Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone over this past weekend I got 3 veiled chameleons they all have fed well. one of them seems to have a problem with its front arms seem to be a little bulgy and are bent in an odd way. any ways tonight when i got home tonight one of them was in the hot spot and was brownish with red stripes. I was wondering what these colors mean? the other two chams were both a nice green color and asleep in another tree far away from this one. after about 10 minutes of me being home he changed his color back to green and went in to a tree and went to sleep. any one have any ideas?

Thanks
Cody
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I'm CrazyCody KadunkKadunk!!!

Kadunk was here

CrazyCody

We need more information first. Are the 3 housed together? If they are older than hatchlings you need to separate them. How old are they? Coloration changes a lot as they mature until they are adults so the colors you saw could mean different things depending on age. The one with the different markings may be stressed by one or more of the others. Veileds can be very aggressive and should not be able to even see each other from across a room. They threaten and intimidate each other visually not just physically.

Generally, most chams turn darker to help themselves absorb heat. If the one cham under the basking spot was trying to warm up it may have darkened itself. They tend to turn one side to the heat and that side will be darker than the other. But, overall uniform dark colors along with brighter markings can also mean it was afraid or angry...again, depends a lot on the age.

How old are they? Males or females?

You said..."one of them seems to have a problem with its front arms seem to be a little bulgy and are bent in an odd way"...can you post a picture please? It could be MBD.

You said..."one of them was in the hot spot and was brownish with red stripes. I was wondering what these colors mean?"...it was likely trying to warm up. Colors often darken when the chameleon is cold. What's the temperature in the basking area?

Here are some sites with good information that you might like to read...
http://www.adcham.com/
http://www.chameleonnews.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502074401/www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm