Few month update. New enclosure 2 x 2 x 4

[Ollie&Chami]

Hey I’m back, it’s been a few months.
Update: I finally got a screen 2 x 2 x 4 for Ollie (Chamis coming soon as well) and it’s so much bigger than his old reptibreeze Cham enclosure(way too small and now I see how small it was ). It’s still not complete as I just set it up, but I’m also planning on going bioactive with this enclosure. Missing many plants(if you have recommendations… do let me know) and iso/springtails to be fully bioactive… lmk I wanna do the branches better, but don’t know how to creatively design a cham enclosure… Aquascaping shoo I got you any day haha, but terrascaping is new to me and I want to further develop my skills and knowledge.

 

[MissSkittles]

You’re off to a great start. Definitely need to add more branches and of varied diameters to fully exercise those mitten feets. You may want to install some way to better hang branches and even plants before you go any further. I found garden trellis is a nice and inexpensive way. I attach with wire to the frame, making sure to secure a few on each to the screws of the enclosure. If you have help, it’s not hard to do with your enclosure put together.
For plants, I have no sense of aesthetics or design. I just go by expected or current height and put things where they fit. Pothos is a fantastic staple plant to have. Not only is it kind for brown thumbs, but grows nice long vines quickly and is super easy to make new plants from clippings. There are several different types of it too. Tradescantia zebrina is also easy, grows fast and offers a nice little pop of color. I always start out my new enclosures with some gorgeous and more striking plants, but somehow the pretty ones don’t survive and I’m left with lots of pothos. Another cool thing is to plant one low and have it vine upwards. The leaves grow bigger when it grows upwards.
For bioactive, I’ve been using fabric root pouches to contain the substrate and they work great! This one works very well. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Root-Po...Pots-with-Handles-Planter-BB900-45H/306677187 Where have you been looking that you can’t find springtails? Many insect vendors sell clean up crew. I know Josh’s Frogs does. Do you have isopods? I’m not even sure if the springtails have survived in all of my enclosures (they’re so tiny to see), but I often see lots of the isopods and my chameleons like to hunt them. I keep a decently thick layer of leaf litter and provide at least 1 piece of cork bark for them to hide under. Plus, whether I like it or not, no matter how well I wash the plants down to bare root, some tiny earthworm things always sneak in. In one of my leopard gecko tanks, I found he has a very small population of superworms living in his substrate. It’s very bizarre as I have never given him any and I have no idea what they are eating. Anyhow, keep going and growing and you’re doing fine.

 

[Ollie&Chami]

I bought more plants, hibiscus, fern, will buy one pothos, another smaller fern for extra cover in that small open area in the middle. I purchased some dowels (that I will add in later) and am also going to look for actual branches to put in there after sanitizing them. You can kind of see how small his old enclosure was by chamis enclosure next to him. I had her cover for privacy, but had to take it off while rearranging his cage. I can’t wait to design her enclosure.

Also when can I make lil Ollie and Chami babies?

 

[MissSkittles]

Also when can I make lil Ollie and Chami babies?

Well, I’ll ask you what my vet asked me when I had mentioned breeding my veileds…why do you want to breed them? While I completely understand the desire to do so and, OMG! Squee! Adorable bebes! I just want to give you some of the practical reasons why I chose not to breed any of mine.
The biggest was there was a possibility that I could have ended up with dozens of babies and not enough new homes for them. That itself could turn into a total nightmare for me, as veileds grow super quickly and each baby will need its own enclosure very very quickly. Even if there were only 5-10 babies, I haven’t the space nor resources for any more chameleons than I already have.
Then, even if I could find homes for each and every baby, would they be truly good homes with people willing and able to put in the time, effort, money and love to keep the baby healthy and happy? I don’t want to wonder if my beautiful little babies went on to live horrible lives of mbd, neglect or misery. I honestly have no idea how breeders deal with this unknown.
Now a reason that was not mine, but is one to consider. Breeding veileds is a labor of love for the breed. Because they have been so ‘common’, they are undervalued and one would be lucky just to break even on the expenses of raising them. It’s a lot of work, time expense and with scant to zero compensation.
Now for reasons to proceed with breeding them.
This is a more personal reason and I can’t tell you why. My reason was to help continue a specific blood line, experience with the entire process and again - OMG! Bebes! My girl developed a papilloma, so that (thankfully) took the decision out of my hands.
Now, with all I’ve railed against breeding, if you do still wish to have baby Ollie and Chamis, you need to wait until both are fully mature and in optimal health. I think it’s best to wait until Chami has at least one clutch of unfertilized eggs and then fully recover from that. In the meantime, research everything, and I do mean everything about caring or the eggs, care of hatchlings, creating fruit fly cultures and everything else you can find. Every now and then someone shows up here with a clutch of eggs or freshly hatched babies and they have obviously not taken the time to research anything and are clueless about what to expect, what to do etc.
I’ve talked more than enough so am shutting up now. I just wanted to give you food for thought.