husbandry advice :)

emmrycham

Member
i’ve had miss crawly for about a month now and have been slowly upgrading her suite and i figured while i’m still upgrading, i could just get some advice on anything else i’m missing or could improve on. i already know i need better lights and i’m working on saving for the t5 light bar. please let me know if i need to change anything, any help is greatly appreciated !

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - veiled, female, probably 4-6 months? she’s definitely gotten bigger in the month that ive gotten her but i’m unsure of her age.
  • Handling - probably once a week, if that.
  • Feeding - 7-10 crickets, 1/2 hornworms a week, 1 super a week (unless she got 2 hornworms that week). i’ve gotten but not yet tried the bsfl and discoids. i feed her 7-10 crickets in the morning (will just let them loose since i work or i hand feed her on the weekends) and then my husband will give her the hornworms/supers a couple hours later. i gutload them with mangos, sweet potato, kale, and carrots (i know i probably need to get more of a variety).
  • Supplements - i am currently using rep cal calcium only (no phos) daily and repashy vit plus every 2 weeks. i also have herptivite but read that wasn’t too good to give and also read that i could use the repashy vit plus as the d3 and multivitamin. please let me know if i am mistaken or if i should not use the vit plus and have the d3 and multivitamin as separate supplements.
  • Watering - i have a dripper that runs from 645am to 645pm. i mist heavily for 2 mins before i leave for work and my husband mists when he notices the leaves aren’t as wet anymore. i am also saving up to get a mistking.
  • Fecal Description - she is pretty consistent. dark brown poop with a very pale orange, almost all white urate. she has not yet been tested for parasites.
  • History - not that i can think of.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - the zoo med xl reptibreeze 24 x 24 x 48 screen cage. she is currently on the floor but i’m also working on getting a little table for her cage.
  • Lighting - i am currently using the zoo med dual lamp with one blue basking light (zoo med) and a repti sun 10 uvb light (zoo med). lights on at 645 am and lights out at 645 pm but sometimes it’s usually a little later like 7/715.
  • Temperature - temps range from 70-80 with her basking spot being about 85. i have a temperature/humidity gauge. at night, it doesn’t go below 60 degrees.
  • Humidity - humidity is 55-75%. does this need to be better? just after we mist it, it’s 75-80% but i’ve seen it go down to 52 sometimes. we spray the plants and the substrate to maintain humidity. i use a temp/humidity gauge.
  • Plants - i have 2 umbrella plants that i switch out when one starts to wilt. i have fake vines, a big wooden tree limb thing and fake branches as you can see in the pics.
  • Placement - she is currently in my room. not near a vent or anything. i have her on the floor and i know i need to correct this.
  • Location - i live in west palm beach, florida.

Current Problem - no problems. she eats, poops and sleeps like a champ. she’s shed once so far in my care. i also know i need to get a lay bin for her and have been reading up on this throughout all my lunch breaks at work this past week. hoping to have something done/made for her this weekend.

like i said, any and all criticism is welcomed. i can’t help her unless i get advice from the experts. thanks i’m advance for any feedback.
 

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Again, my word is absolutely changeable, and there are far more experienced and wise chammers on this site.
 
Hi hun. So everything looks really good. T5 lighting with a 10.0 bulb should be your next purchase. Sooner then later.
You are doing good with your gutload but you want to mix it up. Dark leafy greens being the main portion and making sure that you change out what your using week over week so that your not just using the same items with the same nutritional value. I have included a graphic below for you.

Do me a favor and take pics of the labels on your supplements so we can see exactly which ones you are using. Herbivite is typically not a favorite because it does not have preformed vitamin A in it.

With the humidity levels your getting I would not be concerned. So with Veileds we like to see a range of 30-50% during the day with spikes after misting. At night is when you want higher humidity since their lights are off and it is cooler.

Besides adding many more horizontal branches that is all I am seeing right now. You are doing great!


Gutloading 101.jpeg
Basic Feeder pic.jpeg
 
Hi hun. So everything looks really good. T5 lighting with a 10.0 bulb should be your next purchase. Sooner then later.
You are doing good with your gutload but you want to mix it up. Dark leafy greens being the main portion and making sure that you change out what your using week over week so that your not just using the same items with the same nutritional value. I have included a graphic below for you.

Do me a favor and take pics of the labels on your supplements so we can see exactly which ones you are using. Herbivite is typically not a favorite because it does not have preformed vitamin A in it.

With the humidity levels your getting I would not be concerned. So with Veileds we like to see a range of 30-50% during the day with spikes after misting. At night is when you want higher humidity since their lights are off and it is cooler.

Besides adding many more horizontal branches that is all I am seeing right now. You are doing great!


