Help with new baby veiled chameleon!!! Please!!

C0nwayy

Member
Hello! I’m new to the forum. I always came here to inform myself on chameleon matters as well as chameleon channels on youtube because I wanted to be ready and do everything as good as I can to keep a happy veiled chameleon. And I decided to join because I want to make sure he doesn’t get ill or something and then die.
I got him on saturday, he was born the 27th of July. I named him Jack Conway.
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This is him the first day we brought him home. He of course was a bit stressed in the car, even more because the trip back home was long and he had to stay in a tiny box.
He’s been doing well. I’ve heard from people whose chams didn’t eat the first few days but mine did eat. Just not a lot because my stupid ass crickets would die fast inside the cup, even more after I ripped their back legs off to avoid them from jumping everywhere. On sunday I dusted with Calcium + d3, yesterday I dusted with calcium. Today I gave him mealworms because I ran out of crickets and he ate like.. 4-5 small mealworms, three of them being white ones that molted recently, making it easier for him to digest. Oh yeah, I gutloaded my crickets and my mealworms with apple, spinach, and potato. My crickets ate carrot as well.
His husbandry, his basking spot is at 32°C and his cool side/ the rest of his cage is at 22-24°C.
The bulb is 40W BUUUT it warms up just enough. When I was setting up the terrarium I burnt my finger with it :,)))
His UVB light is a linear T8 5.0 tropical tube, from Repti Glo. I wanted to find a Reptisun one but it’s hard here in Spain to find Arcadia or Reptisun tubes. Although I’ll invest a bit and try to find one when I change him to a new terrarium. Speaking about that, his terrarium is a glass one at the moment. It’s 70 cm tall and 30 cm wide and deep. I know, it’s not really big and glass cages aren’t recommended but the thing is, it has mesh on the door, and the mesh holes if that’s how you call it are big enough to let the cage ventilate if you understand what I mean. In fact I have to mist a lot during the day so the humidity stays at 50% to 70%, since the basking bulb kinda helps the cage to dry up.
Both the basking bulb and the UVB light are inside the cage but I made it to where he can’t reach them and burn himself. I’ll ask my dad to see if we can cut the top glass off and change it to mesh.
I haven’t seen him poop yet but if he did it must be tiny as hell or it fell inside the plant pot I have in his cage.
About handling, I try not to handle him much because he’s new. Only when he climbs on the mesh (When the humidity dried so I must it up again) and won’t come back to the branches. He seems to have adjusted to his terrarium but not to me. Today he was climbing on my arm and he fell and I just fell so damn horrible. He’s okay, though. Just a tiny spot on his cheek, another one on his forearm and his side which I assume was a bruise but it vanished in a matter of minutes. I was sitting down so he fell like 2 feet to the floor. When I picked him up he was on his feet so I assume he fell on his feet?
This is his cage
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The picture was from when I was still preparing it, that’s why the hygrometer/thermometer marks these numbers, the door/mesh is off and the basking bulb I have for him now is smaller than the one in the picture, as well as we fixed the wires toprevent him from climbing them and burning himself.
I don’t wanna take a picture right now because he’s asleep inside the fake plant bed (which I made for him and has small branch like thingies so he holds onto them and sleeps there under the leafs) and I don’t want to disturb him.
About his routine, he wakes up, wanders around the real plant a bit, and then when I give him his food, he eats as much as he wants and then basks all day from 9-10 am after eating until like.. 7pm, when he climbs down to the cool side and roams around in the fresh plants.

Any suggestions? Tips? Am I doing everything okay? And most importantly, does he look healthy?
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The picture of him on my hand was from today. This last picture is him sleeping right now. He doesn’t seem to have broken any bone, and the bruising/black marks vanished hella quick. They were on that perspective and there’s no black on him now.
I did notice, when I went to put him back in his cage today after I picked him up from the fall, he turned around and climbed up back to my forearm. I dunno if that means anything because we’ve been only since saturday together so I dount he trusts me already. Not even a minute after he tried to climb back on my arm I placed him gently back in and he stood on a branch/chopstick and headed to sleep. Oh yeah the calcium is phosphorus free.

Any suggestions? Tips? Am I doing everything okay? And most importantly, does he look healthy?
 

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I have to go soon so I cant go over this in depth....but I can tell you you'll have to make some changes. Firstly the lights should be on top of the cage inside it. Also don't feed mealworms, go for superworms or dubias instead.

