What happened with my chameleon?

[TiWine]

Hi guys, i'm scared to hell right now.
This is what happened recently:

I saw my veiled chameleon scratching his door. I opened it and he came out to my hand first time. I really happy at that moment, and later on he climbed to my back and grabbed my chair, then go down my chair. After this he tried to "go somewhere" in my room. I don't know why but he tried to run somewhere. I tried to take him back to his enclosure because i was scared. I put my hand before him and he climbed on it. And i tried to hover him back while he is on my hand, but suddenly he jumped off to the floor and tried to reach to somewhere again. I scared more that time, he scared a little bit too and i but my hand before him again. He hissed and became light green with very dark dots and puffed himself up. This held for 2-3 seconds and then he climbed on my again. Once again i hovered him back to his cage but he tried to run to the opposite. Hardly i put him back and now he is standing still and moving slowly rarely. He don't want to eat. His colour is normal after i put him back. When he came out to my hand his colour looked normal (green with darker strips). This colour stayed until he jumped off so i don't think he scared.

He don't fall long distance only 15-20 cm. I know it's still big but he seems fine now.

• Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male, 3 and a half months old. He is with me about a month now.
• Handling - I taming him. Once a week i baiting him to my hand with silkworm or waxworm and then i let him go back.
• Feeding - Crickets, waxworms, dubias, turkestan roaches, black soldier fly larvaes, silkworms. I give him 14-16 small insects during twice feed time. Gutloaded mostly with carrots, apple or orange.
• Supplements - Using repti-cal without d3 powder every feed and twice a month reptivite with d3.
• Watering - Spraying plant leaves 3 times a day. Sometimes he drink from the spraying bottle.
• Fecal Description - Healthy. White urates normal darker brown poops.
• History - Bought from a professional breeder. He is healthy eating normally from my hand every day. He didn't moved much during the day before. Mostly he under his uvb lamp. But two days before he shed and now he walking around his cage very often.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Glass cage (30x30x60cm) while he is growing. When he will be 5-6 months old he will get a big screen cage.
• Lighting - Arcadia Pro T5 UVB Kit 12.0 24W, i have heating lamp but not using it because in top of his cage under uvb he has 29-31 Celsius degree.
• Temperature - I wrote it above. In lower his cage he have about 26-27 Celsius degree.
• Humidity - 35-50 at daytime. At night around 60.
• Plants - Ficus and few branches.
• Placement - On a desk. When i stand up i'm a little bit above him.
• Location - Europe, Hungary.

Picture from him right after he went back to his cage:

 

[Jackkitch]

It seems like your Cham is trying to get out of his enclosure and they usually do this when there is something wrong with it. Can you attach more photos so we can see if there is anything wrong with the enclosure.

 

[xxcham]

I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure that glass cages aren’t great for veiled chameleons. Has he been showing any signs of being sick? I’m gonna tag some people on the forum who might be able to understand and help this situation better @Beman @MissSkittles @Gingero

 

[TiWine]

It seems like your Cham is trying to get out of his enclosure and they usually do this when there is something wrong with it. Can you attach more photos so we can see if there is anything wrong with the enclosure.

There is no much more thing i can show, but there is two more picture:

 

[Jackkitch]

There is no much more thing i can show, but there is two more picture:

View attachment 277517View attachment 277518

How hot does it get where you live one thing I noticed is the cage is next to the window so the sun may be coming through and overheating the cage so your Cham might be looking for a cool place to hide and get cover

 

[TiWine]

I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure that glass cages aren’t great for veiled chameleons. Has he been showing any signs of being sick? I’m gonna tag some people on the forum who might be able to understand and help this situation better @Beman @MissSkittles @Gingero

I know screen cage is better for veiled chameleons but i don't think this would cause the problem. I open the doors very often for ventilation. The humidity good too. No signs of being sick. His colour healthy, he eating perfectly. His moving is normal. Fecal healthy too. Thank you for tagging!

