walking on the floor & wants out

[haleymht]

My 2-3 month old male veiled keeps going to the bottom of the cage and pawing at the glass trying to get out. He got a dark green unhappy pattern, so I put my hand in there and it scared him a little at first since I was coming from above but he eventually climbed onto my hand and I took him out and put him on a boston fern in my room. He was happy hanging out there for about an hour until I put him back in his cage in case he was hungry or thirsty, but he went back to the bottom of the cage and did the same thing. He did this like four times, so I kept taking him out, but now he won’t even go on the plants. He has a stressed color both in his cage and on in the plants, and he doesn’t want to get off my hand. He’s light green and happy on me right now and won’t crawl off my hand when I try to put him anywhere. He usually hangs out at his basking spot and pretty much only moves around to hunt for crickets or drink water. The temp is 84°F at his basking spot and the humidity is 45% right now. I haven’t made any changes to the cage recently, so I’m just wondering why he doesn’t want to be in there right now? He’s definitely more social than other chameleons I’ve read about because he usually crawls on my hand after I feed him, and he likes when I show him around my room.. I just think the odds are kind of low that he wants to leave his cage just to hang out? I have a glass cage right now, which got pretty stuffy when I first got it, so I air it out multiple times a day and have the fan on, so the air is pretty well circulated and not stuffy now. I’m building a mesh cage and just have to figure how to make it ant-proof then I’ll set up his new home, which hopefully he likes better. In the mean time, do you have any suggestions or know what this could mean?

 

[MissSkittles]

My 2-3 month old male veiled keeps going to the bottom of the cage and pawing at the glass trying to get out. He got a dark green unhappy pattern, so I put my hand in there and it scared him a little at first since I was coming from above but he eventually climbed onto my hand and I took him out and put him on a boston fern in my room. He was happy hanging out there for about an hour until I put him back in his cage in case he was hungry or thirsty, but he went back to the bottom of the cage and did the same thing. He did this like four times, so I kept taking him out, but now he won’t even go on the plants. He has a stressed color both in his cage and on in the plants, and he doesn’t want to get off my hand. He’s light green and happy on me right now and won’t crawl off my hand when I try to put him anywhere. He usually hangs out at his basking spot and pretty much only moves around to hunt for crickets or drink water. The temp is 84°F at his basking spot and the humidity is 45% right now. I haven’t made any changes to the cage recently, so I’m just wondering why he doesn’t want to be in there right now? He’s definitely more social than other chameleons I’ve read about because he usually crawls on my hand after I feed him, and he likes when I show him around my room.. I just think the odds are kind of low that he wants to leave his cage just to hang out? I have a glass cage right now, which got pretty stuffy when I first got it, so I air it out multiple times a day and have the fan on, so the air is pretty well circulated and not stuffy now. I’m building a mesh cage and just have to figure how to make it ant-proof then I’ll set up his new home, which hopefully he likes better. In the mean time, do you have any suggestions or know what this could mean?

Hi. Could you post a pic of his entire enclosure, lights to floor.

 

[Beman]

Can you please post a recent pic of his enclosure so we can see it?

How are you measuring the temp at the basking spot?

 

[haleymht]

Can you please post a recent pic of his enclosure so we can see it?

How are you measuring the temp at the basking spot?

I’ve been using the compact uvb bulb for today and yesterday because the new long one wasn’t working, so my mom is picking up another 10.0 uvb t5 ho long one today and I’ll have it in there by this evening. Here’s the set up right now

 

[haleymht]

I’ve been using the compact uvb bulb for today and yesterday because the new long one wasn’t working, so my mom is picking up another 10.0 uvb t5 ho long one today and I’ll have it in there by this evening. Here’s the set up right now View attachment 277795

Can you please post a recent pic of his enclosure so we can see it?

How are you measuring the temp at the basking spot?

Can you please post a recent pic of his enclosure so we can see it?

How are you measuring the temp at the basking spot?

and I have a little thermometer and hygrometer from petco in there right now and I ordered two better ones online for the top and bottom of the new cage

 

[Anisa.corp]

I’ve been using the compact uvb bulb for today and yesterday because the new long one wasn’t working, so my mom is picking up another 10.0 uvb t5 ho long one today and I’ll have it in there by this evening. Here’s the set up right now View attachment 277795

Its not a horrible start but you are going to need more sticks and a lot more plants when it comes to plants you want live ones since veiled munch on their plants and how do you mist her?

 

[Anisa.corp]

Not saying that I have the best enclosure but heres mine just for an example

 

[PabloTheCham]

 

[Beman]

I’ve been using the compact uvb bulb for today and yesterday because the new long one wasn’t working, so my mom is picking up another 10.0 uvb t5 ho long one today and I’ll have it in there by this evening. Here’s the set up right now View attachment 277795

So he wants out hun. He is not happy in the enclosure. It is not set up properly. You need a bigger one but you need live plants and many branches. A 10.0 T5HO is going to have a stronger output which means you have to have a 11-12 inch distance between the bulb and the highest basking branch. A 5.0 tends to be better for use because you only need a 9 inch drop for this one.

 

[haleymht]

Its not a horrible start but you are going to need more sticks and a lot more plants when it comes to plants you want live ones since veiled munch on their plants and how do you mist her?

I got a midnight focus benjamina, pothos, hypoestes, and small boston ferns for the new cage. The big ones don’t fit in this one but I can put one of the little ferns in here. I’ve been taking him out and putting him on the fern in my room like every other day. I hand mist like 3-4 times a day and I watch him drink in the mornings.

 

[haleymht]

So he wants out hun. He is not happy in the enclosure. It is not set up properly. You need a bigger one but you need live plants and many branches. A 10.0 T5HO is going to have a stronger output which means you have to have a 11-12 inch distance between the bulb and the highest basking branch. A 5.0 tends to be better for use because you only need a 9 inch drop for this one.

 

[PabloTheCham]

I got a midnight focus benjamina, pothos, hypoestes, and small boston ferns for the new cage. The big ones don’t fit in this one but I can put one of the little ferns in here. I’ve been taking him out and putting him on the fern in my room like every other day. I hand mist like 3-4 times a day and I watch him drink in the mornings.

Could you take the fern outside so he gets UVB?

 

[haleymht]

Ok. I’ll have my mom get the 5.0 if she hasn’t gotten it yet or I’ll just hang it a foot above the cage if she already got the 10.0. The one I built is 5’5” and I’m just waiting for my boyfriend to put on the mesh tomorrow morning or I might just look up how to do it myself tonight. I’ll order more branches and look up how to attach them too. I got some plants from the safe plants lists from the chameleon academy and FLchams websites and I’ve been putting him on them since most of them don’t fit in the current cage. This one is only like 3.5’ tall so I put it on my dresser so he’d be higher. I’ll have most of the new cage set up by tomorrow night, and after that I’ll just have to attach more branches. I’m planning on doing the forest edge 4+4 method for branches and hang out spots. Is there anything I can do to make him happier tonight? Should I just have him hang out with me? Here’s a picture of him at the bottom of the cage and a picture of him on my hand from today. He puffed up his throat at the camera but he seemed a lot happier on my hand.

 

[haleymht]

Could you take the fern outside so he gets UVB?

Good idea, I was thinking of that, so I’ll do it right now.

 

[haleymht]

Ok. I’ll have my mom get the 5.0 if she hasn’t gotten it yet or I’ll just hang it a foot above the cage if she already got the 10.0. The one I built is 5’5” and I’m just waiting for my boyfriend to put on the mesh tomorrow morning or I might just look up how to do it myself tonight. I’ll order more branches and look up how to attach them too. I got some plants from the safe plants lists from the chameleon academy and FLchams websites and I’ve been putting him on them since most of them don’t fit in the current cage. This one is only like 3.5’ tall so I put it on my dresser so he’d be higher. I’ll have most of the new cage set up by tomorrow night, and after that I’ll just have to attach more branches. I’m planning on doing the forest edge 4+4 method for branches and hang out spots. Is there anything I can do to make him happier tonight? Should I just have him hang out with me? Here’s a picture of him at the bottom of the cage and a picture of him on my hand from today. He puffed up his throat at the camera but he seemed a lot happier on my hand. View attachment 277800View attachment 277801

@Beman

 

[Anisa.corp]

I got a midnight focus benjamina, pothos, hypoestes, and small boston ferns for the new cage. The big ones don’t fit in this one but I can put one of the little ferns in here. I’ve been taking him out and putting him on the fern in my room like every other day. I hand mist like 3-4 times a day and I watch him drink in the mornings.

Those plants are perfect thats step one but your gonna need a bigger cage you can use glass but it hard to find a big enough glass enclosure the minimum is 24×24×48 (on the bright side you got to see your cham drink some owners never get to see that lol)

 

[Anisa.corp]

Ok. I’ll have my mom get the 5.0 if she hasn’t gotten it yet or I’ll just hang it a foot above the cage if she already got the 10.0. The one I built is 5’5” and I’m just waiting for my boyfriend to put on the mesh tomorrow morning or I might just look up how to do it myself tonight. I’ll order more branches and look up how to attach them too. I got some plants from the safe plants lists from the chameleon academy and FLchams websites and I’ve been putting him on them since most of them don’t fit in the current cage. This one is only like 3.5’ tall so I put it on my dresser so he’d be higher. I’ll have most of the new cage set up by tomorrow night, and after that I’ll just have to attach more branches. I’m planning on doing the forest edge 4+4 method for branches and hang out spots. Is there anything I can do to make him happier tonight? Should I just have him hang out with me? Here’s a picture of him at the bottom of the cage and a picture of him on my hand from today. He puffed up his throat at the camera but he seemed a lot happier on my hand. View attachment 277800View attachment 277801

Sorry didn't see this yet but thats perfect he should be fine for 1 more day in this enclosure it would be great to take him outside just keep an eye on him

 

[haleymht]

Sorry didn't see this yet but thats perfect he should be fine for 1 more day in this enclosure it would be great to take him outside just keep an eye on him

Awesome thank you, I just took him outside for 20 mins and it was really cool, he turned almost black on the side facing the sun and he was still light green in the side in the shade, so his colors were like half and half. He’s back up at his basking spot right now and seems happy. I’ll post pics of the new cage once it’s fully set up