Just looking for some extra pointers!!

[Audreybaby]

Hello, I have 2 chameleons one Jackson and one veiled. I got the Jackson (Liz) from petco 2 months ago & she seems to be doing fine. They were unsure of her ago but from my knowledge she’s around 6 months. She eats medium crickets and mealworms. My veiled chameleon (big poppa) I bought of a lady who could no longer take care of him, he started his shedding process. He’s seems fine and healthy. Only concern is he’s not drinking water. I always leave him water dripping often through out the day as well as misting his cage frequently. He eats large crickets, super worms, and collard greens.
My questions are:
What could I be doing better for their health and happiness?!
What are some other food they can eat and are safe??
Any extra info or pointers would be appreciated.

 

[kinyonga]

Why not answer the questions in the how to ask for help thread near the top of the health forum so we can check on your husbandry?

 

[Rhea’s mum]

Ok so 2 things I can see straight away. More plants for coverage and you need the correct UVB ASAP. The coil bulbs that fit into the dual dome are incorrect and don't give out sufficient UVB for Chams.

You need a linear T5HO fixture with either a 6% arcadia bulb or a 5.0 Reptisun. It needs to be the length of the top of the cage with the closest branch around 9" (if I remember correctly) away from it.

With the Jacksons being from petco, from reading lots of previous posts, expect babies.

To be able to get more info please fill out the help form.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• 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?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome! We would love to help you get everything just right for your beauties. Unfortunately, I see several things that need to be corrected. It’s not always easy trying to figure out the correct care for chameleons, as there is so very much misinformation out there. Many of us have fallen victim to that and bad advice from pet stores. So, with all of that being said, if you answer the questions above we can help you get everything fixed up and perfect. Just a quick word of caution though, don’t buy anymore fake plants. You’ll need live plants - pothos and philodendron are awesome for chameleons and would be a great start. Btw, very happy that you’re here.

 

[Audreybaby]

Hi and welcome! We would love to help you get everything just right for your beauties. Unfortunately, I see several things that need to be corrected. It’s not always easy trying to figure out the correct care for chameleons, as there is so very much misinformation out there. Many of us have fallen victim to that and bad advice from pet stores. So, with all of that being said, if you answer the questions above we can help you get everything fixed up and perfect. Just a quick word of caution though, don’t buy anymore fake plants. You’ll need live plants - pothos and philodendron are awesome for chameleons and would be a great start. Btw, very happy that you’re here.

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?Liz: Jackson chameleon, I believe she is around 6 months. Female. I’ve had her about 2 months. Big poppa: Veiled chameleon. Male. Not sure on age. Had him for roughly a month.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I am still working on handling them physically, however I do tong feed them to build connection. That seems to be going well for both!
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Liz: Medium sized crickets & mealworms. I do about 15 every other day and switch the calcium with and without D3 each feeding (for both) Big poppa: Large sized crickets, meal worms and collard greens. And he gets about 20. For the crickets I am using a guy loading supplement from petco. I just buy a bag dust them and throw them in the cage, and pick out all the dead ones. & add the gut loading supplement in the cage in a small container.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? For gut loading: Flukers cricket quencher calcium fortified. Supplement: Zoo Med Repti calcium with D3 & without D3.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I use a drip system for both, running it for about 5 minutes through out the day and must their cages frequently. I see Liz drink everytime I run the water or mist the cage sometimes she ignores it. But I’ve only seen Big poppa drink a couple times. He gets nervous when I watch him, it feels like.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Neither of them have been tested for parasites in my care. But their dropping have stayed the same color, brownish, yellowish.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Liz not so much, I got her around 2 months ago from petco. She has gotten a lot bigger and chunky. From what I know about big poppa his previous owner had him for about a year, got him from petco as well for her 8 year old. And hasn’t been able to give him enough attention. He’s super chill, and he eats his food pretty well.

• Cage Info:
• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? They both have screen 18x18x36
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? They both have the same lighting I’ll add a picture cause I’m not too sure but that’s the one I bought along with a red light but I don’t use it.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking for both is around 70-80 (I live in Arizona and it gets really hot here.) Lowest temps at night no lower than 60. I have a thermometer in both cages that I check through out the day.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Okay, so I have a humidifier that I run 2x a day and spray their cages as well. That’s all the lady from the pet store told me to do. For both of them.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Fake plants
• 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? They aren’t by any vents or anything their next to my bathroom! Both of the cages are next to each other on a dresser I do not use.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Prescott Arizona

• Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. I’m just concerned in general. I want to do anything I can to make their lives happier and healthier.

