Am I Doing Everything Right?

[BriannaHaynie]

Okay so we just got a baby, male veiled chameleon. We got him from a breeder to make sure he wasn't wild caught! I just want to make sure we're doing everything the way we're supposed to so he's as happy and healthy as possible

We have the following

-a large Reptibreeze (screen) cage
-5.0 UVB light
-100 watt heat lamp (as reccomended)
-Reptifogger
-Plenty of things to climb

We let the fogger run most of the day and also spray with a spray bottle! I do this to make sure there's always water droplets on the leaves in case he wants to drink! The humidity stays between 65%-80% at all times but never gets below 65% or above 80% at all.

We've also been feeding him about 10 small crickets a day and so far he's been an awesome eater! He ate as soon as we took him home which really surprised me but needless to say I was really happy! Today he also ate 3 meal worms but I don't plan on giving him any more for a while.

Also, in both the spray bottle and the fogger we've been using purified drinking water. Is this okay?

And what do y'all suggest about lights at night? We've been turning them completely off at night (about 10:00) and turning them on as soon as we wake up (about 9:00)

Sorry this is so long I just really want to make sure we're not doing anything wrong!! I take being a chameleon parent very seriously

 

[chlobo]

the cage looks great, but you might want to put it on a dresser or small table to get it off of the ground a little bit cause chams naturally feel safer when they're up high in foliage
also, some live plants would help to keep up the humidity and make your cham more comfortable

about the humidity, it doesn't need to constantly be above 65, but it should get up to 80 a few times a day

purified drinking water should be fine.
as for the lighting, there should be no lights on at night. you might want to get a timer if you don't want to have to turn the lights on and off every day. It helps me a ton

let me know if you have any more questions!

 

[nick barta]

I believe Reptibreeze can be melted by your basking light...is it screen or plastic mesh?

100 watt is way hot, typically a 60 or 75 watt will get you enough basking temperature. You need to do a temperature on the vine he basks on, it should be about 75 degrees.

You need to add several horizontal basking branches above where your plastic vines are.

Buy a Pathos hanging basket, the top of the pot should be about where the top of your plastic vines are. Hang it from the top by putting florist wire from the pot through the mesh, and wrap it around a wood dowel on top of the cage which spans across to 2 sides.

You didn't mention supplements, what are you doing for Calcium and Vitamins?

I commend you for all you have done, nice to see a new owner start off right!

Welcome to the Forum.

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[BriannaHaynie]

Sorry I accidentally replied to this twice Disregard this!

 

[BriannaHaynie]

the cage looks great, but you might want to put it on a dresser or small table to get it off of the ground a little bit cause chams naturally feel safer when they're up high in foliage
also, some live plants would help to keep up the humidity and make your cham more comfortable

about the humidity, it doesn't need to constantly be above 65, but it should get up to 80 a few times a day

purified drinking water should be fine.
as for the lighting, there should be no lights on at night. you might want to get a timer if you don't want to have to turn the lights on and off every day. It helps me a ton

let me know if you have any more questions!

Thank you SO much!! You're so right about putting the cage high up, I don't know why I didn't think about that! Do you think that could help him become less scared of me? I'm trying to give him some space since he's still so new but eventually I would like him to be comfortable with me holding him every once and I while!

 

[BriannaHaynie]

I believe Reptibreeze can be melted by your basking light...is it screen or plastic mesh?

100 watt is way hot, typically a 60 or 75 watt will get you enough basking temperature. You need to do a temperature on the vine he basks on, it should be about 75 degrees.

You need to add several horizontal basking branches above where your plastic vines are.

Buy a Pathos hanging basket, the top of the pot should be about where the top of your plastic vines are. Hang it from the top by putting florist wire from the pot through the mesh, and wrap it around a wood dowel on top of the cage which spans across to 2 sides.

You didn't mention supplements, what are you doing for Calcium and Vitamins?

I commend you for all you have done, nice to see a new owner start off right!