Beprepared to spend some cash and make some changes
 
First, are you sure you have a male? Males have little nubs on the backs of their back feet, called tarsal spurs. In the only pic I can see a back foot, I don’t see a spur. I’m thinking you have a little girl. The care for females changes around 5-6 months, as they’ll be old enough to start laying eggs. Yes, she will lay eggs whether she’s been mated or not.
Your enclosure will need to be upgraded in a few months. The minimum size for an adult is 60x60x120 cm or equivalent. Glass is fine as long as it has proper ventilation. What you are currently using appears to be an aquarium turned onto it’s side. As I do see the front is enclosed with screen and that is ok, the top needs to be screen too. Even with modification though, this won’t work well for very long.
Temps are way too high and having the lamps inside is an invitation for burns. Ideal basking temp is about 27c. While a T5 fixture is best, I believe you can get away with using a T8 but you’ll need a 10.0 uvb bulb. Both basking and uvb bulbs need to be about 22 cm from basking area. Lights should be on/off on a 12 hour schedule. No lights or heat at night unless your temps get below 15c.
You do need to let the enclosure dry out in between misting. Your daytime humidity should be between 30-50%. At night when it’s cool it can get as high as 100%.
It looks like you have plastic ‘branches’...the colored things. If so, those are too slick and have nothing for your cham to properly grip to. You can use branches from outside. Just wash with dish soap, rinse well and sun dry. Avoid pine and trees with sap. Live plants are best. Not sure what you have in there. Veileds will nibble their plants so they need to be safe. Pothos (Devil’s ivy) is a favorite for chams.
Crickets are okay feeders. Mealworms are not. Attaching the feeder and gutload sheets for you.
Variety is always best. Little ones should be getting around 10-12 feeders once daily in the morning. Around 5-6 months you’ll be reducing the amount.
For supplements you’ll want to use a calcium without D3 on every feeding except one per week. That one weekly feeding you’ll use a calcium with D3 and the next week use a multivitamin.
Misting is usually at least 2-3 times daily for 2 minutes each time. If you are using a dripper mid day (approx 15-20 mins), you could mist just once in the morning and once in the evening.
I think I’ve covered everything. Great resources are https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/ and Neptune the chameleon on YouTube. Of course, any questions just ask away. :)
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First, are you sure you have a male? Males have little nubs on the backs of their back feet, called tarsal spurs. In the only pic I can see a back foot, I don’t see a spur. I’m thinking you have a little girl. The care for females changes around 5-6 months, as they’ll be old enough to start laying eggs. Yes, she will lay eggs whether she’s been mated or not.
Your enclosure will need to be upgraded in a few months. The minimum size for an adult is 60x60x120 cm or equivalent. Glass is fine as long as it has proper ventilation. What you are currently using appears to be an aquarium turned onto it’s side. As I do see the front is enclosed with screen and that is ok, the top needs to be screen too. Even with modification though, this won’t work well for very long.
Temps are way too high and having the lamps inside is an invitation for burns. Ideal basking temp is about 27c. While a T5 fixture is best, I believe you can get away with using a T8 but you’ll need a 10.0 uvb bulb. Both basking and uvb bulbs need to be about 22 cm from basking area. Lights should be on/off on a 12 hour schedule. No lights or heat at night unless your temps get below 15c.
You do need to let the enclosure dry out in between misting. Your daytime humidity should be between 30-50%. At night when it’s cool it can get as high as 100%.
It looks like you have plastic ‘branches’...the colored things. If so, those are too slick and have nothing for your cham to properly grip to. You can use branches from outside. Just wash with dish soap, rinse well and sun dry. Avoid pine and trees with sap. Live plants are best. Not sure what you have in there. Veileds will nibble their plants so they need to be safe. Pothos (Devil’s ivy) is a favorite for chams.
Crickets are okay feeders. Mealworms are not. Attaching the feeder and gutload sheets for you.
Variety is always best. Little ones should be getting around 10-12 feeders once daily in the morning. Around 5-6 months you’ll be reducing the amount.
For supplements you’ll want to use a calcium without D3 on every feeding except one per week. That one weekly feeding you’ll use a calcium with D3 and the next week use a multivitamin.
Misting is usually at least 2-3 times daily for 2 minutes each time. If you are using a dripper mid day (approx 15-20 mins), you could mist just once in the morning and once in the evening.
I think I’ve covered everything. Great resources are https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/ and Neptune the chameleon on YouTube. Of course, any questions just ask away. :)
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Hello!
Yes he is a male, I’ll get a picture of his nubs tomorrow, he’s sleeping rn. Trust me he does have them and they’re pointy
 
Just did the math on his age and you could actually feed him as much as he’ll eat in 10-15 minutes. In about another month or so is when you’ll cut back to 10-12 feeders per day.
 
