Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I normally post in the Bearded Dragons forum, but this time I found myself rescuing a veiled chameleon instead of a bearded dragon. We've rescued many different types of reptiles and snakes, but never a chameleon. I've read a lot about their care and how hard they can be to care for compared to beardies. This has me a little worried. I know he didn't get the right care before, but I want to make sure he gets the right care from me! Please feel free to jump in and offer your advice!

We rescued him on Jun 6, 2005. The owner abandoned him, just left him alone in an apartment building. We think he went without food, water, heat, for at least a week, maybe longer. A kind lady took him in for several weeks and got him to eat some gut loaded crickets. Thank goodness she knew enough about chameleons to know that they need to be misted several times a day. Thanks to her he doesn't appear to be too dehydrated.

He's shedding in the photo below. We've been keeping him in a humid environment, including mistings 3 - 4 times a day, along with real potted plants (pothos), lots of climbing vines, and a dripper. There are crickets in his cage, mealworms in a dish near the bottom of the cage, and plenty of hiding places. He spends a good part of the day hiding. He's changed homes 3 times in the last month, so it's no suprise if he's stressed. He shows his beautiful greens once in a while, just not in the photo.

His cage temps are near 85 - 88 at the top of his cage, with a Powersun UVB bulb and the bottom of his cage is around 78 - 80.

He gets around just fine and doesn't appear to have any of the signs of MBD. I haven't measured him yet, haven't been able to get him out of the cage. But he looks like he's about 5" long from snout to vent. Pretty good sized.

I can't think of anything else at the moment. My main concern is getting him comfortable enough to start eating again. I realize that it can take some time. If anyone has any suggestions for me, please let me know.

Also, his cage is very small, only about 3 feet tall, by 18" wide and 18" deep. We are wanting to build him a 4 foot tall cage made out of PVC and vinyl coated mesh. If anyone has any plans on how to easily make one, please let me know!

Hugs,
Veronica
Beautiful Dragons Reptile Rescue

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Beautiful Dragons

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Signature file edited; [phw 8/31/04]

the only suggestion that i can come up with from reading your setup and looking at the pictures would be more plants to give him a little more cover so he feels safe.

keep up th egood work

scott

My thoughts exactly! We added some climbing vines (fake) and a taller plant the next day. I should've mentioned that the photo was taken when we got him home, about an hour after we rescued him. Thanks for the advice Scott!

Hugs,
Veronica
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Beautiful Dragons

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Signature file edited; [phw 8/31/04]

It may be nothing, but the shedding skin on his casque looks a bit odd. Check that it comes off completely and that the skin underneath is OK. Veileds who are mistreated or too cold can get too close to heat spots and burn themselves.

Long time, have not talked with you! Glad to see your still in the RESCUE BIZ, hehhehehe Never ends hunh, geesh I know!

Your new friend is a beauty and I'm sure you will do an awesome job of making him happy and healthy again!

There are MANY fine people here to help you along the way!
I have also joined the ranks of becoming a chameleon Mom as well as everything else,

I do not have a beautiful veiled, but I have a pair of werneri and a GORGEOUS Tamatave Panther chameleon who just joined the family last week.

Hey best wishes with your new colorful buddy (name him yet?)
Hope all goes wonderfully with him! Keep the pics and posts coming,

take care,

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PHEve/ Eve

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