Introducing my chameleon.

[jake01]

Here's my first cham.

enclosure and free roam plant

addtl pics

How's he looking to all you veteran cham owners? My main concern is he gets enough sunlight as well as shade when he wants to, since I have him outdoors in sunny Florida. Up to 90F during the day and around 83F at night. Two good friends of mine own panthers and one owns a full grown male veiled as well. All the animals did better outside versus in. Currently his cage his half sunlight, half shade, but I'm thinking about moving most of the cage into full shade...What would you veterens recommend? I can post more pics of my backyard if necessary.

In the last pic, I notice there's a blotch on his side that looks pretty dark...i believe he had this when i got him but not 100%. Is that a burn?

Thanks for viewing/commenting.

 

[MetalFox]

Hi welcome to the forums

I am no way a Vet, but I do know that they do prefer to by up higher possible on a stand or something, and I think if you have enough foliage that he will get the shade by going lower in the cage and when he needs it he can crawl up higher, but dont take my word on it hahah

I do know that water is a big deal, and also humidity, what is the humidity like there i am from texas so i am sure its not to different some days it rangers from 40 to 60% normally,

how old is he

 

[jake01]

it's actually on a table lol. if you look at the enclosure pic closely where the sun blur is, ull see a white water mister floating in the air, it's actually on the same table the cage is but due to the sun and angle of camera it's hard to tell. it's a male, and in a few months i'll be putting him in a larger cage (probably 2x2x4).

Humidity here is higher than Texas, high 60s-80s. South Florida is a tropical climate pretty close to what some species of chameleon would get in the wild. Of course during the winter he's going inside with proper heating and uv.

 

[laurie]

Hey Jake, welcome to the forum. I am sending all 3 of my adult veiled down to you for the summer. I like your cage and I love your chams getting outside sun & shade. It is either too hot or too cold most of the year here, (Montana), for my chams to be outside. As long as he has access to water and shade if he wants things should be great. Do you know what temp the bottom of his cage is in the shade? Do you just mist him or do you also have a dripper for him? A dripper located in the shade that drips most of the time you are gone would be good.

Now on the free range tree, make sure you are out with him ALL the time he is in the free range. You would not believe the number of people on this forum who have a cham go missing in no time flat. Most find them but some never locate a beloved pet. The tree is great and he is sure to love it.

You might want to fill out the” how to ask for help" on the health section of the forum. Then people can offer any hints we might have for tweaking your setup.

 

[Breeze]

Nice no diving sign haha

 

[jake01]

Hey Jake, welcome to the forum. I am sending all 3 of my adult veiled down to you for the summer. I like your cage and I love your chams getting outside sun & shade. It is either too hot or too cold most of the year here, (Montana), for my chams to be outside. As long as he has access to water and shade if he wants things should be great. Do you know what temp the bottom of his cage is in the shade? Do you just mist him or do you also have a dripper for him? A dripper located in the shade that drips most of the time you are gone would be good.

Now on the free range tree, make sure you are out with him ALL the time he is in the free range. You would not believe the number of people on this forum who have a cham go missing in no time flat. Most find them but some never locate a beloved pet. The tree is great and he is sure to love it.

You might want to fill out the” how to ask for help" on the health section of the forum. Then people can offer any hints we might have for tweaking your setup.

Yeah, South Florida is pretty good cham weather . Currently I don't have temp gauges. I mist every 3-4 hours starting off in the morning. If I have to start working full time again or be away from the house for any extended period I will get a misting system.

I had a close call with him the other day on the free range tree, and learned that lesson about constant supervision. I went in to use the toilet and when i came out to check on him he wasnt in the schefflera...panicking, i checked the plant to make sure he wasnt just hidden, then i notice something moving on the floor...sure enough there he was. Now I only put him on his tree when im going to be outside for 30 mins- 1 hour. Maybe down the road ill build a basic enclosure for the schefflera so i can feel more secure with him on it. Btw i'm pretty sure he did not fall, but climbed down and off the table, tho im not sure. i've never seen him fall before he moves slow and deliberate so my guess is he saw my other tree and was going for that, or possibly saw an insect...

Nice no diving sign haha

yeah don't laugh at me that was for a kids' camp i let use my pool. they had to set up safety regs for legal purposes. also no camp this summer so no worries about little brats stressing him

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

he looks good and so does his setup. Very nice backyard lol. I like how it looks like a jungle in his cage amazing. I would say for the brown thing on him its not a burn, all young veiled have them i think because my chameleon had it when she was little and out grew it. You should be fine and remember keep reading the forums for more advice this community gets bigger and better every day

 

[hallenhe]

I'd agree with CleaTheChameleon; the blotch on the side looks normal (unless I'm not seeing what I'm supposed to be, which is possible). The top picture seems to show a matching on one the other side; I think it's just part of his inherent patterning.

 

[jake01]

figured it wasn't a big deal, just wanted to make sure.

when i came home from work today and approached the cage he came to the front of the cage and centered both eyes on me, waiting for his food cup haha. I handled him a bit letting him bask in my hand, but when it came time for him to go back in the cage he scurried up my arm and sat on my shoulder. he didn't want to go back in . Like an idiot i lowered my shoulder to the cage and he slid off and had a short fall into his cage. I felt horrible since i like to end the handling sessions with a positive. this incident probably set me back a few days at least. The fall was only 8 inches or so, but i observed him afterwards and fed him, movement looked straight and normal.

agreed that these forums are the best. Before purchasing I did some research and borrowed a cham book from a friend, but i'm very glad i found these forums, especially to purchase a panther down the road . Plus these forums clear up alot of misinformation/ all too common bad advice from pet store owners.

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

Glad you dont need to worry about it anymore

 

[jake01]

I worry about burns but I think my set up now is almost perfect. He has direct sunlight in 30-60% of his cage depending on if hes at the front or back, and the rest is shade. Free roam tree is 100% in the sun he loves to bask on top then go down to the middle under the umbrellas for some shade.

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

Your on your way to chameleon keeper success

 

[Sang]

I noticed you used celsius for your temp descriptions...

90C outside? and 83C at night?


that sounds pretty brutal, i think you meant Farenheit? anyways he looks good more drop in temps at night would be ideal.

 

[jake01]

Did I? Yeah I meant F, fixed.

Thought about taking him inside at night for more of a temp drop.