RandomUsername93
New Member
I had a male veiled chameleon a year ago. I researched a lot before I rescued him from a very neglectful chain store. I know, I know, I shouldn't have done that but he literally tried to climb my hand when I went to his terrible enclosure. I needed to help him.
When I got him he was very, very skinny and severely dehydrated. I went to the vet with him, got him on antibiotics and a vitamin shot. With a proper enclosure (4 feet wide and 4 feet tall) and the right lights, calcium, vitamins, diet etc, he quickly got better. He went from a skeleton to a beautifully colored male. He wasn't even aggressive and would sometimes venture out of his enclosure to my arm and then in his play tree.
Now... I posted pictures of him on reddit and somehow people said this or that isn't good. I should change this or that. Which I did, because some advice came from am experienced breeder. So I changed stuff to please my scaly boy but.. he became worse after that. He was really well and active and happy and then suddenly he became aggressive and started to sit on the bottom of his enclosure, wouldn't eat anymore etc.
Every "experienced" person I spoke to said something else when it came to UV lights and heating. I just got so overwhelmed and insecure, I honestly didn't know what/who was right and what/who wasn't. I hated seeing my boy decline so in a desperate moment I had to give him away. I regret it to this day.
Now to my question... What is the ONLY true right care sheet? I've seen so many different recommendations that I don't know what's right anymore. I want to get a chameleon again because I truly love them but this time I want to be a 100% sure that the info I get is right. I know I should look at care sheets here but like I said, every website or person says something else... help?
My boy was doing well originally, it's only when I listened to people that he became worse. I had him for over 7 months before I took other people's advice so I think I must've been doing something right.
Some advice, reassure, CORRECT care sheets are greatly appreciated. I feel bad about having had to let go of my scaly friend. I never wanna have to rehome another one because people make me insecure about my husbandry.
Thanks, sorry for the long post.
When I got him he was very, very skinny and severely dehydrated. I went to the vet with him, got him on antibiotics and a vitamin shot. With a proper enclosure (4 feet wide and 4 feet tall) and the right lights, calcium, vitamins, diet etc, he quickly got better. He went from a skeleton to a beautifully colored male. He wasn't even aggressive and would sometimes venture out of his enclosure to my arm and then in his play tree.
Now... I posted pictures of him on reddit and somehow people said this or that isn't good. I should change this or that. Which I did, because some advice came from am experienced breeder. So I changed stuff to please my scaly boy but.. he became worse after that. He was really well and active and happy and then suddenly he became aggressive and started to sit on the bottom of his enclosure, wouldn't eat anymore etc.
Every "experienced" person I spoke to said something else when it came to UV lights and heating. I just got so overwhelmed and insecure, I honestly didn't know what/who was right and what/who wasn't. I hated seeing my boy decline so in a desperate moment I had to give him away. I regret it to this day.
Now to my question... What is the ONLY true right care sheet? I've seen so many different recommendations that I don't know what's right anymore. I want to get a chameleon again because I truly love them but this time I want to be a 100% sure that the info I get is right. I know I should look at care sheets here but like I said, every website or person says something else... help?
My boy was doing well originally, it's only when I listened to people that he became worse. I had him for over 7 months before I took other people's advice so I think I must've been doing something right.
Some advice, reassure, CORRECT care sheets are greatly appreciated. I feel bad about having had to let go of my scaly friend. I never wanna have to rehome another one because people make me insecure about my husbandry.
Thanks, sorry for the long post.
. In addition to the resources pages in the forum and chameleon academy (which gets species specific for a lot of things), the Neptune the chameleon videos on you tube are helpful as well if you absorb visually as opposed to reading. She covers many aspects of chameleon keeping with accurate information. 
The places the others have mentioned are fantastic. Chameleon academy and this forum both helped get my guy in good health and happy (as happy as his grumpy butt can be anyway).