 

[TiWine]

How hot does it get where you live one thing I noticed is the cage is next to the window so the sun may be coming through and overheating the cage so your Cham might be looking for a cool place to hide and get cover

The maximum temperature in top of his enclosure is 33 maybe 34. I fixed that with turning off his heat lamp. Now he has 29-30 at basking spot. And he is under his uvb now, so i don't think he overheating. And he never opened his mouth for cooling down. I considering moving his cage from the window.

 

[Jackkitch]

The maximum temperature in top of his enclosure is 33 maybe 34. I fixed that with turning off his heat lamp. Now he has 29-30 at basking spot. And he is under his uvb now, so i don't think he overheating. And he never opened his mouth for cooling down. I considering moving his cage from the window.

I think it would be a good idea to move the cage away from the window but I’m not sure what else to say. Hopefully some other members could suggest if anything is wrong

 

[Mrjamwin]

The experience probably just stressed him out. Keep a eye on him and give him a few days to readjust. Just for the record, a glass enclosure can work if it's done probably but your Cham is eventually going to grow to be too big for what you have. So you might start preparing for the future to get a bigger enclosure.

 

[TiWine]

The experience probably just stressed him out. Keep a eye on him and give him a few days to readjust. Just for the record, a glass enclosure can work if it's done probably but your Cham is eventually going to grow to be too big for what you have. So you might start preparing for the future to get a bigger enclosure.

Thank you for the reply helps me a lot. Now he is doing okay btw. He just ate the second meal today, moving around fine. No puffing no hissing. But i still didn't know why he run like that out of his cage. He never came out to my hand before without food.

 

[Mrjamwin]

My Chams enclosure is a 4x2x2 and it has plenty of room and every time I open his door he likes to come out whether I have food or not. Sometimes it seems they just like to explore. I think what your Cham is doing is natural.

 

[TiWine]

My Chams enclosure is a 4x2x2 and it has plenty of room and every time I open his door he likes to come out whether I have food or not. Sometimes it seems they just like to explore. I think what your Cham is doing is natural.

I see. That's sounds awesome because i thought i will have a grumpy little boy who will defend his enclosure.

 

[Beman]

So per your help form everything is almost perfect. There are only a few things that I would suggest changing. I would drop your UVB bulb back to a 6% bulb. Because this would need 9 inches to basking and looking at your enclosure it would seem that would be the case. Hard to tell. With the 12% this requires a full 12 inches to basking. Make sure this lamp is over a screened section as UVB will not go through glass or plastic.

I would also get a digital temp and hygrometer. Analog ones tend to not be very accurate.

Per the jumping... This happens when they are not used to you but are out. I would just be very cautious when your holding him. try not to put the other hand over them like your covering them. This freaks them out.
As long as he fell on carpet and is up and moving around he should be fine.

 

[Mrjamwin]

I see. That's sounds awesome because i thought i will have a grumpy little boy who will defend his enclosure.

Wait till he gets older. He most likely will.

 

[TiWine]

So per your help form everything is almost perfect. There are only a few things that I would suggest changing. I would drop your UVB bulb back to a 6% bulb. Because this would need 9 inches to basking and looking at your enclosure it would seem that would be the case. Hard to tell. With the 12% this requires a full 12 inches to basking. Make sure this lamp is over a screened section as UVB will not go through glass or plastic.

I would also get a digital temp and hygrometer. Analog ones tend to not be very accurate.

Per the jumping... This happens when they are not used to you but are out. I would just be very cautious when your holding him. try not to put the other hand over them like your covering them. This freaks them out.
As long as he fell on carpet and is up and moving around he should be fine.

Thank you for your answer. I use 12% because the screened section is too "dense". I will replace the analog to a digital one for sure, its just a momentary solution.

 

[Beman]

Thank you for your answer. I use 12% because the screened section is too "dense". I will replace the analog to a digital one for sure, its just a momentary solution.

Ok yeah if it is not going through regular window screen it will reduce your output. Honestly the only way to know for sure is with a solarmeter 6.5. Just keep that in mind when you upgrade to a larger enclosure size.