Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i recently moved my sons veiled chameleon from his mothers house to mine. I t has been at her house but I have been the "mature guidance" when it comes to his care. 1 1/2 weeks ago was the move and he seems to have endured the move quite well, a short hunger strike but he seems to be back eating and his basking behavior.

He appears to be "calmly stressed" while basking, somethingthat i did not notice at my ex wifes house. he will latterally compress and extend his gular but colors seem normal.

he seems to be orienting his flat side toward the basking light, could he just be wanting more exposure? the basking site range is usually abouit 98 and the thermometer has a memory and has been as high as 109. the rest of the cage could be a little on the cool side at about 75. he gets misted 3 times a day, 5 minutes at 9am, 1 minute at noon, and 5 minutes at 5pm. has a 3 foot UVB strip running vertically up the side of the cage near the basking light. natural grape vines in the cage nearest the basking light and a ficus on the far side.

Could he need more "cover" in the basking area?

could he just like to be flat?

scott

He might be stressed over the move and the "new animal" in his space. Believe it or not, chams do recognize people and get used to seeing the same "animal" everytime. Have you tried to peek in on him without him noticing you?? If you have, and he's not stressed and becomes stressed when he sees you, then you found the cause of stress. Also, is the cage he's in above eye level so he's looking down on you or is it below you where you tower over him? Chams like to be above you and not below.

You can never err with too much cover (unless is too many plants and not enough space). Cover gives chams a sense of safety.
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Raf

1.0 Jacksons baby
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Diego and Consuelo)
1.1 Adult Sulcattas (POOPIE and George)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY)
0.0.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis)
1.0 Yellow Footed Tortoise (Alfred)
1.1 3 toed turtles
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

When chams bask they tend to flatten themselved out and lean so that they can absorb more heat. They won't ALWAYS do i so he may have done it before but not when you were there to see. Also, they will tend to darken in colour to absorb more heat while basking.
Since he did move though, make sure he can't see any other animals and that he isn't in a high traffic area. If you see him stressing out much you can drape something over his cage so he can't see out. I found my cham was much happier with her cage partly draped, even though she was in a low traffic area.
You can also monitor his eating (as you mentioned you have) and drinking habits to make sure he's doing alright. His set up sounds really good!! It's nice to have someone come here with a concern BEFORE a cham gets sick (not to say yours will, i mean good that you are being cautious) and also having a good knowledge (from the sounds of it) and set up!! Pat on the back for you!!
Yeah.. i know i sound nuts... but i've been reading this forum for almost two years.. you can't imagine the kinds of things we get!!!
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~Lindsay
0.1 panther chameleon (Orion)
1.2 r. brevicaudatus chams (unnamed)
0.1 leopard gecko (Acadia)
1.0 pictus gecko (Raine)
1.1 parakeets (Bongo/Citron)
1.1 cats (Tigger/Bonzai)
1.0 dwarf hampster (Chico the monster)
someday will have 1.1 great danes (will be Osiris and Solaris)

thanks for the advise, and passing along the knowledge that they sometimes do what can easily be mistaken for stress, as a normal thing (it's a fine line between a happy cham and a stressed cham) i think i am gonna add a little more folige but was hesitant because of the recent move.

as for your compliments to my setup....I thank everyone here and cannot stress enough to all new owners to read, the info is out there.

scott