Husbandry review request

[Lizardlover1519]

Hi everyone I am going to give you all some info about my veiled chameleon, I want to do right by her so I just want to make sure I am doing everything right! My past 2 chameleons have gotten sick and passed away and I did everything I could so I really want to do everything right this time around.

Chameleon Info: Name is Lumi

• Your Chameleon - Lumi is a suspected female, most likely about 1 year old. She has been in my care Since January of this year (we estimated she was a couple months old).
• Handling -I handle her a few times a week, since she is a juvenile I am trying to desensitize her as much as possible, she is also housed in a college education herpetology lab so I would like to eventually use her for outreach events, She seems to tolerate being held and is normally a very bright green color when being handled.
• Feeding - My chameleon gets a variety of inverts, She mainly gets gut loaded crickets and dubia roaches (I am going to maybe start feeding hornworms and silkworms once a week to increase hydration). She is fed every other day. Each feeding she gets about 15 crickets or 10 dubia roaches appropriately sized. I am gut loading feeders by adding veggie scraps into the cricket tank (I am not worried about my gut loading as the crickets I have are part of the herpetarium I manage so they are gut loaded properly).
• Supplements - I use Zoo med repti calcium no D3 on every feeding and then Repashy's LoD calcium plus about 2x per month dusted on feeders
• Watering - I have an automated misting system that sprays the cage for 1 minute every 3 hours, it is deliberately pointed at leaves and places where water can pool easily. The mister shuts off at night. I also do a thorough mist of the cage with a hand mister about once a day and thoroughly wet everything in the cage. The cage is not in a place where I can observe it often but I have seen her drink from the drops of water on the leaves after misting. Should I include a dropper as well?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Droppings are normal for the most part I noticed an abnormal dropping a few days ago and posted it on here, a picture is added at the bottom. This chameleon has never been tested for parasites.
• History - This chameleon was surrendered to my vet clinic where I work after someone found her and her small enclosure in a dumpster behind their apartment complex in the middle of winter in the snow. she had both eyes closed and could not eat on her own and is now thriving, when she first arrived at the clinic she was given a round of injectable ceftazidime and steroidal eye drops and has since bounced back remarkably well. The vet was astonished she made a recovery.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - My cage is all screen, it is 4ft tall by 2ft by 2ft with a planter underneath.
• Lighting - UVB: Arcadia Reptile D3 T5 6% UVB First Reptile lamp bulb in a fixture made specifically for this bulb. This gets replaced every 6 months. Heat: Heat lamp 75W UVA basking light , natural daylight heating bulb (Amazon link to bulbs), Cage is also next to a window. The bulbs are on for 12hrs and off for 12hrs.
• Temperature - Bottom to top of tank ambient is 65-80F Basking spot is 85-90F. Lowest overnight temp is about room temp ~ 65-75F the room is kept relatively warm. I have a thermometer at the top of the cage non basking side and one at the bottom of the cage. I als use a temp gun every once and a while. I also have the heat lamp attached to a thermostat so that the basking temp never exceeds 90 F.
• Humidity - My humidity levels are around 60% at the top of the cage and about 80% at the bottom, I have an automatic sprayer and live plants in the tank to keep up humidity, and I give the tank a very thorough mist once a day. I use a hygrometer at the top and bottom to measure this.
• Plants - I have multiple live plants in this enclosure, I have pathos, a hibiscus tree and a tall Dracaena fragrans (corn plant)
• 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? My cage is located in a lab that specifically houses reptiles it has good airflow and not any cold air vents or fans, the floors are heated and it is always kept at a good nighttime temperature. It is a high traffic area but she is not showing signs of stress as she has lots of hiding spaces in her tank.
• Location Kirksville, Missouri USA

Current Problems/questions -
1. She seems skinny but eats a lot? CURRENT WEIGHT TODAY: 66.5g
2. I think she takes bites out of the plants? I see little bite sized chunks out of the leaves every once and a while.
3. What other bugs should I introduce to her diet and how often?
4. I know females can have issues with egg binding, what is the best way to prevent that and are we sure she is a female?
Thank you

Thank you to everyone on this website you have helped me so much in the past!

 

[LizardLurkin]

Watering - I have an automated misting system that sprays the cage for 1 minute every 3 hours, it is deliberately pointed at leaves and places where water can pool easily. The mister shuts off at night. I also do a thorough mist of the cage with a hand mister about once a day and thoroughly wet everything in the cage. The cage is not in a place where I can observe it often but I have seen her drink from the drops of water on the leaves after misting. Should I include a dropper as well?

