Broken ribs?

I think I’m going to build his next cage and make it pretty big since I owe him it. I will make sure the wood is ok and he can’t get splinters and all that stuff. So if I get one that shines all the ay down, what happens if he’s in that red zone is that picture you sent? Should I keep the uvb bulb higher, and keep the branches 6 inches away from it?
If you build your own cage, just remember that it isn’t always cheaper and that you must have a Solarmeter 6.5 to check UVI levels because all charts are based off the aluminum screens from commercially-made cages! The bulb and fixture should be lifted/hung above enough so that cham can use the whole cage to almost all of the way to the top and his basking branch, where it should be a UVI level of 3. You never want your cham in the red zone!
 
The other person is just trying to help, same as me. Veileds are conditioned to always be hungry because they have very short lives in the wild. He isn’t getting fat from the crickets right now because they’re holding no nutrition. You need to start weening him off that amount (or just go cold turkey and start with the new schedule immediately), and you have to start properly gutloading your feeder insects ASAP! This forum has tons of great experienced members who use and give proper info based on their experiences and science, and The Chameleon Academy has tons of great science-based care (their info is the most accurate and up-to-date!), too! These two places have the best info on chams! Is your UVB fixture a T5 HO or T8 (it’ll tell you on the UVB bulb inside of the fixture)? What strength of bulb do you use (5.0 or 10.0)? @jannb do you know of any good chameleon vets in Schaumburg, IL?
Dr. Steve Barten is one of the best reptile vets in the US. He recently did surgery in my friend Komodo Dragon and she had an awesome outcome.
https://www.vhah.com/our-doctors.pml
 
If you build your own cage, just remember that it isn’t always cheaper and that you must have a Solarmeter 6.5 to check UVI levels because all charts are based off the aluminum screens from commercially-made cages! The bulb and fixture should be lifted/hung above enough so that cham can use the whole cage to almost all of the way to the top and his basking branch, where it should be a UVI level of 3. You never want your cham in the red zone!
If I buy the last one, the one that has the most coverage, it would presumably be okay. Right? I’m going to take a look at Home Depot tomorrow and look at my options.
 
I think I’m going to build his next cage and make it pretty big since I owe him it. I will make sure the wood is ok and he can’t get splinters and all that stuff. So if I get one that shines all the ay down, what happens if he’s in that red zone is that picture you sent? Should I keep the uvb bulb higher, and keep the branches 6 inches away from it?
Ok so you’ve gotten tons of great advice so I’m just gonna put a little input. You said your enclosure is bioactive or the substrate is but I have a hard time believing that. But I don’t know it could be...I just don’t think so...I’m sorry I don’t mean to come off rude! What do you mean by bioactive, can you explain how it is? (I know what bioactive enclosures are and all that I just want to know what you say) Next, coming from someone who made their enclosure honestly I don’t regret it but I don’t not regret it make sense? So it works great and everything about it is great it’s just small things about it that I wish I would’ve just invested in a good HIGH quality cage. You can make it but I just recommend getting one like a dragon strand or a DIY design (others too) because it’s just the little things. And these cages will last you for the entire lifetime of your chameleon, I’m not saying mine won’t but either cause I know it will. I made my cage for about $95-100 (sorry changed that just looked it was a bit more than I said $97.34 to be exact) but I had all the tools and everything I just needed the parts, I really love to build lol, but if you do not have any of the tools it’ll probably add up. It also takes a lot of time and effort to make one because you have to make sure everything is strong and stable and doesn’t fall apart, make sure everything is safe proof/no sharp edges, make sure the type of wood or materials won’t rot, mold, and rust, with the water etc. I’ll probably end up buying a new enclosure later on I don’t know only time will tell but if you really want to make one (like mentioned it’s not always cheaper) there are lots of resources available and if you want to know how I made mine just PM me anytime! As for plants I know home depot should have pothos, hibiscus, crotons, Hawaiian ti, spider plants, polka dot plants, and quite a few others. About winter there are a few that are hard to find right now because lots of people don’t have them since they are hard to keep alive and thriving in colder weathers. By people I mean like nurseries and that stuff. Ok bugs, so dubiaroches.com has good bugs and if you go to Neptune the Chameleon on YouTube she has a bunch of great videos for you to watch! (I think she also has a discount code for the website I put) I feed dubias from there, hornworms, bsfl, and superworms. I think something has happened with their shipments right now so maybe not at the moment great but for future reference they’re good, and silkworms I get from coastal silkworms they’re a bit pricier but they’re great! I also get bsfl from somewhere else although I can’t remember the name but I got them from a lllreptile and I’ve had my first few bsfl hatch into bsf which my cham seems to LOVE! The forums has a bunch of sponsors available on their sponsor page for bugs and other stuff I’ll link it. I think I covered everything I wanted too I don’t know though I’ve been writing this for a while 😆 (that was a lot of input lol sorry) https://www.chameleonforums.com/sponsors/
 
