A few questions for a newb

[Kimo]

hey guys, i recently aquired a veiled at the PCP show on the 23rd, and it seems my lil guy is doing fine, he wont stop eating, every day anywhere from 10-20 dusted crickets, of medium size, and has grown rather fond of ripping apart a good size lettuce leaf, now my question is, everytime he is in his enclosure, he seems to be rather dark of skin (put a blue panther to shame) and from what i've heard this means they are stressed? however when i pull him out every day to let him play on my hand, he goes a nice vibrant green, now just to answer and eliminate some of your potential questions, he is in a low traffic area (next to no traffic at all, other than me coming to check in on him) and there are also no mirrors or reflective surfaces of any sort near him aswell, he has also shed twice since i got him, and has almost doubled in size since i obtained him, he gets a daily misting once in the morning, twice in the afternoon, and 2 hours before lights out, if anyone could suggest possibly why he chooses to be coloured this way, or how i can correct it (if its a problem) i'd greatly appreciate it, and oh THANX ICULIZARD!!! i love my lil guy

thnx for your help guys/gals

Kimo

[Trace]

Hi Kimo!

Is he warm enough? Your basking spot temperature should be about 90F. They do tend to get darker to absorb the heat a little more quickly and because it's colder up here in Canada, it just might be taking him longer to do so.

How 'bout foliage? Does he have lots of plants that he can hide in? Maybe he's feeling a bit exposed.

What kind of cage is he in? If it's a tank, sometimes they can see their reflection in the glass.

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head. AND, I'd love to see some pics of your new guy.

Trace

[UpscaleBoas]

i would take a serious look at his housing environment....also vields are very timid creature..prehaps you should think about not taking him out everyday..or at least give him a week or two to just get used to things....for example my snake i bought the same day has not been handle anymore then need be to clean the cage....i start handling him more about a week before chirstmas............its killing me to do this but this should allow him to get used to his surrounding and insure as little stress as possible..........think about...not saying what you are doing is wrong...just that it could be................have fun and enjoy your pet............and pls post some pics

[choriona]

When you take him out, and he turns bright green, is he also displaying? Or is his completely comfortable? If he seems comfortable with you handling him, the I'd say it would have to be his surroundings that are causeing the dark color. Is the foilage in his enclosure of the darker variety? Are the sticks really dark?
When I seperated my veiled clutchlings, I put them in a variety of different colored surroundings. So, from the same clutch, I had overall brown babies, some overall tan babies, and others were bright green.
Oh, and just to make it clear, we are talking about a male panther right?

[meow_mix450]

i believe veiled

Meow

[gfisher2002]

'cough' Pics 'cough' 'cough' We all love pics!! 'cough'

[J-Man]

lol gf

[choriona]

sorry, got confused at the (put a blue panther to shame). :)

[meow_mix450]

lol ya so did i, so i read it like 3 times lol:p

Meow