Got my first Chameleon yay

Itwas

Itwas

New Member
So yesterday I finally thought I was ready to go pick up my little guy. Hes a baby veiled called "Doc" and hes around 8 weeks old. At the moment hes housed in a glass and mesh terrarium but hes going into a larger half wood half mesh cage very soon.

I was wondering how other members operate their lighting, do you just flick them on and off or use some kind of dimmer to simulate sunrise and setting? will just turning the lights off and on have any effect on him?

He seems happy enough as far as i can tell, he give his new home a good exploration and now generally patrols the top of his ficus plant. He hasnt eaten anything today, tried both baby crickets and mini mealworms, but the shop guy said they had fed him before i bought him. he has done a poo though and i think i saw him take a drink. i understand this is normal behavior while settling in but how long before i should start worrying?

I will get some pics up soon, hes just sooo cute and easily the coolest thing ive ever owned, im looking forward to a long and happy time together.
 
Put your light on for about 11-12 hours. You would be wise in getting a timer. Mine come on at 7 and go off at 6. I used to do 7 to 7 but since it is getting dark earlier I cut back one hour. You don't need a dimmer. Just turn them on and off!! It is gonna take him some time to settle in so don't freak if he doesn't eat immediately or looks dark in his cage. Chams are very stressed creatures and moving them to a new home takes some getting used to. By the way, Welcome to the Forums!
 
Did you do your research prior to getting, and do you know about gutloading, supplements, proper lighting, etc?
 
Hi carol,

yeah i have been looking into it for a while now and i think i have all the essentials covered.

I have a reptisun 5 uvb light and a 40watt basking light and temps range from 90 in basking area down to around 70 (I wish you all used Celsius). i have calcium dust without d3 or phosphorus to be used daily and a multi vitamin to be used twice a month. the only supplement i dont have atm is d3 but i have ordered it. my crickets are being gutloaded on apple, carrot and cereal. I have a dripper and misted him this morning (he didnt seem to like that).

I guess i have most of the information and equipment just not the experience which is where i hope you guys can help me out.
 
ohhh how the worrying never stops :p
its not just for newbs lol its everyone that owns a cham i believe :D
 
Itwas said:
Hi carol,

yeah i have been looking into it for a while now and i think i have all the essentials covered.

I have a reptisun 5 uvb light and a 40watt basking light and temps range from 90 in basking area down to around 70 (I wish you all used Celsius). i have calcium dust without d3 or phosphorus to be used daily and a multi vitamin to be used twice a month. the only supplement i dont have atm is d3 but i have ordered it. my crickets are being gutloaded on apple, carrot and cereal. I have a dripper and misted him this morning (he didnt seem to like that).

I guess i have most of the information and equipment just not the experience which is where i hope you guys can help me out.
Click to expand...


When you mist, try indirectly misting him, whilst you mist the rest of your cage, he won't mind getting a bit of water on him as long as its not a direct shot.
 
another suggestion for the misting....use hot water...not boiling but hot....when it comes out of the spray, it won't be "hot" but it will be warm and most of ours don't seem to mind as much if it's warm. =)

welcome and congrats! =)
 
I put a few crickets in again this morning and he was straight onto them. im so glad hes eating. I think im going to throw a few more in seeing as he didnt eat anything yesterday.
 
Welcome to the world of chameleons!

Here's some information I often post for newbies...
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it.

If you dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. (Some UVB lights have been known to cause health issues, so the most often recommended one is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light.) D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it.

Dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while.

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs....so its important too. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
 
heres a few pics i took yesterday. today i used a cottonbud to wipe the bit of shred off his head which has been there for a while.
2ymg6cm.jpg

igwz6q.jpg
 
took a few pics of him in his new home, a larger wood and mesh cage which he seems to like. although its hard to find him when hes not basking he seems to get around it ok and has no probs finding his food in the cup or the escapees.

14jvvj4.jpg


t7ir2w.jpg
 
thanks, i was worried that it may be too big for him but he seems fine in there and i couldn't imagine putting him back in the smaller cage now. he seems to have almost doubled in size since i got him, my gf is worried hes gonna end up the size of a dog lol.
 
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