Reptile & Amphibian Forums

*what colors do they turn ?(if my terrarium is generally green will he only turn green?)
*how much food should i be feeding ?
*how long does it take to reach its full size ?
*what would it mean if it sat there with its mouth open sometimes ?
*community tank ? with other chameleons ??? or other lizards ???

if you could please help me out, I would appreciate it...

crazee_cutie6969@hotmail.com

Its hard to tell you what colors they will turn. Generally veiled hatchlings are green or brownish when young. Even at young ages, they can take on a darker pattern over the green background when upset and to some extent the shade of green/brown can change too. At several months of age, they start to take on their adult coloration. Search the internet and you will see pictures of adult vieleds.

The colors and patterns that they can take on are a form of language. Colors along with posture lets you know what the chameleon is "feeling". For males, bright colors, vertical flattening of the body, gaping, inflating the gular area,holding one front foot up off the branch under the chin, curling the tail in and out, etc. shows aggression.

Female veileds that take on a dark background color with brilliant blue spots accompanied with gaping, hissing and swaying when in the presence of a male indicate that they are not receptive or that they are gravid....while pale colors and calm reactions to males show they are receptive.

As babies, you should feed them well with the appropriate size of gutloaded insects. The wider the variety of insects the better. As they approach adulthood, vieleds become somewhat omnivorous and will take some fruit, veggies, greens and even eat the leaves of the plants in their cages (a good reason why the plants should be non-toxic and well-washed) in addition to the insects. Also, as the females reach adulthood, its wise to cut down the amount of food that they are given to prevent them from laying large clutches. (Female veileds will/can lay eggs even when they are not mated....so its important to provide a place for them to dig a hole.) You will know if you are overfeeding a male if he is getting too round in the belly area.

Most veileds reach adult size by the time they are one year old...but it varies with your feeding regime.

Sitting with its mouth open sometimes could mean that it was hot or it could mean that it was aware of your presence and defensive of its territory/cage. If its open a lot of the time, even when its not able to see you it could be a respiratory infection. You might see a lot of mucus in its mouth if this were true too. This is a hard question to answer without being able to see your chameleon in action.

As for a community tank...There are several reasons for not keeping a chameleon with another lizard...and if the chameleon is over two months old, its a definite no-no to even keep more than one chameleon in a tank...unless they are together for mating. Chameleons are basically kept one to a cage....and shouldn't even be able to see each other...or other lizards for that matter.

My best advice to you if you want to know more about these critters is to search the web for sites about "chamaeleo calyptratus" or veiled chameleon...and read everything you can find about them too.

Hope this helps!