I think most of everything here looks good, I do wonder about this, though. Most elect for a thorough mist session in the morning, and one in the evening. I do a three minute spray in the morning, 40 minutes after the lights come on, and a three minute spray in the evening, 30 minutes before the lights go off, and then an extra 30 second spray at midnight the keep the humidity up at night.
We typically want the cage surfaces the chance to dry out completely in the day.
Her urate does look a bit yellowy, though. It's a good idea to run a dripper in the day time for a couple of hours for extra hydration opportunities. You could diy something around the house like this, or get a plastic cup, bowel, container of any sort and poke a small hole on the bottom and place it atop the enclosure, or buy one of the reptile branded ones. Make sure it drips over a leaf or vine so it triggers their drinking response.
Daytime humidity levels should be mid 30s-50%, with a nighttime spike of about 80-100%.

Also the basking temperature is too high for a female veiled. You want 80 for your little girl.

1. She seems skinny but eats a lot? CURRENT WEIGHT TODAY: 66.5g
From your photos, I think she looks pretty good. Chameleons are oddities in that they can flatten themselves and appear very skinny in the blink of an eye. You will also see their ribs because that's just how they're built. Her casque doesn't look sunken in and I'm not seeing tail bone indents.
2. I think she takes bites out of the plants? I see little bite sized chunks out of the leaves every once and a while.
Veiled chameleons are leaf munchers So it's good to only use live plants like you're doing.
3. What other bugs should I introduce to her diet and how often?
Here's some handy feeder images:

4. I know females can have issues with egg binding, what is the best way to prevent that and are we sure she is a female?
This is part of the reason people have started keeping female veileds at the lower basking temperature of 80. Higher heat encourages more egg production, which is what really adds the risk of egg binding. I'm unsure of her age, but I also know people will feed their girlies less than the boys as they mature. I don't know the specifics of this to explain it, because I do not currently have a girl, but resident female veiled chameleon enthusiast @MissSkittles is wisened to the topic.

 

[Beman]

Hi everyone I am going to give you all some info about my veiled chameleon, I want to do right by her so I just want to make sure I am doing everything right! My past 2 chameleons have gotten sick and passed away and I did everything I could so I really want to do everything right this time around.

I am going to do a full review for you. See my feedback in red bold. This is going to be a lot of info. Let me know what questions you have. I am going to post in two parts.


Chameleon Info: Name is Lumi

• Your Chameleon - Lumi is a suspected female, most likely about 1 year old. She has been in my care Since January of this year (we estimated she was a couple months old). 100% female
• Handling -I handle her a few times a week, since she is a juvenile I am trying to desensitize her as much as possible, she is also housed in a college education herpetology lab so I would like to eventually use her for outreach events, She seems to tolerate being held and is normally a very bright green color when being handled. So I hate to have to be the one to tell you this but chameleons naturally are not an animal that is good to use for something like you intend. They stress easily and can start showing decline even when husbandry is spot on. They do not like to be handled much and normally they are selective of who they let handle them. While they can build a bond with their primary keeper this does not mean they will tolerate other people messing with them. I would suggest a bearded dragon instead. bright green can indicate stress. Normally a veiled will show muted resting colors when they are at ease.
• Feeding - My chameleon gets a variety of inverts, She mainly gets gut loaded crickets and dubia roaches (I am going to maybe start feeding hornworms and silkworms once a week to increase hydration). She is fed every other day. Each feeding she gets about 15 crickets or 10 dubia roaches appropriately sized. I am gut loading feeders by adding veggie scraps into the cricket tank (I am not worried about my gut loading as the crickets I have are part of the herpetarium I manage so they are gut loaded properly). If she is in fact 1 year old she is actually being over fed. Females food intake has a direct correlation to how many eggs they will lay. Therefor females are put on a specific feeding schedule and basking temp. Reducing basking temp helps reduce their urge to eat. If you do not cut back food she will be high risk for very large clutches very frequently and this can lead to reproductive issues and egg binding. See detailed info for female feeding below.
• Supplements - I use Zoo med repti calcium no D3 on every feeding and then Repashy's LoD calcium plus about 2x per month dusted on feeders. This would be correct just make sure you are supplementing with the correct supplement at all feedings.
• Watering - I have an automated misting system that sprays the cage for 1 minute every 3 hours, it is deliberately pointed at leaves and places where water can pool easily. The mister shuts off at night. I also do a thorough mist of the cage with a hand mister about once a day and thoroughly wet everything in the cage. The cage is not in a place where I can observe it often but I have seen her drink from the drops of water on the leaves after misting. Should I include a dropper as well? Misting too frequently throughout the day. And 1 minute mistings are not long enough to trigger a drinking response. Mist 2-4 minutes morning and evening before lights turn off. Drippers are always ok to add during the day.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Droppings are normal for the most part I noticed an abnormal dropping a few days ago and posted it on here, a picture is added at the bottom. This chameleon has never been tested for parasites. What you posted was a urate. While it was not overly showing dehydration it is rather large. My concern would be how large was the fecal as well. When they start developing their eggs they can produce larger urates and fecals because they are holding them longer.Parasite tests are always a good idea as they can carry parasite loads.
• History - This chameleon was surrendered to my vet clinic where I work after someone found her and her small enclosure in a dumpster behind their apartment complex in the middle of winter in the snow. she had both eyes closed and could not eat on her own and is now thriving, when she first arrived at the clinic she was given a round of injectable ceftazidime and steroidal eye drops and has since bounced back remarkably well. The vet was astonished she made a recovery.

