White Line on Veiled Cham

[Somalol]

Veiled Chameleon, male, about a month old, my care for
I do not handle him
I feed him 5 crickets in the morning then 4 in the evening, I gutload the feeders with sweet potato, apple, and zucchini, then dust them with calcium powder and tong feed them to him
Vitamins, and Calcium
I mist him 3 times a day with 2 hand mister bottles, it takes about 5 minutes each time, once in the morning once in the afternoon once in the evening
His fecal matter is black with a white tip

Cage
16x16x36 (I know I need bigger, I am purchasing an upgrade soon)
I use a 75w Heater and 5% UVB bulb
His basking spot is 87-89 degrees
The humidity is 76 most of the time excluding night, I maintain it with mistings, and use a hydrometer to measure
I have a golden pothos plant and a Yucca plant as his main perch spot
The cage is located away from my air vent all the way in the back of my room where he is disturbed the least. At the very top of his perch spots he is about 5’7 in height
I am located on the East Coast of Florida

Concern- He has a white horizontal line across his torso. He is a little brown in the photo because I just misted his cage and accidentally sprayed him a little. This line was not here when I first got him

 

[CasqueAbove]

That is just his color. Your specs look pretty good, except your heat is way high for a baby. 82f max. And Humidity is off. At night you want under 70f and 100% humidity. The day should dry out even down to 30% is fine. You supplements look ok, but make sure it is calcium every feeding but 1 a week. this one alternates between Calcium w/d3 and a multi vitamin.

Dealing with Florida. So some of those numbers may not be so easy where you live. Cooling you should be able to get to at least 70. To compensate for the high humidity add ventilation, maybe even a small computer fan, or fan for whole room will work as well.

 

[Somalol]

That is just his color. Your specs look pretty good, except your heat is way high for a baby. 82f max. And Humidity is off. At night you want under 70f and 100% humidity. The day should dry out even down to 30% is fine. You supplements look ok, but make sure it is calcium every feeding but 1 a week. this one alternates between Calcium w/d3 and a multi vitamin.

Dealing with Florida. So some of those numbers may not be so easy where you live. Cooling you should be able to get to at least 70. To compensate for the high humidity add ventilation, maybe even a small computer fan, or fan for whole room will work as well.

Okay thank you very much and calcium is every feeding, and I'll make sure to move his heat lamp a little higher up, and work on the humidity for nights, I intend on getting a fogger once I get my next paycheck, thank you so much I was very worried I assumed it was a burn or a health defect because I couldn't find a direct answer through general research. And another question I never have seen him drink despite me watching him often, he doesn't seem to mind my presence (no signs of defensive behavior or stress). However he stays hydrated as I can tell through the white tips of his fecal matter, how does he stay hydrated? Is it the crickets moisture? I give them a water dish that they often drink through (I use the same water I give him for his misting)?

 

[CasqueAbove]

Okay thank you very much and calcium is every feeding, and I'll make sure to move his heat lamp a little higher up, and work on the humidity for nights, I intend on getting a fogger once I get my next paycheck, thank you so much I was very worried I assumed it was a burn or a health defect because I couldn't find a direct answer through general research. And another question I never have seen him drink despite me watching him often, he doesn't seem to mind my presence (no signs of defensive behavior or stress). However he stays hydrated as I can tell through the white tips of his fecal matter, how does he stay hydrated? Is it the crickets moisture? I give them a water dish that they often drink through (I use the same water I give him for his misting)?

You may not want a fogger in Florida. You likely don't see him drink because he is well hydrated. I say no fogger in Florida because you already have high humidity. I have known other keepers to get rid of foggers in high humidity areas.
What you really want is under 65 and 100% humidity. This does not mean you need a fogger. Humidity is very related to temperature. 70% at low 70s is going to be 100% at 65f. You are in a warm humid area, you likely just need to cool at night and you are good. Now depending on your house a fogger might be right, but there may be better purchases to start with given your location.

 

[Somalol]

You may not want a fogger in Florida. You likely don't see him drink because he is well hydrated. I say no fogger in Florida because you already have high humidity. I have known other keepers to get rid of foggers in high humidity areas.
What you really want is under 65 and 100% humidity. This does not mean you need a fogger. Humidity is very related to temperature. 70% at low 70s is going to be 100% at 65f. You are in a warm humid area, you likely just need to cool at night and you are good. Now depending on your house a fogger might be right, but there may be better purchases to start with given your location.

