Intro New Cham

[Kaylaaabrown]

Hello!

I recently bought my husband his first veiled chameleon. It will be a week tomorrow and we have been doing a lot of research to make sure we're taking care of him properly. I'm now realizing the pet store set us up for failure and (thankfully) we are researching everything and got rid of the substrate and waterfall the pet store so kindly recommended to us.. Anyhow we were told he was about 5 months but I'm thinking he's pretty young. We live in Colorado and it's been dry and cold so the humidity has been difficult to maintain. He's got a metal mesh cage and we have an automatic misting system we just purchased today. He was in our bedroom but it's a large room and the humidity was too difficult for me to sleep in. (We managed to get it up to 85 with a temp of 81!) We decided he would be happier in a more secluded area and have a large guest bathroom I thought to be perfect. The only issue is that is does not have any windows. He does have his uvb bulb and basking bulb and we keep the bathroom light on when his lights are on (he is on a 12 on 12 off schedule) will he be okay without a window? I don't really have any other rooms where he would be safe from our kids and other animals aside from our bedroom. We are also curious how long he should be getting his misting and in what type of intervals. He eats A LOT! We've been stopping him at 10 small crickets a day and have been mixing in mealworms as well. He's getting calcium dusting and vitamins with his food as well once a week from what I understand is best. He seems to be drinking and overall pretty happy. He's still a little skiddish around us but will eat from our hand. I'm looking forward to being part of this forum and want to make sure we're doing everything correctly! Thanks!!

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled, male not sure of age but I'd guess maybe 4 months. We've had him a week tomorrow.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Not at all yet, we took him our of his cage today to clean but used a fake vine.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? He is eating crickets and mealworms. Approximately 10/day of crickets and only 1/2 mealworms as snacks. He gets fed about an hour after his light comes on in the am.Gutloading at first with only potatoes as the pet store said would be fine but we're going to buy kale and sweet potatoes instead. (Recommendations??)
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I have the calcium and vitamin dust samples that came with the kit I purchased at the pet store (I can get the specific brand name tomorrow)
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? We had a dripper and were hand misting but just purchased an automatic mist system today. To test it we just did 4 minute intervals every 4 hours and shut it off for the night. I have seen him drink but sometimes he seems to run from the water.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? He has Brown droppings with white at the end. No he has not been tested as far as I know (we bought him at petsmart)
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. The only previous info we received is that he would eat a lot at the pet store.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? I've got a screen enclosure 16x16x30
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? I've got a 5.0 reprisun uvb 13w and 60w daylight blue lamp (came with the kit at the pet store)
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking spot is about 84 mid cage is usually around 78-80 and cage floor doesn't get below 71. His over night temo has dropped to 65 in the beginning but we've kept it above 70. We have a thermometer that came with my kit but I'd like to get two additional with a better accurate reading for the tol and bottom of his cage.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity has been a bit all over. It's typically in the 50/60 range. It's dropped as low as 20 the first day we left him at home before the automatic misting system was purchased but now we're usually a steady 50-60. I purchased a humidity gauge. We actually have been using a humidifier in the room to maintain humidity and I wanted to make sure that was okay. The misting system also has been helping.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? No live plants yet, but I'm going to purchase at least one or two from the local nursery.
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 in our guest bathroom. There is one fan vent that is in a typical bathroom. Not high traffic, we don't get much company and want a room dedicated just for our Cham. The top of the cage is about 45 inches from the floor.
Location - Where are you geographically located? Western Colorado

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. No specific problems, I'm just making sure we are taking all the correct measures to kepp him safe, healthy happy and comfortable.

Thank you all!!

Pictures are helpful

 

[bobcochran]

Welcome to the chameleon forum. You've already made a great start-we love pictures!! Your calyptratus looks good. It sounds like your supplementation schedule needs some adjusting: calcium without D3 should be everyday, calcium with d3 and vitamin supplements twice a month. For the whole picture go to the top of this page and click on the RESOURCES tap, there you will find care sheets for your veiled cham. If after reading through that you still have questions just ask. T here are a ton of people here with a wealth of information.

