Is this set up right for a Yemen chameleon?

[Harry938]

I’ve had this guy about a week and he hasn’t seem to have settled, he keeps going brown trying to warm up but his basking spot is 35°c I’ve attached some photos, if anyone could help that’s would be great, also I’ve not seen him drink but has access to a dropper plant should I be concerned. The top on vivarium has 2 lights a red one and white, should they both be on the dimmer thermostat like they are or just the red one, the white one is a Acadia basking light the red one is exo terra basking light, he has a Arcadia desert uvb 10% strip light aswell at the top.

 

[Tkrd69]

@Beman and others will get you on the right track. I see a lot of things wrong. No fake plants only live ones approved for veiled chams. Also the fountain plant is not a good idea. A high chance of bacteria growth.

 

[GrannyK]

Hi there welcome to the forum and congrats on your little one! What a cutie
I see a few things that need tweaking so I’ve attached a husbandry form you can copy and paste your info to. It’s very helpful and keeps us on track for healthy happy cham!
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. long has it been in your care?How
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
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?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I know that you are asking for a critique, but to be completely honest with you is going to risk sounding mean, and I assure you I am not at all like that or have anything other than helpful intent. Many of us, and that includes me, knew zero and had the worst set ups when we found our way here. We listened and learned and have given our chameleons their best lives. So, having said all of that, I am needing to get ready for work and will have to return to give you full input. I will say from now me that 35c is way too hot. For a young chameleon and a girl, you don’t want your temp to go over about 26. For an adult male, they can have temps up to 29.
What is your uvb? What brand, strength and type is it (T5 or T8)? No red lights - they can hurt sensitive googly eyes. What supplements are you using and how often for each? What are you feeding and how much/how often? Can you post a pic of your chameleon please?
If no one else picks this up and offers more help, I’ll be back sometime later. I am very glad that you’ve found your way here.

 

[MissSkittles]

Please keep in mind that even though I do have a lot of criticism, i mean for it to be constructive and help you. We all start at the beginning and with doing the best we can. You are here which tells me you want to give your guy a great life and I want to help you to learn how to do that.
So, I’m not quite sure where to begin so let me start with your enclosure. I can’t tell how big it is, so can only tell you that the minimum standard size for an adult is 60x60x120 cm or equivalent. Chameleons are arboreal and feel safest when they are able to look down upon the world, so definitely you need to put the enclosure on a table or somehow get it off the floor. Next is ventilation. While a closed enclosure is fine (unless you live somewhere very humid) it’s important to have adequate ventilation. Usually the chimney effect is the preferred way, with air being able to come in at the bottom of the enclosure and rise and exit thru the screen top. Your only ventilation is the vents up high in the sides and I’m afraid that isn’t enough. Without adequate ventilation, your chameleon’s risks for respiratory infection greatly increases as does the risks of nasty things growing inside the enclosure, like molds and various bacteria.
Another benefit to having a screened top is that is where your lights should be sitting or slightly above it instead of inside the enclosure. With no barrier to protect him, your chameleon can too easily get too close to the lights and get badly burned. Also, uvb is calculated taking the decreased uv level from going thru the screening into consideration, so you will need a greater distance between your uvb and your basking area. As long as your enclosure is at least close to the minimum standard, with just a little cost and work you can definitely modify it by adding a screen top and drilling some small ventilation holes a couple of inches up from the bottom.
For your branch set up, I can see that you put a good deal of effort and time into it and it does look very nice. However, it’s not ideal for a chameleon. We have to look at where chameleons choose to live in the wild and that is usually in trees and on branches. Their mitten feet are perfectly adapted to grip onto branches and not really walking on flat surfaces. You’ve got a start with some branches, but need to trade out the ledges and rope (little claws have been known to get stuck and pulled out from ropes) for more branches of varied diameters. You also want to trade out the artificial plants for safe live ones. Pothos is one of the most perfect plants for chameleons. I would suggest getting a somewhat taller center plant, like a schefflera or weeping fig and have a vining plant like pothos around the sides. Then put in a good network of branches and maybe a bendy vine (Fluker’s vines are super nice). You want to create a forest edge type area where there is an open spot for basking and some shaded spots for cooling and hiding and some nice big leaves for lapping water off of and nibbling if the desire strikes. With artificial plants, there is a serious risk that they could get a bowel obstruction if they eat it and it only takes one bite. I’m afraid I have to advise to remove the water fountain. Even though your guy might be drinking from it, they are not advised. No matter how well you clean it, they will always become a breeding ground for bacteria. Misting the leaves for about 2 minutes before light go on and off is the preferred hydration. If your night time temps have a significant drop below at least 20c, you could add a fogger/humidifier during the night and boost humidity all the way. That simulates the hydration obtained in the wild thru fog.
Now I want to direct you to https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-basics/ and read carefully through all of the modules. This is the very best source for accurate and current husbandry standards and learning so very much. In addition to the website, there are podcasts, YouTube videos and even an e zine. If reading isn’t your preferred way of learning, check out https://www.neptunethechameleon.com/ who has a ton of videos and is always adding more. Of course, the forum is a great place for personalized help, asking questions, sharing progress and pics and just letting your crazy chameleon keeper loose.

