Your Chameleon - Female veiled, we have had her for about 2 months now. She was a baby when we got her, so I'm guessing she's no older than 3 months? She's about doubled in size since we got her, if that helps any.
Handling - Almost never. At first I would pick her up every other day, but she began to really dislike it. At that point, I figured it was best to leave her alone except for changing and cleaning her home.
Feeding - We feed her about 30-50 small crickets every 2 or 3 days. I dust the crickets with Calcium+D3, but we're being much more careful with that stuff until we can get her some non-D3 calcium for regular feeding. On occasion she is fed mealworms, but she seems to enjoy the crickets much more.
Supplements - We might have been giving her too much D3, because her crickets are dusted with the calcium+D3 powder that I mentioned above.
Watering - She has a small water bowl at the bottom of the cage. Though it is standing water, I have witnessed her drink from it on several occasions. The bowl is cleaned once a week. I plan on putting ice cubes at the top of the cage from now on so the water will be dripping as well, hopefully that will be even better for her.
Fecal Description - The fecal matter is brown, the urate is half white, half orange. I know this points to dehydration, which is why I'm going to start the ice cube dripping method.
History - Her overall energy level has dropped over the past couple weeks. When she is awake, she roams around the cage and seems in relatively good spirits. I am a first time chameleon owner though, so I have no standard to base my observations upon.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Fully screen cage; 18 inches tall, 18 inches wide, 24 inches long. This is her third cage, and not her final one. I know she will need a bigger one soon, but how big is big enough?
Lighting - Daytime: Zoo Med 60 watt Daylight Blue Reptile Bulb (UVA/UVB), 5.5" clamp lamp 4:30 AM to 9 PM
Night: All Living Things 50 watt Infrared Heat Bulb, 5.5" clamp lamp
Temperature - I honestly have nothing to measure temperatures. The only device I have right now is an electronic meat thermometer which is obviously inadequate for this purpose. (I will get a proper thermometer ASAP!) I do make sure that whichever bulb is on is on one side of the cage so that she can escape to the other side of the cage when she is too warm. I'm not convinced that the daytime bulb is hot enough though- the heat seems to dissipate very quickly about two inches down from the top of the enclosure.
Humidity - Again, I have no device to measure humidity at this time. I have a humidifier (Repti Fogger) that is on for about an hour or two a day, but I am unsure as to how high or low the setting should be and if one or two hours is even enough.
Plants - No live plants, lots and lots of branches and fake plants that she loves to climb on! All were bought from PetSmart.
Placement - Her cage is in a corner of our living room as far away from any vents or high traffic areas as possible. The cage is on a table, and the top of the cage is 3 ft, 3 in. from the floor.
Location - Houston, TX, USA. Very hot outside during the day right now, relatively warm and mild in the morning. No rain in about 2 weeks. Inside temperature of the house is between 72 to 74.
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Problem:
Abby, our female veiled chameleon, has developed a troubling habit over the past couple weeks. She followed a very regular sleeping schedule for the first month and a half that we had her, but about two weeks ago, she started staying up past the normal time when we would change the daytime bulb to the infrared bulb. This led to her sleeping during parts of the day but being active at parts of the night. She seemed to be sleeping for the same amount of time, just at different times than usual. But over the past week she has been sleeping more often than she has been awake, and today in particular she has been awake for maybe 30 minutes in between her long "naps". She flinches whenever a drop of water touches her, but her eyes do not open.
I know this is abnormal, and I am trying to find out what I am doing wrong that is causing this! She appears to be a normal weight, and whenever she sleeps her tail is tightly wound into a nice plump coil. She is a very light yellowish green when she sleeps, and a medium green when awake. Her eyes do not appear to be sunken in.
Also, I am unclear as to what steps should be taken to help the egg laying process along. I have read several different sources but I still don't know what signs to look for that would tell me she is ready to lay. I also need advice as to what I should move her into when the signs are imminent. Every source I've read seems to say something different, and I want to do this right! I understand it needs to be something deep and full of sand, but how big should the perimeter of this "cage" be? Should I put anything it, should it have tall walls, and how long per day should she be in there? Sorry for all the questions, if anybody knows a good link to a guide that would be of help (preferably with pictures!), it would be much appreciated.
