chameleon substrate

[newtochams]

Hey there guys.
Thinking of getting my first chameleon next month. A baby veiled. I was just wondering if I could use forest moss substrate. I all ready own it as it is a left over black from my gecko. It holds the humidity really well and is small in size. I haven't had crickets bury in it and I would be cup feeding. Here is a pic.

 

[camimom]

Veileds are notorious for eating vegitation, so should they ingest any of the substrate it could lead to impaction.

Even if you have the finest ground substrate, it can still cause issues.

Also, bugs tend to hide in the dirt, so do you want random bugs hiding, or your cham eating the bug and a huge mouthful of dirt?

Even if you cup feed, bugs can still get out and burrow, and its just not wise to risk it.

 

[Deevo]

90% of cham owners will just use plain old paper towel as a substrate. It absorbs the mist and can also help stabilize the humidity levels.

 

[xraygirl]

I found that with paper towels, you will go broke on going through them. From a suggestion of a fellow cham owner, who told me to get one of those 'sham' cloths, the ones that absorb a bunch of water, in the bottom of the cage. When I was taking sopping wet paper towels out everyday and still having to wipe the bottom dry, I was getting that sham cloth out every few days to rinse off and put back in the cage.

 

[newtochams]

Alright so no moss that sucks what about reptile carpet will his nails get caught. I also read something about the housing mildew just wanted to clarify.

 

[camimom]

I used to use the carpet. my chams never really went on it, so nails werent an issue.

but it did start to smell mildewy, and what not, so i just removed it.

I just have bare cage floors now.

 

[newtochams]

Alright thanks guys guess I'll just go bare bottom or paper towel . Darn really wanted a substrate.

 

[Oliviabryant]

You can use soil if you wish, it just has to be 100% organic/ natural. Maybe a bag of worm castings would work. The biggest issue with dirt is the drainage issue, so you will want to purchase play sand from a craft store ( not Petco because it's more than likely a variance of calcium based sand) and then do a 50/50 mixture of the sand and soil. Also adding rocks for the base layer helps absorb excessive water.
Lastly- if you are a new keeper, you already have your hands full. Taking on tedious tasks like the upkeep of substrate isn't priority.

 

[exoherppy]

I have been using old newspapers and I replace them every every few days, works great for me.

 

[ridgebax1]

I have soil in the bottom of Omar's enclosure. I really like the look of a planted cage BUT I am having MAJOR problems with fungus gnats even with adequate drainage. So I am going to redo the bottom again with a biological control, more sand in the soil, landscape cloth and then put the river rocks back. I don't want to do anything too drastic because the ficus is just starting to recover and I would like it to have more than four leaves! If that doesn't work I guess come spring I will just pull it all out and go back to pots and bare floor. Clouseau is in a cage with a bare floor, it is his baby cage, so I will see how Omar's cage plays out before I decide what to do with the new big boy cage!

 

[fuzzhc]

Imo a 50/50 sand soil substrate could work fine in a fully planted enclosure if husbandary is up to par eg sufficient basking temps and humidity. I'm no expert here but I've read discussions about this on various reptiles including chams and seems to work well.

I have a monitor in a fully bio active enclosure who literally eats mouthfuls of dirt at every feeding. I also for a year kept my vieled much the same with no issues before I moved him to a bigger screen enclosure and plan on doing so with my female panther in the near future. I made sure the substrate was compacted down firmly before hand and it only really got disturbed by the insects living in it- worms, springtails, some iso pods. I'd never let roaches free roam in there though lol.

I'm in no way advocating this as I said I'm no expert but I find it adds to a more healthy and cleaner natural environment.

 

[poison]

Imo a 50/50 sand soil substrate could work fine in a fully planted enclosure if husbandary is up to par eg sufficient basking temps and humidity. I'm no expert here but I've read discussions about this on various reptiles including chams and seems to work well.

I have a monitor in a fully bio active enclosure who literally eats mouthfuls of dirt at every feeding. I also for a year kept my vieled much the same with no issues before I moved him to a bigger screen enclosure and plan on doing so with my female panther in the near future. I made sure the substrate was compacted down firmly before hand and it only really got disturbed by the insects living in it- worms, springtails, some iso pods. I'd never let roaches free roam in there though lol.

I'm in no way advocating this as I said I'm no expert but I find it adds to a more healthy and cleaner natural environment.

I like the way you think .

I too use bio-active substrate for all my animals encluding a veiled. And know people who use it on panthers and jacksons as well. I've never had an issue. Though I use purely soil for arborial species as there is no need for sand.

 

[renderit1]

This guy uses soil in his cage, looks tight. http://youtu.be/PcIbzeCQ0R8

 

[ChameleonRave]

I would avoid any type of soil substrate at all costs. It's just a waiting game until the chameleon would go down and try to eat it and cause a possible impaction. Bare bottom or paper towels on the bottom are your safest bet to ensure that the chameleon isn't ingesting any of the substrate on the bottom of the cage.

 

[MSAquatics]

I also would recommend you go with a bare bottom. Some are successful with the soil substrate but for a new Cham owner, it can spell disaster. Mold, impaction from eating it, flies, and drainage can all lead to trouble. The shamwow is an awesome idea.

Leland

 

[leedragon]

get a drainage hole, don´t use solid, the humidity you want to get is from misting,all standing water is bad for a chameleon.

having soild make it harder to clean too and a good places for rest of feces to decompose and cultivate bacterias.

but if you want help raising the humidity use real plants.

btw jemen don´t need that high humidity

 

[fuzzhc]

get a drainage hole, don´t use solid, the humidity you want to get is from misting,all standing water is bad for a chameleon.

having soild make it harder to clean too and a good places for rest of feces to decompose and cultivate bacterias.

but if you want help raising the humidity use real plants.

btw jemen don´t need that high humidity

Hi, when using a bio active substrate there is no need for cleaning as there are clean up crews to do the work for you. Some may call it lazy but others a more natural way of living. But as someone said above generally not recommended for new owners, although my Yemen was the first reptile I owned when I started using this, I made sure to do alot of research before hand.

 

[poison]

I would avoid any type of soil substrate at all costs. It's just a waiting game until the chameleon would go down and try to eat it and cause a possible impaction. Bare bottom or paper towels on the bottom are your safest bet to ensure that the chameleon isn't ingesting any of the substrate on the bottom of the cage.

A chameleon just going down to the bottom and eating the substrate? For what reason?

 

[poison]

What fuzzhc said.


A good way to create a bio-active enclosure is to go outside and get leaf litter. Do not treat it. There will be bugs and bacteria (helpful bacteria) eating the leaf litter you then tranfer them into your cages.

 

[fuzzhc]

A chameleon just going down to the bottom and eating the substrate? For what reason?

I've heard of reptiles intentionally eating dirt for possible lack of minerals in their diet but this shouldn't be the case if properly gut loaded and dusted. If being cup or hand fed then the amount of soil they will be digesting along with the odd clean up crew bug would be marginal, especially if the soil has been firmly patted down ( and the animal is well hydrated and exposed to sufficient basking temperatures). Many times I witnessed my veiled snap up a beetle from the morio worm, I forget the name, which was on the substrate and pick up almost no dirt if any at all.