I am a rookie

H

hart8000

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I am a rookie and have been wanting a veiled chameleon for a while, I found this tank and a female veiled around 1.5 yrs old. I bought everything as a package deal from a guy selling her in the classifieds thinking she would be healthy and I would have everything to keep her happy. I was wrong and now I have her and want to get her healthy and happy. When I picked her up, the tank was nasty to say the least, she was skinny and malnutrtious. I took her to the vet yesterday to make sure she didn't have any parasites and had her dewormed. I took the tank completely apart and removed all the rotten silocone and resealed it. Now I have a pete moss substrate, a pothos plant that I have hanging throughout, and a couple fake vines. I have a reptiglo 5.0 UVB light, 2 heat lamps and also a floor heater.

I need help to get this tank right. I need to get the temps up, and the humidity is staying around 50% , then 80% when I mist. I have a gallon jug right now for a drip system.

Any suggestions from the experienced ones would be great. I have been feeding her gut loaded crickets and the vet said to stick to meal worms for a bit to get her size up.

I really like this tank, it is a 72 gallon bow front, but I think it also needs better ventilation, has anyone ever used a small computer fan to push air around?

Thanks again and I am glad to have found this forum.

I have a few pictures of her if anyone would like to see em. She looks very brown in the pics but doesn't stay that way all the time.
 

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Congratulations on your new chameleon and welcome to the Chameleon Forums. With some help from the members here you should be able to get your female health and happy and get her house set up correctly for her. This blog will give you some good info on raising veileds....be sure to read the female veiled section....they can lay eggs without even having a male around.

http://raisingkittytheveiledchamele...-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=11

You are going to want to remove the pete moss substrate from the bottom because she could eat it and become impacted. Post pictures for us and if you'll fill out the "ask for help" below, we'll make sure you get everything right.

How to ask for help

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
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?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

Pictures are helpful
 
Congrats on your chameleon!
First you mentioned a floor heater; you will not need this. A simple house bulb for heat should be enough, which also means you should not need the two heat lamps.
For the UV I think the hood you have holds a coil type UV bulb. You should lose this bulb immediately. I had a bad experience with the same type of bulb when I first got my veiled, he was closing his eyes all the time. Got rid of the coil type and went with the linear (long tube) and no problems since.
As was mentioned before the substrate should go too as it can cause impaction.

This is a great web site with some very knowledgeable people, so you have come to the right place, we have all made some mistakes along the way and learned from them. Hopefully you will use this site to learn what is best for your chams as I have.

Terry
 
Your vet suggested meal worms?!? I would try superworms instead. Mealworms can become impacted due to their undigestible outerskeleton. Superworms look like large mealworms and are easier to digest. Also, is she in a fish tank? It is highly recommended to use a screened enclosure, a glass terrarium, or even a wire birdcage. Veileds need air circulation because they are arboreal. Other than that I believe you are doing well. Do you give any supplements? You should dust food with a calcium powder w/o D3 or phosphorous at every other feeding, dust with calcium w/ D3 twice a month, and dust with a multivitamin once a month.
 
Just a quick question...is that Simple Green bottle the bottle you're using to mist the tank with?
 
Info

Cage Info:
Cage Type – 72 Gal bow front glass, 48 Long x 13 deep at the sides x 22 tall
Lighting – 48” Repti-Glo 5.0, 150 watt infared, 250 watt infared
Temperature – 78 throughout the day, need better heat for sure. 75 at night, I need to make a basking spot. Waiting on my laser thermo to come in the mail.
Humidity – 50% for the most part, 80 – 85 after I mist with spray bottle, I have analog hygrometer
Plants – Pothos, hung throughout the tank
Placement – The cage is at my office right now, not a lot of traffic, just me going back and forth, the top of the cage is 50” from floor
Location – Northern Utah

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon – Veiled Chameleon, approximately 1 and ½ years old, Female, and I have had her for less than 5 days.
Handling – Maybe once or twice a day for a couple minutes.
Feeding – Was gut loaded crickets, now its just meal worms and some collard greens which I haven’t seen her eat any yet. I feed 3-4 meal worms every morning
Supplements – I try to dust the mealworms with a Herptivite with beta carotene.
Watering – Right now it’s a water jug with a hole creating a drip system, I haven’t seen her drink yet, but she looks to be improving.
Fecal Description – Tested yesterday for parasites and she was clean, her pooh was runny but since has hardened, still a light tan color.
History – I just got her from a guy who obviously did not take care of her, I want to get her back to health and breed her with my employees Male that is healthy and good colored.
Current Problem – She seems to get really brown for periods of time but does go green when she is on the pothos, color is very bland, not to many markings come through, though she does have them, The vet gave her a fairly good bill of health except the skinny part.
 
skyedog said:
Just a quick question...is that Simple Green bottle the bottle you're using to mist the tank with?
Click to expand...

Haha, ya it is, I haven't had simple green in it for a long time, It has been a water bottle for months.
 
Goggles said:
Congrats on your chameleon!
First you mentioned a floor heater; you will not need this. A simple house bulb for heat should be enough, which also means you should not need the two heat lamps.
For the UV I think the hood you have holds a coil type UV bulb. You should lose this bulb immediately. I had a bad experience with the same type of bulb when I first got my veiled, he was closing his eyes all the time. Got rid of the coil type and went with the linear (long tube) and no problems since.
As was mentioned before the substrate should go too as it can cause impaction.

This is a great web site with some very knowledgeable people, so you have come to the right place, we have all made some mistakes along the way and learned from them. Hopefully you will use this site to learn what is best for your chams as I have.

Terry
Click to expand...

I don't use a coil type UV light, its a 48" flourescent from UVB 5.0 Repti-Glo
 
What would make a really good substrate? I am guessing that people don't plant their Live plants directly into the substrate, but put them in a pot and kinda dig it down into the substrate a bit. This is what I was doing, I probably am wrong, but, how else to keep the live plants alive.
 
How are you measuring your temperature?
I find it hard to believe that two heat lamps will only get you 78.
I have a 36" tall screen cage with just a 40watt house bulb for heat and it sits about 84.
Also the glass will hold the heat in more. You need an accurate temp reading.

Terry
 
hart8000 said:
What would make a really good substrate? I am guessing that people don't plant their plants directly into the substrate, but put them in a pot and kinda dig it down into the substrate a bit.
Click to expand...

The best substrate is NO SUBSTRATE.
I use paper towel. It is easy to take out and toss replace with new piece.
The substrate can grow mold and end up being very bad for your cham.
I know the paper towel dosn't look as good, but it is better for your cham.
 
Goggles said:
How are you measuring your temperature?
I find it hard to believe that two heat lamps will only get you 78.
I have a 36" tall screen cage with just a 40watt house bulb for heat and it sits about 84.
Also the glass will hold the heat in more. You need an accurate temp reading.

Terry
Click to expand...

Your probably right, I have just a strip guage right now, My laser guage will be here in a few weeks. My tank is in a shop that doesn't not have adequate heat, we get cold, I figure the extra heat might be good.
 
hart8000 said:
I don't use a coil type UV light, its a 48" flourescent from UVB 5.0 Repti-Glo
Click to expand...

If there is glass or plastic between the light and the chameleon, no UVB rays will pass through.
This is not an ideal environment for a veiled chameleon, Please do read the information available on the link previously posted : http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
A lot of work went into putting that site together and it has helped many people keep this species successfully.

-Brad
 
As far as glass fish tanks go i got my carm about 2 weeks ago and i am building his cage from the stuff i can buy at homedepot it is estimated to cost me around $150 for the hole thing and it is 36"X36"X72". That is coming up next weekend when i get payed but as of now i have him in a 25 Gal. Fish tank with paper towls taped around all the sides with non-toxic tape and i mounted a small office fan about 3 feet above the tank with a heat lamp and a UVB bulb on the top of the screen lid to the the tank and put it on low i let it run all day when the lights are on along with mistings but at night when i know the cage is dry i turn it off along with his day lights... but ya a small office fan will do about 10 or 15 inch. round ya know... it seems to do the job.;)
 
Brad Ramsey said:
If there is glass or plastic between the light and the chameleon, no UVB rays will pass through.
This is not an ideal environment for a veiled chameleon, Please do read the information available on the link previously posted : http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
A lot of work went into putting that site together and it has helped many people keep this species successfully.

-Brad
Click to expand...

Thanks, I just removed the lexan between the light
 
Ok, So I would probably be better off scrapping this tank and making a mesh/wire/wood cage? What would be a good size? And how do the live plants work there, just keep them in a pot and string them up? Is a feeder dish a good idea versus just putting the food on the ground? You guys have been awesome and all the help is much appreciated.
 
hart8000 said:
Ok, So I would probably be better off scrapping this tank and making a mesh/wire/wood cage? What would be a good size? And how do the live plants work there, just keep them in a pot and string them up? Is a feeder dish a good idea versus just putting the food on the ground? You guys have been awesome and all the help is much appreciated.
Click to expand...

I built my female veiled a cage. Here's the link if you'd like to take a look at it to get some ideas. https://www.chameleonforums.com/members/beeze-albums-making-aluminum-cage.html
 
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