Husbandry Review

hh566

New Member
Hello! Just wanted to get some feedback on my husbandry with my veiled chameleon Ripley.

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon- The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
    • Veiled chameleon, male. Age is unknown but I am assuming in the range of 3-5 months. I have had him in my care for about a month now.
  • Handling- How often do you handle your chameleon?
    • He will sometimes see my and seem that he wants to come out, so I would say around once a day but only for a few minutes.
  • Feeding- What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
    • He is being fed around 10-15 feeder crickets a day. Starts with 8-10 in the morning (11 AM) and then 5-7 later in the day (2-3PM). The are gutloaded with natural foods that I put in a food processor. Latest batch of gutload had collard greens, bell peppers, carrots, and a little bit of blue berries.
  • Supplements- What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
    • Repti Calcium without D3 every morning feeding, and then Repashy Calcium Plus every 2 weeks.
  • Watering- What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
    • I will mist the enclosure in the morning after lights on, and then before lights off. I mist for about 2-3 minutes each time. I have only seen him drink once.
  • Fecal Description- Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
    • For the most part the urates are mostly white. Sometimes they will have a little bit of yellow, other days will be fully white. The feces portion is usually brown, with the exception one time where it was a duller, more "gray" brown.
  • History- Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
    • Vendor says the chameleons come from a trusted breeder.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type- Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
    • I am unsure of brand but it is a screen cage, dimensions are 18x18x30.
  • Lighting- What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
    • Schedule of lighting is 7:30 AM - 7:30 PM (ensured by a timed switch which turns the lights on and off automatically). UVB is a Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 HO T5 UVB Lamp. Heat lights are Zilla Mini Halogen Reptile Dome Heat Lamp with Zilla Mini Halogen Bulb, Day White, 25 Watt as the bulb.
  • Temperature- What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
    • The basking branch that the light points to has temperature ranges from 83-89F, with the rest of the cage being in the 75-80F range (floor is usually around 73-75F). Temperatures are measured with a laser infrared thermometer gun. At night temperatures drop to low 70F.
  • Humidity- What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
    • Humidity levels in the cage are always above 45 with maximums of 55. The levels are maintained by hand misting as mentioned above, along with sometimes running a dripper for him. I have a hygrometer next to the cage to measure the humidity, to get more precise measurements I will usually hold the hygrometer inside the cage for a moment.
  • Plants- Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
    • A mix of artificial and live. My live plant is a pothos which is growing, and the artificial plants are to provide some cover while the pothos grows.
  • 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?
    • Cage is the the corner of my living room, not a lot of traffic other than me when I go to check on him and my other pet (sun conure, there is a big shelf between both their cages so that my chameleon doesn't have direct view of my sun conure). There are not any fans or air vents that point directly towards the enclosure, but the room has central air conditioning through vents. Cage roof is around 4 feet above the ground.
  • Location- Where are you geographically located?
    • South Florida, Miami area.

Current Problem (not a list of problems but a list of concerns for feedback)
  • My chameleon will usually have white flakes around his nose, I have read that this is a natural way of excreting salts but some feedback for this would be appreciated.
  • He also just has a tendency to sit around, don't know if this is because he is lazy or if it might be an area of concern. He will walk around his enclosure at times during the day.
  • I have started using Reptisafe as a way to condition the water I use for misting since I have been using tap water before.
  • This could be something that is natural but his hind legs are wider than his front ones.
 

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Your husbandry looks great. About the supplements, I dont know ehat is that supplement that you are giving him every two weeks. You should give him calcium with d3 every two weeks.

About the whites around the nostrils. Thats all normal 😁

Yeah hind legs are usually wider and stronger!
 
Hi and welcome! :) You’re doing great! I do see a few things that could be improved upon though.
As your little cutie gets older/bigger, he’ll be needing a much larger enclosure. The minimum recommended size is 2x2x4’.
Your basking temps are a bit too high. Try to bring them down to 80. Do keep in mind that the temp guns will only measure surface temps. For air temps, you’d need a digital thermometer with a probe.
Humidity is on the higher side of ideal. During the day make sure it doesn’t exceed 50%. At night it can/should go higher...all the way to 80-100%.
Try to add more live plants and get rid of the fake. It only takes one nibble of a fake leaf and then he could get impacted. Add a tall centerpiece plant, which will make a big difference. Attaching a plant list to help. When you upgrade to a larger enclosure, if you get screen, Dragon Ledges are incredible for hanging not only vines and branches, but plants as well. https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ I have hung my fake plants on the outside of my enclosures to help provide my chams with a sense of more privacy.
You could add more diversity of feeders. Roaches and silkworms are quite healthy and my preferred feeders. Bsfl are good and if you let them pupate into flies, they become fun little treats for your guy to hunt down. Your gutload is great.
Very happy to have you here. :) Hope you’ll keep posting and sharing about your sweet little man.
37B53596-383E-4CD5-B372-543EA1F92708.jpeg EA77081A-1C4B-47E5-A9B9-2F48131576B4.jpeg
 
