Just got my first chameleon today!

AndrewWelch

AndrewWelch

New Member
Hi, my name is Andrew and for the past week I've really been wanting a chameleon, so yesterday I got my setup and today I finally got my first chameleon. I read everything there is needed to know online about how difficult and stouborn they are and can be, but I didn't worry because I want to do everything I can do to keep him happy.

His name is Jose' Quervo, I think 4 weeks old, and is being very shy hiding in his leaves at the top of his cage.
IMG_20111023_170512.jpg

When I first took him out of the box

IMG_20111023_175740.jpg

His cage setup. It's not great but I think its ok for a first time. I know glass cages aren't very good for them, but at the angle I put it and with the type of lamps there is no reflection from the inside so he cant see himself, just my room.

If anyone can give me some pro tips on how I can have him happy and healthy I would really appreciate it.

I already know the basics but I'd love some extra support.

Thanks, Andrew.
 
ok first of all you might want to try to avoid handling him for the first week or so, so he can adjust, and its ok if he is shy thats normal since you first got him, also make sure you are taking care of the feeders and gut loading them, for a really good gut loader try out this website called kilgourschameleons.com, hes very nice and intelligent, and has something called dino fuel (gut loader) that he makes himself. and when hes adjusted you can try and hand feed him so he'll be less shy and earn your trust. Also if he does start acting wierd, it might be because you have a glass aquarium, if i were you i would try and get a screen one because they like the constant airflow. And make sure he's in a nice quiet place where there is not a lot of people or noise.
 
WOLVERINES135 said:
ok first of all you might want to try to avoid handling him for the first week or so, so he can adjust, and its ok if he is shy thats normal since you first got him, also make sure you are taking care of the feeders and gut loading them, for a really good gut loader try out this website called kilgourschameleons.com, hes very nice and intelligent, and has something called dino fuel (gut loader) that he makes himself. and when hes adjusted you can try and hand feed him so he'll be less shy and earn you trust.
Click to expand...

Ill check that site out. The only reason why I had him in my hand is because I had to get him out of the petco box and into the cage, lol.

Right now were just feeding him regular crickets, and in a week or so were going to get mealworms.

The expert at the store told me about gut loading and told me about a powder kind of thing that you sprinkle on the food and it will give them good calcium levels and some other stuff, do you recommend I do this or take another approach at giving him the right nutritions?
 
WOLVERINES135 said:
ok first of all you might want to try to avoid handling him for the first week or so, so he can adjust, and its ok if he is shy thats normal since you first got him, also make sure you are taking care of the feeders and gut loading them, for a really good gut loader try out this website called kilgourschameleons.com, hes very nice and intelligent, and has something called dino fuel (gut loader) that he makes himself. and when hes adjusted you can try and hand feed him so he'll be less shy and earn your trust. Also if he does start acting wierd, it might be because you have a glass aquarium, if i were you i would try and get a screen one because they like the constant airflow.
Click to expand...

thats not an aquarium. when he gets older he will need a bigger cage. this is fine for now. substrate is usually not good becuz it will make soup due to all the mistings. heres a bog for new users- https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/okiroo/532-chameleon-basic-info.html


any qeustions feel free to PM me ^^ im super glad to help and if i dont know than other people here definitly will. welcome to chameleon forums!
 
AndrewWelch said:
Ill check that site out. The only reason why I had him in my hand is because I had to get him out of the petco box and into the cage, lol.

Right now were just feeding him regular crickets, and in a week or so were going to get mealworms.

The expert at the store told me about gut loading and told me about a powder kind of thing that you sprinkle on the food and it will give them good calcium levels and some other stuff, do you recommend I do this or take another approach at giving him the right nutritions?
Click to expand...

mealworms arnt good feeders nor are waxworms. they are treats :) there are other feeders sucha dubia roches that you can feed daily and gutload aswell. how i dust is in the link i gave you. you need to gutload and dust your feeders
 
AndrewWelch said:
Ill check that site out. The only reason why I had him in my hand is because I had to get him out of the petco box and into the cage, lol.

Right now were just feeding him regular crickets, and in a week or so were going to get mealworms.

The expert at the store told me about gut loading and told me about a powder kind of thing that you sprinkle on the food and it will give them good calcium levels and some other stuff, do you recommend I do this or take another approach at giving him the right nutritions?
Click to expand...

