Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Dot always has the colors in the picture below. It really is a pleasant site to see such a baby with splendid colors, but she always has these colors except when she is sleeping/basking/or resting. Otherwise when she is walking around she always has these colors. Something wrong? Or is my Dot Speshul =P

yes it is normal for a female to have those colors, but no it is not normal for her to have them for a vast majority of the time. That is the STRESS color pattern. Not even excitement. Just STRESS. Whatever is causing her to become that color, stop, because stress can and does kill chameleons. good luck..
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- Happy herping!

KE

Thats the thing, there is nothing for her to stress about. I handle her maybe twice a week, and when I look at her I stand very still. It seems she is always this color regardless if there is any stress but upon her. She is pacing the cage and spends alot of time walking on the bottom of it. Don't know what could be the cause of stress she is in a quiet room with LOW traffic.

No stress? Did you read my reply to your LOL! Dot is PMSing post? The mere fact that she fell off your hand and onto the floor 10 times while you were trying to clean her cage is STRESS. You also said that you hand feed her every day - that's a bit more than twice a week. This is not necessary and is another means of STRESS.

I really think you need to see the world from Dot's perspective: she is this tiny creature in a huge world. You are her caregiver but you can also be seen as her predator - simply by handling her when she does want to be. If she is this color all the time there is definitely something(s) wrong.

I don't know if Luna or I have been more stressed with all the handling Luna has HAD to endure these past two weeks (vet trips, meds and showers). I know she is not happy about it so when she is alone I keep her cage covered much of the time - just so she knows that she has a safe place to be.

Why don't you, once again, give us an update on your complete setup and post some pictures - they would be really helpful. And PLEASE give her some time out. Try cover her cage for a day and only make sure her dripper is going and that she has food - then just let her chill for day or two - you, too.
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
?.? Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula (no name yet)

i have a baby male veiled (Zipper) and he turns those colors too. i'd like to tell you exactly what those colors mean, but i believe that there isn't enough research done on color changing to determine if they are stressed out or just trying to blend in a bit or are excited about the prospect of food. most people would agree that the colors are caused by stress. Zipper gets a little bit darker when i take him out to feed him, but he only shows those colors when he starts to walk around just like yours was doing. chameleons should be a nice light green when they are resting though so you should try and keep her that way as much as possible.

Ive worked with both sexes of veiled chams for many years, not just mine.. I am the primary caregiver to the chameleons at the local aquarium. Ive wondered about their color changing, and watched them intensely. The POSITIVE EXCITEMENT color, when they see a mate, they get to go for a walk outside, they find a great food item, is different from the NEGATIVE EXCITEMENT color pattern, when they are scared, see a rival, or are upset about something else. They have very specific patterns for different "emotions". Buzzing too. I dont know if anyone knows, but veiled chams do buzz, or HOOT through their branches to communicate, and I have noted that they will hoot when they are eating something great, like papaya or a strawberry, which goes to show you they arent just little robots who are either relaxed or MAD. they are a lot smarter than a lot of people give them credit for.
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- Happy herping!

KE

what is the temperature?