Hi and welcome! :) You’re doing great! I do see a few things that could be improved upon though.
As your little cutie gets older/bigger, he’ll be needing a much larger enclosure. The minimum recommended size is 2x2x4’.
Your basking temps are a bit too high. Try to bring them down to 80. Do keep in mind that the temp guns will only measure surface temps. For air temps, you’d need a digital thermometer with a probe.
Humidity is on the higher side of ideal. During the day make sure it doesn’t exceed 50%. At night it can/should go higher...all the way to 80-100%.
Try to add more live plants and get rid of the fake. It only takes one nibble of a fake leaf and then he could get impacted. Add a tall centerpiece plant, which will make a big difference. Attaching a plant list to help. When you upgrade to a larger enclosure, if you get screen, Dragon Ledges are incredible for hanging not only vines and branches, but plants as well. https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ I have hung my fake plants on the outside of my enclosures to help provide my chams with a sense of more privacy.
You could add more diversity of feeders. Roaches and silkworms are quite healthy and my preferred feeders. Bsfl are good and if you let them pupate into flies, they become fun little treats for your guy to hunt down. Your gutload is great.
Very happy to have you here. :) Hope you’ll keep posting and sharing about your sweet little man.
View attachment 299541View attachment 299542
Thank you for the advice, will definitely look to improve and work with it! By any chance do you know of any good places that would ship slikworms, bsfl, and/or small enough roaches to the south Florida area? I tried looking at dubias but the place wouldn't ship to Florida unfortunately.
 
Thank you for the advice, will definitely look to improve and work with it! By any chance do you know of any good places that would ship slikworms, bsfl, and/or small enough roaches to the south Florida area? I tried looking at dubias but the place wouldn't ship to Florida unfortunately.
There’s the forum sponsors like https://morifeeders.com/ that ship nice silkworms. I’ve also gotten nice silkies from https://www.serenitysilkworms.com/ Often the problem is that many places are out of silks, so my back up is https://www.ebay.com/itm/293724152187?var=592526892980
Dubia are illegal in Florida, so we have discoid instead which are very similar. It may be a challenge to buy small enough nymphs for your little one. I’d suggest asking the vendor to send you the smallest they can. http://www.lindasgonebuggie.com/ sells not only discoid but silks and assorted other feeders. You could also check this. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/bulk-feeder-roach-sale-some-fl-legal-species.180874/ Surinam are quite small and may be a good choice for you cham right now. Just make sure to keep them in a bin with a gasket as they are climbers.
 
There’s the forum sponsors like https://morifeeders.com/ that ship nice silkworms. I’ve also gotten nice silkies from https://www.serenitysilkworms.com/ Often the problem is that many places are out of silks, so my back up is https://www.ebay.com/itm/293724152187?var=592526892980
Dubia are illegal in Florida, so we have discoid instead which are very similar. It may be a challenge to buy small enough nymphs for your little one. I’d suggest asking the vendor to send you the smallest they can. http://www.lindasgonebuggie.com/ sells not only discoid but silks and assorted other feeders. You could also check this. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/bulk-feeder-roach-sale-some-fl-legal-species.180874/ Surinam are quite small and may be a good choice for you cham right now. Just make sure to keep them in a bin with a gasket as they are climbers.
These are some great resources, I am looking towards buying some silkworms right now. However, I have a few questions regarding them. I've done some research and seen they mostly eat mulberry leaves, but I am stuck when it comes to how many silkworms I should be feeding my chameleon. Would it be the same as crickets, or a reduced number since they might be a bit bigger? My little guy eats around 15 crickets a day right now, so how would that translate into silkworms?
 
These are some great resources, I am looking towards buying some silkworms right now. However, I have a few questions regarding them. I've done some research and seen they mostly eat mulberry leaves, but I am stuck when it comes to how many silkworms I should be feeding my chameleon. Would it be the same as crickets, or a reduced number since they might be a bit bigger? My little guy eats around 15 crickets a day right now, so how would that translate into silkworms?
There is a silkworm chow that is made from the mulberry leaves and which is usually what they are shipped with. While each vender is a bit different, most will provide enough chow to last a good enough time.
I feed my chams the same amount of silkworms as I do other feeders I give them, depending on the size. I do try to offer variety also. Today they each got a large cricket, a superworm and 2 small silkworms. As some bsf had hatched out, each of my boys got 2 of those too.
 
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