 

[Audreybaby]

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?Liz: Jackson chameleon, I believe she is around 6 months. Female. I’ve had her about 2 months. Big poppa: Veiled chameleon. Male. Not sure on age. Had him for roughly a month.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I am still working on handling them physically, however I do tong feed them to build connection. That seems to be going well for both!
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Liz: Medium sized crickets & mealworms. I do about 15 every other day and switch the calcium with and without D3 each feeding (for both) Big poppa: Large sized crickets, meal worms and collard greens. And he gets about 20. For the crickets I am using a guy loading supplement from petco. I just buy a bag dust them and throw them in the cage, and pick out all the dead ones. & add the gut loading supplement in the cage in a small container.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? For gut loading: Flukers cricket quencher calcium fortified. Supplement: Zoo Med Repti calcium with D3 & without D3.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I use a drip system for both, running it for about 5 minutes through out the day and must their cages frequently. I see Liz drink everytime I run the water or mist the cage sometimes she ignores it. But I’ve only seen Big poppa drink a couple times. He gets nervous when I watch him, it feels like.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Neither of them have been tested for parasites in my care. But their dropping have stayed the same color, brownish, yellowish.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Liz not so much, I got her around 2 months ago from petco. She has gotten a lot bigger and chunky. From what I know about big poppa his previous owner had him for about a year, got him from petco as well for her 8 year old. And hasn’t been able to give him enough attention. He’s super chill, and he eats his food pretty well.

• Cage Info:
• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? They both have screen 18x18x36
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? They both have the same lighting I’ll add a picture cause I’m not too sure but that’s the one I bought along with a red light but I don’t use it.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking for both is around 70-80 (I live in Arizona and it gets really hot here.) Lowest temps at night no lower than 60. I have a thermometer in both cages that I check through out the day.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Okay, so I have a humidifier that I run 2x a day and spray their cages as well. That’s all the lady from the pet store told me to do. For both of them.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Fake plants
• 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? They aren’t by any vents or anything their next to my bathroom! Both of the cages are next to each other on a dresser I do not use.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Prescott Arizona

• Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. I’m just concerned in general. I want to do anything I can to make their lives happier and healthier.

 

[Audreybaby]

Why not answer the questions in the how to ask for help thread near the top of the health forum so we can check on your husbandry?

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?Liz: Jackson chameleon, I believe she is around 6 months. Female. I’ve had her about 2 months. Big poppa: Veiled chameleon. Male. Not sure on age. Had him for roughly a month.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I am still working on handling them physically, however I do tong feed them to build connection. That seems to be going well for both!
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Liz: Medium sized crickets & mealworms. I do about 15 every other day and switch the calcium with and without D3 each feeding (for both) Big poppa: Large sized crickets, meal worms and collard greens. And he gets about 20. For the crickets I am using a guy loading supplement from petco. I just buy a bag dust them and throw them in the cage, and pick out all the dead ones. & add the gut loading supplement in the cage in a small container.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? For gut loading: Flukers cricket quencher calcium fortified. Supplement: Zoo Med Repti calcium with D3 & without D3.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I use a drip system for both, running it for about 5 minutes through out the day and must their cages frequently. I see Liz drink everytime I run the water or mist the cage sometimes she ignores it. But I’ve only seen Big poppa drink a couple times. He gets nervous when I watch him, it feels like.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Neither of them have been tested for parasites in my care. But their dropping have stayed the same color, brownish, yellowish.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Liz not so much, I got her around 2 months ago from petco. She has gotten a lot bigger and chunky. From what I know about big poppa his previous owner had him for about a year, got him from petco as well for her 8 year old. And hasn’t been able to give him enough attention. He’s super chill, and he eats his food pretty well.

• Cage Info:
• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? They both have screen 18x18x36
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? They both have the same lighting I’ll add a picture cause I’m not too sure but that’s the one I bought along with a red light but I don’t use it.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking for both is around 70-80 (I live in Arizona and it gets really hot here.) Lowest temps at night no lower than 60. I have a thermometer in both cages that I check through out the day.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Okay, so I have a humidifier that I run 2x a day and spray their cages as well. That’s all the lady from the pet store told me to do. For both of them.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Fake plants
• 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? They aren’t by any vents or anything their next to my bathroom! Both of the cages are next to each other on a dresser I do not use.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Prescott Arizona

• Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. I’m just concerned in general. I want to do anything I can to make their lives happier and healthier.

