Meet Emmy, my new veiled!

samy109

Member
I just found this forum and I gotta say so much to learn, I love this place. I initially had her setup wrong, had red lights, and fake plants, i've changed one lamp to day, and have live plants made for chameleons coming monday. When I first got her she was underweight, and usually brown, but a couple days of good care and she's this really pretty greenish-blue. Here's her:
chameleon-rescue-v0-5bokffwhf7gc1.jpg
 
Just want to say... shes been eating mealworms for a couple days and I just found out finally more evidence that they are negative and not positive, so i'm going to change her feeders. I just hope her fully belly digests okay, she ate like 6.

EDIT: Got 1000 super worms on the way!
 
Last edited:
Just want to say... shes been eating mealworms for a couple days and I just found out finally more evidence that they are negative and not positive, so i'm going to change her feeders. I just hope her fully belly digests okay, she ate like 6.

EDIT: Got 1000 super worms on the way!
Hello and warmest welcomes to you! Your little one is so cute!

Have you done a husbandry review?

Some good staple feeders are crickets, grasshoppers, Dubia, silkworms, bsfl and flies. Superworms and meal worms should be considered a treat due to their high fat content.

May I ask how old you veiled is?
 
Hello and warmest welcomes to you! Your little one is so cute!

Have you done a husbandry review?

Some good staple feeders are crickets, grasshoppers, Dubia, silkworms, bsfl and flies. Superworms and meal worms should be considered a treat due to their high fat content.

May I ask how old you veiled is?
She is about 6 weeks old I think, maybe a bit less. I was told it was a boy, but she's definitely a girl. I was doing some intense reading and it said on multiple sites that super worms are good staples but not mealworms. Did I just buy these for no reason? :(
 
She is about 6 weeks old I think, maybe a bit less. I was told it was a boy, but she's definitely a girl. I was doing some intense reading and it said on multiple sites that super worms are good staples but not mealworms. Did I just buy these for no reason? :(
I wouldn’t say you bought them for no reason but you won’t be able to feed them off to your little one super fast as they are a treat and addictive for some chameleons.

I’m not by my computer right now to share the list of common healthy feeders but I’ll share it with you when I can.

I get my crickets from Josh’s frogs

Silkworms I get from Frams chams

Bsfl, Dubia and other feeders I get from Dubia.com or rainbow mealworms

6 weeks is super young! You’ll want to make sure you have everything perfect for her as she won’t have any resources to fall back on if her environment isn’t 100%
 
I wouldn’t say you bought them for no reason but you won’t be able to feed them off to your little one super fast as they are a treat and addictive for some chameleons.

I’m not by my computer right now to share the list of common healthy feeders but I’ll share it with you when I can.

I get my crickets from Josh’s frogs

Silkworms I get from Frams chams

Bsfl, Dubia and other feeders I get from Dubia.com or rainbow mealworms

6 weeks is super young! You’ll want to make sure you have everything perfect for her as she won’t have any resources to fall back on if her environment isn’t 100%
Yes, as so i've read. So i've already fed her a good few giant mealworms, and she has a full belly. I removed the dish.... will she be okay till I can get better feeders?
 
Oh yeah feeding her even 3 superworms a week would take you several years to feed a thousand off. I would buy 25 at a time for a young chameleon. Focus on gut loading crickets as a staple feeder and silk worms or small horn worms.
 
Yes, as so i've read. So i've already fed her a good few giant mealworms, and she has a full belly. I removed the dish.... will she be okay till I can get better feeders?
Feed her what you have because you don’t want her to go hungry but do get some staple feeders to replace the mealworms as soon as you can :)
 
Congrats! 🎊🎉 I hope you have a great time with your cham. If you need any help just holler. What’s his/her name?
Here are some links if you need help with husbandry: Chameleon Academy ~ YouTube ~ Neptune The Chameleon ~ YouTube
Here are some links for food and supplies: Food ~ Food as well ~ Leap Supplies ~ Arcadia
And here is a link for some discounts: Neptune the Chameleon Discount
Enjoy your new chameleon!😊

It could take up to 2 weeks for a new chameleon to get settled into their new home. During that time you want to give your cham space, no handling, and you don’t really want he. To see you just staring at them. You want them to have a good first impression in their new home. I did this with my cham and he has settled in perfectly. Here are 2 video links that you should watch for when you get your new chameleon: Chameleon Academy Neptune the Chameleon
 
Hi and welcome to you and beautiful little Emmy! Are those little pink feet that I see? 🥰 It looks like you’re starting as many of us have, myself included. You’ve been given great links to learning the current husbandry standards. You’ll be needing to make a lot of changes, but the most essential, to start with are getting the correct uvb - a linear T5HO fixture with either a ReptiSun 5.9 or Arcadia 6% uvb bulb. I advise getting the 24” long one as your sweet girl will be needing a larger enclosure. This is the one you need. https://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-pro-t5-fixture-6-bulb-22-5-sale-now-only-69-99/ Omce you get the correct uvb, you’ll want a distance of 8-9” between the light and the basking branch. Also, if your little one is walking upside down along the screen top (as babies do), you’ll need to raise your lights off the top by at least a few inches to prevent burns. I use small wire baskets from the dollar store to raise the lights. Once she’s an adult and no longer able to walk on the top, you can lower the lights onto the screen. For basking light, avoid colored bulbs which can hurt sensitive googly eyes. Start with around a 40w or 60w bulb. Your goal basking temp is 78-80 and no higher. You also need the correct supplements. You want to use a phosphorus free calcium without D3 lightly dusted on every feeding and then one feeding every other week you’ll use either Repashy Calcium Plus LoD OR ReptiVite with D3 (make sure it says with D3 as there is one without). There are other supplement regimens, but this is the easiest.
The rest is important, but not as essential to survival. It’s a journey of always looking to make your little beauty’s life better.
Couple of fyi’s - You can attach the fake plants to the outside of your enclosure to give your girl some added privacy. That’s a ton of superworms! If you have a wildlife hospital or reptile rescue near you, they would appreciate a donation. Wild birds would also enjoy the tasty snacks.
I’m very glad that you’ve found your way here. Don’t hesitate to ask any questions you have and definitely share your progress! :)
 
