for. Perfect so focus on providing the dripper during the day. Mist morning and evening. You do not want to be soaking the cage down with mistings all day. Besides the humidity you want it to dry out during the day.
• Fecal Description - he has only pooped once. It was small, but the urate was mostly creamy white. I'm going to fecal test soon good I highly recommend this.
• History - not much. Got him off of flchams. I got him yesterday and love him

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 2x2x4 mesh cage good
• Lighting - 60 watt soft white light for basks. I usually keep it off past 12 in the afternoon because it gets hot where I live. I use a T5 HO UVB 5.0 light. Your distance to basking should be 8-9 inches with the UVB lighting you have to get a 3 UVI at the branch. Per the heat bulb... Babies this young do not have to have heat. You can kick it off especially if your house is 75 or warmer. Make sure that the area below the heat is no hotter then 80 with that heat fixture if you use it.
• Temperature - it is about 78 near the bottom and 85 at the top. I know it's too hot but I live in the south and there's a heat wave going on right now. He hasn't been gaping at all so I think he's not too hot. I have a digital thermometer on the bottom door of the cage, and a digital probe thermometer I use too. See above.
• Humidity - Typically between 50 and 60 percent. Again, I know it's too humid, but I live in the south during a heat wave and do not know how to reduce humidity. This is why I only mist during night time or in the morning before the oven like temperature comes on outside. I have a digital hygrometer and analogue and I usually just compare the two. This is ok. continue to mist in the morning and evening. Spikes of humidity is fine. If it is falling to 50 ish that is fine for day time.
• Plants - I have a shefflera tree and a pothos growing in the bottom right now. I do have fake silk ivy on the walls that I will be removing as soon as I get dragon strands in a month or two. I know fake plants are bad, but as of right now he's too small and weak to bite off the silk leaves. I agree with your line of thinking on the vines and that is exactly what I was going to recommend. I would not change anything in the cage until baby is larger and eating without issue. by 3 months the fake floral ivy needs to go. Which DS cage did you get the regular or hybrid?
• Placement - in my room. I typically point the floor fan at his cage from far away to cool him off and try to dry off the cage a bit. It is not a high traffic area. Me and my woman are pretty chill relaxed guys and we keep the tv on super dim at night time. The cage is about 6 and a half feet from the floor to the top of the cage. He is always looking down to us and watching us.
• Location - Augusta GA

Current Problem - He hasn't eaten yet. I think the bugs might be too big or too foreign for him? Or maybe he's still just nervous about the new house? Also I can't for the life of me figure out his color. Sometimes he looks like a healthy slightly dark green, then sometimes he has brown zones on the top of him, and then sometimes he has like a white tint to him. I can't tell if he's white or not is the main issue. So a large part of being a new keeper is learning the behaviors and color changes of your cham. This takes time. Right now getting him eating is a priority. They can die easily if they go too long at this age without food. Babies tend to not be picky about food if they are the right size, a feeder they know, and can get to it easily. They know to eat. The fact that you are leaving him alone is good too. It will keep the stress down.


Consider buying a feeder run. I like these two.
This one in a 3 inch https://www.fullthrottlefeeders.com/feedercups
Or this one in the large size https://tkchameleons.com/collections/accessories


DS helpful links. https://dragonstrand.com/getting-the-most-from-your-dragon-strand-dragon-ledges/
https://chameleonacademy.com/case-study-2-x-2-x-4-cage/

Husbandry program that I highly recommend. It will walk you through everything. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

Gutload for bugs and feeder options. Right now with as small as baby is I would stay with crickets. Only because he will know them and you have to feed so much every day.

 

[BubbaVeiled]

