Meet Draco

[Kieonii]

This is Draco. He was a Christmas present for my son (and myself, I've wanted one for as long as I can remember.) TJ ( my son) named him Draco.

His enclosure is on the small side right now. We will be upgrading as soon as $ allows for it. Thronging of having my husband build one instead. screen enclosure measures 20in tall 12in deep and 18in wide. One small live golden photos with fake vines and one wood thick branch. One thermometer and hygrometer in his basking area ( soon to get another set for the other side) misting by hand (with warm water, thanks to some great input on here) a few times a day

These are the lights I'm using.

He is quite a character and seems to be obsessed with the Christmas tree. I have let him hang out In It a few times (it's fake, so no sap and the lights are cool to the touch). thinking I need to get an umbrella tree to replace the Cheistmas tree. For him to hang out in :-D

He is about 5 1/2 months old Veiled. His body is about 6in long when he is relaxed (not puffy or stretched out, not including the tail) these pictures don't show it to well but he has some beautiful light green and yellow colors with rust colored sections and gorgeous turquoise splotches when he is being held or sleeping. very pretty. Turns a Darker shade of green with some darker brown when he's stressed and puffy. .

Feeding him twice a day ( or when he is tryin to get through the wall to the cricket cage) I was told that you can't really oversees them. That they will not eat if they're not hungry (thoughts on this) gut loading regularly with carrots and they have the flukes water gel. Usually eats between 3-5 about twice a day. Tong feeding as well as a deeding bowl. Typically feed him 1-2 with the tongs and putting the rest in the bowl. He ate quite a bit of the Pothose too so I put a shot glass with a bit of water (to prevent it from wiltong too quickly) and kale. ( that's the foliage your wrong in the center of the enclosure) He has not showed any interest in any other veggie yet. He does like the kale though and has stopped eating the Pothose.

I'm using repti calcium (without D3) about twice a week. How often should he get the kind with D3. Still need to pick some up.

How often should his cage be cleaned? Do you remove his poops daily? Any suggestions, corrections and other comments are more then welcome.

Also I Found some good size sticks/branches that I intend on cleaning, cutting down to size and placing in there. I know he does not have enough climbing options as of now. What's the best way to sanitize branches from outside?

 

[Kieonii]

Forgot a couple things. Temp in basking area is typically 85 and humidity is generally around 30. Was thinking about setting up a cold air humidifier towards the cage. Thoughts on this. I can't afford a mister but I already have a humidifier from when my sons had RSV several years ago. It just puts moisture in the air ( not hot)

 

[Kieonii]

Sorry for all the odd words. Self correct is not always helpful.

 

[Ladybones]

Congratulations on your Veiled, your guy looks older then 5 and a half months old, Also your cage is very small for him, hopefully you can get a new cage soon.

My humidity is in my cage stays above 55% I mist mine 4 times a day (hand misting) My temp is about the same as yours in the basking area, but I just use a 60W basking light.

My guy will be 6 months old on New Years day and eats 12 crickets daily, he is a chow hound lol

Other then your cage being to small I think your doing fine, but i'm only 2 months new to the chameleon world and learning myself

Good luck with him

 

[ReptiGeek]

Ladybones stated many things I wanted to say (I agree with your cham being older then 5 and a half months as well).
Just wanted to quickly add a word on supplementing.
Calcium w/o D3 can be done 5-6 times a week
Calcium w/ D3 once every 2 weeks
MultiVitamin once every 2 weeks
I'd get on the supplementing pretty quick since I can see some slight bone curving on his right front arm in the christmas photo and his veil looks a little wonky (Veiled's should have strong and straight veils when properly supplement).

Also, my veiled is 4 months old and he eats up to 30 crickets a day, however as they grow older they will not require so many. So don't be alarmed if your cham is not eating as much, because to me he looks visibly older then 5 and a half months.

Otherwise I think you have a good general idea on how to care for a chameleon and I welcome you to the forums. Keep it up and I'm sure everything will go along smoothly

 

[Kieonii]

Any particular multivitamin you would suggest? I'll up the calcium immediately. Also any guess on his age? I was going off what the pet store told me but from what I've read and experienced, we all know how reliable they are. That's part of why I have this size enclosure. one of the closing brackets broke so Im gonna see about return/exchange policy and see if I can't return this one and pay the difference for the larger one. The gal who sold it To me actually tried to talk me out of a screen and into a glass enclosure. Said i wouldnt be able to keep it humid. Luckily I had already started researching so I knew she was full of it. When I went back to inquire about age (the girl told me 2-3 months,HA) the gentleman I talked to seemed much more knowledgable and when I explained about the incorrect info he assured me that he's working on making up care sheets for his reptiles. So at least he's trying.