 

[Harry938]

@Beman and others will get you on the right track. I see a lot of things wrong. No fake plants only live ones approved for veiled chams. Also the fountain plant is not a good idea. A high chance of bacteria growth.

Okay I see, I was worried about a dripper tube as it’s a wooden Viv, didn’t want to flood it or ruin the wood, I’ll change that

 

[Harry938]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I know that you are asking for a critique, but to be completely honest with you is going to risk sounding mean, and I assure you I am not at all like that or have anything other than helpful intent. Many of us, and that includes me, knew zero and had the worst set ups when we found our way here. We listened and learned and have given our chameleons their best lives. So, having said all of that, I am needing to get ready for work and will have to return to give you full input. I will say from now me that 35c is way too hot. For a young chameleon and a girl, you don’t want your temp to go over about 26. For an adult male, they can have temps up to 29.
What is your uvb? What brand, strength and type is it (T5 or T8)? No red lights - they can hurt sensitive googly eyes. What supplements are you using and how often for each? What are you feeding and how much/how often? Can you post a pic of your chameleon please?
If no one else picks this up and offers more help, I’ll be back sometime later. I am very glad that you’ve found your way here.

Hi he’s a male so I’ve turned it down to 30°c (never seems to top out at the temp I set always a few ° below) that thermometer measures his basking spot the rest of the tank ranges from 27° up, he has spurs, he’s about 3.5 month old. I know this isn’t the most airy Viv I’ll add more vents below glass, this is the bulb he has in atm the one before was a 5% but I was told that woudnt be strong enough at the distance I have it. Atm I’m feeding daily with mealworms ,trying to find recently shedded ones, with regular calcium dust on them, then every other day he gets crickets or locust with every other time a dusting of exo terra multi vitamin (the one with chameleon on label), water changed daily and bowl cleaned with viv clean anti bac, I add the right amount of reptisafe water conditioner everytime I refill aswell. The Viv is 2x2x3ft I know he needs to be higher I’m trying to find something suitable that can hold the weight and feels safe, give me a few days and hopefully that will be sorted. I bought the Viv second had with most things and cleaned n left for a few weeks to keep cross contamination a minimum, but they came with the dripper tank and sprayer, so I’m best using them? How do I stop it flooding my Viv as I used it for a few days and ended up with wet patches on the outside of the wood.

I fully expect harsh responses as that’s what I need to learn so please don’t hold back

 

[Tkrd69]

We all had to start somewhere. I was just as bad thanks to petsmart. @MissSkittles and @Gingero will give a lot of help about enclosures and setup.

 

[Harry938]

Hi there welcome to the forum and congrats on your little one! What a cutie
I see a few things that need tweaking so I’ve attached a husbandry form you can copy and paste your info to. It’s very helpful and keeps us on track for healthy happy cham!
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. long has it been in your care?How
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
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?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

Your Chameleon - velied, had him 2week



Handling - daily atm about 15min every few hrs on weekends maybe and hour on week days



Feeding - mealworms+dark leaves daily with calcium. Every other day crickets or locus, depending on day they will have multi vit, all feeders are fed bestie feed gut load



Supplements - exo terra multi vit, every 3 day.