My house is 73 degrees on average throughout the day, is it okay to turn my fan on at night? and I should mist him before I turn his lamps off right?

 

[CasqueAbove]

My house is 73 degrees on average throughout the day, is it okay to turn my fan on at night? and I should mist him before I turn his lamps off right?

Yes fan at night is good, just not directly on them. And you want to mist just after heat off at night, and before heat in the morning. Oh and also only run heat for about an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening.
In the wild the behavior is to climb up and bask as soon as it get warm, they then continue their search for food with a final bask in the evening. This is what we are trying to simulate.

 

[Somalol]

Yes fan at night is good, just not directly on them. And you want to mist just after heat off at night, and before heat in the morning. Oh and also only run heat for about an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening.
In the wild the behavior is to climb up and bask as soon as it get warm, they then continue their search for food with a final bask in the evening. This is what we are trying to simulate.

ohhh okay i got you, I keep the uvb on right though? and no the fan is at the center of my room its a ceiling fan, and is my feeding okay, i try to keep it on schedule of 9am then at 5 pm. and why shouldn't i keep the heat lamp on? every source ive read has said 12 hours of heat then 12 hours of no heat

 

[CasqueAbove]

Yes on UVB. For the heat. Most sources are wrong. I have a site and I get my information from people that have raised and studied for years. So the heat. We do this too many reptiles. We look at the high for the region and say that's it. In the wild however there are biotopes and micro-topes. They are not necessarily equal in temp and humidity. So in our case of the Yemen (Veiled) Chameleon the region they come from is pretty specific and rarely hits 90f, this is in the cities where people live. In the county, and more specifically wadis (seasonal dry stream and river canyons) , it does not reach this temp. Further on the hotter days they will retreat the the cool shade.
In captivity they do not have this option, so we create it for them. Some will say that they can climb down to cool, where as this is true, it is unnatural for the chameleon. the ground equals danger so you go only when necessary. They want to remain perched high where they can keep a lookout, but not be cooked in the process. So thus on in the morning and evening.

For my observations mine have done better at lower temps. I have 5 juveniles left that are 11 months old. They have rarely seen anything above 84, and that only happens now and then. Their norm is basking of 80-82f The day will very rarely be above 75. This is on the low end for sure, but the point is out of my 2 adults(3yrs) and 8 babies 11months I have seen no ill effects as far as lowered apatite or activity in fact opposite to most reptiles this drop in temp actually seem to stimulate them. They are active, feed great, and have had no health issues.

 

[Somalol]

Yes on UVB. For the heat. Most sources are wrong. I have a site and I get my information from people that have raised and studied for years. So the heat. We do this too many reptiles. We look at the high for the region and say that's it. In the wild however there are biotopes and micro-topes. They are not necessarily equal in temp and humidity. So in our case of the Yemen (Veiled) Chameleon the region they come from is pretty specific and rarely hits 90f, this is in the cities where people live. In the county, and more specifically wadis (seasonal dry stream and river canyons) , it does not reach this temp. Further on the hotter days they will retreat the the cool shade.
In captivity they do not have this option, so we create it for them. Some will say that they can climb down to cool, where as this is true, it is unnatural for the chameleon. the ground equals danger so you go only when necessary. They want to remain perched high where they can keep a lookout, but not be cooked in the process. So thus on in the morning and evening.

For my observations mine have done better at lower temps. I have 5 juveniles left that are 11 months old. They have rarely seen anything above 84, and that only happens now and then. Their norm is basking of 80-82f The day will very rarely be above 75. This is on the low end for sure, but the point is out of my 2 adults(3yrs) and 8 babies 11months I have seen no ill effects as far as lowered apatite or activity in fact opposite to most reptiles this drop in temp actually seem to stimulate them. They are active, feed great, and have had no health issues.

Okay thank you I understand and will accommodate, 1 hour in the morning 1 in the evening, thank you so much for the very specific advice I really appreciate it, I feel like I understand far much better now