Help! Urgent!

C

CobaltTheChameleon

New Member
Hey I have been reading up on Veiled Chameleons and finally bought one. He is a young veiled chameleon (gender unknown because of young age) the cham is only about 1-2 inches....age im not 100% sure of... But I have not been feeding live insects...i have been feeding zilla munchies vegetable and fruit mix. I have only had this baby cham for a day but i need to know if it is safe to feed these fruit/veggie mixes...? i do have vitamin spray and a calcium supplement to spray the food to make up for the lack of insects...ALSO if i dont feed living insects would it be ok to feed the canned ones?.... :confused: I need help ASAP! thanks!!!
 
First off welcome to the forums! Chameleons will only eat live insects. They won't shoot at anything not moving. Sometimes veileds will munch on fresh veggies, but they must have live insects too. That veggie mix stuff will not work to sustain him, nor will canned insects. You need to give him live crickets that are fed fruits and veggies first. You don't have an option, sorry. You'll need to lightly coat the crickets with a calcium powder without D3 or phosphorus.

Your chameleon will also not survive without a UVB bulb so if you don't have one you need to get one ASAP.
 
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Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!

Veileds may/will eat greens, veggies and a bit of fruit once they are sexually mature, but they still have to have the insects all the time too.

Here's some information I hope will help you with things like supplements, gutloading, etc....
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. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects (crickets, locusts, silkworms, superworms, tomato worms, phoenix worms, butter worms, once in a while waxworms, etc.) that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also 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. 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. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well 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. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. 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.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.
 
ferretinmyshoes said:
Chameleons will only eat live insects. They won't shoot at anything not moving. That veggie mix stuff will not work, nor will canned insects. You need to give him live crickets that are fed fruits and veggies first. You don't have an option, sorry. You'll need to lightly coat the crickets with a calcium powder without D3 or phosphorus. Your chameleon will also not survive without a UVB bulb so if you don't have one you need to get one ASAP.
Click to expand...

Welcome welcome!

Glad you came around to talk to us and inquire about your little one. As Ferret said, you need to get him/her some live insects. Grab some supplements as soon as you can, and if you could please post a pic of your cham? Specially behind the heel? Veileds can be sexed due to the fact that only females lack a tarsel spur. They really are an easy species to get into due to the fact that it starts off with either.... your choice. Male or female?

If you could go into the help form and fill it out for us, we can help you even further with anything going on. :)

Again welcome to the forum! Hopefully we get pics of your little one soon :)
 
thanx

thanks so much guys! i do have a UVB and calcium supplements, i now know what to add! thanks a ton! and..also do i need to gut load wax worms, super worms, etc? if so how long does this take? :)
 
please fill this out.

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? 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?
Location - Where are you geographically located?
 
I have been dusting my insects with a product called Repash Calium Plus. This is the only supplement that i use. It has only been a short period since i started using this supplement, but nothing negative to say. If you do a search for this product, you will find many threads. Almost all positive results. This just helps to simplify raising chameleons. Works great for my busy schedule.
 
Info

1) My Chameleon is a baby veiled, im not sure of the age. he/she is 1-2 inches long.(if that helps determine age what-so-ever). There are no spurrs but I think they have not developed yet because of the young age (i belive a young age). Been in my care for 2 days now. :p
2)I dont handle my cham much because she/he just moved in and i dont want to stress her/him.
3) zilla munchies, i clean uneaten food after 24hours. BUT as of today i am going out and getting pinhead crickets and some mealworms to feed, ill gutload using flukers.
4) For supplements i have vita spray and then i have a calcium food spray
5) just bought the cham so im not sure of feces yet
6) nope sorry :(
location: new england
as for the cage it is a large by zoomed, open air. temp ranges from 75 - 90. humidity is around 50-60%. I increase humidity with a sprayer i have (mister). and i measure temp& humidity because i have the little scale things that tell you. No i do not use real plants. I have a reptisun 5.0 uvb light and then a reptisun nighttime heat lamp. i leave them both on during the day and then shut the uvb off at night. Hope this helps!
 
From what i have read, veiled chameleons can be sexed right after they hatch. Males have large talons! Females do not. :D
 
gerrod85 said:
From what i have read, veiled chameleons can be sexed right after they hatch. Males have large talons! Females do not. :D
Click to expand...
They have what is called a 'tarsal spur' which in babies is basically a little bump on their back heels. It's not always possible to be sure straight away, but often from hatching if you really know what you're looking for........
 
DavidBuchan said:
They have what is called a 'tarsal spur' which in babies is basically a little bump on their back heels. It's not always possible to be sure straight away, but often from hatching if you really know what you're looking for........
Click to expand...

Hense taking a picture of the heel. I would take a picture of my mellers, because he has GREAT examples of what a tarsal spur looks like but I'm taking care of his lil boo boo on the front right foot towards the back. Somethin' cut him up a bit while I was at work so he is moving back to his old tank for a day tomorrow while trin looks for the suspect so it can be murdered...

Here is a link though...
http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/care-sheet.html
 
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