Some general questions about chameleons....help a new guy out ;)

Hi there every body. I'm new to chameleons so naturally I have some questions. (if it helps with the answers, I'm getting veilds)


1. Do I let the water dripper run all day and turn it off at night, or does it run 24hrs.?

2. Is it ok if I have a container to collect excess water from the dripper?

3. How many hours of lighting is good for chameleons? I'll be keeping them in my bug room (which has no times for lights), so I need to know what to set my lights to.

4. Is it ok to feed my chameleons wild caught food? ie. butterflies, moths, grasshoppers etc, only herbivore insects NOT decomposes (I already catch a lot for my mantids, I was just curious)

5. How varied should their diet be? I already get 1000's of blue bottle flies a month to feed my mantids, I've got a lobster roach colony, several fruitfly cultures (would be good for babies I guess) and I was planning on getting mealworms. This is what I was planning on feeding them in the winter months as long as wild caught food was fine.


That's all I can think of for now, but they were questions that I couldn't find answers to on any of the care sheets.


Thanks!

1. Do not drip at night. 10 to 12 hours a day should be plenty

2. Yes, it if fine to have a container to catch the drip

3. 10 to 12 hours of light will be good

4. I would not feed wild caught food. They can get parasites from them

5. The larger the variety the better.

What kind of cham do you have?
Jann

Thanks.


I dont have any chams yet, I decided on 2 veilds. Right now I'm researching and getting everything ready for them.


I also have another question. I was planning on taking them outside during the summer months, do I bring them back in at night, or would they be fine through the night? (they will be in their cages of course lol)

Hello and welcome to the forum.

1. The dripper is for the cham to drink water, not to provide humidity on the cage, so you'll also need a water mister. The dripper can run for .5 to an hour in the morning and an .5 to an hour in the evening (minimum suggested), you'll see how long does your chams need it on once you have them.

2. Instead of a water collector I suggest you use a plant underneath, this way the drops can still hold on the leaves to let your cham to drink from them and water your plant at the same time. If you use a water collector, put t outside the cage to avoid "sitting water" inside, it can produce bacteria and insects can easily drawn.

3. Lights on 11-14hrs per day is ok.

4. I would avoid it wild caught insects, they could have parasites or have pesticides on them, not very safe, unless you are sure they are clean of any harmfull chemicals or nasty stuff (e.g. Flies)

5. The more variety the better. Combine crix or superworms, silk worms, etc. There are so many choices available on the market that variety is not a limit anymore. Remember to gut load them.

If these are your fisrt chams, make sure you have the setups up and running first before you purchase them.

At the forum you'll find pretty much all the info you need for getting the best from the hobby, and remember the search tool is quite handy.


Good Luck!

This is a good place to get info: http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

jannb said:

This is a good place to get info: http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

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Thanks for the link, I've actually read it already. There were a few questions I had that it didn't answer...it did cover everything very well though.

Trust me, I will make sure to gut load, I do it for all my mantids so it wont be a problem. Since I have so many inverts (I work at an insectarium too), I know how important it is to have to right set up before the inhabitants are purchased.

ABbuggin said:

Thanks for the link, I've actually read it already. There were a few questions I had that it didn't answer...it did cover everything very well though.

Trust me, I will make sure to gut load, I do it for all my mantids so it wont be a problem. Since I have so many inverts (I work at an insectarium too), I know how important it is to have to right set up before the inhabitants are purchased.

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It's nice to know that you are doing your homework FIRST. I have 2 veileds a male and a female and love them both soooooo much.

jannb said:

It's nice to know that you are doing your homework FIRST. I have 2 veileds a male and a female and love them both soooooo much.

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One could say that I've learned the hard way in the past....

If you are going to catch the water in a container I would make sure the container isn't deep enough for the chameleon to drown in if it gets full.

chameleoholic said:

1. The dripper is for the cham to drink water, not to provide humidity on the cage, so you'll also need a water mister. The dripper can run for .5 to an hour in the morning and an .5 to an hour in the evening (minimum suggested), you'll see how long does your chams need it on once you have them.

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1. I choose to hand mist once or twice a day, and run my drippers in the early morning for about an hour and in the early evening for about an hour. This is more than sufficient for my chameleons. What you need to do will depend on your environment. More frequent misting (pperhaps with an automatic misting system) may be necessary if your ambient humidity is too low. If your relative humidity is high enough, you can rely on the drippers and well hydrated feeder insects.

chameleoholic said:

2. Instead of a water collector I suggest you use a plant underneath, this way the drops can still hold on the leaves to let your cham to drink from them and water your plant at the same time. If you use a water collector, put t outside the cage to avoid "sitting water" inside, it can produce bacteria and insects can easily drawn..

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I have never had a problem using collection pans inside the cages. I usually empty them when the drippers stop. Its never been a problem if I forgot for a day. If you are getting a young chameleon, ensure the sides of the collection container are low enought that it can climb out in the unlikley event it falls or walks into the water. You may even like to put a screen over the container. Chameleons can swim if needs be, but you dont want to risk it.

3. the length of time your lights are on will be about 12 hours in summer and 9 or 10 hours in winter.

4. If you choose to use wild caught insects, be sure you know the insects are not poisonous, are from areas where pestacides are not used, etc. And you will want to have your chameleons tested for parasites on a regular basis.

5. The more variety the better. Crickets, roaches, flies, silkworms, butterworms, hornworms, isopods, stick insects, kingworms (aka superworms), even smaller mantids. Try to not offer meal worms very often, and when you do try to only offer freshly molted (white and soft) ones, as mealworms are hard to digest. Avoid wax worms as they're not nutritious.

Thanks guys, so helpful!


I do have one question that sparked my interest.

Sandrachameleon- you said mealworms are hard to digest, but that super worms wern't. What's the difference? They are both beetle larvae (mealworms are wood boaring beetle larvae, and super worms are click beelte larvae) and both are the same general make up.

Sorry for asking, but I was intrigued when you said that.

ABbuggin said:

Thanks guys, so helpful!


I do have one question that sparked my interest.

Sandrachameleon- you said mealworms are hard to digest, but that super worms wern't. What's the difference? They are both beetle larvae (mealworms are wood boaring beetle larvae, and super worms are click beelte larvae) and both are the same general make up.

Sorry for asking, but I was intrigued when you said that.

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If you use the search button at the top you can find allot of info on "mealworms" below is one thread I found useful about them. Jann
https://www.chameleonforums.com/mealworms-superworms-14140/

The look similar but apparently the skin of mealworms is harder to break down and digest than that of kingworms. You can actually feel the difference yourself with your fingers.
The advice to use the search function is good advice - I've found plenty of info that way.