 

[MissSkittles]

I can give you feedback about your veiled, but someone who is experienced and knowledgeable about your Jackson’s will have to help you there. Give me a little bit to go thru everything.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ll be putting my feedback in red.

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?Liz: Jackson chameleon, I believe she is around 6 months. Female. I’ve had her about 2 months. Big poppa: Veiled chameleon. Male. Not sure on age. Had him for roughly a month. He looks to be full grown or close to it to me.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I am still working on handling them physically, however I do tong feed them to build connection. Careful with using tongs...some have had their chams injure their tongues from tongs. I know it’s a bit icky holding bugs in your hand, but try silkworms. They are gentle little caterpillars that move pretty slow and are perfect for holding for hand feeding. That seems to be going well for both!
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Liz: Medium sized crickets & mealworms. I do about 15 every other day and switch the calcium with and without D3 each feeding (for both) Big poppa: Large sized crickets, meal worms and collard greens. Although veileds will eat produce, they really have no need for it. All he needs is bugs. And he gets about 20. You really need to drastically cut this way back. He is showing signs of obesity already (puffy/fat cheeks and casque) which is super unhealthy. He should be getting about 3-4 feeders every other day. I’d suggest keeping track of his weight to monitor his progress with losing weight and knowing if you need to further adjust his feeding. For the crickets I am using a guy loading supplement from petco. I just buy a bag dust them and throw them in the cage, and pick out all the dead ones. & add the gut loading supplement in the cage in a small container. I’m a bit confused about this. Do you mean you put them in your chameleon enclosure all at once or in their own little container? Your feeders should be kept in their own containers and kept well fed a healthy diet of fresh greens (dandelion, collards, watercress, mustard, arugula, chard), veggies (various squashes, bell pepper, sweet potato, carrot) and just a little bit of fruit. The healthier your feeders are, the more nutritious they will be for your chameleon. The gutloading supplements from Petco are too often inadequate. There are good commercial products like Repashy Bug Burger, Cricket Crack, etc.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? For gut loading: Flukers cricket quencher calcium fortified. Honestly this really does little to nothing. Supplement: Zoo Med Repti calcium with D3 & without D3. How often are you using each? You should be lightly dusting all feeders at every feeding with the calcium without D3 except one every week. For that one weekly feeding, one week you’ll use the calcium with D3 and rotate it with a multivitamin (that doesn’t contain D3). A good multivitamin is Reptivite.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I use a drip system for both, running it for about 5 minutes through out the day and must their cages frequently. I see Liz drink everytime I run the water or mist the cage sometimes she ignores it. But I’ve only seen Big poppa drink a couple times. He gets nervous when I watch him, it feels like. It’s a veiled conspiracy! Many chameleons are very secretive about drinking...like all of mine! I’m yet to see any of my 3 veileds drink. To monitor hydration, look at the urates.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Neither of them have been tested for parasites in my care. But their dropping have stayed the same color, brownish, yellowish. The lighter portion of the poo is the urate. White means very well hydrated. It’s ok if it has some yellow or light orange at one end. If all dark or orange, your chameleon is dehydrated. It’s always a good idea to have a vet wellness check and have a fecal done to check for parasites.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Liz not so much, I got her around 2 months ago from petco. She has gotten a lot bigger and chunky. From what I know about big poppa his previous owner had him for about a year, got him from petco as well for her 8 year old. And hasn’t been able to give him enough attention. He’s super chill, and he eats his food pretty well.

