Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just received some baby veiled chameleons and they are about two months old if that. I have a small 18X12X24 screen cage for three of these guys to share with the normal 5.0 lighting and basking light on one side. There food is in a small dish suspended within the plant, and the food is pinheads who have been gut loaded for the past two day. I also water these guys three-five times per day…It depends on the humidity of the room they are in. And finally, the cage temp is a constant 82F and the basking spot hits 97F. I hope that will answer all the setup questions. I’m trying to keep a close eye on these guys because I just received them and of course they are young. All but one seems to be eating well and enjoying themselves. But, this one was found hiding in the back of the cage on the bottom. She was hanging on the screen between the pathos plant pot and the side of the cage. She’s in the shade but there is plenty of shade in other areas suspended in the cage. She also is black as night. I moved her once putting her in the pathos and she seemed to enjoy herself until she fell moving from one leaf to another. Thankfully there were leaves under where she was so she just fell on those leaves, but then the just walked to the edge of that leaf and fell again. Caught by another leaf, she just climbed down the vine to the floor, turned black, and hid again behind the pathos pot. What might be wrong, or what can I do about this?

Hmm, that doesn't sound too good. Have they been to the vet yet? I'm guessing part of it (tho I don't think all of it) is the stress of the move & such. My only suggestion would be to put her into a cage of her own that is not as tall (so she has less of a distance to fall) and put the cage in a higher position (pehaps on top of a bookcase) with a plant of her own. That may help if she is intimidated by the others &/or her new surroundings. Good luck with them =)
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1.1 Crazy dogs (Sandy & Gizmo)
1.2 Vacationing Kitties (Puddy, PeeWee & Mikey)
1.1 Veiled Chameleons (Charlie & Emma)
0.1 Collard Lizard (Jimmie)
0.1 Leopard Gecko (Lily)
0.0.1 AWOL Leopard Gecko (Eddie)
0.1 Amazing Fiance =o)

I went to the opposite side of the cage to get a closer look at her and she started moving away from me to the opposite side of the cage. She got in the leaves and climbed to the top of the cage and turned green again. Now she is asleep and not far from the another chameleon on a vine. When I mean I just got her, I just recieved her today. I read in another post that first time owners get a little scared about everything. I hope I was just scared. I think if she keeps acting like this tomorrow I will isolate her like you said. I have an identical cage to the one she's in and it would suit her fine.
Thanks for the advice.

I don't know if you know this already, but they should eventually each have a cage of their own. I'm not sure what age is the right time to separate them, some people might say asap. Also, when they are adults they should have cages of size 24x24x48, at least. You are doing the right thing keeping them in smaller cages as babies.

If you have that extra cage, I'd set it up for the female. She'll probably feel more comfortable not having to share food and resting spots.

Good luck, I hope she gets better.
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~Melissa
1.0 Ambanja Panther (Diesel)
0.1 African Hegdehog (Kaimah)