Baby Veiled Cham. new owner

[jettyfish91]

So went to the Reptile super show on saturday and my GF couldnt help but talk me into buy a veiled chameleon (2month old male)... We talked to a few of the breeders there and gatthered all the equipment needed for one. but now I have a few questions...
I currently breed my own Dubias (b/c I use them for my Tarantulas) and was wondering if Dubias are a good staple diet?
What do you guys normally use to gut load for your chams?
What is the go to dusting product do you use to give your chams a good health?
What species of live plants can I safely use in its mesh cage?
Any do you guys have any info your willing to give a cham newbie?

 

[juju]

if you go here you can find a safe plant list and also the dusting that you will need


remember for chams you need to dust their food every feeding with the cal without the d3

2 times a month the cal with d3

and 2 times a month a multi vitamin

http://www.flchams.com/

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new baby veiled. Did you get a male or female? If you don't mind me asking what breeder did you buy him from? Have you thought of a name yet? I just love veileds and had some friends at the show selling veileds.

The correct size dubia are good feeders for chams but you will want to use a variety of different feeders. I've always heard the feeders should be no wider than the space between their eyes.

I have a blog for new keepers attached below. It will answer your questions and give you allot of good info to keep your little on healthy and happy.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[jettyfish91]

juju- thanks for the list! most likely going get a live plant this weekend.
jannb- wow! thats exactly what I was looking for! This community is a lot better towards newbies than others ive been too...
So I saw this bulb:100watt zoomed powersun and was wondering if that is sufficient enough.. for now i am using my friends reptisun but will need my own soon. I heard from different ppl that this should work as long as it is not too close otherwise it could be bad

 

[jettyfish91]

forgot to mention... I got it from the guy who had his stand on the opposite side of the entrance at the reptile show.. one of the only guys that had his chams in deli cups..

 

[jannb]

juju- thanks for the list! most likely going get a live plant this weekend.
jannb- wow! thats exactly what I was looking for! This community is a lot better towards newbies than others ive been too...
So I saw this bulb:100watt zoomed powersun and was wondering if that is sufficient enough.. for now i am using my friends reptisun but will need my own soon. I heard from different ppl that this should work as long as it is not too close otherwise it could be bad

I would not use a 100 watt power sun. That would be too much on a small cage and not good for a baby. I recommend the Reptisun 5.0 tube bulb. The power sun would be ok on a large area such as a free range.

 

[ISA my Veiled]

So far with my 3 month old I have had great success with my Ficus Benjamina inside her cage! I use a 75 watt day bulb for her and the reptiglow 5.0 for her uvb. Also dubia are way better than crickets and everyone seems to really like how clean they are as you have obviously seen from breeding them, they are a great feeder for chameleons though and you should use them. Like the member above said, only use the d3 about twice a month and multivitamin twice a month also. And make sure you dust before every feeding with plain calcium. Good luck with your veiled they are freaking awesome, I am addicted to Chameleons lol you will soon find you are too like a lot of us. And welcome to the forums!

 

[jettyfish91]

so does this sound adequate for a small environment:
Zoo Med ReptiSun® 5.0 Compact Fluorescent Lamp
Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium Hood, 12-Inch
I believe the hight of my container is around 28in - 30in...

 

[jannb]

so does this sound adequate for a small environment:
Zoo Med ReptiSun® 5.0 Compact Fluorescent Lamp
Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium Hood, 12-Inch
I believe the hight of my container is around 28in - 30in...

I like the tube style bulb because the like is spread out over more of the enclosure.

 

[ISA my Veiled]

so does this sound adequate for a small environment:
Zoo Med ReptiSun® 5.0 Compact Fluorescent Lamp
Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium Hood, 12-Inch
I believe the hight of my container is around 28in - 30in...

Sounds like you only have one light bulb going right now? Idk if I understood right but if you do keep the 5.0 and get another lamp for more heat, my veiled LOVES to bask and her basking spot is around 80 degrees try not to put it to close to the top otherwise it gets to hot and it makes it difficult to regulate his temperature. But otherwise sounds fine to me for a small environment. And you can find small ficus at the store, try wal mart or lowes maybe home depot if you have them their.

 

[jettyfish91]

Ok so If I was to go with this setup or even the longer tube with a 5.0 reptisun i still beed a basking lamp correct? also if i placed it right "on" the tank would that be to close?

