Baby Veiled Husbandry Review

[Lyric_]

Hi all, new chameleon owner to a nine day old Veiled boy called Genghis. I've done a lot of research which I understand is not a substitute for experience so I thought I would post to check I'm doing ok and that Genghis is happy and healthy.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled male, born 25.12.23, so 9 days old. Been with us for 5 days.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? As little as possible, giving him a chance to settle into his home. Also understand that they don't really like handling in general.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Feeding on fruit flies that have been gutloaded on carrot and what was included in the culture. Seen him eat and hunt down bugs in his bin.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Daily dusting with Arcadia Earth Pro A and I have Arcadia RevitaliseD3 ready for a twice a month dusting although I haven't used it yet and am not sure whether to start this supplement so young.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? Liberal misting before lights on and after lights off. Also mist through the mesh top in one area if everywhere else is dry during the day. I've seen him lick water from leaves on a couple of occasions. Will start a dripper soon too.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Fecal matter is mostly brown with mostly white urate. Only seen one dropping so far.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. - Relatively new to reptile care, in contact with breeder who was a friend which is why I have a hatchling. Seen Mum and Dad chameleons and both look happy and healthy. He was from a clutch of 60 eggs.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Currently in a baby bin with mesh top, see photo. I have a reptibreeze XL ready for when he is bigger.
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Arcadia UVB 6% T5HO, normal lightbulb for heat. Both are raised quite high (maybe too high?) On for 12 hours, off for 12.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Daytime ambient 19-25 centigrade at hottest part of baby bin, measured by thermometer probes. No heat on at night so temp drops to between 15 to 19 centigrade.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Daytime Humidity between 40 and 50% as measured on temp/humidity probe. A little higher after misting but worried about having too high a humidity and causing a RI.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Live plants- all checked against the chameleon safe list on chameleon academy.
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? It's lower in the room than I'd like but we try to approach from lower so as not to freak him out. In the corner of a room, not a high traffic area.
Location - Where are you geographically located? UK

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Sherbertsmysunshine]

Hello and welcome I have not cared for a baby chameleon, so @jannb or @Camiezone might be more help.

Try not to handle at all, they are very fragile. I'm pretty sure babies don't need the basking light, they overheat fast.

I will let the other members help you from here. What a cute little cham

 

[Lyric_]

Thank you for the advice and the welcome. Now that he is in his new home, we will definitely reduce any handling to a minimum. I'd read that about the basking light too. Was a bit worried he wasn't getting a morning warmup without it though and have been keeping a close eye for any gaping which might indicate him overheating. But we'll leave it off until he gets a bit bigger.

Thank you

 

[Sherbertsmysunshine]

Thank you for the advice and the welcome. Now that he is in his new home, we will definitely reduce any handling to a minimum. I'd read that about the basking light too. Was a bit worried he wasn't getting a morning warmup without it though and have been keeping a close eye for any gaping which might indicate him overheating. But we'll leave it off until he gets a bit bigger.

Thank you

Of course! I'm sure someone else on here will be able to help you with your husbandry soon. We all want the best for your cham!

The little eyes are just so cute

 

[Gloriawood]

I just want to say hi and welcome! You have such an adorable baby I’ve no experience with babies so i won’t be any help

 

[jannb]

He is adorable! In the US we don’t let our baby veileds go until 2 or 3 months old. I’m not sure about your supplements because I’ve never used those brands. However, I would not use any D3 until he’s a few weeks older and then only once every 2 weeks you can lightly dust. Calcium without D3 can be used just about everyday as long as it lightly dusted. I’ll attach my blog for baby veileds 2 to 3 months old. Hopefully, it will be helpful!
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-with-young-veiled-or-panther-chameleons.325/

 

[Lyric_]

Thanks so much @jannb that's really helpful information. I will definitely hold off with the d3 for a few more weeks.

I believe 3 months is standard for letting babies go to new homes over here too. It was my friend's first hatch and the other babies have now gone on to a pet shop which is why I have him so early. I wanted to make sure I'm doing the right husbandry for him as there isn't as much information on babies that are so young, with good reason, I'm sure.

He is so sweet and it has been fascinating watching, from a bit of a distance, him settle in and explore his new surroundings!

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and welcome!!! What a darling little love you have!!! You are in great hands with @jannb and @Camiezone. I hope you stick around so we can watch your little one grow and best of luck!!

 

[Lyric_]

Thank you very much. I will definitely stick around so I can check out all the amazing chameleons you all have, as well as keeping you updated on our journey

 

[BleuSaphir]

I hope this little one grows up beautiful

 

[Camiezone]

Hi lyric and caretaker very very adorable. How old? Male or female? I tried to look thru pics, but need a clear picture of back of hind feet to be sure. Either way, super cute. Long w all that cuteness, comes being extremely fragile, nervous, fear, curiosity, HUNGER, THIRST, a need to climb, especially on mesh, lol. You very already been given excellent advise from other members, as long as you take and apply, you will raise a healthy beautiful chameleon.
It should be having almost unlimited access to pinhead sized crickets and fruit flies and be misted at least 4 times a day. No standing water (Big no no) I know that there's videos on YouTube of some Chameleons drinking from cup of water, but it's VERY VERY few that will do it, and it's a breeding ground for bacteria. Is this your first chameleon?

They are wonderful and so rewarding to care for, expensive and at times, frustrating and awesome. You have found the best community here on this forum. Some of the BEST and most knowledable people are on this forum.
Welcome and just reach out if I can be of any assistance.

