Actinic Light (saltwater fish tank) bother chameleon at night

BrianIntheNo said:

Yeah , the substrate i know i have to change, i plan on picking him up some reptile carpet tommorow. the place i bought him sold it to me

cage: exo terra glass terrium (have supplies to make screen enclosure out of top part of book case which tank is sitting in now. i bought chameleon from local store here in fresno he told me for a baby u dont want a big cage, so i bought the exo terra from him...didnt really care because i got the tank and background brand new for 50, and i plan on putting a gecko in it later.

Glass enclosures are sutiable for babies pending its well ventalated, provides the correct temperature gradient, and the reflections off the glass do not pose stress to the animal. For a substrate, use plain paper towels, they are easy to change keep germs and bacteria in check, and are inexpensive. Not the most attractive, but its more important to promote good health rather then whats pleasing to the eye.

Lighting: in pic u can see a zilla 75w blue day bulb, i have a reptisun 5.0 w/ fixture, but was told not to use it till winter, because i have a outdoor screen cage , that the chameleon goes into a few hours a day( lately only 2-3 hours because its been over 100 for the past week)

The basking bulb wattage is high, babies are comfortable at about 80 degrees, you may find the ambient room temp to be suitable, and not need a basking lamp at all. As for the UvB fixture, use it anyway. It will not harm the animal, however lack of proper will. Even with the animal going outdoors to get natural sun, if it feels the need to gets it's fill, it's there and available.

temp: Basking temp 6" from bulb 90 degrees, at night it doent get below 70 here in the summer(fresno ca)

As stated above, 80 degrees is your goal. babies lack the ability to thermoregulate, and will literaly cook themselves, if given the opportuinity. They are quite dependant on the keeper at that age.

humid: measure with a humidity gauge, use a misti'r lizard to spray three times a day at least.( he drinks right away)

Humidity is not a huge deal with this species, 40-50% is acceptable. Usually the ambient humidity in a home is about 30-45%, your misting sessions should take care of the rest.

plants: pothos

A great plant if used in conjunction with climbing vines. Great choices for additional plants would include: Hibiscuses,umberlla plants,and ficus trees (weeping fig tree)

cage location: family room(see pic)

my location: fresno ca

chameleon: male veiled

handaling: never, only 2 move in and out of outside cage, normally use a branch( only touched him twice)

feeding: small crickets, tried wax worms but wont eat them( shows no interest)... i gut load with carrots, zuccinni, kale, high quality dog food, kashi ceral, tropical fish food,

You can use silkworms, pheonix worms, Dubia roach nymphs, and small superworms. Steer clear of wild caught prey(parasites), along with meal worms (hard to digest). For the gutload.. All seams well with an exception of the dog food, fish flakes, and kashi cereal, they can lead to health issues. There are several threads listing proper gutloads, try the search feature( top tool bar). I use zuchinni, squash, carrots, sweet potatos, apples, oranges, and a commercial gutload called "Total Bites"

supplements: sticky tongue farms

I am not fimular with the exact product, however the 3 suppliments most commonly used would be phos-free calcium, calcium w/D3, and a good multi vitamin like Herptivite from Rep-Cal. A dusting regimine, should be in action as soon as possible. Calcium at every feeding, Calcium w/D3 2x a month and a Multi-vitamin like Herptivite 2x a month. Dust lightly, they don't need to be ghost.


watering: only misting, but i am pen to improvment...he does drink right away in front of me...i only mist for 1-2 mins 3 times a day

3 times a day is acceptable, pending his urates are white in color (at the end of the poop) Most keepers mist 3x a day for a duration of 2-5 mins per session. Some chams are shy drinkers or take time to realize it's time to drink. So mist accordingly. You might want to add a dripper to your set-up to provide water while your away. Shy drinkers may not drink while your present, and may wait till your out of sight to drink, a dripper will take care of shy drinkers.

fecal: no he has never been tested, his droopings are like a bird poop but more brown/black then white.

Should consist of a brown /black fecal and a white urate(pee part) runny fecals, yellow-orange urates, are all signs of an issue. If the urates are yellow-orange, your chameleon is dehydrated, up the misting durations or add a dripper to provide water while your away.

history: i purchased him on 7-16-09 from the reptile room here in fresno ca...i posted some pics an a introduction under the lizard lounge yesterday(male veiled 4 weeks at purchase)

I'll take a peek at it in a bit.

thanks Jay

your very welcome

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BrianIntheNo said:

New chameleon owner here, with a 5-6 week old male veiled. Anyways i have been searching the forums and have been reading that chameleons like it dark at night when there lights off. Well i have my chameleon setup in my living room along with my saltwater reef tank and at night, my reef tank has actinic lighting which is just a 5 watt blue led light(48") that runs across the top of my fishtank to provide moonlighting. Does anybody think this will bother my little guy? thanks

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