Picture
Thankfully, just before I hit submit, Abby woke up and I was able to get a decent picture of her! Here she is:
Handling - Almost never. At first I would pick her up every other day, but she began to really dislike it. At that point, I figured it was best to leave her alone except for changing and cleaning her home.
Feeding - We feed her about 30-50 small crickets every 2 or 3 days. I dust the crickets with Calcium+D3, but we're being much more careful with that stuff until we can get her some non-D3 calcium for regular feeding. On occasion she is fed mealworms, but she seems to enjoy the crickets much more.
Supplements - We might have been giving her too much D3, because her crickets are dusted with the calcium+D3 powder that I mentioned above.
Watering - She has a small water bowl at the bottom of the cage. Though it is standing water, I have witnessed her drink from it on several occasions. The bowl is cleaned once a week. I plan on putting ice cubes at the top of the cage from now on so the water will be dripping as well, hopefully that will be even better for her.
Fecal Description - The fecal matter is brown, the urate is half white, half orange. I know this points to dehydration, which is why I'm going to start the ice cube dripping method.
History - Her overall energy level has dropped over the past couple weeks. When she is awake, she roams around the cage and seems in relatively good spirits. I am a first time chameleon owner though, so I have no standard to base my observations upon.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Fully screen cage; 18 inches tall, 18 inches wide, 24 inches long. This is her third cage, and not her final one. I know she will need a bigger one soon, but how big is big enough?
Lighting - Daytime: Zoo Med 60 watt Daylight Blue Reptile Bulb (UVA/UVB), 5.5" clamp lamp 4:30 AM to 9 PM
Night: All Living Things 50 watt Infrared Heat Bulb, 5.5" clamp lamp
Temperature - I honestly have nothing to measure temperatures. The only device I have right now is an electronic meat thermometer which is obviously inadequate for this purpose. (I will get a proper thermometer ASAP!) I do make sure that whichever bulb is on is on one side of the cage so that she can escape to the other side of the cage when she is too warm. I'm not convinced that the daytime bulb is hot enough though- the heat seems to dissipate very quickly about two inches down from the top of the enclosure.
Humidity - Again, I have no device to measure humidity at this time. I have a humidifier (Repti Fogger) that is on for about an hour or two a day, but I am unsure as to how high or low the setting should be and if one or two hours is even enough.
Plants - No live plants, lots and lots of branches and fake plants that she loves to climb on! All were bought from PetSmart.
Placement - Her cage is in a corner of our living room as far away from any vents or high traffic areas as possible. The cage is on a table, and the top of the cage is 3 ft, 3 in. from the floor.
Location - Houston, TX, USA. Very hot outside during the day right now, relatively warm and mild in the morning. No rain in about 2 weeks. Inside temperature of the house is between 72 to 74.
-------------------------
Problem:
Abby, our female veiled chameleon, has developed a troubling habit over the past couple weeks. She followed a very regular sleeping schedule for the first month and a half that we had her, but about two weeks ago, she started staying up past the normal time when we would change the daytime bulb to the infrared bulb. This led to her sleeping during parts of the day but being active at parts of the night. She seemed to be sleeping for the same amount of time, just at different times than usual. But over the past week she has been sleeping more often than she has been awake, and today in particular she has been awake for maybe 30 minutes in between her long "naps". She flinches whenever a drop of water touches her, but her eyes do not open.
I know this is abnormal, and I am trying to find out what I am doing wrong that is causing this! She appears to be a normal weight, and whenever she sleeps her tail is tightly wound into a nice plump coil. She is a very light yellowish green when she sleeps, and a medium green when awake. Her eyes do not appear to be sunken in.
Also, I am unclear as to what steps should be taken to help the egg laying process along. I have read several different sources but I still don't know what signs to look for that would tell me she is ready to lay. I also need advice as to what I should move her into when the signs are imminent. Every source I've read seems to say something different, and I want to do this right! I understand it needs to be something deep and full of sand, but how big should the perimeter of this "cage" be? Should I put anything it, should it have tall walls, and how long per day should she be in there? Sorry for all the questions, if anybody knows a good link to a guide that would be of help (preferably with pictures!), it would be much appreciated.
Picture
Thankfully, just before I hit submit, Abby woke up and I was able to get a decent picture of her! Here she is:
