Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a male veiled chameleon that is about 7 months old now and he is growingvery very slowly although I can tell he is growing. I looked up pics of other male veileds that are around his same age on the internet and they seem to be huge, but Im doing everything right, and he is growing, just really slowly though. Is this normal? Is it just genetics? Thanks -Donna

No offence meant Donna, but if something is 'wrong', the chance that you are doing something wrong, rather than something IS wrong with your chameleons is far more likely. The best we can do is to help you analyse your husbandry.

I'm sure someone can offer suggestions if you explain more about your enclosure, the set up, the feeding routines, diet.

Good luck!
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CANADIAN CHAMELEONS

I own 3 veiled chameleons, and have owned 4 total. One female I had grew very slowly, by 4 months of age she was stil tiny. She enjoyed eating plants. Her diet consisted mostly of flowers, pothos leave and kale. I figured her small size was due to her lack of protein and other vitamins offered by insects. She was still a very healthy chameleon was much smaller. Often chameleons get over fed and will grow at enormous rates, unnaturally.

How big is he? And how much is he eating?

I have to say, most veileds are grown too fast. I don't think there's been
anty research or evidence showing that there are long-term problems
associated with fast growth, but there are most certainly short term
issues.

I have never had any of my baby veileds come down with mbd, or any
other nutritional problems for that matter. I have had four animals that
had nutritional problems, and all of them were purchased from other
breeders. Two of them had severe MBD after a short period of time in
my care, the other two had moderate symptoms, which was merely a
bendable casque. All of them recieved the same care that my own
animals get - brand new reptisun bulbs, repcal with D3 and minerall 0,
gutloaded insects. Within two months, the symptoms showed up.

These animals were all much larger than my animals at the same age -
twice as big in some cases.

My male veiled, hatched in February, is now 14" long. His father was
13" at the same age. At 15 months, his father was about 18" long.
He'll get there, despite the fact that other chameleons hatched out at the
same time hit their adult size 4-5 months ago! His bones are rock solid,
and he's a gorgeous animal.

I grow them slowly at first, feeding them once or twice a day, giving
them UVB and a mix of repcal and minerall (to "dilute" the d3 a bit, and
make sure they get all the trace minerals) and a variety of feeders. I
have seen what happens when they are grown fast. If they are started
off eating as much as they can eat, they have to be kept on such a diet
until they're a few months old, or else they'll get MBD. Their bodies
keep growing at a fast rate, and if you don't supply them with the extra
food and minerals, they'll get MBD. I DO know of several male
calyptratus that were grown very fast, and lived (and are still iving) long
lives - over 5 years - so long term, there might not be problems. (I have
been told that with some snakes, if grown too fast, it can shorten their
lives.)

However, when you get a chameleon from a breeder, see how they feed
them. If you're buying a 2 month old that's eating 1/2 inch crickets, you
can be sure that the breeder is growing them VERY fast. To avoid
MBD, you'll need to make sure their intake keeps up with their
metabolism.

For comparison, my animals, at 1.5 - 2 months, are eating 1/4 inch
crickets baby mealworms and superworms, and hydeii fruit flies.