stressed chameleon

kidchameleon · 03-09-04, 10:20 PM

today i moved my jackson from his old cage into his newer, bigger one. but once i did that, he got very stressed. he turned quite dark and just paced back and forth on a branch. he did eat 4 waxworms, but he still remained darker than usual. i decided i should put him back in his old cage, just until i add some more plants into his new cage(it didnt have too many vines/branches in it compared to his old cage)
is this stress because of his new environment? he is sleeping in his old cage now, and he is his normal, bright - lime green.

Big Mike · 03-10-04, 10:34 AM

My Veiled gets really upset if I even rearrange any of the branches in her enclosure. She starts to crawl all over the screen rather than on the branches. She has even taken a few short falls.

I think you just have to leave them alone in the new enclosure and let them adjust.

Collide · 03-10-04, 11:53 AM

Yes some chamelons may not like change at all my femal veild gets scared if i move a stick she will hide for a day and then fiqures out its ok. get the bigger cage completly finnished make sure there are some hidding spots for him in there and yes he may be stressed about the move for a day or soo. Some times i have her in a plant with a clear path of sticks up into the new enclosure and if she goes in on her own it seems to stress her less just a idea.

kidchameleon · 03-10-04, 03:28 PM

alright, thanks for the advice. he is doing fine in his old cage, but he is still getting used to it because i rearranged the plants and branches. tonight(hopefully) im going to fix up some minor errors with the cage and set it up perfectly.

ooo, also, i forgot to mention this before. inside his new cage, there are visible screw heads(which im going to be covering) . he looked at it closesly for a little, and then struck it with his tongue. he did this twice. im thinkign maybe there was a little fly or bug on it that i didnt see. any comments on this?

Big Mike · 03-10-04, 04:10 PM

He may be seeing some reflections/movements in the screw heads if they are shiny. If he is striking at them...you should probably cover them up.

kidchameleon · 03-10-04, 04:26 PM

no, they arent shiny. and even if they were, i think that they are too small for him to notice reflections in them. and toniight im gonig to get something to cover them up. im pretty sure they make screw covers, right?

Big Mike · 03-10-04, 05:13 PM

They do make caps for screws and such...I might be worried that he might tag one of the covers and try to eat it. The screws have a better chance of not coming off.

Maybe it's a better idea to just let him get used to the screws.

Collide · 03-10-04, 05:58 PM

U could try to cover them with some kind of tape, but u are going to have to cover them if he is hitting them. Im not sure what to use but I would worrie about him hitting them and swallowing one.

kidchameleon · 03-10-04, 09:26 PM

yeah, thats what my dad just told me too, that one of the screw caps might pop off and he can eat it. so that idea's out. duct dape would work, right?

Big Mike · 03-11-04, 10:53 AM

Be careful with tape in enclosures. I haven't heard of any chams getting stuck but I've heard of plenty of snakes getting stuck to tape that people put in their enclosures and thought that it would be OK.

If your cham did get stuck to the duct tape...it might be fairly hard to get it off without doing any damage.

Bighead · 03-11-04, 03:13 PM

My cham hit me in the eye once when I stuck my tongue out at him. I guess my eyelashes looked like wings on a bug or something. Funniest injury I ever got.

kidchameleon · 03-11-04, 09:59 PM

thats kind of a random post, but it is really funny lol.

Collide · 03-11-04, 11:19 PM

im not sure wich tapes would be safe, possibly go with some type of filler or putty (if safe ie.non toxic) im not sure