@BubbaVeiled Ok see all my feedback in bold. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - veiled, male, flchams said two months but he looks like a 1 month to me . I got him yesterday Ok looking at these pics I doubt if he is older then a month.
• Handling - I look at him from far away. Good keep stress low. Babies this young are delicate and stressing them out can cause issues.
• Feeding - he has not eaten yet. I have a food bowl of black soldier fly larvae, superworms, dubias, and a couple wax worms dusted with calcium w/o d3. I just left it sitting in there. I jiggled the bowl in front of him from a safe distance and he was staring at it like he wanted to eat some. I can see his ribs and I think he's hungry. I took the advice from earlier in the thread and am going to purchase tiny crickets as soon as I'm done posting this response. Hopefully he'll eat those. Ok the food is too big I can tell by the shadow of the feeders in the bowl. Did you find tiny crickets? Do you have any solid colored bowls? The clear he may hit from the outside thinking he can get to them through the clear side. Also that bowl looks quite deep and he is really young so I am not sure if his tongue is long enough to tag feeders in the bottom of that bowl. So I would go with a shorter plastic bowl maybe no deeper then 2 inches. Make sure it is positioned so baby can easily get to it and see down into it. Getting a baby this young eating is very very important. Gahnns crickets make be able to overnight ship them to you. 1/8 size no larger. order at least 1000 to make it worth it. Babies this young are not limited to feeder amounts. You just let them eat. https://www.ghann.com/Live-Crickets-C2.aspx They can easily take down 40-50 a day when they are this young.
• Supplements - all repcal. Have calcium with and without D3. And reptivite multivitamins. When he starts actually eating I'm going to lightly dust calcium no D3 daily, then alternate calcium with D3 and reptivite every week. (1 Saturday calcium D3, 1 Saturday reptivite) So this is fine just make sure the reptivite is the without D3 version.
• Watering - dripper on the top, mist for about 2 minutes before lights on, and once throughout the day, random mist at night as well. (Will mist more but it is very humid where I live, so I'm holding off until I move 9n October.) He did not drink yesterday, but this morning I moved the dripper to a new spot, and he ran over to the leaves and drank for like 10 minutes. I think he just learned what the dripper was for. Perfect so focus on providing the dripper during the day. Mist morning and evening. You do not want to be soaking the cage down with mistings all day. Besides the humidity you want it to dry out during the day.
• Fecal Description - he has only pooped once. It was small, but the urate was mostly creamy white. I'm going to fecal test soon good I highly recommend this.
• History - not much. Got him off of flchams. I got him yesterday and love him

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 2x2x4 mesh cage good
• Lighting - 60 watt soft white light for basks. I usually keep it off past 12 in the afternoon because it gets hot where I live. I use a T5 HO UVB 5.0 light. Your distance to basking should be 8-9 inches with the UVB lighting you have to get a 3 UVI at the branch. Per the heat bulb... Babies this young do not have to have heat. You can kick it off especially if your house is 75 or warmer. Make sure that the area below the heat is no hotter then 80 with that heat fixture if you use it.
• Temperature - it is about 78 near the bottom and 85 at the top. I know it's too hot but I live in the south and there's a heat wave going on right now. He hasn't been gaping at all so I think he's not too hot. I have a digital thermometer on the bottom door of the cage, and a digital probe thermometer I use too. See above.
• Humidity - Typically between 50 and 60 percent. Again, I know it's too humid, but I live in the south during a heat wave and do not know how to reduce humidity. This is why I only mist during night time or in the morning before the oven like temperature comes on outside. I have a digital hygrometer and analogue and I usually just compare the two. This is ok. continue to mist in the morning and evening. Spikes of humidity is fine. If it is falling to 50 ish that is fine for day time.
• Plants - I have a shefflera tree and a pothos growing in the bottom right now. I do have fake silk ivy on the walls that I will be removing as soon as I get dragon strands in a month or two. I know fake plants are bad, but as of right now he's too small and weak to bite off the silk leaves. I agree with your line of thinking on the vines and that is exactly what I was going to recommend. I would not change anything in the cage until baby is larger and eating without issue. by 3 months the fake floral ivy needs to go. Which DS cage did you get the regular or hybrid?
• Placement - in my room. I typically point the floor fan at his cage from far away to cool him off and try to dry off the cage a bit. It is not a high traffic area. Me and my woman are pretty chill relaxed guys and we keep the tv on super dim at night time. The cage is about 6 and a half feet from the floor to the top of the cage. He is always looking down to us and watching us.
• Location - Augusta GA

Current Problem - He hasn't eaten yet. I think the bugs might be too big or too foreign for him? Or maybe he's still just nervous about the new house? Also I can't for the life of me figure out his color. Sometimes he looks like a healthy slightly dark green, then sometimes he has brown zones on the top of him, and then sometimes he has like a white tint to him. I can't tell if he's white or not is the main issue. So a large part of being a new keeper is learning the behaviors and color changes of your cham. This takes time. Right now getting him eating is a priority. They can die easily if they go too long at this age without food. Babies tend to not be picky about food if they are the right size, a feeder they know, and can get to it easily. They know to eat. The fact that you are leaving him alone is good too. It will keep the stress down.