@Nryan1209 Greetings, im gonna chime in a a bit for plants, cages and local pet stores from where i buy some of my stuff too.

So for plants there's lurvey:

2550 E Dempster St, Des Plaines, IL 60016, they have decent amout of plants, bit more expensive just because they are a garden center.

Pesche's Flowers
170 S River Rd, Des Plaines, IL 60016

Also you can check different home depot locations, this one here i know for a fact has a bit more plants than others.
6211 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60659
I know they're not the closest to you but if you dont mind driving its worth it. You can also check your local gardening centers.

For Pet stores check:

Chief Reptile, they have banded crickets, dubias and different sorts of feeders and other chameleon/reptile supplies like lights, cages all sorts of things.
1722 E Kensington Rd, Mt Prospect, IL 60056

Petland in Hoffman Estates and Bolingbrook locations, im pretty sure you know about these.

Chicago Reptile House
14410 John Humphrey Dr, Orland Park, IL 60462. They have a lot of things and interesting reptiles, cages, lights etc

As for building your cage, its a love/hate kinda thing, takes a lot of time and money, i build mine and costed me a lot more than buying a decent one. Yes it is rewarding and satisfying in the end. But if you're really good at carpentry and have the time and money, why not? You can design it the way you want it. If you decide to buy one, DIY cages have decent quality for the low, better quality than reptibreeze.
 
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If I buy the last one, the one that has the most coverage, it would presumably be okay. Right? I’m going to take a look at Home Depot tomorrow and look at my options.
If you mean that you are gonna buy the strongest bulb on the chart I posted, as @ERKleRose stated you will for sure need a solar meter to measure your uvb. If you look at the chart it'll tell you how the test was done and what exact screen is used for the control in the test. So if you are going to be building your enclosure chances are you won't be using the same material that applies to the chart. So you def would need to invest in a solar meter no matter what strength of bulb you buy, if you are going to build your cage that is. 😉

Definitely want to avoid thermal burns for your little guy and def don't want him not getting enough uvb.
 
Ok so you’ve gotten tons of great advice so I’m just gonna put a little input. You said your enclosure is bioactive or the substrate is but I have a hard time believing that. But I don’t know it could be...I just don’t think so...I’m sorry I don’t mean to come off rude! What do you mean by bioactive, can you explain how it is? (I know what bioactive enclosures are and all that I just want to know what you say) Next, coming from someone who made their enclosure honestly I don’t regret it but I don’t not regret it make sense? So it works great and everything about it is great it’s just small things about it that I wish I would’ve just invested in a good HIGH quality cage. You can make it but I just recommend getting one like a dragon strand or a DIY design (others too) because it’s just the little things. And these cages will last you for the entire lifetime of your chameleon, I’m not saying mine won’t but either cause I know it will. I made my cage for about $95-100 (sorry changed that just looked it was a bit more than I said $97.34 to be exact) but I had all the tools and everything I just needed the parts, I really love to build lol, but if you do not have any of the tools it’ll probably add up. It also takes a lot of time and effort to make one because you have to make sure everything is strong and stable and doesn’t fall apart, make sure everything is safe proof/no sharp edges, make sure the type of wood or materials won’t rot, mold, and rust, with the water etc. I’ll probably end up buying a new enclosure later on I don’t know only time will tell but if you really want to make one (like mentioned it’s not always cheaper) there are lots of resources available and if you want to know how I made mine just PM me anytime! As for plants I know home depot should have pothos, hibiscus, crotons, Hawaiian ti, spider plants, polka dot plants, and quite a few others. About winter there are a few that are hard to find right now because lots of people don’t have them since they are hard to keep alive and thriving in colder weathers. By people I mean like nurseries and that stuff. Ok bugs, so dubiaroches.com has good bugs and if you go to Neptune the Chameleon on YouTube she has a bunch of great videos for you to watch! (I think she also has a discount code for the website I put) I feed dubias from there, hornworms, bsfl, and superworms. I think something has happened with their shipments right now so maybe not at the moment great but for future reference they’re good, and silkworms I get from coastal silkworms they’re a bit pricier but they’re great! I also get bsfl from somewhere else although I can’t remember the name but I got them from a lllreptile and I’ve had my first few bsfl hatch into bsf which my cham seems to LOVE! The forums has a bunch of sponsors available on their sponsor page for bugs and other stuff I’ll link it. I think I covered everything I wanted too I don’t know though I’ve been writing this for a while 😆 (that was a lot of input lol sorry) https://www.chameleonforums.com/sponsors/
I totally didn’t know about that website. I think I’ll just buy one off of their. I’m not sure though my dad does that carpentry stuff and I think it would be cheaper to have him hold it with his knowledge on that stuff. I will take a look tomorrow morning with him. Thank you so much. What is a “bsfl”? And I mean by my substrate is all natural ingredients and can hold plants. I know the top of it isn’t bio active but I have a few plants at the bottom. Not sure if that still counts as bio active though. What is PM? Is that a way I could directly message you?
 