• Cage Info:
• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? They both have screen 18x18x36 Big Poppa really needs bigger. At least a 2x2x4’ is the minimum. I have my male in this size and he uses every last inch and has shown me he wants bigger.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? They both have the same lighting I’ll add a picture cause I’m not too sure but that’s the one I bought along with a red light but I don’t use it. Good call on not using the red light. Colored lights aren’t good for sensitive cham eyes. You do need linear T5 ho fixtures with either 5.0 or 6% uvb bulbs. The coil and screw in bulbs have a very short and narrow range of usable uvb. The fixture should be as long as the enclosure is wide and basking area should be about 8-9” below it.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking for both is around 70-80 (I live in Arizona and it gets really hot here.) Lowest temps at night no lower than 60. I have a thermometer in both cages that I check through out the day. Perfect temps for Big Poppa, but make sure his basking area stays more around 80.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Okay, so I have a humidifier that I run 2x a day and spray their cages as well. That’s all the lady from the pet store told me to do. For both of them. It’s really important to measure humidity levels. Big Poppa‘s ideal range during the day is between 30-50%. Unless your house is painfully dry, you shouldn’t run a humidifier during the day due to risk of causing respiratory infection. At night when temps are cool, the humidity can/should spike way up to 80-100%.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Fake plants Veileds are plant eaters. All it takes is one bite of a fake leaf and Big Poppa could get impacted, which can be fatal if untreated. I appreciate that you have gotten some really pretty fake plants and your enclosures are attractive, but you need to replace them all with live plants. As I said earlier, pothos and philodendron are great. I’ll attach a safe plant list. What I did with my fake plants is I hung them on the outside of my enclosures to provide my chams with a little extra privacy. Do keep in mind that some plants have high light needs and you may need to add a plant light.
• 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? They aren’t by any vents or anything their next to my bathroom! Both of the cages are next to each other on a dresser I do not use. Because Jackson’s and veiled have different temp and humidity requirements, you most likely will need to keep them in separate areas. It’s also not good at all if they can see each other. They are true loners and it would be a cause of chronic stress to see another all the time.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Prescott Arizona

Additonally, I noticed you have what appears to be a bark substrate. This is another impaction risk. One stray feeder on the substrate that your cham goes after and he could accidentally ingest some bark. Bare floor is best and easiest to keep clean and hygienic. Well, there is bioactive which is a natural planted soil substrate with a clean up crew of special insects, but let’s keep it basic for now.
I am attaching feeder and gutloading graphics to help guide you. Some really great resources for learning more are https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-basics/ https://caskabove.com/ and Neptune the chameleon on YouTube. Of course, ask us as many questions as you need and feel free to share pics, progress and whatever else.

• Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. I’m just concerned in general. I want to do anything I can to make their lives happier and healthier.

 

[MissSkittles]

...and of course I realize as soon as I hit ‘post reply’ that I forgot to tell you about feeder variety. Like us, chameleons enjoy variety. Plus, not all bugs are equal in terms of nutrition, fat content, calcium to phosphorus ratio, etc. While I know they are repulsive to the majority, roaches are one of the healthier feeders. I reluctantly tried some and even more reluctantly started a colony of them. Have to say that while they are still icky and I won’t touch an adult one still, I’ve grown kind of fond of my roaches. Silkworms are another very healthy feeder and those are not at all icky (at least to me). Check the site sponsors for feeder resources. I like Mori feeders and Serenity Silkworms.
Here’s the uvb light that you need. https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/arcadia-prot5-uvb-kit.html I prefer Arcadia over ReptiSun as the bulbs last a year vs only 6 months of the ReptiSun. Prices are very comparable.
For a budget enclosure, I like https://www.diycages.com/collection...umbo-vertical-screen-cage?variant=35995105933 Actually is a better price than ReptiBreeze and is a better enclosure.

 

[MissSkittles]

Could you please look over op’s husbandry for her Jackson’s girl and help?
@JacksJill sorry to always tag you for Jackson’s care.
@Mendez

 

[PoseidonTheChameleon]

I also see you have a vieled chameleon who is overweight and possibly has the same wrong uvb. So like said above, he will also need a t5 5.0 linear bulb. How much are you feeding him and how big is his enclosure?

 

[kinyonga]

@MissSkittles has given you great feedback!

You said..."I just buy a bag dust them and throw them in the cage"...if you're dusting all the crickets, etc at once and throwing them in the cage...is it just enough crickets for one meal? If it's enough for a few meals, the powder will fall off or kill the crickets and not do the job it's supposed to do. You need o set up a container to keep crickets in and look after them as if they were your pets too! Putting a small dish of food in the cage for he crickets is a good idea though...keeps the crickets, etc from biting the chameleon.

 

[JacksJill]

I will make my comments on her in blue.