Welcome to the Forum.

CHEERS!

Nick

Thank you so much for the helpful info! I really felt like 100 watts was hot as well, but the breeder assured us that that's what he had been using and that if he got too hot, he would just go to the bottom to thermoregulate. So far, he's spent most of his time up top and only goes down to the bottom when hunting crickets! I have a thermometer in there which has been at 75 degrees! So it seems like it's working well, but I'm still concerned...I might go ahead and get a 75 watt just to be safe!

I had NO idea that the Reptibreeze could be melted oh my gosh! I will definitely be purchasing the hanging basket. Thank you for warning me about that!

And we are dusting crickets with calcium and vitamin powder twice a week. Is this okay?

 

[Peachypink]

Plain calcium with no D3 every feeding, calcium with D3 twice a month and vitamin twice a month

 

[Andee]

Chameleons do eventually move to thermo regulate but it takes them forever to realize they are hot and can easily get burned from being in the heat too long. As babies their Temps should be lower anyway around 84 degrees at most. Are you sure he is a boy? Does he have the spurs on his back feet?

 

[rminnis]

the cage looks great, but you might want to put it on a dresser or small table to get it off of the ground a little bit cause chams naturally feel safer when they're up high in foliage
also, some live plants would help to keep up the humidity and make your cham more comfortable

about the humidity, it doesn't need to constantly be above 65, but it should get up to 80 a few times a day

purified drinking water should be fine.
as for the lighting, there should be no lights on at night. you might want to get a timer if you don't want to have to turn the lights on and off every day. It helps me a ton

let me know if you have any more questions!

Ive read you need to use distilled water over purified water its same cost where I buy.

 

[rminnis]

But i used purified water for months until i found out and my guy grew up healthy and fine but i switched since i got a mist system.

 

[rminnis]

Thank you SO much!! You're so right about putting the cage high up, I don't know why I didn't think about that! Do you think that could help him become less scared of me? I'm trying to give him some space since he's still so new but eventually I would like him to be comfortable with me holding him every once and I while!

They are all scared of us! The slower you are the less scared they will be, also like others have suggested give it some more horizontal basking areas and good sturdy things to rest & climb on and most importantly if you dont want them diving down to cover everytime you approach the enclosure make them feel well hidden with cover up high in the cage Ive found if they are behind even a vine with a few leaves on it they think they are hidden!. One last suggestion that has helped me get close to my guy has been hand feeding superworms off my hand to him they just crawl in my palm and if your slow evenually you can try! Your doing awesome though!

 

[trickedoutbiker]

I believe Reptibreeze can be melted by your basking light...is it screen or plastic mesh?

Where did you hear of that at? I had a friend who had an X-Large Reptibreeze cage (24 x 24 x 48) and he actually just gave it to me the other day when he moved. The screen on that X-Large Reptibreeze is made of the aluminum type screening, NOT plastic mesh. It's the same type of aluminum screening that Bill Strand uses on the Dragon Strand cages. Perfectly fine with heat bulbs. You can sit heat lamps directly on the cage screen and it won't melt it. I know, because my buddy had TWO hot lights sitting on the top screen for MONTHS while he owned a chameleon and not a single burn mark at all can be seen on the cage. He used 75 watt bulbs.

I also know the Reptibreeze are safe because I had the Medium Reptibreeze cage that was 16 x 16 x 30 for my chameleon when he was younger. I too, used heat bulbs in which I sat the heat lamp DIRECTLY on top of the screen on top. Never suspended it above the screen, it literally sat directly on the screen. Never had anything melt and never had a burn mark. I was using a 75 watt heat bulb as well.

So I guess I'm confused as to where you got that idea? Maybe you are thinking of a different brand of cage?

I had NO idea that the Reptibreeze could be melted oh my gosh!

See my reply to Nick Barta above ^^

 

[rminnis]

The part that melts is probably the plastic frame not the metal mesh I could easily see it happening with a 100 watt bulb they get hott.