If you mean that you are gonna buy the strongest bulb on the chart I posted, as @ERKleRose stated you will for sure need a solar meter to measure your uvb. If you look at the chart it'll tell you how the test was done and what exact screen is used for the control in the test. So if you are going to be building your enclosure chances are you won't be using the same material that applies to the chart. So you def would need to invest in a solar meter no matter what strength of bulb you buy, if you are going to build your cage that is. 😉

Definitely want to avoid thermal burns for your little guy and def don't want him not getting enough uvb.
I found a 24 x 24 x 48 cage by reptibreeze for $105. I think I’ll just buy that one to save the trouble. Thank you!
 
I totally didn’t know about that website. I think I’ll just buy one off of their. I’m not sure though my dad does that carpentry stuff and I think it would be cheaper to have him hold it with his knowledge on that stuff. I will take a look tomorrow morning with him. Thank you so much. What is a “bsfl”? And I mean by my substrate is all natural ingredients and can hold plants. I know the top of it isn’t bio active but I have a few plants at the bottom. Not sure if that still counts as bio active though. What is PM? Is that a way I could directly message you?
Bsfl is Black Soldier Fly Larvae it has other names as well you should try feeding these I think more pet stores are starting to sell them as well. Calci worms, nutrígrubs, Phoenix worms are other names for them they are nutritious and do not need to be dusted because of the high calcium they have etc. They are very good feeders to add more variety to your chams diet. Technically it isn’t, a bioactive enclosure has all live plants and branches, and bioactive substrate, the soil has feeders/bugs living in it and cleaning it etc (self-sustaining and self-cleaning environment)...it’s basically creating a little live natural environmental habitat. There’s lots of info on it available. PM stands for private message and yes it’s a way to directly message me. Click my profile and then press start conversation.
I found a 24 x 24 x 48 cage by reptibreeze for $105. I think I’ll just buy that one to save the trouble. Thank you!
I recommend the DIY one its a a little pricier but it’s better quality then the reptibreeze
https://www.diycages.com/collections/vertical-screen-reptile-chameleon-cages/products/sc4-48x24x24-jumbo-vertical-screen-cage
 
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I think I’m going to build his next cage and make it pretty big since I owe him it. I will make sure the wood is ok and he can’t get splinters and all that stuff. So if I get one that shines all the ay down, what happens if he’s in that red zone is that picture you sent? Should I keep the uvb bulb higher, and keep the branches 6 inches away from it?
An alternative to a wood framed enclosure is a quick frame aluminum one .no wood to worry about seal or rotting away on ya.
 
I totally didn’t know about that website. I think I’ll just buy one off of their. I’m not sure though my dad does that carpentry stuff and I think it would be cheaper to have him hold it with his knowledge on that stuff. I will take a look tomorrow morning with him. Thank you so much. What is a “bsfl”? And I mean by my substrate is all natural ingredients and can hold plants. I know the top of it isn’t bio active but I have a few plants at the bottom. Not sure if that still counts as bio active though. What is PM? Is that a way I could directly message you?
Since your soil isn’t bioactive, you either need to remove all of it or add in a clean-up crew and other substrate ingredients into it. There is no in-between, only bare bottom or bioactive. Here’s a great introductory blog about it: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/
 
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