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?Liz: Jackson chameleon, I believe she is around 6 months. Female. I’ve had her about 2 months. Because she is from Pet__ she came from a distributor and was likely housed with males and could be pregnant. She could have 12 -24 babies in the next few months. These podcasts should help you prepare.

• https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-17-jacksons-chameleons/
• https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/episode-002-surprise-chameleon-babies-yay-yikes/
  
  
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I am still working on handling them physically, however I do tong feed them to build connection. That seems to be going well for both! Good, I only handle mine to deep clean a cage, take them outdoors or for medical necessity. If they try to climb on you that is ok.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Liz: Medium sized crickets & mealworms. I do about 15 every other day and switch the calcium with and without D3 each feeding (for both) Big poppa: Large sized crickets, meal worms and collard greens. And he gets about 20. For the crickets I am using a guy loading supplement from petco. I just buy a bag dust them and throw them in the cage, and pick out all the dead ones. & add the gut loading supplement in the cage in a small container. Same as above plus the more you feed her the more babies she will have and the more likely she will have a dificult birth. They have live birth not eggs. She will eat more than is safe so you will have to set a limit for her size and age. We will have to come back to that.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? For gut loading: Flukers cricket quencher calcium fortified. Supplement: Zoo Med Repti calcium with D3 & without D3. You will need a multi vitamin. Here is a link to my Jackson's schedule it will be much less than what the veiled gets. My Jackson's Supplement Schedule
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I use a drip system for both, running it for about 5 minutes through out the day and must their cages frequently. I see Liz drink everytime I run the water or mist the cage sometimes she ignores it. But I’ve only seen Big poppa drink a couple times. He gets nervous when I watch him, it feels like. Good you may want to add a cool mist humidifier to up their overnight humidity as you live in a dry area
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Neither of them have been tested for parasites in my care. But their dropping have stayed the same color, brownish, yellowish. Same as above
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Liz not so much, I got her around 2 months ago from petco. She has gotten a lot bigger and chunky. From what I know about big poppa his previous owner had him for about a year, got him from petco as well for her 8 year old. And hasn’t been able to give him enough attention. He’s super chill, and he eats his food pretty well.

• Cage Info:
• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? They both have screen 18x18x36 Same as above
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? They both have the same lighting I’ll add a picture cause I’m not too sure but that’s the one I bought along with a red light but I don’t use it. Same as above
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking for both is around 70-80 (I live in Arizona and it gets really hot here.) Lowest temps at night no lower than 60. I have a thermometer in both cages that I check through out the day. Her basking area should not go above 80
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Okay, so I have a humidifier that I run 2x a day and spray their cages as well. That’s all the lady from the pet store told me to do. For both of them. She will do best with a daytime level of 35-50% and a night time of 80-100% so a humidifier piped directly into her cage will achieve this along with 2-3 plastic covered sides and lots of live plants.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Fake plants Get live plants pothos are a great starter plants
• 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? They aren’t by any vents or anything their next to my bathroom! Both of the cages are next to each other on a dresser I do not use. You might be able to manage the cages near each other but it will take some adjusting and they really shouldn't see each other she is going to be very stressed possibly to death.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Prescott Arizona It's dry but cool at night and that is going to work for you most of the year.
  
  
  Let me know if you need me to clarify anything. Here is a post with a lot of handy links for Jackson's. Jackson's Chameleon Articles and Studies

 

[Audreybaby]

@MissSkittles Omg thank you so much I honestly didn’t expect this much feed back so thank you, thank you. So first with the crickets. Yes I would just buy a bag of 20 coat them and throw them in his cage. I seen many different worms in stock at petco the other day that I would be excited to get for my veiled cham. At first I would buy the crickets and put them in the container with the flukers supplement but they were dying so quickly. What do you think would be a proper schedule for him? Also with him losing weight?! For the cage are you talking about those long light fixtures that go across the cage? I’m trying to come up with a list of everything I’m going to need to get cause it seems like the pet store stirred me in the wrong direction, if I have live plants in my enclosure would I need a bio active system? Also what do you recommend to keep humidity for a veiled chameleon?!
@JacksJill Okay so the pet store told me she would become egg bound and reproduce non fertile eggs. LOL they had me buy bark subtrate to put at the bottom of her cage so she could lay her eggs. What would you recommend for a cool mist humidifier and how would I run it? Also, is just a regular humidifier okay? That’s what I have in their right now. & when should I be running it & for how long?
i will be looking into all the links as well. Again, thank you guys so much. I appreciate y’all

 

[Audreybaby]

I also see you have a vieled chameleon who is overweight and possibly has the same wrong uvb. So like said above, he will also need a t5 5.0 linear bulb. How much are you feeding him and how big is his enclosure?

