Very long shed for young Veiled...

Faithan84

Member
Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - I'm a new reptile keeper. Kiwi is 5-6 months? Female Veiled. I've had her since December 20, 2020.

Handling - She had a round of antibiotics where I had to handle her everyday. I've not handled her at all in 3 weeks. She's gotten comfortable tong feeding again.

Feeding - 5-6 feeders/day. Tong feed one or two feeders, the rest in a feeder cup. Black soldier fly larvae, dubia roaches, silkworms, hornworms, crickets, occasional wax worms and mealworms. I have a veggie/fruit mixture for the crickets and roaches.

Supplements - Zoomed Repti Calcium without D3, and Zoomed Reptivite. I've been dusting with the calcium at each feeding, and dusting with the Reptivite once every other week.

Watering - I have a MistKing and PetsPioneer Reptile Humidifier Digital Timing Fog Machine that I have set up to go off at the intervals suggested by chameleon academy. I have a Little Dripper that I fill each day. I've seen her drink occasionally. She still gets nervous with me near her cage. I've been using spring water for the dripper and distilled or RO water for the rest. She often takes bites out of the pothos leaf the dripper drips on.

Fecal Description - Brown, soft-dry, and white urates. Still haven't gotten the parasite check done.

History - Unfortunately, I had the wrong uvb lamp with a plastic cover for the first two months I had her. She was treated for conjunctivitis and a respiratory infection with a 2 week course of topical and oral antibiotics. She has regained more strength and appetite, but doesn't seem 100% yet. I have a cat, but she seems more interested in the crickets than the cham. I don't think she's stressing the cham. The medicine course and changes to the cage really stressed her out. I've been trying to give her as much space as possible. After her antibiotics I tried switching her to every other day feeding. She responded by going to sleep early (sometimes in the early afternoon) in weird places lower in her cage. On days I fed her, she would act like normal and hang out and sleep on her basking branch. So for now, I've put her back on every day feeding.

Cage Info: Zoo Med Repti Breeze 16"x16"x30" screen cage. I ordered a Dragon Strand 2x2x4 tall hybrid cage that will hopefully arrive sometime in April.

Lighting - Zoomed HO T5 5% uvb 24" bulb/fixture 8" from the basking branch. I have an Eco Incandescent Natural Light 100W replacement bulb for basking/heat. The new cage will also have a SANSI 24W LED Plant Grow Light Full Spectrum bulb. All lights are on a 7am-7pm timer.

Temperature - Floor - 70-73°F, middle of cage - 75-77°F, Basking - 78-80°F. Night temps drop to mid 60's. I have an Infrared Thermometer Gun, the Zoo Med digital thermometer that came with the kit, Govee thermometer/hydrometer, and a ThermPro digital thermometer/hygrometer that records highs and lows. I also have a space heater about 2' from the cage.

Humidity - Day humidity is around 30-50%. Night humidity goes up to around 74-85% with higher humidity near the bottom of the cage. I have the hygrometer that came with the kit and a ThermPro digital thermometer/hygrometer that records highs and lows. I covered the top 2/3 of the sides and back of the cage with plastic panels, and put another on the front of the cage at night to help maintain humidity. I have the fogger running from 1-6am with a small fan to maintain air flow, and the mister going off for 1 minute at 3 hour intervals at night.

Plants - I have a money tree, 2 pothos (one big, one small), a nerve plant, a spider plant, a polka dot plant, and a maiden hair fern. I have natural branches placed throughout. The plants need to grow a bit more to provide more privacy. She's taken a bite out of nearly all of them but prefers the pothos and money tree. The new cage will also have a monstera and schefflera.

Placement - My room is in the basement of the house. It stays cooler down here. It is on one end of a long room. My desk is close to it and I often sit there to do school work. The top of the cage is about 6' above the floor.

Location - I am in central North Carolina.

Current Problem: Kiwi seems to still be recovering. She started a shed a week and a half ago and it has progressed very slowly from her head to body. The last few days she's been more irritated and darker in color. Her first shed with me was over in a day. She's still eating well. Humidity levels haven't changed dramatically, but I've been tweaking them for a few weeks. My humidity levels shouldn't be causing any problems. I'm concerned about the old skin restricting her. Is this normal? I've been trying to find more information on shedding, and it seems some adult chams shed in phases, but she's still young. Should I be worried? Should I be doing something different? How can I help her?

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As they mature the length of time for the shed can take longer. Also they will shed in sections rather then entire body.

Husbandry still looks good but I would reconsider tong feeding. This is high risk for a tongue injury. I would not feed the mealworms and I would not feed waxworms but maybe once a week at this age. In the next 2 months you want to start reducing her feedings so she is on an every other day feeding schedule. I do this by reducing by 1 feeder a week on the opposite days... You want her on 3 days a week of 3 feeders by the time she is 9 months old. This will help produce a smaller clutch when it comes time to lay eggs.
 
As they mature the length of time for the shed can take longer. Also they will shed in sections rather then entire body.

Husbandry still looks good but I would reconsider tong feeding. This is high risk for a tongue injury. I would not feed the mealworms and I would not feed waxworms but maybe once a week at this age. In the next 2 months you want to start reducing her feedings so she is on an every other day feeding schedule. I do this by reducing by 1 feeder a week on the opposite days... You want her on 3 days a week of 3 feeders by the time she is 9 months old. This will help produce a smaller clutch when it comes time to lay eggs.
Thank you!
 
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