Consider buying a feeder run. I like these two.
This one in a 3 inch https://www.fullthrottlefeeders.com/feedercups
Or this one in the large size https://tkchameleons.com/collections/accessories


DS helpful links. https://dragonstrand.com/getting-the-most-from-your-dragon-strand-dragon-ledges/
https://chameleonacademy.com/case-study-2-x-2-x-4-cage/

Husbandry program that I highly recommend. It will walk you through everything. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

Gutload for bugs and feeder options. Right now with as small as baby is I would stay with crickets. Only because he will know them and you have to feed so much every day.


View attachment 306733View attachment 306734

Thank you so much. You're a life saver. I'm going to order 1000 pinheads from the site you linked me and try to find a 2 inch opaque bowl for him to eat from. Also the cage I have is the reptibreeze XL mesh. Seriously, thank you. I just want my little son to eat. Any tips on how to get the crickets not to jump around and cause a ruckus?

 

[ERKleRose]

Here's two great feeding products (you can also DIY them, along with a feeder run, too, if you want to):
https://tkchameleons.com/products/shooting-gallery
https://www.fullthrottlefeeders.com/feedercups

DIY feeder run instructions:
https://dragonstrand.com/constructing-a-chameleon-feeder-run/

 

[BubbaVeiled]

Quick update for you chameleon gents and ladies, ordered the crickets (damn 45 dollars for tiny crickets with overnight air shipping D but because it's a Saturday they won't get here until Monday morning at the earliest. Order hasn't even been confirmed yet so who knows. Anyways I learned about flightless fruit flys. So I'm going to pick those up on the way home from work tomorrow and just use those until crickets get here. Really angry at flchams for selling me a tiny baby when the site said 2 months. I'm going to breed the flightless fruit flys and just use those though. I REALLY hope he eats them because by now we've had him for 3 days and he hasn't eaten..

 

[Lindasjackson]

Oh no! I hope the poor baby eats tomorrow!

 

[Beman]

Quick update for you chameleon gents and ladies, ordered the crickets (damn 45 dollars for tiny crickets with overnight air shipping D but because it's a Saturday they won't get here until Monday morning at the earliest. Order hasn't even been confirmed yet so who knows. Anyways I learned about flightless fruit flys. So I'm going to pick those up on the way home from work tomorrow and just use those until crickets get here. Really angry at flchams for selling me a tiny baby when the site said 2 months. I'm going to breed the flightless fruit flys and just use those though. I REALLY hope he eats them because by now we've had him for 3 days and he hasn't eaten..

With the fruit flies. You want to use the same shallow bowl. Put a slice of banana in it pour a lot of them in on top of it. They will stay near the banana.

Make sure the positioning of the bowl is correct so baby can easily see in to see the movement.

The trick to ordering feeders. Is ordering your next batch before baby runs out so you do not have to pay overnight shipping.

 

[BubbaVeiled]

With the fruit flies. You want to use the same shallow bowl. Put a slice of banana in it pour a lot of them in on top of it. They will stay near the banana.

Make sure the positioning of the bowl is correct so baby can easily see in to see the movement.

The trick to ordering feeders. Is ordering your next batch before baby runs out so you do not have to pay overnight shipping.

Thank you kindly. I'll try the banana trick. Do I need to put fruit in there if I use flightless ones and VERY lightly dust them? I feel like the dust would weight them down enough not to go all over the place. And yeah I got a big huge shipment of like 4 different bugs the day before he got here, and they're all too big because little man is way smaller then the site said he would be :/. Frustrating stuff lol

 

[BubbaVeiled]

Also, little bubba Walter is shedding now. A lot of activity for his first week at his new home. He's a bit angry about the shedding lol

 

[BubbaVeiled]

Here he is. Poor guy

 

[Lindasjackson]

Poor little guy!

 

[BubbaVeiled]

I know right he's having a rough couple days. As soon as he gets some food 9n him he'll be doing a lot better! He actually climbed onto my girls finger yesterday. She walked up to the cage and he fast walked towards her. She held her finger up and he climbed onto it. Stayed a nice green color, no puffing, and his tail started sticking upwards. I don't know if that's good or bad, but it's something that happened.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Oh that’s so cool!

 

[BubbaVeiled]

Update: he finally ate! He is devouring the fruit flys! I'm going to give him 3 bowls of the stuff. So probably roughly like 60. I would give more but I need to keep some in the jar so they reproduce. He seemed hungry! He looks nice and content now though also, when dusting with vitamins or calcium D3, do I use it every feeding in one day? Or use it for the first feeding, then every one after that just do regular calcium without D3?