Cham Fill Out forum

[Hoofbeatz729]

i saw one of these and thought I might as well fill it out
My Chameleon Fill Out
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, Female,Apx.3 maybe 4 months. I have had her for about 1 month on the 18th/19th of September.
Handling - 1-2 times a week for like 5 minutes.
Feeding - Crix, Fruit Flies. 6-12 medium crix (none bigger than her head)and the ocassional 3-4 fruit flies. Every day - Every other day. I purchased some flukers orange cubes and I use those, and Potato slices
Supplements - Scheduel Pending. Zoo Meds Calcium & D3
Watering - Misting.4 times a day for 15 seconds.No but urates are white.
Fecal Description - brown and white.not that I know of.
History - She puffs up when I open the cage,has never striked me/bit me and eats in my presence.Starting to use a feeding cup lets see how this goes
Cage Info:Cage Type - Screen . 18"X18"X24"
Lighting - Exo Terra Repti Glo UVB 13W, Exo Terra Repti Glo 50W Basking Light. Light turns on at 6:30 AM turns off at 8:30 PM
Temperature - 80-95+ day time. 60-70 night. Digital Thermometer
Plants - Live Hibiscus
Placement - BedRoom. NO. 4'
Location -Panhandle of FL

 

[pbveiled]

Orange cubes and potatoes are not a sufficient gut load. I would search the forums for more info I gut loading. I use Repashy super load, the orange cubes for hydration, and various fruits and vegetables.

Supplements should be calcium w/o d3 at every feeding, calcium with d3 twice a month, and a multi vitamin twice a month.

In another thread you mentioned your UVB bulb is a 10.0. Most people here use a 5.0. Is the UVB lifted above the cage?

Day temps seem too high. The basking area should be around 85 degrees and the rest of the cage cooler. 60-70 at night is fine.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums and the world of chameleons. I keeps veileds and see a few things you need to change in your husbandry most mentioned above. I have a blog for new keepers I'm attaching below with a section for females along with my egg laying/laying bin blog.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html#comment824

 

[Hoofbeatz729]

pbveiled: it's a 10.0 compact light BUT it's 13 watts. she came with all of this. I'm not saying i showed up and bought her not doing any reasearch but the man look like he knew what he was doing. And I have heard mixed things on suppliments but I think yours sounds more reasonable. The basking point right now (5:18pm FL) is at 82.5 degrees. thanks for all the help though!
& jannb: Thank you!!

 

[pbveiled]

A 10.0 compact bulb is concentrating too much UVB in a small space. Most will recommend a 5.0 tube so the UVB is more spread out throughout the cage. I would strongly recommend changing it or at least raising it above the cage.

Most people in pet stores will look like they know what they are doing (it's their job) but they don't always know how to best care for every type of animal they sell. Many people have received bad information from pet stores that have led to serious problems. I had 2 die from following what the pet store recommended. Before getting my 3rd, I did a lot more research and realized that most of what they told me was incorrect.

 

[DavidBuchan]

A 10.0 compact bulb is concentrating too much UVB in a small space. Most will recommend a 5.0 tube so the UVB is more spread out throughout the cage. I would strongly recommend changing it or at least raising it above the cage.

Most people in pet stores will look like they know what they are doing (it's their job) but they don't always know how to best care for every type of animal they sell. Many people have received bad information from pet stores that have led to serious problems.

I second all that....chameleons have really quite specialist needs, even compared to other lizards - pet shop guy is very often a complete confidence trickster -you can't go far wrong as a beginner by treating Jannbs blog as your Chameleon bible.........get a reptisun 5.0 tube, please
14 hour days are a bit long.....most people will keep them at 12 hours, some people vary it if they want to induce breeding.
Butternut squash is great for gutload - high calcium, crickets love it, it keeps fresh for ages in the fridge.....

 

[kinyonga]

Here's some information I hope will help you with things like supplements, gutloading, etc....
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 we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also 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 as well 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 which has beta carotene.)

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.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.