Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm back for a question. If you all remember I'm the one who got a Veiled male hatchling last month. And he's doing just great still. The shedding never really occured to me til this weekend. I went to the Ohio show and seen this lady with a bunch of hatchlings shedding. I asked her how often do they do this and she said at this age they should every week. Mine never has. She said to spray him down, but he's so tiny and HATES the water touching him. Let me tell you the setup and how I been taking care of him. He's in a 10gal tall terraium w/ screen door and lid. And yes it's just until he grows, then I'm building a screen cage. He has a UV light(ExoTerra8.0) and it's on about 14hours a day. I also have a basking light, but I don't use it much, it's always like 75* in there. I spray/mist it down about 4 times a day. He drinks and eats fine. He was eatting up to 30 fruit flies a day, and now it's at about 15 and 3 pinheads a day. He's finally accpeted crix. And they are always dusted with RepCal. He's very friendly and comes to the door and climbs on my hands. He's pretty spunky and eats great and stuff so I know he's not stressed or unhealthy. Why isn't he shedding? I've had him for a month and he hasn't even growth. He's gotten a lil pumlb though. They have Shed stuff at the petstore I seen, but I'm not sure to use this on a baby? And does it harm or even work? Do I spray him like soaking him? People say not to, because the babys could choke. I don't know what to do! Help?
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cassie
cmk2005@alltel.net
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3.2.3 Green Tree Frogs
0.0.6 Fire-bellied Toads
0.0.1 Green Frog
0.0.1 Afican Clawed Frog
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon
0.0.2 Leopard Geckos
2.0.0 Rough-skinned Newts
0.0.3 Painted Turtles
4.1.32 Tropical fish
2.0.0 Rabbits
0.1.0 Beagle

im new to chameleons as well but heres some things ive picked up through a little research:

-use a reptisun 5.0 instead of the exoterra, 12 hours a day, everyone swears by them

- definitely use a basking light, i think 75 degrees is ok for ambient temp but he needs a spot in the cage that he can go to that is a lot warmer so he can bask, approx 90 degrees

-dust crickets with another supplement such as herptivite, repcal doesnt provide everything necessary

We have had a veiled for many years before he passed on, but he always hated to be sprayed. He did his best shedding after being outside in the natural sunlight. Lots of it in Central Texas. Otherwise he spent most of the time under a basking lamp before the shed fell off.

A little misting or even hanging out in a steamy shower is preferably to some of the "snake oil" shed aids being sold.

most chams don't like to be misted b/c it startles them and is cool. I bought a spray bottle that produces a very fine mist. I put HOT water into it (it will cool some when it hits the air so it will not burn your baby) and I mist near Luna so that a little bit barely falls on her. Little by little I get it closer but always approach from the back rather than the face. As soon as she is comforatble with it I use my other bottle which has a more forceful mister but again, I spray from distance so that it falls on her rather than dousing her. Proper humidity is a MUST for chams and especially for a successful shed. they tend to get sort of chalky looking before a shed as the dead skin separates from the skin underneath. I would suggest getting a good humidity gauge as well.

here's an article on baby care

lele
baby care

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica the j sisters were sent to freedom last month
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Could there be a chance as well that your missing him shedding?
Sometimes my veiled sheds so fast that I barely notice at all, I just see a few patches of skin that are on the floor. Probably not but maybe a reason on your little guy? How often a day do you look in on him?

Erin

hey this happened to me i think some veilds just never grow to their full size iny only shed about once a month when it was little and i did everything pretty perfect to keep it. There was no reason it shoudnt of grown but it never did and know at over a year old it has reached only aobut 13 inches, but he is perfectly healthy and has really good color.
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Matt G
1.1 jax chameleon
1.0 veild chameleon
1.5leopard gex(1 tang)
1.2 fire belly toads
2.1 golden gex
1.0 bearded dragon

I've had my veiled since it was a few weeks old. I got him late december-early january. I can't remember, my brains full of snot (stupid flu). Anyway, he had his first shed only a month ago (march 14), so he was about 3-4 months old at the time. He just finished his second shed the day before yesterday.

He's growing pretty freaking fast right now. Some chams grow at a steady pace, and some have rapid growth spurts. I wouldn't worry about it too much just yet.