I get a bag of 20 about every other day, dust them and throw them in their.

 

[Audreybaby]

I get a bag of 20 about every other day, dust them and throw them in their.

Well not anymore as I’m going to have to change it

 

[MissSkittles]

@MissSkittles Omg thank you so much I honestly didn’t expect this much feed back so thank you, thank you. So first with the crickets. Yes I would just buy a bag of 20 coat them and throw them in his cage. I seen many different worms in stock at petco the other day that I would be excited to get for my veiled cham. At first I would buy the crickets and put them in the container with the flukers supplement but they were dying so quickly. What do you think would be a proper schedule for him? Also with him losing weight?! For the cage are you talking about those long light fixtures that go across the cage? I’m trying to come up with a list of everything I’m going to need to get cause it seems like the pet store stirred me in the wrong direction, if I have live plants in my enclosure would I need a bio active system? Also what do you recommend to keep humidity for a veiled chameleon?!

I’m so glad I’m able to help!
Most chain pet store crickets don’t tend to live very long. Keeping them clean and well ventilated is key to all crickets. Their poop and it’s fumes kill them. I started with a plastic cricket keeper, but it lacks adequate ventilation. I now use plastic bins that I have cut areas out and hot glued in window screening where I want it, such as the lid and sides. Removing poop and uneaten food daily is essential. Honestly, try roaches. They are so much cleaner. For worms, as I already said, silkworms are great! Until you get him to lose some weight, try to stay away from superworms and wax worms as they are very fatty. Hornworms are good for hydrating treats...they are basically just bags of water. Bsfl (also called Phoenix worms, calci worms, etc) are also a great addition to staple feeders. They will eventually turn into flies, which are then fun little treats for your chameleon to hunt down. You may want to order from somewhere like Josh’s frogs or Linda’s gone buggy, so that you can order a variety of feeders in one shipment.
To manage Big Poppa’s weight, get a kitchen scale that measures in grams and see what he weighs. Start by feeding about 3 feeders, 3 times a week and see if that’s enough of a diet for him to lose some weight. You can weigh him weekly, but it may be a couple of weeks before you see any change. If his weight isn’t dropping, reduce his feedings by 1 insect until he does start losing some weight. Veiled’s are opportunistic eaters and always looking at you like you are starving them. Many nights my boy actually sleeps in his feeder and one of my girls sleeps right in front of hers. Speaking of feeders, there are things that will be little feeding stations in your enclosures. I really like these. https://tkchameleons.com/products/shooting-gallery
Yes, the uvb is the long light that goes across the width of your enclosure. For a 2x2x4’ enclosure, you’ll need a 24” T5 fixture, just like the one in the link I gave you.
While not a necessity, these make hanging branches, vines and plants so very much easier. https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ They are well worth the price!
You don’t have to go bioactive in order to have live plants, only is you want a soil substrate on the floor. What makes it bioactive is that you have isopods and springtails which clean the poop and other detritus and keep things clean. For now, I’d suggest just keeping the floor bare.
Adding live plants will boost your humidity. If you are still having problems holding in humidity, you could wrap a shower curtain around a couple of sides or add the shrink to fit window insulation film. 30-50% humidity is actually quite drier than you’d think. I’m in humid Florida, but as I run my ac almost year round, humidity in my house is around 35% and much closer to 50% in the room where I keep my chameleons.
In terms of importance, getting the correct uvb and your supplement schedule are priority. Without these, your cham’s are at risk for metabolic bone disease (mbd) and some other possible health issues. Then changing your feedings will make a big positive difference. Next would be replacing the fake plants with live ones. A larger enclosure and the rest follows. It may seem overwhelming and so just keep in mind that it may take some time until you get everything where it needs to be. So many of us started where you are or with even less, but we got things corrected. I started 2 years ago with a young female veiled (didn’t even know she was a girl or a veiled), the equivalent of a chameleon kit with broken lights, a 1/2 cup of superworms and absolutely zero experience or knowledge of any reptiles. You can do this!