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

Thank you! I have been looking through the resource tabs this morning and found it very helpful! I was just discussing with my husband about needing to adjust our supplements. I'll probably have plenty of questions along the way so it's nice having all these additional resources to guide us in our way!

Looking forward to it!

 

[brownie64]

Hello, and welcome to the forum! I would guess him to be between 3-4 months,
He is ok without a window, any sun that came through a window wouldn't be beneficial to him really because UVB doesn't pass through glass.
You should gut load your feeders with turnip greens, dandelion greens, mustard greens, carrots, bee pollen, butternut squash, various fruits, and a good commercial dry mix like cricket crack, or bug burger.
The humidifier is fine if you need it to maintain the humidity, I use a cool mist humidifier, and pump it directly into their enclosure.
When they are young they will eat a lot just let him have about 10-13 crickets a day, and after he reaches about 8 months you will want to slow it down to every other day.
The UVB bulb you have now will be ok, but when it comes time to replace it in about 6 months I would suggest you get a linier tub type it distributes the UVB much better.
When he gets to about 8 months you will want to get him a larger home one that is 2'W - 2'D - 4'H.
I would only feed him mill worms as a treat, not recommended as a staple. (IE every day) Try to give him a variety like supper worms, silk worms, horn worms, ext.
You supplementation should be calcium with d3 twice a month, multivitamins twice a month, and calcium without d3 every other feeding.
Your misting schedule is dependent on you chams humidity, and drinking needs. Sometimes a dripper is also required for proper hydration that too depends on you cham.
It is ok if your temps drop down in the 60s like that, they actually prefer a cool down at night.
If I forgot anything I'm sure someone will chime in to address it. Good luck.

One more thing are you sure he is a he. Some of the husbandry requirements are different between them. If you are not sure can we see a pick of the very back of the hind feet. If he is indeed a he there should be little spurs.

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

Hello, and welcome to the forum! I would guess him to be between 3-4 months,
He is ok without a window, any sun that came through a window wouldn't be beneficial to him really because UVB doesn't pass through glass.
You should gut load your feeders with turnip greens, dandelion greens, mustard greens, carrots, bee pollen, butternut squash, various fruits, and a good commercial dry mix like cricket crack, or bug burger.
The humidifier is fine if you need it to maintain the humidity, I use a cool mist humidifier, and pump it directly into their enclosure.
When they are young they will eat a lot just let him have about 10-13 crickets a day, and after he reaches about 8 months you will want to slow it down to every other day.
The UVB bulb you have now will be ok, but when it comes time to replace it in about 6 months I would suggest you get a linier tub type it distributes the UVB much better.
When he gets to about 8 months you will want to get him a larger home one that is 2'W - 2'D - 4'H.
I would only feed him mill worms as a treat, not recommended as a staple. (IE every day) Try to give him a variety like supper worms, silk worms, horn worms, ext.
You supplementation should be calcium with d3 twice a month, multivitamins twice a month, and calcium without d3 every other feeding.
Your misting schedule is dependent on you chams humidity, and drinking needs. Sometimes a dripper is also required for proper hydration that too depends on you cham.
It is ok if your temps drop down in the 60s like that, they actually prefer a cool down at night.
If I forgot anything I'm sure someone will chime in to address it. Good luck.

One more thing are you sure he is a he. Some of the husbandry requirements are different between them. If you are not sure can we see a pick of the very back of the hind feet. If he is indeed a he there should be little spurs.

Thanks I appreciate all advice! My husband plans to make a larger cage before he outgrows this one. I'll post a pic just in case to make sure he is a he. Where would be the best place to purchase superworms, hornworms etc. ? I don't think I saw any at our local Petco.

 

[brownie64]

You can get them off line, but I would check your pets store they usually carry Supper worms. If you have any mom, pop pet stores around there might be a better chance of getting what you need. We find PetSmart isn't too knowledgeable when it comes to chameleons, or just don't care I'm sorry to say.

