AlecWade
New Member
Hello everyone!
My name's Alec and I've just introduced myself to these forums here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/hello-pleased-here-85614/ come say hi!
Recently I purchased my 2nd veiled chameleon and he is around 6-7 weeks old now and is doing quite well! While right now I have no serious problems or concerns I'd like to fill out my basic husbandry information so the knowledgeable people here could give me input and help me sort out any problems BEFORE they arise. My baby Veiled is named Nasir, he doesn't care for me much so I've been giving him his space while he adjusts to his new home! Anyway heres some info.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male, around 6 weeks old. Been here for about a week now.
Handling - As little as possible while he is adjusting to his home. I have however hand fed him a few crickets then free range the rest.
Feeding - Since I have had him I've been feeding him only dusted crickets of the appropriate size. He's been eating 12-20 crickets a day. My gutloading thus far needs work but has consisted of Romaine, Carrots, Celery, and Blueberries. I have been feeding Nasir daily in the morning.
Supplements - I am using rep cal supplements. While Nasir has been in my care for less like 2 weeks, I have supplemented once with Herptivite, and once with Calcium + d3. Every other feeding has been lightly dusted with just rep cal calcium. I plan to go with the twice monthly schedule for d3 and multivitamins that I've noticed a lot of the members of this forums adhere to.
Watering - I have been misting the enclosure about 3-4 times daily and have yet to set up a proper drip system, homemade attempts have failed and right now I am worried about drowning my umbrella plants if I start dripping daily. I plan to make some sort of covered collection cup on the bottom of the enclosure in order to solve this problem.
Fecal Description - For the first week Nasir's feces were small with a very normal looking urate. He seems to be pooping just about daily. His fresh poops are brown and a bit wet with a normal looking urate. They dry up to be quite normal looking and they are now somewhat larger as his appetite has increased. On one occasion his urates were looking a bit yellowish which indicated some dehydration to me. He does however eat extremely well so I'm hoping this will help from keeping him from becoming dehydrated and because of this i have been trying to keep his feeder insects very hydrated.
History - He was bred by a very reputable breeder in my area and he seems to be doing quite well. I would however like to have a fecal sample taken.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - My enclosure is a homemade wood/screen cage. The wood is untreated wood which was thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before it was used. I believe the cage is just about the perfect size for such a small chameleon and it measures 18 high, by 14 inches wide 12 inches deep. His substrate is paper towels.
Lighting - Currently I am using a Powersun UV 100 watt MVB. I believe this is the most controversial part of my set up right now. These bulbs are known to give off high levels of heat and UV and after successfully using them on previous reptiles I've owned I decided to try it out. The bulb itself is suspended around 7-8 inches from the screen itself in order to prevent thermal burns. I am worried however that this light may be giving off too much UV although I have seen no signs of this. The bulb is around a full foot from his basking spot.
Temperature - Basking - 86-82 degrees F. Ambient - 70-77 throughout the cage. Night time - 65-69 degrees F.
Humidity - I have been trying to maintain humidity at 40-60% by misting the enclosure and plants several times a day.
Plants - I am currently using a small umbrella gold capella. I researched this strain of the plant on this forums and found it to be safe. Removing all the pesticides from the plant was a pain and had to be done so leaf by leaf! I re-potted the plant into organic soil several days before it was introduced to Nasir. Lately I have noticed him cruising the top of the screen. I thought It might be because he feels to open and vulnerable since his basking area does not have much natural foliage that was reaching that high. I then added some more dowel rods tied with some fake Ivy which adds LOTS of extra cover and additional high areas to climb and bask. I just made this change yesterday and since then I have not noticed him on the screen ceiling.
Placement - Nasir's set up is placed in the most remote area of my house where he would be disturbed the least. While there is some traffic he may notice walking by on the other side of the basement I try to make sure he is disturbed very little.
Location - About 45 minutes west of Chicago.
Problems: Nothing that seems to be a medical emergency. However a have a few small issues and concerns.