 

[Beman]

@Lizardlover1519
Part 2.
Cage Info:

• Cage Type - My cage is all screen, it is 4ft tall by 2ft by 2ft with a planter underneath. Good.
• Lighting - UVB: Arcadia Reptile D3 T5 6% UVB First Reptile lamp bulb in a fixture made specifically for this bulb. This gets replaced every 6 months. Heat: Heat lamp 75W UVA basking light , natural daylight heating bulb (Amazon link to bulbs), Cage is also next to a window. The bulbs are on for 12hrs and off for 12hrs. arcadia bulbs you can replace every 12 months.
• Temperature - Bottom to top of tank ambient is 65-80F Basking spot is 85-90F. This is way too hot for a female. 80 max at basking. Lowest overnight temp is about room temp ~ 65-75F the room is kept relatively warm. 75 is going to be too warm for a cham. They need the cool down at night which would mean being in the 60's. I have a thermometer at the top of the cage non basking side and one at the bottom of the cage. I als use a temp gun every once and a while. I also have the heat lamp attached to a thermostat so that the basking temp never exceeds 90 F. Reduce your thermostat to 80.
• Humidity - My humidity levels are around 60% at the top of the cage and about 80% at the bottom, I have an automatic sprayer and live plants in the tank to keep up humidity, and I give the tank a very thorough mist once a day. I use a hygrometer at the top and bottom to measure this. 40-50% daytime max levels. When you stop misting throughout the day this will help. You will also decrease her risk for developing a respiratory infection.
• Plants - I have multiple live plants in this enclosure, I have pathos, a hibiscus tree and a tall Dracaena fragrans (corn plant)... Add more plants. It should literally be full throughout so she can actually hide when needed. see veiled tested plant image.
• 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? My cage is located in a lab that specifically houses reptiles it has good airflow and not any cold air vents or fans, the floors are heated and it is always kept at a good nighttime temperature. It is a high traffic area but she is not showing signs of stress as she has lots of hiding spaces in her tank. I would consider taking her home. Where you can control her environment better and can keep her in a low stress area. Females you really do not want being freaked out by constant people especially when they get close to laying their eggs.
• Location Kirksville, Missouri USA

Current Problems/questions -
1. She seems skinny but eats a lot? CURRENT WEIGHT TODAY: 66.5g lighter for a female but not totally crazy with her rough start to life. Once you curb back food intake you want to monitor weight. This will tell you when she starts holding eggs as their weight increases. NOTE when you cut back food intake she should maintain weight you should not see a big drop in weight if you do my concern would be a parasite load.
2. I think she takes bites out of the plants? I see little bite sized chunks out of the leaves every once and a while. Normal this is why you only want to use veiled tested plants.
3. What other bugs should I introduce to her diet and how often? I will post an image for you.
4. I know females can have issues with egg binding, what is the best way to prevent that and are we sure she is a female? Reduce diet and temps and make sure that bin at the bottom of the cage has enough sand mixed into the dirt to create a large laybin. You need it to be able to fully hold a tunnel.
Thank you


Info for Females

As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6-7 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7-8 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeder amounts so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.


You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces. The hotter the temp the more their metabolism speeds up so we have to keep the temp lower since we are doing lower food intake.

A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/