Help!!

[ronnie]

Hi,my name is Ronnie,i have just bought a female veiled chameleon she is about 1and a half to 2 years old,i was hoping on some tips on how to care for her,feeding,temp etc!so far i have given her a few crickets and wax worms and she seems to like them!i have also sprayed her vivarium with some warm water but she hissed at me(freaked me out!!)at the moment her tank is at 78 deg,we have a heat rock,two lights and a heat lamp on but I'm not to sure what to do at night? what to turn on/off etc?any help would be great...many thanks

 

[leid]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/general-care-true-chameleons-5943/

Read that.

 

[Julirs]

Hi,my name is Ronnie,i have just bought a female veiled chameleon she is about 1and a half to 2 years old,i was hoping on some tips on how to care for her,feeding,temp etc!so far i have given her a few crickets and wax worms and she seems to like them!i have also sprayed her vivarium with some warm water but she hissed at me(freaked me out!!)at the moment her tank is at 78 deg,we have a heat rock,two lights and a heat lamp on but I'm not to sure what to do at night? what to turn on/off etc?any help would be great...many thanks

Get rid of the heat rock-they are not for chameleons and can do harm. What part of the world are you in and what are you using for a cage?

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and to chameleon keeping!

Here are some good sites that you might like to look at...
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://adcham.com/
http://chameleonnews.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...als.com/vet/index.php?show=8.Gout.Basics.html

For all chameleons its important to have the right basking temperature to aid in proper digestion. (For an adult veiled female low to mid 80's.)

Its important to gutload/feed the insects a nutritious diet and to supplement the chameleons properly. Crickets can be gutloaded with a wide variety of greens (dandelion, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, zucchini, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, etc.).

Because most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous, I dust the insects at most feedings with a phosphorous-free calcium powder.

I dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene won't build up in the system like preformed vitamin A will. It hasn't been proven whether all/any chameleons can convert beta carotene yet so some people give a little preformed once in a while. Excess preformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD...so be careful.

I also dust twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder. D3 from supplements can build up in the system too...so don't overdo it.

Exposure to UVB lighting allows the chameleon to produce D3 which allows it to use the calcium in its system.

Watering is important too.

Females can produce eggs even without being mated and so I always recommend that there is a suitable site in the cage at all times after the chameleon is 4 months old. If you don't provide a place for her to dig to lay eggs and you miss the sometimes subtle signs that she needs to she could become eggbound.

Its also important not to overfeed a female veiled so that she won't produce huge clutches. Overfeeding can also lead to prolapses, egglaying difficulties and constipation.

Hope this helps...sorry if its overwhelming.

 

[viaje]

Hope this helps...sorry if its overwhelming.

Great advice! never feel sorry for potentially overwhelming someone, if they get overwhelmed- they're not ready.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."i have also sprayed her vivarium with some warm water but she hissed at me(freaked me out!!)"...try dripping some on the very end of her nose...at the rate of maybe 4 drops per second.

You said..."at the moment her tank is at 78 deg,we have a heat rock,two lights and a heat lamp on but I'm not to sure what to do at night? what to turn on/off etc?any help would be great"...I would ditch the heat rock. They don't use them and they can be dangerous. At night unless the temperature goes below 65F you don't need any extra heat. You shouldn't have lights on at night either...just in case you do. What brand of UVB light do you have and is it a spiral, compact or long linear type? What's the temperature in the basking area?