Just bought an adult veiled chameleon

[Lindasjackson]

Congrats on your boy! Those temp readers aren’t reliable. You need a temp/hygrometer, actually about three of them. At least one should have a wired probe that you can attach to his basking branch. Then put the others at different levels of his cage. There’s one by Govee that is awesome because it pairs with your phone and you can check temp and humidity by just going to the govee app on your phone.

 

[Lindasjackson]

His basking temp should be around 80 and then the temp should get lower as you go down his cage. The humidity should be between 30%-50% during the day and then go up to 80% or higher at night.

 

[CasqueAbove]

Cage Info:
Cage Type - it is a screen cage, 24"x 18"x 36"
Lighting - zoomed daylight blue and a 5.0 uvb
Temperature - don't have a temp gauge yet so not sure
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - tall slipper plants and yes they are live
Placement - cage is in my room on the floor not by vents I have a fan but I turn it off during the day
Location - I'm in phoenix arizona

So you will want to read up.
First Check you heat!!! Don't set the lamp on the screen he will get burned and I do not want to see any more misshapen chams due to burns. Make sure you can keep your hand on the screen under the bulb without it burning. Then he is safe.

Next is food and supplements, stick to roaches and/or crickets with other insects in moderation. Don't over feed. An adult male is good with 5 to 6 lg cricket sized insects 3 times a week. Other wise they get fat and this causes health problems. Supplements calcium WITHOUT D3 every feeding but one a week, that day use a multi vitamin with D3. Very light dusting

Third is your UVB You need T5HO if you have the coil type it will not produce UVB deep enough to be effective for a cham sized cage. This is important to get right sooner than later.

Finally you cage is very small for a Veiled. 24x24x48 is minimum suggested, but if you can 36x30x48 is better. Males like to move around.

There is more of course. So as you read and learn you can ask more details

 

[CasqueAbove]

Congrats on your boy! Those temp readers aren’t reliable. You need a temp/hygrometer, actually about three of them. At least one should have a wired probe that you can attach to his basking branch. Then put the others at different levels of his cage. There’s one by Govee that is awesome because it pairs with your phone and you can check temp and humidity by just going to the govee app on your phone.

Govee is great. Affordable and reliable. Just had one die, out of 8 after 2 years, and I am not nice to them, they get wet. Had one soaked, dried it out and it still worked.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Casque above is right! When you get his new uvb make sure you get a long linear bulb at least as wide as your cage and make sure it is a T5HO fixture with either a reptisun 5.0 or an Arcadia 6% bulb. The reptisun bulb needs to be changed out every 6 months but an Arcadia bulb is good for one year.

 

[Lindasjackson]

They sell the govee temp/hygrometer gages on Amazon for around 11 or 12 dollars.

 

[Newveiledowner]

So you will want to read up.
First Check you heat!!! Don't set the lamp on the screen he will get burned and I do not want to see any more misshapen chams due to burns. Make sure you can keep your hand on the screen under the bulb without it burning. Then he is safe.

Next is food and supplements, stick to roaches and/or crickets with other insects in moderation. Don't over feed. An adult male is good with 5 to 6 lg cricket sized insects 3 times a week. Other wise they get fat and this causes health problems. Supplements calcium WITHOUT D3 every feeding but one a week, that day use a multi vitamin with D3. Very light dusting

Third is your UVB You need T5HO if you have the coil type it will not produce UVB deep enough to be effective for a cham sized cage. This is important to get right sooner than later.

Finally you cage is very small for a Veiled. 24x24x48 is minimum suggested, but if you can 36x30x48 is better. Males like to move around.

There is more of course. So as you read and learn you can ask more details

I have the light hanging and I can touch the actual fixture it's in without burning my self I feel like the bulb they sold me doesn't get hot enough

 

[Newveiledowner]

Casque above is right! When you get his new uvb make sure you get a long linear bulb at least as wide as your cage and make sure it is a T5HO fixture with either a reptisun 5.0 or an Arcadia 6% bulb. The reptisun bulb needs to be changed out every 6 months but an Arcadia bulb is good for one year.

Do you guys know where I can get one of these lights? I attached a picture of what I am using now don't think they are sufficient I think the store that sold me all these things underestimated his size

 

[Lindasjackson]

Usually Amazon or on the Arcadia or reptisun websites I think. I know other members know good websites to get them from. I wish they’d chime in here. I got my Arcadia T5HO fixture on Amazon and it came with the 6% bulb in it.

 

[Newveiledowner]

Usually Amazon or on the Arcadia or reptisun websites I think. I know other members know good websites to get them from. I wish they’d chime in here. I got my Arcadia T5HO fixture on Amazon and it came with the 6% bulb in it.

I also have another question about water the misters they sold me are crap the first one I bought was defective so I went and they traded it out for another one and it does the same thing what do you recommend for water him?

 

[sergeantapone]

Cage is about 75f all the way around is that bad? Gets to about 72-70 at the bottom I checked this using a laser temp reader

Problem with laser kind is they take surface temp and the air temp is what's important and can be many degrees warmer than the surface you're shooting. You need a way to read air temp where your chameleon sits nearest the heat lamp, and need to make sure it doesnt exceed 85. Another sign the chameleon is overheating is he will sit with his mouth open, you need to make an adjustment very quickly if he is doing this!

 

[Lindasjackson]

That blue bulb I wouldn’t use at all. Chams eyes are very sensitive to colored lights. Just a white incandescent bulb or halogen bulb of about 60 watts is all you need. As for misting, I and most of us on the forum use mistking. It is a misting system that has a timer that you can set to go off at certain times and for how long you want it to mist for.