 

[Gwendalyn.brock]

Pet smart and Petco usually have a variety of superworms, waxworks, crickets, mealworms and what you cannot find should be available at smaller petstores or online. There are suppliers on this site that sell different food varieties as well.

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

I have definitely found the pet store was not very helpful in what we needed for our Cham. I'll take a closer look around town to see if I can purchase them locally first.

Thanks!

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

Here's a close up of his back foot.

 

[brownie64]

Yah, not seeing the spurs. I think you might have a girl there. can we get a closer shot?

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

If I do have a female, I'll definitely need some help with her laying box!

 

[brownie64]

You definitely have a female.

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

Oh wow! That's a game changer! I'm glad we found out now! When will she need a laying box?

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

So we bought waxworms and superworms today. My husband didn't look at the worms before he brought them home but the superworms are HUGE. Definitely larger than the length of her head. Should we cut them in half? Will she even want it if we do that?

Also, should her cage be misted at night? We've been only misting during the day for fear of disturbing her sleep.

We got her calcium with D3. The calcium we already had did not have D3. So to my under a we need to give her the calcium with D3 and the vitamins twice a month and calcium without D3 every other feeding, correct? I was looking at those chameleon calendars! Might be a good idea to order one and set up her vitamin and calcium feeding schedule to stay on track! not to mention a nice addition to her room - this might be an odd question but it just crossed my mind. If she sees a picture of a chameleon like on the calendar, could that upset her at all?

 

[brownie64]

When she reaches about 6 months she has reached sexual maturity. Yah unless you can get juvenile suppers you'll probably have to wait until she gets a little older. There length isn't what you worry about on the worms it's how fat they are. If you were to cut them in half I think it would kill them, and I have yet to have a cham eat something that wasn't wiggling not saying it's impossible just saying haven't seen it. The wax worms should only be given as a treat, or to fatten her up. they are way too fatty to be a staple insect. I hope I have answered your questions. Sorry it took me so long to get back with you was a church.

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

Thank you! I can see her ribs a little so I thought she might need a little more fat. She eats well though. 10-12 a day. We definitely will hold off on the supers until she's older.

Thank you!

 

[brownie64]

You might want to keep an eye on her at around 5 months sometimes they can produce eggs a little early. If it were me I would have her laying ben set-up at four and a half months just to be sure, because as you probably know she will lay eggs even without mating. Here is a video on haw to set that up just put it in her enclosure with her.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Thank you! I can see her ribs a little so I thought she might need a little more fat. She eats well though. 10-12 a day. We definitely will hold off on the supers until she's older.

Thank you!

Congratulations on your new baby! Veileds are pretty tough once they get established. They are from the south west of the Arabian Peninsula, so have in their natural habitat have to deal with a variety of extreme temperatures from freezing to well over 100F. That's not to say those are optimum temps, but that they are pretty flexible about what conditions they can survive in.

Juveniles are eating machines. At this point, I suggest you give her all the food she wants, but as she approaches maturity really cut down on her food intake. Female veileds are known to lay a lot of eggs and it takes a lot out of them, shortening their lives. Chameleons in general change their shape a lot--one minute they are fat and round and the next they've shape shifted into a skinny little quivering leaf. It is hard for a novice to get a handle of how fat they really are as even fat ones tend to look pretty skinny a lot of the time.

Getting a variety of feeders for a single chameleon can be problematic. Maybe there is a local reptile society/club where you can meet people who might be willing to trade you a few insects. Besides crickets, Dubia roaches are a good staple. I love silk worms, but ordering for a single chameleon gets a bit pricey. You can always look at ordering silk worm eggs that are shipped chilled and keep them in the fridge, only hatching a small number every month. Or just hatch the whole 500 out and try to trade/sell them through a reptile shop.

Look at the Arcadia lights at Light Your Reptiles, one of the site sponsors. Arcadia lights are the best and throw a lot more UVB AND just plain light than any of the other manufacturers' bulbs do. I use 12%.