 

[Audreybaby]

I’m so glad I’m able to help!
Most chain pet store crickets don’t tend to live very long. Keeping them clean and well ventilated is key to all crickets. Their poop and it’s fumes kill them. I started with a plastic cricket keeper, but it lacks adequate ventilation. I now use plastic bins that I have cut areas out and hot glued in window screening where I want it, such as the lid and sides. Removing poop and uneaten food daily is essential. Honestly, try roaches. They are so much cleaner. For worms, as I already said, silkworms are great! Until you get him to lose some weight, try to stay away from superworms and wax worms as they are very fatty. Hornworms are good for hydrating treats...they are basically just bags of water. Bsfl (also called Phoenix worms, calci worms, etc) are also a great addition to staple feeders. They will eventually turn into flies, which are then fun little treats for your chameleon to hunt down. You may want to order from somewhere like Josh’s frogs or Linda’s gone buggy, so that you can order a variety of feeders in one shipment.
To manage Big Poppa’s weight, get a kitchen scale that measures in grams and see what he weighs. Start by feeding about 3 feeders, 3 times a week and see if that’s enough of a diet for him to lose some weight. You can weigh him weekly, but it may be a couple of weeks before you see any change. If his weight isn’t dropping, reduce his feedings by 1 insect until he does start losing some weight. Veiled’s are opportunistic eaters and always looking at you like you are starving them. Many nights my boy actually sleeps in his feeder and one of my girls sleeps right in front of hers. Speaking of feeders, there are things that will be little feeding stations in your enclosures. I really like these. https://tkchameleons.com/products/shooting-gallery
Yes, the uvb is the long light that goes across the width of your enclosure. For a 2x2x4’ enclosure, you’ll need a 24” T5 fixture, just like the one in the link I gave you.
While not a necessity, these make hanging branches, vines and plants so very much easier. https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ They are well worth the price!
You don’t have to go bioactive in order to have live plants, only is you want a soil substrate on the floor. What makes it bioactive is that you have isopods and springtails which clean the poop and other detritus and keep things clean. For now, I’d suggest just keeping the floor bare.
Adding live plants will boost your humidity. If you are still having problems holding in humidity, you could wrap a shower curtain around a couple of sides or add the shrink to fit window insulation film. 30-50% humidity is actually quite drier than you’d think. I’m in humid Florida, but as I run my ac almost year round, humidity in my house is around 35% and much closer to 50% in the room where I keep my chameleons.
In terms of importance, getting the correct uvb and your supplement schedule are priority. Without these, your cham’s are at risk for metabolic bone disease (mbd) and some other possible health issues. Then changing your feedings will make a big positive difference. Next would be replacing the fake plants with live ones. A larger enclosure and the rest follows. It may seem overwhelming and so just keep in mind that it may take some time until you get everything where it needs to be. So many of us started where you are or with even less, but we got things corrected. I started 2 years ago with a young female veiled (didn’t even know she was a girl or a veiled), the equivalent of a chameleon kit with broken lights, a 1/2 cup of superworms and absolutely zero experience or knowledge of any reptiles. You can do this!

Thank you so much it really means a lot. I appreciate you taking your time to write all this out for me. I will start with the lighting and the supplements first and go on from there. Again thank you so much!!

 

[JacksJill]

Okay so the pet store told me she would become egg bound and reproduce non fertile eggs. LOL they had me buy bark subtrate to put at the bottom of her cage so she could lay her eggs. What would you recommend for a cool mist humidifier and how would I run it? Also, is just a regular humidifier okay? That’s what I have in their right now. & when should I be running it & for how long?

Yeah, they don't know much about all the species they sell.
There are a lot of ultrasonic cool mist humidifiers on the market including ones for reptiles they just cost more. Any of these will work as long as they have a simple on off button or knob and not a preset timer built in. I have a Vicks from Walmart that's run for ages. I also have a small Taotronics unit that is going strong as well. You do not want anything that makes a heated mist. You want to imitate cool fog. I run pieces of PVC pipe from the unit to the top of the cage and let the fog fall down into the cage thru the screen. The reptile ones come with a bendy pipe but it gets gross. I use distilled water in mine and they stay clean longer. Run it for several hours a night. I run mine from midnight to 5 am you might need more for your situation.