Regular calcium powder on everything else



Watering -dripper plant and mist system, had seen him fire his tounge at wet leaves and assume that’s him drinking



Fecal Description- black/brown with white and yellow urite



History- bought from pet shop breeder saw his mother farther and 3 siblings



Cage Info:

Cage Type - wooden 3side glass front



Lighting - Arcadia for UVB and basking. Exo terra basking lamp aswell (it’s cold here sometimes needs a boost), Acadia dessert 10%uvb, lights come on at 7:30am off at 8pm



Temperature - basking spot is not 30°c after been told 35°c was too much this is always measured by Digital thermometer and dimmer thermostat, rest off Viv goes from 30°c to about 26/7°c at substrate, measure that with laser thermometer left over from covid



Humidity - usally around 60% I use sprayer and water drip plant they seem to keep it ok on there own, I live in a dry area unless it rains so keeping above that is tricky even constantly spraying



Plants - all artificial as was given bad info that would be best



Placement - tank is on floor atm Ik that needs to change looking for furniture



Location - Yorkshire, England (cold)



Current Problem - is the setup right

 

[Harry938]

We all had to start somewhere. I was just as bad thanks to petsmart. @MissSkittles and @Gingero will give a lot of help about enclosures and setup.

Pets at home. The UK equivalent.

 

[Tkrd69]

Here is my Yemen Gojira. He is in a 2x2x4 all screen enclosure with his plants 4 pothos. I use a little dripper and have drainage in the bottom. I'm in Florida so it doesn't get cold often.

 

[Harry938]

Here is my Yemen Gojira. He is in a 2x2x4 all screen enclosure with his plants 4 pothos. I use a little dripper and have drainage in the bottom. I'm in Florida so it doesn't get cold often.

I feel that the best thing I could do is once I have him higher drill a hole in bottom and make a false floor so water can drain under substrate and thru the hole into a collection bowel. Would that be advisable?

 

[Tkrd69]

I'm not real knowledgeable on wooden enclosures but chameleons live in a moist environment on a cool night with drying out during the day @crosscutts and @Sonny13 are masters at this and could help more.

 

[Tkrd69]

Here's a plant list I found

 

[MissSkittles]

Give me a bit and I’ll go thru your husbandry.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ll put my feedback in bold.
Your Chameleon - velied, had him 2week
He’s beautiful! I think you have the age right - maybe around 4 months or so.


Handling - daily atm about 15min every few hrs on weekends maybe and hour on week days It’s important to work on building trust with him. When little, veileds are usually very sweet and tolerate us. Once they grow up, it all usually changes. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/



Feeding - mealworms+dark leaves daily with calcium. Every other day crickets or locus, depending on day they will have multi vit, all feeders are fed bestie feed gut load At his young age, he needs to eat a lot every day of good nutritious staple feeders. I’ll say he should be getting around 20 appropriate sized bugs once daily in the morning. Crickets and locusts are great staples. Mealworms are not a good regular feeder. You do want to give a good variety. I try to rotate staple feeders. I do have a lot of little reptile mouths to feed, so I have a roach colony, always have crickets and just always have a few different types of bugs. While veileds will eat veggies, they have no need for them and lack the ability to digest them. He’ll nibble at his plants for reasons no one has figured out yet and should get only live bugs from you. Just as important as what you feed him, is what you feed the buggies. We all made the mistake with the orange cubes, jelly pots and stuff like that. Those do little other than hydrate. To keep your bugs healthy and more nutritious, feed them fresh veggies, greens and a little fruit. There are commercial diets that are quality. I keep my insects well fed with fresh produce (the same as what I give my bearded dragons) and will give a little bit of Repashy Bug Burger just to round things out for them. I’m attaching some graphics to help guide you.



