Im new to this whole thing and....

ludafiveforty

New Member
i bought a Chameleon on the 31st and i got a tank the dirt and a vine and a light. im not sure how to set up the light or how long to put it on for. could someone give me some tips for what i have for right now. im gonna buy way more stuff asap but right now thats all i could afford. i spent $121.00 for everything i have now and im hoping to spend atleast 100 more for this lil guy.

any info would help me about the stuff i have right now! Thanks :confused:
 
what kind oc cham is it?
firstly you don't need dirt(assuming you ment for the bottom). it is a source for batcterail growth. it is best to just put paper towels down at the bottom.
you can make a dripper your self. however you will need vines and or live plants for it to drip on.
what kind of light? do you have a baksing light as well?
 
Please read through everything on The Chameleon's Dish.
It is a great introduction to everything you need to know about setting up and caring for your cham. And it has a lot of explanatory photos too that make things easier to understand.

Please be aware that since you have already obtained the chameleon BEFORE doing research about how to look after it, you are already behind the game, so to speak.
So you're going to have to put in extra effort now to make sure you learn everything you need to know to care properly for your cham.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.
If you have any further questions, please provide more information about exactly what chameleon you have and the exact nature of your equipment. Pictures are always welcome.
 
Did you get a glass tank or a screened cage? This is important to know before you get your chameleon.
 
i believe its a veiled chameleon. i bought the stuff you put in the water and it expands for soil.. dirt or whatever you call it lol. umm i have glass tank with vines in it to climb in. i have a 75 watt sun glo daylight spot light but i dont have a lamp for an over shot of the tank so i have it pointing thru the side. i wonder if thats bad. o dont have a basking light unless that is one.
 
Your current setup is woefully inadequate.

Like I said earlier, you MUST read through that site I recommended, and then get cracking at setting up a proper cage.

Your SunGlo bulb IS a basking bulb, but if it is on the side of the cage (which isn't the most ideal arrangement) make sure that your cham can't get too close to it otherwise it will burn itself.

You don't have any UVB bulb! This is critical. Without a UV lamp, your cham won't be able to synthesise vitamin D3, and thus won't be able to draw up calcium into its bones. Without this, the cham will wither and die from Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) within a few months. You need to get a tube flourescent UV bulb like the Zoomed ReptiSun 5.0 bulb.

Veiled chameleons don't need any sort of substrate (dirt or otherwise) since they live in trees and hardly ever descend to the ground. Do you have live plants in the cage with plenty of foliage for him to hide in?

How are you watering him? Do you give him at least two lengthy (15 minutes)misting sessions per day? Do you have a dripper system set up to provide him with water?

What are you feeding him? Are you gutloading the insects you feed him properly?

If any of these questions are raising other questions in your own head (like 'what is gutloading?', 'what is misting?') then you haven't read up enough about keeping your cham.

Although the members on these forums can provide tons of advice, there is plenty of knowledge you can obtain without waiting for answers on here. Get cracking, your cham needs you...
 
well im gonna buy all that stuff next week so i dont think it will be that bad.
i mist him and mist the plants so he can drink some water off of it but other than that what i have right now is just a setup for a week. then imma get crackin with all the high tech stuff.. i was just wondering if what i have so far will kill him within a few days. im feeding him crickets that petsmart gave me and thats about it.
 
well im gonna buy all that stuff next week so i dont think it will be that bad.
i mist him and mist the plants so he can drink some water off of it but other than that what i have right now is just a setup for a week. then imma get crackin with all the high tech stuff.. i was just wondering if what i have so far will kill him within a few days. im feeding him crickets that petsmart gave me and thats about it.

The only things I can think of that would kill him in a few days would be if you cook him in the tank due to high temps, or if you have substrate on the bottom of the tank and he accidentally injests some while shooting for a bug.
 
i have no idea what substrate is but all i have on the bottom of the tank is that 20 min expanding soil stuff. thats it =) but im glad to know that. imma get the other stuff next week asap! i want this succka to grow to its full 14 inches =)
 
i have no idea what substrate is but all i have on the bottom of the tank is that 20 min expanding soil stuff. thats it =) but im glad to know that. imma get the other stuff next week asap! i want this succka to grow to its full 14 inches =)

Substrate is anything that is used to cover the bottom of a reptile's enclosure. I would remove the soil stuff from the bottom of the cage (just to be on the safe side). A clear cage bottom is fine for chameleons. If you want to cover the bottom with something I would recommend paper towels.

By the way, congratulations on your new arrival. It is very exciting and I look forward to seeing your future posts AND PHOTOS :).

Also, here is an excellent website all about veiled chameleons. It was created by a senior member of this forum:
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
 
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