Help New veiled chameleon owner

[IrohtheVeiled]

You are welcome

These things are great. I have two of them in my cage to tie together the natural wood fixtures I have and to offer a path over my trailing plant so my guy doesn’t trample the plants by climbing over them

 

[kinyonga]

Sorry it took me a while to come back…

Regarding supplements:
It’s important that the D3, calcium, phosphorous, vitamin A
, etc are all in balance to prevent MBD or keep it from recurring.

Vitamin A and D3 are fat soluble and can build up in the system,but there’s more to that story.

There are two forms of vitamin A…prEformed and prOformed. PrEformed can build up in the system and lead to overdoses and thus health issues.

PrOformed can not build up…its converted from beta carotene into prEformed generally..so comes from vegetable sources. This is why we control the prEformed as much as possible. bTW..prEformed comes from animal/meat sources.

Vitamin D3 comes from supplements or from exposure to UVB lights or direct sunshine. D3 from supplements can build up in the system so we have to be careful with it. D3 from sunlight is formed by.bring converted by the body and should not lead to an overdose as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB/sun when it wants to.

One more thing about D3and vitamin A…they are somewhat antagonistic to each other and need to be in a balance with each other as well.

Calcium and phosphorous need to be in balance with each other to keep the bones healthy. Most insects have a bad balance of calcium to phosphorous, so we dust with calcium to correct this.

Now, for calcium…it needs D3 to be absorbed into the chameleon’s system…so they need to be in balance.

If any of these supplements are not in balance then there will likely be health issues like MBD, for instance, as a result. If things are out of balance we need to correct them to prevent issues like MBD from occurring.

I hope this has helped you to understand it a bit.

Hope this explains it to some extent. Good luck with your chameleon!

 

[Ccat1972]

Sorry it took me a while to come back…

Regarding supplements:
It’s important that the D3, calcium, phosphorous, vitamin A
, etc are all in balance to prevent MBD or keep it from recurring.

Vitamin A and D3 are fat soluble and can build up in the system,but there’s more to that story.

There are two forms of vitamin A…prEformed and prOformed. PrEformed can build up in the system and lead to overdoses and thus health issues.

PrOformed can not build up…its converted from beta carotene into prEformed generally..so comes from vegetable sources. This is why we control the prEformed as much as possible. bTW..prEformed comes from animal/meat sources.

Vitamin D3 comes from supplements or from exposure to UVB lights or direct sunshine. D3 from supplements can build up in the system so we have to be careful with it. D3 from sunlight is formed by.bring converted by the body and should not lead to an overdose as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB/sun when it wants to.

One more thing about D3and vitamin A…they are somewhat antagonistic to each other and need to be in a balance with each other as well.

Calcium and phosphorous need to be in balance with each other to keep the bones healthy. Most insects have a bad balance of calcium to phosphorous, so we dust with calcium to correct this.

Now, for calcium…it needs D3 to be absorbed into the chameleon’s system…so they need to be in balance.

If any of these supplements are not in balance then there will likely be health issues like MBD, for instance, as a result. If things are out of balance we need to correct them to prevent issues like MBD from occurring.

I hope this has helped you to understand it a bit.

Hope this explains it to some extent. Good luck with your chameleon!

Thank you! It was very helpful and informative.

 

[kinyonga]

You’re welcome.

 

[Ccat1972]

UPDATE ON SKITTLES!!!
We went to the vet on Oct 29,2025 and they did X-rays and tested his poo for parasites. He was parasite free, but my poor baby did have MBD and has chronic fractures in all of his Ulna’s and Radiases. So I had to take him to get Calcium injections twice a day for 3 days that started on Nov 3-5,2025. They all fell in love with him since he is such a curious and sweet loving boy. I have to take him back for a follow up X-ray to see if there has been improvement on February 5,2025. He has also been roaming all over his home now. I got some more feeders, as he started to refuse to eat his Dubia roaches, so I tried Discoid roaches(also not much of a fan) so We have been eating crickets, and silkworms, hornworms, BSFL. And the occasional wax worm for a treat. He is still his sweet loving self. I took all advice and added more branches, and some Fluker’s vines. Oh and finally was able to find grasshoppers and have them on order( they have a waiting list) so like all of my other feeders I will try and start breeding them as well. I definitely have an over abundance of Dubia’s and Discoids right now. I might just have to get some more reptiles that will like them…. Or try and see if there is any locals that would like to buy some.
Thank you all for your guidance and knowledge. Skittles and I appreciate it greatly!
Casey and Skittles

 

[ehdee6]

If you have a wildlife rescue place around you, sometimes they'll take the extra bugs from you. I accidentally ordered 500 5 week old crickets once. I almost screamed when I opened the box, and they were all loose and running around LOL. Also, WAY too big for the Chams... The wildlife rescue was more than happy to take them... I gave a few to my neighbor for his chickens too.