Enclosure Improvement

TwiceVeiled

TwiceVeiled

Avid Member
Hello everyone!

I was wondering if you might have ideas for improving our enclosure and how to keep propagating our plants for our female veiled.

We bought some pothos and she ate alot of it, so I am trying to grow some. I only have 2 small/bitten pothos in there right now but the other three plants I am trying to grow to prepare for an upgrade.

We have access to great and unique branches on our property and I plan to get new ones when I do this. I have been using zip ties to hold things together inside the enclosure and thumb tacks and fishing line on the outside of the enclosure. I know it would be better to have all live plants and I will work towards it but the artificial plants (while my pothos continies to grow) for the time being have helped give her cover on the sides of her cage. Does anyone have best practices for pothos propagation?

I feed her outside the enclosure (she walks on my arm to feed from a bucket) So presently don't need to worry about dead bugs in the enclosure or feeding cups etc. I hand mist a few times a day and run a dripper which is caught in the container below, keeping things clean.

We plan to stick with hand misting/dripper for the time being as she drinks from a syringe once or twice a day.

You can see pics of our enclosure and.cham here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...g-and-behaviour-question.174609/#post-1560114

Right now we have a lay bin in there for her...should I plan the enclosure so that it would always be there or just put it in when it seems likely she will lay?

Here are the plants we are growing (one is chewed from previously being in her cage but is filling out again somewhat....)
20200420_011800.jpg


We have a Zilla Fresh Air enclosure 30 x 30 x 18.

Also, if you have recommendations for new plants that are on the economical side, propagate well and are hardy....that would be great!

Thanks so much!!


Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. Veiled, female, About 15-17 months old ( don't know exact age)
  • How long has it been in your care? Since August
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Near the beginning infrequently, then only by stick, now she comes oit on jer own every day, has free range time and handling every day, seems to handle well.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Crickets mostly, occasional hornworms.What amount? 3-5 crickets/day. What is the schedule? Morning feeding of 3-4. Occasional afternoon snack of 1. How are you gut-loading your feeders?
    20200420_013135.jpg
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Calcium without D3 mostly every day. Calcium with D3 every other week, Reptivite every other week.
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Syringe once or twice a day. How often and how long to you mist? 3-4 times a day 30-45 seconds. Do you see your chameleon drinking? From syringe.
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Recently very good. Dark brown, moist with white urates. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to helpyou. We bought him from someone on Kijiji who only had it for a month or two and then couldn't keep it anymore.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Already done:)
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? I'd have to look. Both from a reptile store - one is heat, the other is UVB. I know the T5 is desirable - will be the next upgrade. I have a large coil uvb in a wide rectangular dome with reflectors. What is your daily lighting schedule? 7am on, 7pm off.
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? I haven't tested the bottom - probably our comfortable house temperature on the cool side. Basking spot - high eighties. Lowest overnight temp? House temp. How do you measure these temps? Small digital thermometer with probe.
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? Between 30-40%. How are you creating and maintaining these levels? Misting, love plants, dropped. What do you use to measure humidity? A Small digital reader....but I don't fully trust it's quality or know the best place to put it.
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Pothos. Some artificial.
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Quiet room on second floor. Low traffic and corner so more protected feel. Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? About head level. When I started working with her, I always fed her and cared for her from a crouched position. She appears comfortable now while I stand.
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? Ontario Canada

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about: Creating a better, healthier enclosure as we are able for a healthy cham.
 
Last edited:
Also, I am wondering if we should cover the back to prevent water damage on the wall and whether we can improve humidoty by partial covering of any of the sides. Just curious.
 
Love the little ‘cricket cafe’...too cute!
If your cham is totally ravaging your plants, you could get more and put them on a rotation in/out of the enclosure and give them time to recover. I suggest getting the fake plants put as they can accidentally eat a fake leaf and get impacted.
Getting the correct uvb needs to be done ASAP before it causes health issues.
Why are you watering with a syringe? To me, that is an aspiration risk as their trachea is in the front of their mouth. It’s ok if you don’t see your cham drinking as they can be very secretive about it. As long as the urate is white, she’s drinking.
Last but not least, do you have a lay bin in her enclosure? Mated or not she’ll be laying eggs and is best to just keep the lay bin as a permanent part of her enclosure.
I lied:) One more comment...chams do like a variety of feeders. Attaching feeder and gutloading sheets for you.
70DAD0FB-1CD2-4F83-9025-FF4D69F8A620.jpeg
BCD39383-97AF-48F9-A489-4B3074DBD231.jpeg
 