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thank you Beman!! yes for sure getting the light bar asap! also going to get a variety of veggies and stuff for the gutload this weekend. these are the supps i’m using at the moment
 

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Just to add a bit: You talk about ‘repashy vit plus’, but do you mean ‘repashy calcium plus’? If you’re going that route...ie, dusting with ‘calcium plus’ at every feeding as your sole supplement, then I’d use either ‘calcium plus low d’ or else a mix of regular ‘calcium plus’ and ‘calcium plus low d’. My reasons are this: if your providing uvb—which you are—then high levels of d3 in the bug dust is unnecessary, and even problematic. Personally, I use ‘calcium plus low d’ every feeding.

No doubt the conventional wisdom here is to use calcium with NO d at every feeeding, and calcium with d3 twice a month, with multivitamins twice a month...the latter two on different weeks. For instance, you’d use straight calcium no d every feeding, and calcium with d3 once on the second and fourth week of each month. Then you use multivitamins once on every first and third week of each month.

While the above regimen is almost gospel, many have had great success with using an all in one with modest vitamin/d3 levels. Again, if you’re keeping something rare, wild caught, and temperamental, I’d advise looking to conventional wisdom here. If, on the other hand, you have (for instance) a veiled, then it might not be a bad idea to look into the all in ones. And while I’m sure to make a few enemies here, I should tell you that all my veileds do well on ‘repashy calcium plus’ mixed 50/50 with ‘repashy calcium plus low d’ at every feeding—with the exception of bsfl, and the occasional hornworm.
 
Further to my last last,

Sorry, I’m a few drinks in, and I think my original diction was correct...now that I read it again. The first use of ‘you’re’ is correct, as is the following use of ‘your’. Sorry, total grammar nazi.
 
Just to add a bit: You talk about ‘repashy vit plus’, but do you mean ‘repashy calcium plus’? If you’re going that route...ie, dusting with ‘calcium plus’ at every feeding as your sole supplement, then I’d use either ‘calcium plus low d’ or else a mix of regular ‘calcium plus’ and ‘calcium plus low d’. My reasons are this: if your providing uvb—which you are—then high levels of d3 in the bug dust is unnecessary, and even problematic. Personally, I use ‘calcium plus low d’ every feeding.

No doubt the conventional wisdom here is to use calcium with NO d at every feeeding, and calcium with d3 twice a month, with multivitamins twice a month...the latter two on different weeks. For instance, you’d use straight calcium no d every feeding, and calcium with d3 once on the second and fourth week of each month. Then you use multivitamins once on every first and third week of each month.

While the above regimen is almost gospel, many have had great success with using an all in one with modest vitamin/d3 levels. Again, if you’re keeping something rare, wild caught, and temperamental, I’d advise looking to conventional wisdom here. If, on the other hand, you have (for instance) a veiled, then it might not be a bad idea to look into the all in ones. And while I’m sure to make a few enemies here, I should tell you that all my veileds do well on ‘repashy calcium plus’ mixed 50/50 with ‘repashy calcium plus low d’ at every feeding—with the exception of bsfl, and the occasional hornworm.

yes you’re right. sorry, long day! i must have read it wrong but i thought the calcium plus was calcium with d3 and a multivitamin all in one? i use the calcium only (green jar) at every feeding and have been using the calcium plus (repashy jar) every 2 weeks as i was under the impression it was both d3 and a multivitamin. please let me know if i am wrong!
 
The repashy calcium plus is actually meant to be used at every feeding. It has a vitamin and d3 count meant to give steady but low doses of each every day. That being said, I think combining it 50/50 with calcium plus low d is the better option.
 
Again, I’ll gladly defer to the real experts on this forum, but this is what I’ve always used for my veileds. I think I read few people holding that for most montane species, the low d is the best option for an all in one.
 
thank you Beman!! yes for sure getting the light bar asap! also going to get a variety of veggies and stuff for the gutload this weekend. these are the supps i’m using at the moment
Perfect. Ok so those will work. So yes the repcal no D3 is every feeding except when you dust with the repashy is a vitamin/D3 - 2 times per month. So these are perfect. And yes T5HO fixture with a 10.0 or 12% arcadia bulb. Your highest basking branch with these is going to sit approx 7-8 inches below where the light fixture runs across the center of the cage. Lightyourreptiles.com has some great fixtures that come with the bulbs as well. Let us know if you have any questions. :)
 
Perfect. Ok so those will work. So yes the repcal no D3 is every feeding except when you dust with the repashy is a vitamin/D3 - 2 times per month. So these are perfect. And yes T5HO fixture with a 10.0 or 12% arcadia bulb. Your highest basking branch with these is going to sit approx 7-8 inches below where the light fixture runs across the center of the cage. Lightyourreptiles.com has some great fixtures that come with the bulbs as well. Let us know if you have any questions. :)

great, thank you for clarifying! i have been looking at lightyourreptiles and i am pretty sure that is where i will get it from. as for the branches, where can i get them from?
 
great, thank you for clarifying! i have been looking at lightyourreptiles and i am pretty sure that is where i will get it from. as for the branches, where can i get them from?
Your welcome! Let me know if you have any questions about what your seeing on there. Well you can go out side and cut some off trees. Strip any leaves and breakable smaller pieces. Then give them a nice scrub with dawn and hot water to make sure there is no bird poop or anything else. Rinse really well then leave them somewhere overnight to make sure they do not ooze sap. Unless you know the tree and that it is not a sap producer. Then just put them in.

