Couple of questions about my cham

[VamPotato]

Hey guys!
So I have some questions. My male veiled chameleon has been in my care for a few weeks now.

• How old is he? He is about 20cm/8 inches, 10cm/4inch without his tale.
• Is the setup good? He has an Exoterra 30x30x45/12"x12"x18", a live ficus plant and some branches. Temps are around 22°C/72°F, 35°C/95°F on his basking spot.
• What kind of worms are the best? I feed him gutloaded crickets, but want to give him worms for variety and handfeeding.
• He seems so calm. Whenever I put my hand in there, he always hops on it. He always eat from my hand whenever I feed him. Does this mean that my cham has a nice personality?

 

[Nursemaia]

1. He's young I'd guess about 6 months
2. I'd add more foliage to your setup. Maybe a pothos to grow and wrap around the bare climbing branches. You're also going to have to upgrade to a 24x24x48 enclosure when he gets larger. I'd lower the basking temp a few degrees too. Make sure his humidity is high
3. I love hornworms
4. Don't count on him staying calm. Once he reaches maturity he may become aggressive. Veileds are known to be not so nice

 

[Nursemaia]

That's my male and he's very aggressive

 

[VamPotato]

Thanks, beautiful cham! What kind of pothos do I need? I read that Hedera is slightly toxic.

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

Thanks, beautiful cham! What kind of pothos do I need? I read that Hedera is slightly toxic.

I use golden and neon pothos. Just watch to see if he chews them good or not. If he isn't a plant eater, I wouldn't stress to much about it. If he is, switch up plants. Scheffleras are a good choice, they grow tall and bushy, while providing cover.

Since he's in a vivarium, humidity shouldn't be a problem. You don't want it to always be high, this can lead to an URI. A few spikes a day (towards 60-70%) is plenty for a veiled. Ambient humidity around 40-50 will do just fine.
.Basking temps for him should be mid-high 80℉'s...shoot for 86-88, 90℉ as an adult. Make sure your basking spot is about 8 inches away. If it's to close he can get burned. Do you have UVB lighting?

 

[VamPotato]

Yes, I have an UVB and a heat lamp. When he gets bigger, a screen terrarium would be better or a glass? I heard that humidity is nicer in the glass, but the air flow is better in the screen.

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

What do you have for UVB if you don't mind me asking? I guess really it depends where you're located geographically. Do you live some where cool and dry, hot and humid? Etc....

 

[VamPotato]

I have a Zoo Med Reptisun UVB 5.0. I live in Central Eastern Europe (Hungary) so the humidity and the temperature depends on the season.

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

Well just do what you feels suits him best. If you can't keep humidity up at all or get it to spike, a glass terrarium might work best. The glass is common in the UK.

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

And your lighting sounds good.

 

[VamPotato]

Great, thanks! I'm thinking more about the screen terrarium to be honest, I heard that they can develop respiratory infections in the glass because of the lack of airflow. How common is that?

 

[Nursemaia]

Thanks, beautiful cham! What kind of pothos do I need? I read that Hedera is slightly toxic.

I have a golden pothos but I have a shefflera too. My preference is a screen cage and I use a mister several times a day to regulate the humidity. I have a reptibreeze XL enclosure and a monsoon mister. Depending on the season it can be really dry here or extremely humid so I may have to change how I mist my chams. I'm looking to upgrade each one to their own Dragon Strand Atrium enclosure which is a combo of screen and solid sides so it's great for holding in heat and humidity. I also want to upgrade to a Mistking when finances allow. I have 3 chams and they deserve the best

 

[VamPotato]

Thanks! I think I will buy a screen cage as well. Around what age does he need the bigger terrarium?

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

Like I said if you're somewhere where the humidity is naturally lower and you live in a drier climate a glass terrarium would be a good thing. If you have live plants and good lighting there will be fresh air and the lights will create a chimney effect making the air ventilate itself.

You don't have to use screen. To many people are over dramatic about screen and glass. Both can be used, if used properly. Some are better than others in different situations.

You could buy him a bigger cage now if you wanted. He's getting close to that age.

 

[VamPotato]

Great, but it's not a problem if I buy him a bigger one in a few months from now, right?

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

Great, but it's not a problem if I buy him a bigger one in a few months from now, right?

You should be ok. If he starts climbing the walls and acting real aggressive, or becomes inactive, it might be because it's to small. I wouldn't wait any longer than 2 months. But yeah, you're fine. Keep up the good work! I'm glad to see you're doing research and learning.

 

[VamPotato]

Thank you! I want the best for him.