Supplements - exo terra multi vit, every 3 day. Does your calcium contain D3 or not? I’m hoping it does not. You want to lightly dust your feeders daily with a phosphorus free calcium without D3. Then I’m going to suggest getting a combination multivitamin and D3 which you’ll use for one feeding every other week. Not all supplements are created equally. For healthy eyes, immune system and the body in general, vitamin a is important. There are two types of A - proformed which hasn’t been determined if chameleons are able to utilize it, and preformed, which is known to be able to be utilized by chameleons, but…it is fat soluble so like vitamin D3, it can easily build up to toxic levels and is not used in the majority of supplements. The two that I am aware of which have it are Repashy calcium plus LoD and ReptiVite with D3 and I suggest you get one of these and toss the Exo Terra.


Regular calcium powder on everything else



Watering -dripper plant and mist system, had seen him fire his tounge at wet leaves and assume that’s him drinking I already went over this up above.



Fecal Description- black/brown with white and yellow urite It looks ok to me. I do suggest having a fecal done for parasites.



History- bought from pet shop breeder saw his mother farther and 3 siblings



Cage Info:

Cage Type - wooden 3side glass front Already went over this above.



Lighting - Arcadia for UVB and basking. Exo terra basking lamp aswell (it’s cold here sometimes needs a boost), Acadia dessert 10%uvb, lights come on at 7:30am off at 8pm I’m confused by your uvb. Arcadia makes 6%, 12% etc and to my knowledge they don’t make a 10%. Maybe they have different products for different countries. Do you have a T5 or a T8? If you have a T5, you want a 5.0 or 6% and then need about 8-9 inches between basking area and the light. If you have a T8, you need a 10.0 or 12% and the distance needs to then be around 6-7 inches, but be careful of the tall casque. You don’t want him to burn his casque. Your schedule is great. I’ve already advised about moving the lights outside of the enclosure.



Temperature - basking spot is not 30°c after been told 35°c was too much this is always measured by Digital thermometer and dimmer thermostat, rest off Viv goes from 30°c to about 26/7°c at substrate, measure that with laser thermometer left over from covid I know it would seem like a thermometer is a thermometer, but there is a difference between those we use for checking for fever and those for environmental condition. Also, this can’t measure the air where he’ll be basking. A digital thermometer/hygrometer with a probe end is better for that.



Humidity - usally around 60% I use sprayer and water drip plant they seem to keep it ok on there own, I live in a dry area unless it rains so keeping above that is tricky even constantly spraying 60% is a bit too high. The ideal is between 30-50%. Live plants will help maintain humidity. Adding the ventilation as I suggested above is definitely needed. If your humidity is still high, you can add a small computer style fan to draw air out thru the top.



Plants - all artificial as was given bad info that would be best All safe, live and washed all is best.



Placement - tank is on floor atm Ik that needs to change looking for furniture Aready mentioned above.



Location - Yorkshire, England (cold)



Current Problem - is the setup right Not yet, but I’ve no doubt that you’ll make it so. It’s a process and is often hard to make all of the needed changes all at once. I’ve given you a ton of changes to make, but just take them one at a time.
It’s been a long night of work for me and I’m fading fast, so going to end this here.

 

[elizaann2]

Just want to jump in here and say warmest welcomes. This is an excellent place to learn for the best care for your darling Yemen chameleon. I hope you stick around!

 

[Beman]

So that is a T8 10.0 bulb.... And if it is inside the enclosure without screen UVB will be higher due to not having the screen in between to reduce the output. Only way to know for sure what the output level is would be to test it with a solarmeter 6.5. Regardless the output would be much less than what we would see with a T5HO making it a better option for use in a cage like this where this is no screen blocking.

 

[Harry938]

Okay thanks guys, a lot to take on board, give me a week or so and I’ll hopefully have a more chameleon friendly vivarium

 

[GrannyK]

Okay thanks guys, a lot to take on board, give me a week or so and I’ll hopefully have a more chameleon friendly vivarium

You are in great hands here, everyone is great. Keep us posted and ask as many questions you need along the way. Pics of the little guy are always welcomed too!! we love pics