Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a new baby female veiled earlier this evening. She is about 2 months old. However I did not notice until I got home that her face looks funny. Her bottom jaw looks normal but her top jaw looks short. I'ts not extremely short, you can't see teeth or the inside of her mouth, it just looks like someone pushed her nose back. Her mouth closes completely and I did see her open it. She looks well hydrated, doesn't look skinny, and has a good grip. I did not see her eat yet but I'm guessing thats because she is getting used to the new cage. She is housed in a large cage with the same lighting I use on my other cages (capture the sun mercurys)

Do you think she will be alright or should I take her back? Is there anything that I should do for her maybe extra vitamins or something?

I feel so stupid for not noticing this when I was looking her over.
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Thanks Dawn
1.0 Veiled (Moe)
0.1 Helmeted Iguana (Louie)
0.2 Southern Toads (Tiny and Bubba)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Joker)
3.1 Cats (Buffy, Spike, London, and Lilly)

Don't feel stupid, I bought a pair of baby panthers last weekend thinking I could breed them eventually, but it didn't dawn on me until I was driving home that they were from the same bloodline- duh. In my defense the jerk that sold them to me actually told me to breed them. If you can post a picture of your veiled I'm sure some people on this site can give you some good advice. I can't say without seeing it.

Could be something, or nothing. Early sign of MBD (at such a young age???), birth defect due to inbreeding, or nothing. I don't know and I'm sure you don't want the difficulties of raising such a young baby chameleon complicated by this unknown factor.
Best bet is to take her back and exchange for one with no defects. Be 100% sure of the baby you're getting. Examine for bumps, leisions, eye infections, or birth defects. Make sure she's 100% healthy.
Good luck with this.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

for what it is worth Luna has an off-bite. Sometimes her mouth opens a little and her lower jaw is set off to the left. It does not affect her eating or drinking and she can fully close her mouth - it just makes her look goofy LOL!

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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

And Luna is also missing part of her tail. If memory serves me right, Luna had some very special needs that you attended to diligently. The fact that Luna is doing so well today is more a testament to your hard work and efforts.
I didn't mean to take anything away from the little female veiled. I'm sure she's very beautiful and will make a very nice pet. All I meant was that with chameleons having such specialize care to begin with, you should ideally start with a specimen that has the best chances for survival, ideally one with no defects.
BTW Lele, how's Luna? No eggs yet?
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Thank you Victor! - yup she has about 1/2 her tail missing (though what she has is very strong and she has learned to use it well - except when it spins around like a propeller when she thinks it is longer than it is and it keeps searching for a branch - LOL!)and has always been small for her age. I promised not to breed her. She has grown little in the past several months and is still only about 5" s/v and is almost a year old. B/c of her size I do worry about the egg laying.

Still no eggs, but she has been wandering a lot today. It is warm and sunny and I planned on bringing her outdoors but don't want to interrupt her potential plans - LOL! and will just let her be.

As for Dawn's initial concern I would think that if the little one eats/chews and drinks OK she should be fine. The ones with special needs need an obsessive parent (though I know most of us are) and believe me obsessive is my middle name!
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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