 

[Peachypink]

Where did you hear of that at? I had a friend who had an X-Large Reptibreeze cage (24 x 24 x 48) and he actually just gave it to me the other day when he moved. The screen on that X-Large Reptibreeze is made of the aluminum type screening, NOT plastic mesh. It's the same type of aluminum screening that Bill Strand uses on the Dragon Strand cages. Perfectly fine with heat bulbs. You can sit heat lamps directly on the cage screen and it won't melt it. I know, because my buddy had TWO hot lights sitting on the top screen for MONTHS while he owned a chameleon and not a single burn mark at all can be seen on the cage. He used 75 watt bulbs.

I also know the Reptibreeze are safe because I had the Medium Reptibreeze cage that was 16 x 16 x 30 for my chameleon when he was younger. I too, used heat bulbs in which I sat the heat lamp DIRECTLY on top of the screen on top. Never suspended it above the screen, it literally sat directly on the screen. Never had anything melt and never had a burn mark. I was using a 75 watt heat bulb as well.

So I guess I'm confused as to where you got that idea? Maybe you are thinking of a different brand of cage?



See my reply to Nick Barta above ^^

I was thinking the same, I thought the reptibreaze were fine for lights on top. I think he might be thinking of the other type, the one that is a zip up mesh. I heard that's the one that doesn't handle the lights well.

 

[trickedoutbiker]

The part that melts is probably the plastic frame not the metal mesh I could easily see it happening with a 100 watt bulb they get hott.

I have 2 heat bulbs on my current setup. I use a 60 watt on full power and I also use a 100 watt on a dimmer switch so that way I can turn it up or turn it down. On full blast, the 100 watt would DEFF be way too hot for the chameleon. Now whether it could melt the aluminum framing (it's aluminum framing on the Reptibreeze cages, not plastic) .... that's beyond me. I wouldn't THINK so, but I've never tried nor do I want to. lol.

I use two heat bulbs because a 60 watt will get the right temps given the temp of the room never changes. But as seasons come and go and temps fluctuate in my place, I turn the dimmer switch on the 100 watt up or down so that way it works with my 60 watt bulb and always gives me a perfect 88 degree basking spot for my panther. If the room gets a little colder, I turn the 100 watt up and make it a bit hotter. If the room gets hotter like during the summer when I have windows open a bit, I turn the dimmer on the 100 watt down so that way it makes it cooler. Working alongside the 60 watt I use, my basking temps are always perfectly right where I want them and I never have to raise or lower branches or switch to different bulbs.

Why not just use one bulb on a dimmer you might ask? I use two because I've came home before in the dead of winter to a chameleon cage that had a heat bulb blown out. I've had that happen twice. How long it was out is beyond me, but my chameleon looked cold. So, I now use two bulbs and just put the second one on a dimmer. That way, if for any reason at all one of the heat bulbs decides to go out, there will be another heat bulb pushing at least SOME sort of heat into the cage and my lil man won't be completely cold.

 

[trickedoutbiker]

I was thinking the same, I thought the reptibreaze were fine for lights on top. I think he might be thinking of the other type, the one that is a zip up mesh. I heard that's the one that doesn't handle the lights well.

I do believe he is thinking of the Reptariums as well. Not the Reptibreeze cages. Two different kinds of cages. The Reptariums are the zip-ups.

 

[BriannaHaynie]

Thank

I have 2 heat bulbs on my current setup. I use a 60 watt on full power and I also use a 100 watt on a dimmer switch so that way I can turn it up or turn it down. On full blast, the 100 watt would DEFF be way too hot for the chameleon. Now whether it could melt the aluminum framing (it's aluminum framing on the Reptibreeze cages, not plastic) .... that's beyond me. I wouldn't THINK so, but I've never tried nor do I want to. lol.