Yea, he was right, you need the calcium powders, make sure its phosphorous free, try to stay away from the brand name calcium powders though because they contain by products and what not, also check out a website called lllreptiles.com, they have stuff you can order and its called repcal ultra fine calcium with D3, and repcal herptivite supplement, those two things are what i use and they work great.
 
okiroo said:
mealworms arnt good feeders nor are waxworms. they are treats :) there are other feeders sucha dubia roches that you can feed daily and gutload aswell. how i dust is in the link i gave you. you need to gutload and dust your feeders
Click to expand...

What exactly do you meen by 'dust'? The store person said something about it but didn't really explain what it was.

And I realize that the cage is a bit to small for how its going to get, and I intend to get a much larger cage and move it over to my other dresser when it gets big enough.
 
Also,You will need 3 supplements of calcium. Calcium without d3 at every feeding, calcium with d3 twice a month or so and a multi vitamin to be used twice a month.
 
WOLVERINES135 said:
Yea, he was right, you need the calcium powders, make sure its phosphorous free, try to stay away from the brand name calcium powders though because they contain by products and what not, also check out a website called lllreptiles.com, they have stuff you can order and its called repcal ultra fine calcium with D3, and repcal herptivite supplement, those two things are what i use and they work great.
Click to expand...

Those are the powders they have at the store that I saw. He told me to powder them every 2 to 3 times I get food for him, should I do that or powder them every single time?
 
AndrewWelch said:
What exactly do you meen by 'dust'? The store person said something about it but didn't really explain what it was.

And I realize that the cage is a bit to small for how its going to get, and I intend to get a much larger cage and move it over to my other dresser when it gets big enough.
Click to expand...

i understand ^^ just makeing shure. my cage was even smaller when i first got a cham and looked just like that. lol. please read the link i gave you. by dust i mean you buy the powders that you need and use them on the right days that you decide

mine goes like this-
everyday=without d3
10th and 20th= multies and with d3

simple. all you do is lightly dust your crikets that your feeding that day with the powder your going to be useing. i use repcal. you can find this brand on LLL reptile. its one of our site sponcers.
 
AndrewWelch said:
Those are the powders they have at the store that I saw. He told me to powder them every 2 to 3 times I get food for him, should I do that or powder them every single time?
Click to expand...


Calcium without d3 at every feeding, calcium with d3 twice a month or so and a multi vitamin to be used twice a month. use the calcium without d3 at everyfeeding the one with d3 twice a month.
 
AndrewWelch said:
Those are the powders they have at the store that I saw. He told me to powder them every 2 to 3 times I get food for him, should I do that or powder them every single time?
Click to expand...

You dust the feeders with the one without d3 every feeding, you dust the feeders with the one that does have d3 twice a month. for example next month you could do the 15 and 25 or what ever other 2 days you wanted that month.
 
okiroo said:
i understand ^^ just makeing shure. my cage was even smaller when i first got a cham and looked just like that. lol. please read the link i gave you. by dust i mean you buy the powders that you need and use them on the right days that you decide

mine goes like this-
everyday=without d3
10th and 20th= multies and with d3

simple. all you do is lightly dust your crikets that your feeding that day with the powder your going to be useing. i use repcal. you can find this brand on LLL reptile. its one of our site sponcers.
Click to expand...

Sounds good.
I'll pick all this up in a day or so and start the dusting cycle with him.

Thanks for the help man, really appreciate it.
 
I'm not an expert on Veiled Chameleon growth rates, but I'd say he looks older than 4 weeks old. Maybe someone can give a better idea of how old he is.
 
AndrewWelch said:
Sounds good.
I'll pick all this up in a day or so and start the dusting cycle with him.

Thanks for the help man, really appreciate it.
Click to expand...

girl. np at all. and i agree. looks more like 2months to me(or more). any other ideas? they do grow at diffrent rates.

looks back at the pic diffrently older than 2 months. mabey closer to 4-5. im not shure its really hard to tell. are you shure of the sex?
 
okiroo said:
girl. np at all. and i agree. looks more like 2months to me(or more). any other ideas? they do grow at diffrent rates.

looks back at the pic diffrently older than 2 months. mabey closer to 4-5. im not shure its really hard to tell. are you shure of the sex?
Click to expand...

Uhm, I'm a guy, lol. No biggie.

Ill upload more pictures of him that I just took when he is relaxed in his cage so you can have a better look. And on the papers and everything it says it's male.
 
Here's some information I hope will help you with things like supplements, gutloading, etc....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.
 
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