Hi from Texas!

S

Sherrod Serpents

New Member
Hi! I'm Laura, and I joined here recently. Thus far I have just been reading everything I can, but I thought it was about time I posted, as well. I've been raising snakes and geckos as a hobby (I'm a dork and love the genetics!), but I have been interested in chameleons for quite a while. I have always thought they were interesting, and I finally decided to get a couple of babies after visiting a local reptile store that I occasionally supply snakes and geckos to. I ended up trading for two baby Ambanjas! I did my best to pick out a male and female based on the base of the tail. I'm still working on names for these two. :) (This was a temp cage until they got home...)
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Then, I learned about someone trying to find a new home for their veiled recently. I decided to go ahead and adopt this one, as well. I was told that it was about a year or so old and a male, but based on my research, I'm thinking it is actually a female. I have not found any visible tarsal spurs, but I can feel a bump on the heel part of the hind feet, so I thought I would post pictures just to double check with the experts. :) Any thoughts are appreciated!

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Welcome Texas. Looks like you are a jump in with both feet type. I have always been that way also, I either do or I don't. Your veiled as David said, is a female. Your panther are just a cute as they can be. I can't tell if the are male & female, I am on my ipad and the picture are not large enough for me.

We have a how to ask for help form. It is a tad long but if you fill it out we can tell you if everything is set up correctly. Just type your answers in after the questions.


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?
 
Oh, and she looks receptive too......so you should expect egg laying.......
 
Hello, welcome to the forums! Your panthers are cute and your veiled is definitely a female, she is a very pretty and healthy female to say the least. As David posted, female veileds will lay eggs(non fertile) even without mating, and they need a laying bin in there enclosure year around. Good luck with your new cham adventure!
 
Hello, from a fellow Texan. We need more Texas keepers both on the forum and at expos and stuff. Texas is a big time snake keepers state. Chams & geckos dont seem to be as big a draw so far. Im hoping we can change ppls attitudes and misconceptions about chameleons.
 
Welcome Laura. I have gecko's too. Chameleons are wonderful creatures. Again, welcome to the forum. You will find the information and help you need here.
Susie
 
Thank you, David and Laurie!

Laurie - I wasn't really planning on adopting the veiled, but yes, once I have done a bunch of research and make up my mind, I tend to jump in with both feet! :)

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 2 Ambanjas: pretty sure male & female, hatched 8/15, in my care about a week; 1 female veiled, over 1 year old, in my care 3 days
Handling - once a day, if that
Feeding -1/4 inch crickets for the babies, as many as they will eat in a few minutes twice a day with a couple extra left in after morning feeding; about 7 large crickets for the veiled at the moment every other day. I am in the process of setting up a dubia bin, and I have ready access to insects without pesticides from my ranch. I also have pothos available in the cages to munch on. I am gutloading with various veggies and fruits
Supplements - Zoo-Med Repti Calcium w/out D3 daily, Zoo-Med Repti Calcium w/ D3 (I plan on twice a month), Rep-Cal Herpitivite ( I plan on once a month)
Watering - Thus far I have been misting, but I have drippers ordered and on the way! I mist 3 times a day for about 30 seconds. I have seen them drink.
Fecal Description - Thus far looks normal, dark with white urates, they have not been tested that I am aware of
History - The panthers were hatched at a local reptile/exotic pet store. The veiled originally came from a reptile expo in San Antonio, TX, and she has been in the care of the person I adopted her from since then (which he said was a year or so).

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Panthers: R-Zilla Fresh Air Acrylic Atrium (Combo Acrylic/Screen), 18x12x20 (this is just until they are a bit bigger); Veiled: Zoo Med ReptiBreeze screen cage, 24x24x48
Lighting - approx 12 hours on, 12 hours off; I will have to get back to you on brand etc. because I am at work at the moment and going off the top of my head on everything!
Temperature - ambient temps stays between 74-78; basking spots in mid 80s for both; measured with digital thermometer
Humidity - misting and live plants, and soon drippers; I do not know exact levels at the moment. I allow the cage to dry out before misting again
Plants - Pothos in panther cage; Mass cane and pothos in veiled cage
Placement - In corner of dining area - not high traffic; panthers about 4 feet from floor, veiled about 5 feet from floor
Location - just south of Austin, Texas
 
Welcome to the world of chameleons!

Both panthers and veileds can lay eggs without mating, so if you have a female panther when she's about 5 months old I would recommend putting an opaque container at least 12" deep x 12" x 8" filled with washed playsand in the cage (to be left there) for her to dig in to show you when she's ready to lay eggs. I would put one in with the female veiled right away. If she has no place to dig to lay her eggs she will likely become eggbound and die.

Also, when/if they do dig, do not let them see you watching them while they are digging. It will make the abandon the hole and can lead to eggbinding if it happens often enough.

I would say the darker panther is a male, but I can't see the base of the tail on the lighter one to tell if its a female or not.

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 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). Not sure how to tell you to dust WC insects if that is what you will be doing.

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.

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.
 
Welcome to the Chameleon Forums. This is a great place to learn about chameleons. I keep veileds, panthers and have a parsonii. They are all an absolute pleasure to care for. I'm not sure if it just the picture but your veiled looks like she has a burn or bruise on her casque in the first picture of her. You have received allot of good info here in your thread. I see that David has already attached my laying bin blog for you above. I'm attaching my blog for new keepers of panthers and veileds below. Keep us updated with plenty of pictures. The little ones will grow really fast. :)
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
 
Welcome!! Although I cant see a good shot of the ones tail base in the two pictures, I think you did a pretty darn good job of sexing them;) The smallest ones patterns and colorations are definitely female and the larger one is no doubt a male. They look good!
 
jannb said:
Welcome to the Chameleon Forums. This is a great place to learn about chameleons. I keep veileds, panthers and have a parsonii. They are all an absolute pleasure to care for. I'm not sure if it just the picture but your veiled looks like she has a burn or bruise on her casque in the first picture of her. You have received allot of good info here in your thread. I see that David has already attached my laying bin blog for you above. I'm attaching my blog for new keepers of panthers and veileds below. Keep us updated with plenty of pictures. The little ones will grow really fast. :)
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
Click to expand...

I noticed her casque, as well. It appears that there is some shed still clinging to the edge where it is darker. I'm planning on increasing the humidity a bit to help her out, and I'm keeping a close eye on it.

Also, to everyone that posted about a laying bin for her, I do plan on getting her one asap! I have one in the works, and I'm just waiting on my husband to get the play sand for me.

Thank you to everyone for making me feel welcome here and for all of the wonderful information!
 
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