I use two heat bulbs because a 60 watt will get the right temps given the temp of the room never changes. But as seasons come and go and temps fluctuate in my place, I turn the dimmer switch on the 100 watt up or down so that way it works with my 60 watt bulb and always gives me a perfect 88 degree basking spot for my panther. If the room gets a little colder, I turn the 100 watt up and make it a bit hotter. If the room gets hotter like during the summer when I have windows open a bit, I turn the dimmer on the 100 watt down so that way it makes it cooler. Working alongside the 60 watt I use, my basking temps are always perfectly right where I want them and I never have to raise or lower branches or switch to different bulbs.

Why not just use one bulb on a dimmer you might ask? I use two because I've came home before in the dead of winter to a chameleon cage that had a heat bulb blown out. I've had that happen twice. How long it was out is beyond me, but my chameleon looked cold. So, I now use two bulbs and just put the second one on a dimmer. That way, if for any reason at all one of the heat bulbs decides to go out, there will be another heat bulb pushing at least SOME sort of heat into the cage and my lil man won't be completely cold.

Thank you for the response!! I'm extremely confused/conflicted with the whole light situation. I was told by multiple breeders that a 100 watt would be okay and everything seems normal with the way he's acting, eating, etc. We have a thermometer in there that is reading 75 degrees and he's always basking in the highest spot on the cage. Do you still think I should switch it out?

 

[BriannaHaynie]

Where did you hear of that at? I had a friend who had an X-Large Reptibreeze cage (24 x 24 x 48) and he actually just gave it to me the other day when he moved. The screen on that X-Large Reptibreeze is made of the aluminum type screening, NOT plastic mesh. It's the same type of aluminum screening that Bill Strand uses on the Dragon Strand cages. Perfectly fine with heat bulbs. You can sit heat lamps directly on the cage screen and it won't melt it. I know, because my buddy had TWO hot lights sitting on the top screen for MONTHS while he owned a chameleon and not a single burn mark at all can be seen on the cage. He used 75 watt bulbs.

I also know the Reptibreeze are safe because I had the Medium Reptibreeze cage that was 16 x 16 x 30 for my chameleon when he was younger. I too, used heat bulbs in which I sat the heat lamp DIRECTLY on top of the screen on top. Never suspended it above the screen, it literally sat directly on the screen. Never had anything melt and never had a burn mark. I was using a 75 watt heat bulb as well.

So I guess I'm confused as to where you got that idea? Maybe you are thinking of a different brand of cage?



See my reply to Nick Barta above ^^

This makes me feel better!! I'll keep an eye on the cage just to be safe Thanks y'all!

 

[BriannaHaynie]

They are all scared of us! The slower you are the less scared they will be, also like others have suggested give it some more horizontal basking areas and good sturdy things to rest & climb on and most importantly if you dont want them diving down to cover everytime you approach the enclosure make them feel well hidden with cover up high in the cage Ive found if they are behind even a vine with a few leaves on it they think they are hidden!. One last suggestion that has helped me get close to my guy has been hand feeding superworms off my hand to him they just crawl in my palm and if your slow evenually you can try! Your doing awesome though!

Thanks for the reply!! He has a couple of "hiding" spots he has gone to once or twice. He also likes to sleep under there at night (SO CUTE!) He also ate out of my boyfriends hand a few days ago which was AWESOME

 

[vtcowgirl]

Thanks for the reply!! He has a couple of "hiding" spots he has gone to once or twice. He also likes to sleep under there at night (SO CUTE!) He also ate out of my boyfriends hand a few days ago which was AWESOME

Awesome! I'm still waiting for mine to be willing to eat out of my hand. One doesn't like you to even come near the cage, she hisses and gets this pissed off look the minute you go near it.... And heaven forbid you open the door! The other is fine with you opening the door and cleaning, etc but still prefers not to be held. I'm going to try holding a hornworm for her if I can get some small ones at the expo next weekend, she loves them so I think that will be the secret weapon...if I can get over the He-bee gee-bees of touching the things!