Just did the math on his age and you could actually feed him as much as he’ll eat in 10-15 minutes. In about another month or so is when you’ll cut back to 10-12 feeders per day.

He just woke up, he got out of the leafs so when he turns around I’ll show you his nubs.
I kinda risked it to give him mealworms but it’s what I had at the moment as I ran out of crickets. I’m being taken this weekend to get some so I’ll probably buy two boxes of crickets.
I have a friend who will give me stickbugs because he breeds and keeps them as pets but they are too much now so he’s giving them to my baby.

I just put the lamp higher to where it’s 27°C.
However, I’ll ask my dad if he knows how to take the top glass off so we can put the lamps outside.

Can the 5.0 T8 stay there for a bit longer? Maybe until next month. My dad wants to buy some stuff for him and I’m on 0€ rn unless I sell some stuff to buy a 10.0

And yes, it’s an aquarium turned into a terrarium! I used to keep an axolotl there.
 
I noticed he hasn’t eaten at all today, and I’m worried. Or it’s just the stress he’s going through since he fell from 2 feet yesterday. I have a feeling he’s looking skinny and I’m scared. I’m gonna go buy crickets tonight, if not, tomorrow. Today he only basked for a few minutes, maybe three, and he didn’t eat.
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He only laid down in the picture earlier for half an hour, then he was roaming around his enclosure again. He’s a pale green rn.
 
First, are you sure you have a male? Males have little nubs on the backs of their back feet, called tarsal spurs. In the only pic I can see a back foot, I don’t see a spur. I’m thinking you have a little girl. The care for females changes around 5-6 months, as they’ll be old enough to start laying eggs. Yes, she will lay eggs whether she’s been mated or not.
Your enclosure will need to be upgraded in a few months. The minimum size for an adult is 60x60x120 cm or equivalent. Glass is fine as long as it has proper ventilation. What you are currently using appears to be an aquarium turned onto it’s side. As I do see the front is enclosed with screen and that is ok, the top needs to be screen too. Even with modification though, this won’t work well for very long.
Temps are way too high and having the lamps inside is an invitation for burns. Ideal basking temp is about 27c. While a T5 fixture is best, I believe you can get away with using a T8 but you’ll need a 10.0 uvb bulb. Both basking and uvb bulbs need to be about 22 cm from basking area. Lights should be on/off on a 12 hour schedule. No lights or heat at night unless your temps get below 15c.
You do need to let the enclosure dry out in between misting. Your daytime humidity should be between 30-50%. At night when it’s cool it can get as high as 100%.
It looks like you have plastic ‘branches’...the colored things. If so, those are too slick and have nothing for your cham to properly grip to. You can use branches from outside. Just wash with dish soap, rinse well and sun dry. Avoid pine and trees with sap. Live plants are best. Not sure what you have in there. Veileds will nibble their plants so they need to be safe. Pothos (Devil’s ivy) is a favorite for chams.
Crickets are okay feeders. Mealworms are not. Attaching the feeder and gutload sheets for you.
Variety is always best. Little ones should be getting around 10-12 feeders once daily in the morning. Around 5-6 months you’ll be reducing the amount.
For supplements you’ll want to use a calcium without D3 on every feeding except one per week. That one weekly feeding you’ll use a calcium with D3 and the next week use a multivitamin.
Misting is usually at least 2-3 times daily for 2 minutes each time. If you are using a dripper mid day (approx 15-20 mins), you could mist just once in the morning and once in the evening.
I think I’ve covered everything. Great resources are https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/ and Neptune the chameleon on YouTube. Of course, any questions just ask away. :)
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The picture of his nubs
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He’s been curling his tail and refusing to eat ever since he fell yesterday, and he’s staring at me and won’t move until I go away. Could he be hating me? What do I do?
 
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