 

[Newveiledowner]

Problem with laser kind is they take surface temp and the air temp is what's important and can be many degrees warmer than the surface you're shooting. You need a way to read air temp where your chameleon sits nearest the heat lamp, and need to make sure it doesnt exceed 85. Another sign the chameleon is overheating is he will sit with his mouth open, you need to make an adjustment very quickly if he is doing this!

He hasn't opened his mouth. He just sits under the light

 

[Newveiledowner]

That blue bulb I wouldn’t use at all. Chams eyes are very sensitive to colored lights. Just a white incandescent bulb or halogen bulb of about 60 watts is all you need. As for misting, I and most of us on the forum use mistking. It is a misting system that has a timer that you can set to go off at certain times and for how long you want it to mist for.

Okay I'm going to go to the reptile store today and see if they have the mist king

 

[Newveiledowner]

Problem with laser kind is they take surface temp and the air temp is what's important and can be many degrees warmer than the surface you're shooting. You need a way to read air temp where your chameleon sits nearest the heat lamp, and need to make sure it doesnt exceed 85. Another sign the chameleon is overheating is he will sit with his mouth open, you need to make an adjustment very quickly if he is doing this!

Is the plant I have in there okay? It has milky sap when the branches break and I read up that that could cause problems. Do you recommend plants?

 

[Lindasjackson]

I have a ficus benjamina also known as a weeping fig in my enclosure but you can also use an umbrella plant or a mass cane or dracaena I’m not sure of my spelling on that one. There are many plants you can use. There’s a safe plants list on the site chameleonacademy.com. I wouldn’t use the plant you have in there because of the sap and veileds love to munch on their plants so I’d take that one out right away in case it would make him sick.
https://chameleonacademy.com/

 

[CasqueAbove]

OK If I got it all your heat bulb is 25w ? that would be too cool. You don't need a special bulb, but usually 50 to 60 watt is good. If you have a good reptile store they may have the items you want, but if it is the one you already went to the probably don't.

The T5HO you will need to get online, they can be tricky to find. Places sell out fast. So just google T5HO UVB 5.0 6% bulb and you will get what is available. Make sure it says T5. arcadia prot5 uvb kit 24 with bulb is a good buy if you can find it. Make sure 65 or 5.0, If you go with higher you need to raise the bulb about 8 inches above your cage.

Go to Amazon for Govee and mist king. You will find better deals. Don't spend over $150 tops for mist king

So I guessed wrong on hot, that is just most common. You are a bit on the cool end, which is better than hot. Your ambient is probably fine, with increased basking it will balance. Remember also you only run basking light for an hour or so in the morning and night.

 

[Newveiledowner]

I have a ficus benjamina also known as a weeping fig in my enclosure but you can also use an umbrella plant or a mass cane or dracaena I’m not sure of my spelling on that one. There are many plants you can use. There’s a safe plants list on the site chameleonacademy.com. I wouldn’t use the plant you have in there because of the sap and veileds love to munch on their plants so I’d take that one out right away in case it would make him sick.
https://chameleonacademy.com/

Okay I will take it out asap

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome! You’re getting all sorts of great info and I love your eagerness to learn and make everything perfect for your guy. You may want to write down some of it to help keep it clear.
Along with @CasqueAbove awesome site to learn, you could also check out https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/ and Neptune the chameleon on YouTube.
This is a great uvb light to get. https://www.pangeareptile.com/collections/t5-lighting/products/arcadia-prot5-6-uvb-bulb-with-hood
After problems with them, I said I’d never recommend them, but https://www.reptilesupplyco.com/ does have Mist King at a good price, along with some other needed items, also at good prices. I would just say to keep on top of them if they send you the wrong items.

 

[kinyonga]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - veiled, male I believe, today would be 3rd day.
Handling - only handling was putting in him in his cage.
Feeding - first day I fed him horn worms and the second day I fed him about 6 crickets no gut loading first day was in the afternoon and second day was at night big mistake from what I've found out.
FEEDING THE INSECTS WELL AND GUTLOADING THEM IS IMPORTANT. HEALTHY INSECTSWILL HELP THE CHAMELEON BE HEALTHY.
Supplements - no supplements. Any recommendations?
YOU NEED A PHOS FREE CALCIUM POWDER TO DUST ON THE INSECTS AT SLL FEEDINGS BUT ONE A WEEK. ON THAT ONE YOU SHOULD ALTERNATE BETWEEN A PHOS FREE CALCIUM/D3 POWDERAND A VITAMIN POWDER WITH A PREFORMED SOURCE OF VITAMIN A AND NO D3 IN IT. ALL DUSTINGS SHOULD BE DONE LIGHTLY.
Watering - Was misting for 15secs every 3hrs. Haven't seen him drinking l. THATS NOT LONG ENOUGH AT EACH SESSION. YOU COULD ADD A DRIPPER AS WELL..IT SHOULD DRIP AT THE RATE IF ONE OR TWO DROPS PER SECOND. A DELICUP WITH A TINY HOLE IN THE BOTTOM WORKS WELL.
Fecal Description - haven't seen any and hasn't been tested for parasites
History - the pet store had no info about him at all.
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Cage Info:
Cage Type - it is a screen cage, 24"x 18"x 36"
Lighting - zoomed daylight blue and a 5.0 uvb
Temperature - don't have a temp gauge yet so not sure
THE BASKING TEMPERATURE SHOULD BE IN THE LOW 80'sF. NO HEAT IS NEEDED AT NIGHT UNLESS THE CAGE GETS BELOW 50F.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? YOU SHOULD KNOW YOUR HUMIDITY LEVELS TOO.
Plants - tall slipper plants and yes they are live
Placement - cage is in my room on the floor not by vents I have a fan but I turn it off during the day. I WOULD RAISE THE CAGE UP HIGHER.
Location - I'm in phoenix arizona
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