MissSkittles said:
Love the little ‘cricket cafe’...too cute!
If your cham is totally ravaging your plants, you could get more and put them on a rotation in/out of the enclosure and give them time to recover. I suggest getting the fake plants put as they can accidentally eat a fake leaf and get impacted.
Getting the correct uvb needs to be done ASAP before it causes health issues.
Why are you watering with a syringe? To me, that is an aspiration risk as their trachea is in the front of their mouth. It’s ok if you don’t see your cham drinking as they can be very secretive about it. As long as the urate is white, she’s drinking.
Last but not least, do you have a lay bin in her enclosure? Mated or not she’ll be laying eggs and is best to just keep the lay bin as a permanent part of her enclosure.
I lied:) One more comment...chams do like a variety of feeders. Attaching feeder and gutloading sheets for you.
View attachment 264311View attachment 264312
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the advice!

Yes, the cham totally ravages the pothos! I bought three medium/small plants and saved one for propagation and to grow out, and every day almost she would go down to the area (I started affectionately calling it her salad bar:) and crunch away. I am planning to get more plants and get all the plastic out. I am going to research some ways to attach the plants to the wall in some DIY way and have been reading from the Chameleon Academy about interior design for the plants.

Planning to get the T5 job asap.

When I use the syringe (which I clean and disinfect with hot water and vinegar) I let.the water drop in droplets from above, as if she were drinking from a dripper. I started the practice with a beardie who was needing hydration last year and because the cham's humidity was on the low side through the winter I thought to try this - now she expects water right after eating her feeders and starts openingnher mouth to drink...is this OK?

I am planning to make the lay in permanent in some form that is still attractive to look at (it has been in her enclosure for a few weeks now)- what if I planted a dracaena in the middle?

I hope to expand her variety in feeders...trying to be economical but also healthy! I use a lot of carrot and Apple for gutload but try to pilfer more exciting things from these lists whn they appear in our household. I thought once of doing the gutload icecube prep but never took the leap....

Thansk so much for all your advice - I'm truly grateful! If you have more, I welcome it all!
 
Yes to putting a plant in the lay bin! Chams like to lay their eggs against things and a root ball would be great!
I’ve been using Dragon Strand ledges to attach plants, branches and whatever else. If on a budget though, you could attach a framework of sturdy sticks/dowels to the enclosure frame...kind of like a scaffolding. I’m getting ready for a new cham and can’t fit Dragon Ledges into my budget so I did order one of the plant pocket bags and going to do the scaffolding for the sides.
For economy on feeders, you could try breeding your own. Dubia and discoid roaches are super easy and actually more pleasant than crickets. Silkworms are a little more challenging, but very doable. I believe crickets are easy to breed too.
 
Thanks so much! I am planning on DIY scaffolding now - always so much to learn!

I have quite a large lay bin in there right now....would she need that much space? Our cage is 30x30x18 Zilla Fresh Air. I am hoping to scoff one of the dracaenas for the lay bin!

Also, how far away should the tallest leaves be from the T5H0 uvb(resting on top of the cage?) Can they suffer from being too close? Do you recommend any kind of light as helps for plants or just stick with heat/basking lamp and uvb? Should the uvb rest near the back of the top or middle? Would the 24" reptisun be the best size for our enclosure size? Thanks for all your help? Planning........:)

I will look into feeder options for more variety. Not sure all household members would be glad about colonies of insects be raised:) but I will look into best options. Grateful!!
 
You’ve gotten a lot of great advice.
Here is a video that covers different feeders you can try:




Also one on gutloading:




Ways to increase humidity:

 
Gingero said:
You’ve gotten a lot of great advice.
Here is a video that covers different feeders you can try:




Also one on gutloading:




Ways to increase humidity:

Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the video links! I will be watching them all! Appreciate this so much and I agree, all of you with so much experience are giving me great advice.....I'm spoiled!!
 
Hello everyone,

Thanks so much for all your advice to improve our enclosure for our veiled!!

Upgrades happened last night...

What it was before (a lot of plastic inside):

20200417_082717.jpg


Now, as of this morning (all live plants):

20200424_081255.jpg


20200424_081317.jpg


20200424_081327.jpg


Still left to go: get the Reptisum T5H0 5.0, cover 2 sides (left and back) with window covering plastic for humidity, root umbrella clipping and plant somewhere. Also would like to get some spider plant.

The dripper is dripping down the pothos into the bucket - no more syringe watering:)

If you have any further suggestions I welcome them all! Hopefully the cham will be healthier.

Thanks to all of you!!!!
 
It is beautiful. Cant wait to see it after it's grown in some and tweaked a little (light and clippings. I love umbrella plant). Your enclosure has grown leaps and bounds! Good job.
 
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