 

[ISA my Veiled]

Yes you do want the basking lamp still. From the research I have done you do not want it too close due to thermal burns so try to get it like 5 inches away from the top. Or his basking spot not higher than that length to the top. That is also where the live plant or a lot of foliage comes in so he can retreat to a cooler area to cool down

 

[jettyfish91]

so b/c of how my room is setup the only way i can do the lighting would be to hang two dome lamp fixtures above my tank but should i have the uvb lamp closer to the hood of the tank and the basking light a little higher or would it just be a matter of the wattage?
sorry i just need a the help i can get...

 

[ISA my Veiled]

Do you have him in a glass terrarium or a screen cage? You want as much ventilation as possible for chameleons. The glass has also been known to stress them out due to their reflection. Especially for Veiled Chameleons which are extremely territorial towards other chameleons. Because if you can honestly set them on top it is better from my experience! that has worked great for myself so far. More heat goes through and the temperature is always more consistent. You do not want the wattage high like a 100w bulb, some people on the forums use a regular house bulb, which I do not but they seem to be doing well with it.

And no problem, I appreciate you trying to get it right for the benefit of the chameleon

 

[jettyfish91]

Thanks for understanding!

so my plan based on how i cant really hang a fluorescent hood over the screen cage is too hang two dome lights one uvb and one for basking. Is there any major problem with using a compact uvb bulb? I also noticed they sell dual deep dome lighting fixtures that sound perfect for my setup.. opinions?

also wanted to add that after about a month or so i will upgrade to a bigger screen cage.

 

[ISA my Veiled]

Yes for now what I would do if I were in your position is just make sure you get the right UVB (Reptiglow 5.0). Using the spiral bulbs are great, i use them for my beardies as well as my chameleon. With the deep dome make sure you get the larger one if you are putting int he spiral bulb because my beardies uvb bulb hangs out of the Mini duel Deep dome. And if you are going to hang it then get the lamp stand, those are very useful and you will be able to use it with the deep dome very well.

And yeah I have heard that the Repti-Breeze Cages are pretty awesome if that is what you are looking for. Also i don't know how much research you have done, but even with your smaller enclosure at the moment (and in the future)you may want to cup feed him to make sure he eats. Look up some designs for cup feeding on youtube, that is what I did for mine and it works great!

 

[jettyfish91]

this is the little guy "Joe"

 

[jannb]

Yes you do want the basking lamp still. From the research I have done you do not want it too close due to thermal burns so try to get it like 5 inches away from the top. Or his basking spot not higher than that length to the top. That is also where the live plant or a lot of foliage comes in so he can retreat to a cooler area to cool down

I do not use basking lights on babies. You probably will not need a basking light right at first if he's young unless it's really cold in your house, then you can use a household bulb and you'll have to keep testing the temps. (25 to 40watt or so). You will need a way to check your temps. I recommend a temp gun.

A female will probably never need a basking light. I use a double fixture with one UVB bulb and one regular fluorescent bulb and that works perfect. As a baby her basking temps should be at 80. Being female 80 or 81 her entire life unless you breed then you could up it a bit...83 or 84......you'll still want a small clutch. If your house is really cold you might need a 15 or 25 watt basking bulb for a female.

All of this info you can find in the blog that I linked to you above.

 

[jettyfish91]

I appreciate all the help!
LLL has a "deep" dual dome fixture that i think im going to get today. As the stand goes I am just going drill holes in my ceiling and hang the off of that. Cup feeding? I will have to look into that as of now i tong feed it.

 

[ISA my Veiled]

I do not use basking lights on babies. You probably will not need a basking light right at first if he's young unless it's really cold in your house, then you can use a household bulb and you'll have to keep testing the temps. (25 to 40watt or so). You will need a way to check your temps. I recommend a temp gun.

A female will probably never need a basking light. I use a double fixture with one UVB bulb and one regular fluorescent bulb and that works perfect. As a baby her basking temps should be at 80. Being female 80 or 81 her entire life unless you breed then you could up it a bit...83 or 84......you'll still want a small clutch. If your house is really cold you might need a 15 or 25 watt basking bulb for a female.

All of this info you can find in the blog that I linked to you above.

Yeah I just saw the picture and how young he is lol my Girl is way bigger lol a lot bigger, I don know as much for babies as I do for my 4 month old but if it is different I didn't mean to lead him in the wrong way. But yeah my house is very cold so the basking lamp is needed