Just add Veiled Chameleon

[Scphishkid77]

I believe my enclosure is complete & ready for a tenant! 36” reptibreeze as I plan on a baby veiled cham, deep dual comb lamp w/ UVB & 100 watt basking bulb, monsoon multi mister (running 2 misters 12 hrs intervals for 20 seconds)! Digital thermometer & humidity gauge! I believe I just need more growth & coverage from my 2 live plants (pothos & umbrella plant). Any suggestions?

 

[Syreptyon]

A couple. First of all, 20 seconds of misting is pretty much the equivalent of no misting at all. You are going to want to decrease the number of times you mist per day, but increase the duration of each one to at least 2 minutes (it takes, on average, 2 minutes or more to stimulate a chameleon to drink).

Based on your lights, I'm guessing you bought the chameleon kit (which is unfortunately not very good other than the cage itself). I highly recommend you replace your UVB bulb with a linear model. The compact ones are no good, they are terrible at distributing UVB and can cause eye problems.

What's your basking temp? I would worry that the 100W may be too hot for a young cham. I also think you would benefit from adding even more foliage, as what you have is still fairly sparse and will not provide enough places for your to-be cham to hide

 

[Scphishkid77]

Excellent, thanks for the pointers. Thats why I asked, b/c I want to take my time to get it right. I know I need more foliage. Will adjust light situation as soon as I can & i purchased a different UVB bulb than was provided. My basking temp is at 85 degrees as I have created a basking perch about 8 inches away from the top of the screen.

 

[Carlton]

Agree that a 100 watt bulb is probably too hot for a young cham, especially in a hood. The heat can't dissipate off the top of the cage as well. Safer to start off lower watt and work up if necessary. Little chams overheat and dehydrate faster than adults. You don't need a fancy herp basking bulb...a small incandescent light from the local hardware store for example. All the basking spot needs to produce is heat. Any incandescent bulb will do that. Also agree about the UV bulb. Linear fluorescents illuminate more of the habitat. Don't like those "deep dome" style fixtures...they restrict your lighting options too much. You'll end up with a couple of bright spots at the top of the cage and the rest of it will be dim....the cham is less likely to use it and your plants may suffer as well.

 

[lostinspace23]

Agree that a 100 watt bulb is probably too hot for a young cham, especially in a hood. The heat can't dissipate off the top of the cage as well. Safer to start off lower watt and work up if necessary. Little chams overheat and dehydrate faster than adults. You don't need a fancy herp basking bulb...a small incandescent light from the local hardware store for example. All the basking spot needs to produce is heat. Any incandescent bulb will do that. Also agree about the UV bulb. Linear fluorescents illuminate more of the habitat. Don't like those "deep dome" style fixtures...they restrict your lighting options too much. You'll end up with a couple of bright spots at the top of the cage and the rest of it will be dim....the cham is less likely to use it and your plants may suffer as well.

What would you recommend to use for a Linear fluorescent