Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and more specifically Chameleons.
Me and my girlfriend did a lot of research before bringing home our little fella. Although it seems there is never an endpoint to the amount of knowledge you can gain about these magnificent creatures.
We live in the UK.
We have had him almost 2 weeks now. He is a male Veiled Cham - He has finally settled now and is eating and drinking and moving around his viv nicely. He is somewhere between 3 and 4 months old.
Our set up is...
- Wooden vivarium : 4ft tall, 3 ft wide and 2ft deep.
- 100w basking light with a gap of about 10inches from its nearest perch
- UV tube - 5%
- 3 real plants, all non-toxic
- 3 or 4 branches at various levels for perching, and an artificial vine, and some artificial leaves for cover/hiding
- Astroturf on the bottom
- Heat mat under the turf - although not been using this
- Humidity is usually around 40-50% mark
- We spray his favourite artifical leaves around 3 times a day which he likes to drink from
- Lights on at 7.30am and off at 8pm
- Basking temp is around 95F and low down the viv its around 77
- We have a dripper but not used it yet
He is still quite nervous, especially when we open his vivarium. I am hoping this will change when he gets older and starts to eat from our hands. However this doesnt stop him swinging around and exploring.
We have noticed that he occasionally rubs his eyes, but he seems to stop after a spray.
I have been leaving a small plastic bowl of food for him each day under his favourite perch, usually either 5 locusts or 5 crickets (dusted). Although he tends to prefer the escapee's. Must be his wild instinct (thrill of the chase!)
I have a few questions for some of you experienced folk....
Here are a few pics.... The contents of his viv have changed slightly since I took this, he has more branches in there now and the bark has been replaced with astroturf on the bottom...
All advice and tips would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Me and my girlfriend did a lot of research before bringing home our little fella. Although it seems there is never an endpoint to the amount of knowledge you can gain about these magnificent creatures.
We live in the UK.
We have had him almost 2 weeks now. He is a male Veiled Cham - He has finally settled now and is eating and drinking and moving around his viv nicely. He is somewhere between 3 and 4 months old.
Our set up is...
- Wooden vivarium : 4ft tall, 3 ft wide and 2ft deep.
- 100w basking light with a gap of about 10inches from its nearest perch
- UV tube - 5%
- 3 real plants, all non-toxic
- 3 or 4 branches at various levels for perching, and an artificial vine, and some artificial leaves for cover/hiding
- Astroturf on the bottom
- Heat mat under the turf - although not been using this
- Humidity is usually around 40-50% mark
- We spray his favourite artifical leaves around 3 times a day which he likes to drink from
- Lights on at 7.30am and off at 8pm
- Basking temp is around 95F and low down the viv its around 77
- We have a dripper but not used it yet
He is still quite nervous, especially when we open his vivarium. I am hoping this will change when he gets older and starts to eat from our hands. However this doesnt stop him swinging around and exploring.
We have noticed that he occasionally rubs his eyes, but he seems to stop after a spray.
I have been leaving a small plastic bowl of food for him each day under his favourite perch, usually either 5 locusts or 5 crickets (dusted). Although he tends to prefer the escapee's. Must be his wild instinct (thrill of the chase!)
I have a few questions for some of you experienced folk....
- How much should he be eating per day at this age?
- Should a dripper be used?
- When he occasionally rubs his eyes, are we right to offer water for him?
- What is the best way to get a young Cham to become more relaxed around our hands and take the food we offer?
- How often should he be handled to keep him as friendly as possible as he grows older?
Here are a few pics.... The contents of his viv have changed slightly since I took this, he has more branches in there now and the bark has been replaced with astroturf on the bottom...



All advice and tips would be much appreciated.
Thanks.