What about the cd air humidifier. Any thoughts on if the work/be safe?

 

[Ladybones]

Your guy looks to me over a year old, I use Repti-cal multivitamin and the cage your guy should be in is 24x 24x48 screen cage. Chameleons do much better with height.

I use a fogger. But you can use the humidifier to keep it humid in his set-up.

I use calcium without D3 during the week and on Sunday I will use Calcium with D3 and then the following Sunday I use a Multivitamin (2 Sundays in a month with D3 and 2 Sundays a month with Multivitamins) That's how i do mine.

 

[Kieonii]

I plan on it being at Least 48in high. I think that why he likes the Christmashttp://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0oGdStL69BQQQoAVBRx.9w4?p=candy%20cane%20lane%2097504&f tree so much. For building one, any suggestions on the screen type?

 

[Kieonii]

Not sure what happened there, haha. Anyways much taller if we build it. How about sanitizing the branches I have for him? They ate from a tree outside. Don't want to introduce anything harmful. Thanks so much for the info.

 

[ReptiGeek]

Just bake your branches in an oven for 10 minutes. That should kill any sort of bugs that might still be inside the bark/ wood.

 

[carol5208]

Hello and welcome! I agree with the others that your chameleon is older than what you were told and probably atleast a year or so. Unfortunately from the pictures, both his front legs both look to have Metabolic Bone Disease. Not a horrible case of it, but it does seem present. MBD is from not having sufficient uvb or calcium in the diet or a combination of both. It is when the bones become brittle and become deformed and even break in some cases. He looks to have extra joints in both his front legs and that should not be. I would take him to a vet and have him evaluated. They can give him calcium injections. You can halt the disease but you cannot cure it, so his legs will pretty much be like that forever. Supplementing calcium from now on is very critical. That should be done at every feeding. The calcium with d3 should be used a few times a month. I use herptivite for my multi vitamin. Gutloading is very important. Whatever your feeders eat gets passed on to your chameleon. Carrots are fine but you need much more. Check out our member SandraChameleon's page and you will learn everything there is to know about gutloading and nutrition. As others have stated your cham needs more room and way more plants, vines and branches for walkways the foilage for security. You have come to the right place to learn about chameleons! We are here to help!!!

 

[ibdragons]

Draco is looking very nice welcome to the forums.I have a veiled also they remind me of dinosaurs.

 

[mcleodschams]

I agree with all that carol says I myself have two rescues with mbd and he is a mild case as long. As you follow the proper care he will live a long hapy life variety is important in his diet also a good gutload and light changes every six months are top of the list no waterfalls. misting and dripper and lots of foliage to hide. He is a handsome guy good luck with him.

 

[Sarahcwilson]

Your son looks like he loves his new friend!!! Draco looks right at home!

 

[Kieonii]

Waterfall misting? Nit sure what that is. Gonna pick up a ficus this week. Cook my branches later today. So he'll have more climbing around to do. I def gonna upgrade his cage as soon I can but unfortunately money is a factor. Already spent more on him then I though I would for initial set up but is at the very top of the list. Ill Call the pet store today to inquire about return policy. Like I said, one of the latches broke so hopefully I can upgrade sooner then I originally planned. Fingers crossed. Thanks for all the help and support. Hurts my heart to hear he already has MBD. But I will do all in my power to keep it from progressing (including trying to find a vet that's familiar with them.) I Live in Oregon and had trouble finding anyone for a snake I had years ago.

 

[Kieonii]

He fits right In. Even my pup and Draco get along. Super curious about each other. Draco even decided to climb on him last night and they have touched Noses a couple of times. When I get home to feed and must him Dixie (my mild mannered chihuahua is right there waiting to say hello too.

 

[Kieonii]

Climb on HER. Not him

 

[carol5208]

he meant that waterfalls are not recommended as they can produce bacteria and most chameleons to not drink from standing water. I think he also meant, misting and dripper for means of hydration. He forgot to use punctuation, so it changed the sentence!

 

[Kieonii]

Ahhh. Got it. I thought it was a type or brand or something. I'll be getting a dropper for sure

 

[carol5208]

he meant that waterfalls are not recommended as they can produce bacteria and most chameleons to not drink from standing water. I think he also meant, misting and dripper for means of hydration.