How does this look?

[TyMonster]

So I finally bit the bullet and ordered a Veiled Chameleon! I've kept other reptiles for a long time but held off on the chams because of care requirements. Ordered a young male Veiled yesterday and spent all day today setting up his enclosure. I think it looks pretty awesome but I'd like to know if anybody has any pointers since it's my first cham. The setup is an Exo-tera Flexarium 30"x16.5"x48", with a 75w heat bulb on a dimmer, 18" reptiglo 10.0 UVB tube, lots of fake plants and vines up top, a lush live Schefflera plant taking up the whole bottom/middle, bamboo throughout, towel on the ground as substrate, two hygro/thermometers, one at basking spot and one middle of cage. I plan to mist it by hand multiple times a day and will set up a dripper system aswel(should I buy a legit one or just use a cup of water with a hole in it?)

Any suggestions would be great! Anxiously awaiting for my little dude!

 

[MatthewTran]

Your cage looks great! I'm sure your cham will love it

As for the dripper, I have never been able to make one myself with a cup, it ends up dripping too much water or none at all!

Upload pics of your cham when you get it! I'm getting a veiled in the next few weeks also!!

 

[bradley]

Looks great! Two things though. I would be careful with the basking bulb being on the mesh as they do and will climb up onto the roof which could cause a burn to occur.

Also I have found some chameleons find it hard to walk up the smooth garden cains you have in the enclosure and can fall so I would maybe take a look at putting some more tree branches in there for him to climb on.

 

[TyMonster]

As for the dripper, I have never been able to make one myself with a cup, it ends up dripping too much water or none at all!
Upload pics of your cham when you get it! I'm getting a veiled in the next few weeks also!!

I did some messing around after making this post and was able to make a nice dripper out of a small water bottle hanging by a wire from a beam on the ceiling. Went through many bottles before I was able to get the drip speed just right though, found that a small sewing needle worked better than a thumb tac lol.
Will definitely post pics as soon as he is at home!

Looks great! Two things though. I would be careful with the basking bulb being on the mesh as they do and will climb up onto the roof which could cause a burn to occur.

Also I have found some chameleons find it hard to walk up the smooth garden cains you have in the enclosure and can fall so I would maybe take a look at putting some more tree branches in there for him to climb on.

Yea the basking lamp is actually hanging and is a couple inches above the mesh, but I could still raise it a a few more inches away.
And yea I'll keep a close eye on him to see how he handles the smooth bamboo, if he struggles with it I will remove it until he is much bigger. Thanks!

 

[SaintJimmy]

That is a gorgeous cage btw. Cham paradise.

Nice for a first time cham keeper (right)?

 

[TyMonster]

That is a gorgeous cage btw. Cham paradise.

Nice for a first time cham keeper (right)?

My water dragon, king snake, and cordylus lizards are also very spoiled. This is the first time I've set up an enclosure before getting the animal though. It makes the wait feel so much longer.. I'm so excited to get this little dude it's ridiculous!

One question to anybody reading. I plan to feed this youngin small/medium crickets, but I also happen to have a meal worm colony and am wondering if anybody feeds their small Veileds mealies?

 

[SaintJimmy]

My water dragon, king snake, and cordylus lizards are also very spoiled. This is the first time I've set up an enclosure before getting the animal though. It makes the wait feel so much longer.. I'm so excited to get this little dude it's ridiculous!

One question to anybody reading. I plan to feed this youngin small/medium crickets, but I also happen to have a meal worm colony and am wondering if anybody feeds their small Veileds mealies?

I think mealworms are bad for young veiled digestion if I've read correctly around here.

People frown on mealies for chams. Too many chitin. However, superworms are acceptable as they are less hard

 

[ReptileLove18]

One question to anybody reading. I plan to feed this youngin small/medium crickets, but I also happen to have a meal worm colony and am wondering if anybody feeds their small Veileds mealies?

you can feed him mealworms but only as treats as they are fatty and rather hard to digest because of the high chitin content. its recommended to only feed a few a week at most! superworms should also only be used as treats because of the fat and chitin content. they have less chitin so they are slightly easier to digest however and easier to gutload then mealies!
also, the rule of thumb with chams is, dont feed anything that is longer than the width of your chameleon's head!

this is a great blog on different feeders for you cham as well as how much they can make of your chams diet https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

and this one has a really good gutload recipe for your feeders so that your cham is getting the most nutrition possible from the feeders! https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

the enclosure looks nice! cant wait to see some pics of your new friend when he gets there!

 

[TyMonster]

this is a great blog on different feeders for you cham as well as how much they can make of your chams diet https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

and this one has a really good gutload recipe for your feeders so that your cham is getting the most nutrition possible from the feeders! https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

the enclosure looks nice! cant wait to see some pics of your new friend when he gets there!

Ah both very informative links thank you

 

[TyMonster]

He arrived! I did not realize quite how small this little fella would be so I had to start him off in a much smaller enclosure than the one I showed pictures of. I had requested a jouvie but this guy looks closer to a baby to me. Any ideas how old this guy is?
I took down the big flexarium and set him up in a much more appropriate sized exo-tera 24"x18"x18". I was afraid I would loose him in the big cage or that if he fell he may hurt himself. I just think he is gorgeous though! I got him last night and he's already eaten about 10 wee little crickets from a cup and 3 off my tweezers! So fascinating to watch!