Camilla @ camiezone

 

[Lyric_]

Hi @Camiezone and thank you Genghis is 10 days old today. He's a boy, I believe, due to the tarsal spurs.

I will up the amount of misting, I've only been really doing it before and after lights out. And I don't have a waterfall or cup of water in there. He has fruit flies released a couple of times a day in there for him to hunt down, which he seems to enjoy doing. And he very much enjoys climbing on the mesh ceiling!

This is my first chameleon. I've done a fair bit of research online prior to his arrival but I wanted to check whether I was doing anything wrong as he is, like you say, so fragile.

 

[MissSkittles]

So adorable! You’ve gotten some great advice so far. The only thing I need to offer is to keep us supplied with pics of this cutie.

 

[Lyric_]

Thank you and I definitely will!

 

[Beman]

Hi there welcome to the forum... Please see my feedback in red bold.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled male, born 25.12.23, so 9 days old. Been with us for 5 days. I believe you have a little male. There are tarsal spurs that I am seeing.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? As little as possible, giving him a chance to settle into his home. Also understand that they don't really like handling in general. Good try not to handle at all until baby gets at least to 2-3 months. They are incredibly fragile at this age and stress can cause them to decline rapidly.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Feeding on fruit flies that have been gutloaded on carrot and what was included in the culture. Seen him eat and hunt down bugs in his bin. You should be able to work in pin head crickets too. Give unlimited access to feeders. It is a good sign that he is eating and hunting.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Daily dusting with Arcadia Earth Pro A and I have Arcadia RevitaliseD3 ready for a twice a month dusting although I haven't used it yet and am not sure whether to start this supplement so young. Ok so you can start using these now. EPA would be every feeding lightly dusted on feeders. Revitalise D3 is safe to start giving every 2 weeks. I would do your first dose in another 1-2 weeks. This one has very low A and D3 levels so overdose risk is not the same using it. But UVB has to be on point using these supplements due to the low levels of D3. Otherwise baby is high risk for MBD.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? Liberal misting before lights on and after lights off. Also mist through the mesh top in one area if everywhere else is dry during the day. I've seen him lick water from leaves on a couple of occasions. Will start a dripper soon too. just make sure you do not get pooling water.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Fecal matter is mostly brown with mostly white urate. Only seen one dropping so far.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. - Relatively new to reptile care, in contact with breeder who was a friend which is why I have a hatchling. Seen Mum and Dad chameleons and both look happy and healthy. He was from a clutch of 60 eggs.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Currently in a baby bin with mesh top, see photo. I have a reptibreeze XL ready for when he is bigger. looks good for now. Baby can be moved over to a properly set up 2x2x4 cage at 3 months without issue. Note we will want to go over lighting set up though because they screen climb the top panels of cages.
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Arcadia UVB 6% T5HO, normal lightbulb for heat. Both are raised quite high (maybe too high?) On for 12 hours, off for 12. Ok so you want a 8-9 inch distance to the highest branches using this fixture and bulb strength. Now if baby is spending a lot of time on the top screen of the baby bin you will measure from the screen to the bottom of the light 8 inches. using this distance will put baby in a 3-4 UVI level with your fixture type, bulb strength, and screen top. This is the UVI level baby needs.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Daytime ambient 19-25 centigrade at hottest part of baby bin, measured by thermometer probes. No heat on at night so temp drops to between 15 to 19 centigrade. Pull the heat fixture off the cage... High risk of RI with this tub set up and adding heat fixture. Also babies this young can dehydrate pretty easily. As long as your temps in the cage are sitting in the low to mid 70's baby will be fine and fully able to digest. Your t5 will also produce some heat but not enough to cause issues.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Daytime Humidity between 40 and 50% as measured on temp/humidity probe. A little higher after misting but worried about having too high a humidity and causing a RI. So daytime levels should be 30-40% ideally. Staying stable at 50% in a tub is not something I would do. You could get a small pc fan for the top of the bin to pull air up and out of it. Drill a line of small holes about 2-3 inches from the bottom of the tub will allow for the air to pull in and up and out the top so it does not get stagnant.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Live plants- all checked against the chameleon safe list on chameleon academy. Great job!
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? It's lower in the room than I'd like but we try to approach from lower so as not to freak him out. In the corner of a room, not a high traffic area. This is not of upmost concern at this point... When he goes into his 2x2x4 just make sure that is set up at least 20 inches off the floor.
Location - Where are you geographically located? UK

Thanks in advance for any advice.


Note I would start working with baby and a feeder run at this age... This will make transitioning over to the 2x2x4 much easier because baby will already recognize the feeder run and know to go to eat in the big cage for food.
If you can get some much smaller diameter dowels than what you have now it will be better for baby to grip. Just work them into what you have set up already.

Let us know if you have any questions.

 

[Lyric_]

Thanks @Beman that's really helpful feedback. I will try and sort out the humidity to get it down to the recommended daily percentage, I don't want to risk a RI at all. And will put in place the other recommendations you mentioned. Thank you!

Will definitely post his bigger cage pictures nearer the two month mark as well to check I have everything right for when I transfer him.

 

[Beman]

Thanks @Beman that's really helpful feedback. I will try and sort out the humidity to get it down to the recommended daily percentage, I don't want to risk a RI at all. And will put in place the other recommendations you mentioned. Thank you!

Will definitely post his bigger cage pictures nearer the two month mark as well to check I have everything right for when I transfer him.

Should you have any questions just respond in your thread and we can help. he is absolutely adorable by the way.