First, Nasir has a small bump on his right side. There is only one bump and it looks to be along one of his very tiny ribs near his hind legs. There is no coloration to this bump. I'm not sure what it is. I believe it may be some calcification on his rib, a protruding bone, a broken bone, a abscess of some sort or something worst! He moves quite freely and seems to have plenty of energy. I will attempt to get a picture of this said bump but it is very small on a tiny chameleon!
Second, I have not seen Nasir drink first hand and I will again be attempting to fashion a dripper and collection cup for him today. I have been misting atleast 3 times a day and his humidity should be adequate. My last veiled would gladly drink from the leaves right as I would mist! Perhaps he is wary to drink infront of me, or simply spraying the leaves is not enough stimulation to drink. Since I have not seen him drink first hand, I have been spraying Nasir himself occasionally and I notice he will lap up small amounts of water afterwards.
My final concern is lighting. On one occasion I noticed Nasir had a single eye closed. I was very alarmed by this and figured it was either inadequate humidity or that the powersun was irritating his eyes. The basking temperature was also near 89 at this time and i thought that was too warm. I suspended the light even higher ( a total of 12-13 inches from his basking sight) (he can get about 9 inches from the bulb if he climbs upside down on the screen ceiling, it doesn't get hot enough to burn him) and corrected the temperature to about 84. I also made sure to spray the cage and even misted both his eyes. Its so cute when they blink! Since making these changes his eyes have stayed open during lit hours and he is quite alert. His eye sight seems good as I have never seen him miss a cricket! Would most people suggest I switch to the tradition 5.0/basking light set up? My initial thoughts are that Veileds in their natural habitat receive higher levels of U.V. then other chams such as Jackson's and Panthers. I thought for this reason the level of UV radiation from the MVB may be appropriate from the distance of the bulb the way I have it set up. However chances are that I may go simply make the change to a reptisun...
Thanks so much for reading, please feel free to give me your tips and constructive criticism. Soon I will be posting pictures of Nasir and his awesome home. I think you all will like them! Thanks so much! Tell me what your thoughts are...
-Alec
My name's Alec and I've just introduced myself to these forums here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/hello-pleased-here-85614/ come say hi!
Recently I purchased my 2nd veiled chameleon and he is around 6-7 weeks old now and is doing quite well! While right now I have no serious problems or concerns I'd like to fill out my basic husbandry information so the knowledgeable people here could give me input and help me sort out any problems BEFORE they arise. My baby Veiled is named Nasir, he doesn't care for me much so I've been giving him his space while he adjusts to his new home! Anyway heres some info.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male, around 6 weeks old. Been here for about a week now.
Handling - As little as possible while he is adjusting to his home. I have however hand fed him a few crickets then free range the rest.
Feeding - Since I have had him I've been feeding him only dusted crickets of the appropriate size. He's been eating 12-20 crickets a day. My gutloading thus far needs work but has consisted of Romaine, Carrots, Celery, and Blueberries. I have been feeding Nasir daily in the morning.
Supplements - I am using rep cal supplements. While Nasir has been in my care for less like 2 weeks, I have supplemented once with Herptivite, and once with Calcium + d3. Every other feeding has been lightly dusted with just rep cal calcium. I plan to go with the twice monthly schedule for d3 and multivitamins that I've noticed a lot of the members of this forums adhere to.
Watering - I have been misting the enclosure about 3-4 times daily and have yet to set up a proper drip system, homemade attempts have failed and right now I am worried about drowning my umbrella plants if I start dripping daily. I plan to make some sort of covered collection cup on the bottom of the enclosure in order to solve this problem.
Fecal Description - For the first week Nasir's feces were small with a very normal looking urate. He seems to be pooping just about daily. His fresh poops are brown and a bit wet with a normal looking urate. They dry up to be quite normal looking and they are now somewhat larger as his appetite has increased. On one occasion his urates were looking a bit yellowish which indicated some dehydration to me. He does however eat extremely well so I'm hoping this will help from keeping him from becoming dehydrated and because of this i have been trying to keep his feeder insects very hydrated.
