Baby Veied chameleon

[cas30093b89]

Hi everyone! I bought a young ( I believe still a baby) Veiled chameleon she's about 2 1/2 inches (not including tail) I bought her a 20 gal aquarium tank also, But I do plan on building her a bigger cage my self this saturday...Anyways I want for yall to take a look at her and her temporary setup....also I bought her around 5:40pm and got home around 6:30 I tried to feed her some crickets and superworms I bought but she wouldnt eat either of em it is now 11:00PM and I am about to go to sleep will she be ok for the rest of the night with no food?? also how long do they sleep for? I turned off the lights in the tank but she does have a heat source is that fine? it is completety dark in the room...http://img822.imageshack.us/i/078wz.jpg http://img88.imageshack.us/i/068rv.jpg/
I do have a dripper installed, all the little food things was food that I had in there for the crickets ( I took em out so they wouldnt bite her at night...also this is completely temporary setup) http://img814.imageshack.us/i/083zi.jpg/

 

[carol5208]

I am glad that you getting her a new cage, sooner than later I hope. A tank like that is no place for a chameleon. You need to get some foilage in there for her to hide and take cover and feel safe. the picture of her on your finger, her eyes are closed. A chameleons eyes should not be closed during the day, it is a sign of illness. you do not need a heat lamp in there especially with the glass, unless your night temp is going to drop below 60 degrees. What kind of uvb and basking light are you using?. Do you know about supplementing and gutloading of you your feeders?. What about misting? how are you providing water?. They do not drink out of bowls. Do you have something to measure your temps and humidity with.? Do not feed your chameleon at night. They should be fed during the day so they have time to bask and digest their food. They usually will sleep for about 12 hours or so pretty much when you turn the lights on and off. I would go on a lighting schedule of like 7 am to 7 pm or something like that.

 

[djfishygillz]

One word of advice. Learn from my personal mistakes. Always have the environment ready before you get the animal. But no worries, everyone loves getting a new chameleon. Best of luck, nice looking cham

 

[Hoj]

looks like a very cute little girl you have there but as carol said i some reasearch on your behalf will deff, improve your chams life. i would suggest filling one of these ( https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ ) out as accurate as possible, just so others can see if there are any possible suggestions to help you out. take a look at some of the others setup, there r lots of great ideas to help you out. welcome to the wonderfull worl of chams

 

[kinyonga]

Here's some information you might find helpful......
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects at most feedings before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/