You may want to take a look at dragon ledges on dragonstrand.com. These will give you attachment points and you can even attach plants to them to clear your floor. Since you have a girl you will want to have room for a lay bin. You may want to take a look at the drip trays they offer as well.

The only other thing I would recommend is to remove all fake plants from the cage. If she ingests any then it can be a very bad situation.
 
Your welcome! Let me know if you have any questions about what your seeing on there. Well you can go out side and cut some off trees. Strip any leaves and breakable smaller pieces. Then give them a nice scrub with dawn and hot water to make sure there is no bird poop or anything else. Rinse really well then leave them somewhere overnight to make sure they do not ooze sap. Unless you know the tree and that it is not a sap producer. Then just put them in.

You may want to take a look at dragon ledges on dragonstrand.com. These will give you attachment points and you can even attach plants to them to clear your floor. Since you have a girl you will want to have room for a lay bin. You may want to take a look at the drip trays they offer as well.

The only other thing I would recommend is to remove all fake plants from the cage. If she ingests any then it can be a very bad situation.

i was looking at this one on LLR - 24" HO T5 Double Bulb fixture with Arcadia 6% and 6.5k Day-light Bulbs Included . is this good or should i get something different?

as i was typing that question, i almost thought it would be a stupid question LOL. i'm not familiar with plants or anything like that so i'll definitely scrub them down first. i should get varying sizes right? i will probably check out dragonstrand cause i do want to make sure i have room for her lay bin.

what could i use instead of the fake vines? they are pretty large and i dont think they are easy to remove but i dont want her to ingest anything.
 
i was looking at this one on LLR - 24" HO T5 Double Bulb fixture with Arcadia 6% and 6.5k Day-light Bulbs Included . is this good or should i get something different?

as i was typing that question, i almost thought it would be a stupid question LOL. i'm not familiar with plants or anything like that so i'll definitely scrub them down first. i should get varying sizes right? i will probably check out dragonstrand cause i do want to make sure i have room for her lay bin.

what could i use instead of the fake vines? they are pretty large and i dont think they are easy to remove but i dont want her to ingest anything.

So do this one instead it is the same size but the uvb is 12% which is needed for a veiled to get the right amount of UVI. If I didn't mention it you are looking for the highest branch to sit about 7-8 inches below the screen and the fixture sits right on the screen top. http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/24...arcadia-12-and-6-5k-day-light-bulbs-included/

No such thing as a stupid question. :) Yes, you want all different sizes. I pulled all my fake vines for the same reason and also if they rub their eye on them then it can get pieces of the fake vine in it which is not a good thing.

So here is an example. I am very visual so hopefully this may help. lol This is my boys cage. Pothos vines become the vines in the cage. Dragon ledges become the anchor points. Using zip ties of different sizes. I take a razor to cut off the piece that hangs out once you pull the tie through all the way down so it does not leave a sharp piece.


newcage1.JPG
newcage2.JPG
 
So do this one instead it is the same size but the uvb is 12% which is needed for a veiled to get the right amount of UVI. If I didn't mention it you are looking for the highest branch to sit about 7-8 inches below the screen and the fixture sits right on the screen top. http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/24...arcadia-12-and-6-5k-day-light-bulbs-included/

No such thing as a stupid question. :) Yes, you want all different sizes. I pulled all my fake vines for the same reason and also if they rub their eye on them then it can get pieces of the fake vine in it which is not a good thing.

So here is an example. I am very visual so hopefully this may help. lol This is my boys cage. Pothos vines become the vines in the cage. Dragon ledges become the anchor points. Using zip ties of different sizes. I take a razor to cut off the piece that hangs out once you pull the tie through all the way down so it does not leave a sharp piece.


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wow that looks great! so does the light bar serve as all the lighting that she will need? or do i need to have another light for basking?

for the plants, i will def get rid of the fake ones and look into getting the dragon ledges. where did you get your pothos and what type is it, if you know? i went to home depot and the one i found didn't have long vines like yours does.

so i am guessing you have a drip tray and everything in his cage is hanging? does he ever go to the floor or anything?
 
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