Male Yemen setup help and advice wanted!!

[miket993]

Hello fellow herp lovers!

I have been out of the reptile game for coming on 2 years now due to my girlfriend and I having our first baby and whilst she was pregnant I made the hard decision of selling up because I thought I wouldn't have the time to give them the love, care and attention they would need. Thankfully he is the easiest baby to care for and because he is such a dream child I feel like I would have the time to care for just the one male veiled Cham! But I am a little rusty and will need to pick your brains so please share your expertise and knowledge with me please!! I will also be asking for your help and thoughts on the interior design of the Viv. I am not bothered about price or length of time this takes I just want it to be best of the best!!!

So 1st things 1st the uv and basking bulb: I have ordered a Viv exotic viva medium arboreal which measures 34"length 19"depth 36"high what uv bulbs and basking light would you use? I was thinking about going down the Arcadia route because I've heard there the best and have a very good reputation. I was thinking a 12% d3+ t5 and one of there uv d3 basking bulb or is that too much uv or can you never have too much uv??

Sorry it's such a long post but please do give me your thoughts I will be posting pictures of the Viv setup and asking plenty more questions through the course of the project!

 

[carol5208]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new addition(human) lol and your other addition to come! Here is a great care sheet on Veilds and it will tell you everything you need. It is from this website. As far as the lighting, which will be explained in the caresheet, many people use the Arcadia bulbs. You will only need one though, and one basking bulb. You can have more than one basking spot in your cage if you wish if you cage is large enough. Yes, there is such a thing as too much uvb, artificial that is. Many or most of us use the Reptisun 5.0 tubestyle bulbs and just ordinary white housebulbs for basking. Wattage on the basking will depend on your individual house temps and such.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[miket993]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new addition(human) lol and your other addition to come! Here is a great care sheet on Veilds and it will tell you everything you need. It is from this website. As far as the lighting, which will be explained in the caresheet, many people use the Arcadia bulbs. You will only need one though, and one basking bulb. You can have more than one basking spot in your cage if you wish if you cage is large enough. Yes, there is such a thing as too much uvb, artificial that is. Many or most of us use the Reptisun 5.0 tubestyle bulbs and just ordinary white housebulbs for basking. Wattage on the basking will depend on your individual house temps and such.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Thank you carol for your help I have had someone say pretty much exactly the same on rfuk! You would think I should know what I'm doing because before the baby I had 2 veileds 6 Leopard geckos 3 cornsnakes 4 royal pythons 2 water dragons 2 bearded dragons 1 crested gecko 1 Bosc monitor and 1 green iguana! I used to breed my own locusts,dubia,mealworms and wax worms I had that many mouths to feed! What do you think about nighttime LEDs carol??

 

[Olimpia]

Welcome back to the hobby!

Which UVB you use will depend on your cage. If you are using a very large cage that is thickly planted, you could get away with using the T5 12%. However, if your plant cover is not very thick or if the cage is not particularly large you will be better off going with the 6%. Still plenty of UVB but less intense. And you can use a normal incandescent or halogen bulb for basking, like Carol said.

We're not fans of any type of night lighting for chameleons, because they sleep best in total darkness.

 

[miket993]

Welcome back to the hobby!

Which UVB you use will depend on your cage. If you are using a very large cage that is thickly planted, you could get away with using the T5 12%. However, if your plant cover is not very thick or if the cage is not particularly large you will be better off going with the 6%. Still plenty of UVB but less intense. And you can use a normal incandescent or halogen bulb for basking, like Carol said.

We're not fans of any type of night lighting for chameleons, because they sleep best in total darkness.

Thank you Olimpia for your advice I will stay away from the night lights!

 

[carol5208]

As Olimpia said, there is no need for nighttime lighting. Most chameleons will be disturbed by lights in their cages and even outside of their cages also. If you are going to be in the room where your chameleon is, and need a light on, then cover the cage with a blanket or sheet so the cage is dark. Just make sure if you have your lights on a timer, that you take the cover off! When I had my lights on timer, I forgot and woke up to the cover starting to burn from the basing dome! If heat is needed at night, a ceramic heat emitter which can be screwed into your basking dome will work. The cut off for how low the temp can get is about 50(this varies on who you are talking to), so if you are going to go below that, you can add some heat if your house is cold in the winter.

 

[miket993]

Right so I think the lighting situation is sorted so what type of wood is best for climbing and perching and where's best to buy it online??

 

[Olimpia]

You can use any number of things, really. People use anything from natural branches from outside, fake vines from a reptile supply store, bamboo or willow branches from a craft store, or wooden dowels from a home improvement store. There are a lot of options out there depending on what you want.

These threads may give you some ideas: https://www.chameleonforums.com/official-enclosure-picture-thread-49688/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/official-enclosure-picture-thread-2-post-your-pics-94781/

 

[miket993]

You can use any number of things, really. People use anything from natural branches from outside, fake vines from a reptile supply store, bamboo or willow branches from a craft store, or wooden dowels from a home improvement store. There are a lot of options out there depending on what you want.

These threads may give you some ideas: https://www.chameleonforums.com/official-enclosure-picture-thread-49688/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/official-enclosure-picture-thread-2-post-your-pics-94781/

Thank you again Olimpia some amazing setups in those pictures!! I want to make the branches look authentic like they just came from the rainforest by sticking sphagnum miss to the sticks what's the safest way to do this?? Also artificial moss or real??

 

[Olimpia]

I don't have any experience using moss in my chameleon cages but I would think that real is best (I figure that if he ends up with a bit of sphagnum in his mouth it's easy to break down and pass, where artificial may not). And as far as attaching it, I'm not sure. Perhaps some fishing line to tie it discretely?