History - He was bred by a very reputable breeder in my area and he seems to be doing quite well. I would however like to have a fecal sample taken.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - My enclosure is a homemade wood/screen cage. The wood is untreated wood which was thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before it was used. I believe the cage is just about the perfect size for such a small chameleon and it measures 18 high, by 14 inches wide 12 inches deep. His substrate is paper towels.
Lighting - Currently I am using a Powersun UV 100 watt MVB. I believe this is the most controversial part of my set up right now. These bulbs are known to give off high levels of heat and UV and after successfully using them on previous reptiles I've owned I decided to try it out. The bulb itself is suspended around 7-8 inches from the screen itself in order to prevent thermal burns. I am worried however that this light may be giving off too much UV although I have seen no signs of this. The bulb is around a full foot from his basking spot.
Temperature - Basking - 86-82 degrees F. Ambient - 70-77 throughout the cage. Night time - 65-69 degrees F.
Humidity - I have been trying to maintain humidity at 40-60% by misting the enclosure and plants several times a day.
Plants - I am currently using a small umbrella gold capella. I researched this strain of the plant on this forums and found it to be safe. Removing all the pesticides from the plant was a pain and had to be done so leaf by leaf! I re-potted the plant into organic soil several days before it was introduced to Nasir. Lately I have noticed him cruising the top of the screen. I thought It might be because he feels to open and vulnerable since his basking area does not have much natural foliage that was reaching that high. I then added some more dowel rods tied with some fake Ivy which adds LOTS of extra cover and additional high areas to climb and bask. I just made this change yesterday and since then I have not noticed him on the screen ceiling.
Placement - Nasir's set up is placed in the most remote area of my house where he would be disturbed the least. While there is some traffic he may notice walking by on the other side of the basement I try to make sure he is disturbed very little.
Location - About 45 minutes west of Chicago.
Problems: Nothing that seems to be a medical emergency. However a have a few small issues and concerns.
First, Nasir has a small bump on his right side. There is only one bump and it looks to be along one of his very tiny ribs near his hind legs. There is no coloration to this bump. I'm not sure what it is. I believe it may be some calcification on his rib, a protruding bone, a broken bone, a abscess of some sort or something worst! He moves quite freely and seems to have plenty of energy. I will attempt to get a picture of this said bump but it is very small on a tiny chameleon!
Second, I have not seen Nasir drink first hand and I will again be attempting to fashion a dripper and collection cup for him today. I have been misting atleast 3 times a day and his humidity should be adequate. My last veiled would gladly drink from the leaves right as I would mist! Perhaps he is wary to drink infront of me, or simply spraying the leaves is not enough stimulation to drink. Since I have not seen him drink first hand, I have been spraying Nasir himself occasionally and I notice he will lap up small amounts of water afterwards.
My final concern is lighting. On one occasion I noticed Nasir had a single eye closed. I was very alarmed by this and figured it was either inadequate humidity or that the powersun was irritating his eyes. The basking temperature was also near 89 at this time and i thought that was too warm. I suspended the light even higher ( a total of 12-13 inches from his basking sight) (he can get about 9 inches from the bulb if he climbs upside down on the screen ceiling, it doesn't get hot enough to burn him) and corrected the temperature to about 84. I also made sure to spray the cage and even misted both his eyes. Its so cute when they blink! Since making these changes his eyes have stayed open during lit hours and he is quite alert. His eye sight seems good as I have never seen him miss a cricket! Would most people suggest I switch to the tradition 5.0/basking light set up? My initial thoughts are that Veileds in their natural habitat receive higher levels of U.V. then other chams such as Jackson's and Panthers. I thought for this reason the level of UV radiation from the MVB may be appropriate from the distance of the bulb the way I have it set up. However chances are that I may go simply make the change to a reptisun...
Thanks so much for reading, please feel free to give me your tips and constructive criticism. Soon I will be posting pictures of Nasir and his awesome home. I think you all will like them! Thanks so much! Tell me what your thoughts are...
-Alec
I would leave the cage bare without any paper so that way, the water can just drain out.