Hi and welcome to you and beautiful little Emmy! Are those little pink feet that I see? 🥰 It looks like you’re starting as many of us have, myself included. You’ve been given great links to learning the current husbandry standards. You’ll be needing to make a lot of changes, but the most essential, to start with are getting the correct uvb - a linear T5HO fixture with either a ReptiSun 5.9 or Arcadia 6% uvb bulb. I advise getting the 24” long one as your sweet girl will be needing a larger enclosure. This is the one you need. https://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-pro-t5-fixture-6-bulb-22-5-sale-now-only-69-99/ Omce you get the correct uvb, you’ll want a distance of 8-9” between the light and the basking branch. Also, if your little one is walking upside down along the screen top (as babies do), you’ll need to raise your lights off the top by at least a few inches to prevent burns. I use small wire baskets from the dollar store to raise the lights. Once she’s an adult and no longer able to walk on the top, you can lower the lights onto the screen. For basking light, avoid colored bulbs which can hurt sensitive googly eyes. Start with around a 40w or 60w bulb. Your goal basking temp is 78-80 and no higher. You also need the correct supplements. You want to use a phosphorus free calcium without D3 lightly dusted on every feeding and then one feeding every other week you’ll use either Repashy Calcium Plus LoD OR ReptiVite with D3 (make sure it says with D3 as there is one without). There are other supplement regimens, but this is the easiest.
The rest is important, but not as essential to survival. It’s a journey of always looking to make your little beauty’s life better.
Couple of fyi’s - You can attach the fake plants to the outside of your enclosure to give your girl some added privacy. That’s a ton of superworms! If you have a wildlife hospital or reptile rescue near you, they would appreciate a donation. Wild birds would also enjoy the tasty snacks.
I’m very glad that you’ve found your way here. Don’t hesitate to ask any questions you have and definitely share your progress! :)
Thank you for the input. There's so much to take in but I'm quickly making adjustments. And yes! I almost named her Socks, as she is a translucent piebald and has 3 pinkish white feet!
 
I do realize I need to move her off the ground, as an FYI. And I have live plants, and a lot of changes coming to the terrarium in the next 24 or so hours.

EDIT: PLEASE FORGIVE THE PARAPHERNELIA LOL
 
Please remove her from the enclosure and do the following:

1) Get the enclosure off the floor and up onto a stand, a wire rack, or a table

2) Remove any fake plants and vines in the enclosure

3) Remove everything off the floor of the enclosure.

4) Get the light fixtures out of the enclosure

5) Put a 6” heat dome on top of the screened enclosure with a 40-60 watt incandescent bulb for heat

6) Get a linear high output T5 bulb/fixture for UVB like the Arcadia 6% or Repti Sun 5.0

7). Zip tie real branches together in the enclosure like scaffolding. Make sure there’s no loose bark, lichen, algae, dirt, or other detritus. Give them a scrub with soapy water if you want. I use rubbing alcohol.

8) Attach 6“ potted pothos plants onto the branches or hang 8” pots of pothos from the top of the enclosure. I can show you how that’s done so it looks nice and it’s stable.

9) Make sure her basking branch is no hotter than 85 degrees. Use a digital wired probe to test this and also hold the back of your hand on that basking branch to get a sense of what she will feel. Holding your hand there for a minute lets the heat build up so it’s a real representation of the heat.

10) now that you have the enclosure on a stand, with the right lighting, real plants and branches, and a bare floor, go ahead and put her back in.
 
Please remove her from the enclosure and do the following:

1) Get the enclosure off the floor and up onto a stand, a wire rack, or a table

2) Remove any fake plants and vines in the enclosure

3) Remove everything off the floor of the enclosure.

4) Get the light fixtures out of the enclosure

5) Put a 6” heat dome on top of the screened enclosure with a 40-60 watt incandescent bulb for heat

6) Get a linear high output T5 bulb/fixture for UVB like the Arcadia 6% or Repti Sun 5.0

7). Zip tie real branches together in the enclosure like scaffolding. Make sure there’s no loose bark, lichen, algae, dirt, or other detritus. Give them a scrub with soapy water if you want. I use rubbing alcohol.

8) Attach 6“ potted pothos plants onto the branches or hang 8” pots of pothos from the top of the enclosure. I can show you how that’s done so it looks nice and it’s stable.

9) Make sure her basking branch is no hotter than 85 degrees. Use a digital wired probe to test this and also hold the back of your hand on that basking branch to get a sense of what she will feel. Holding your hand there for a minute lets the heat build up so it’s a real representation of the heat.

10) now that you have the enclosure on a stand, with the right lighting, real plants and branches, and a bare floor, go ahead and put her back in.
I assume I need to do this ONCE HER STUFF ARRIVES, because if I do it now, she'd have a totally empty enclosure.
 
Ok So for sure not 6 weeks old. That female is more like 4-6 months old from what I can tell with the pics... If the red light is still in there you need to pull it. Note when you set up the cage again you need all lighting on the top screen panel.

Did you purchase a T5HO fixture and a 5.0 or 6% UVB linear bulb for it yet? This is what you have to have for proper UVB.

So start reading this every section. It will teach you proper set up https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

Then go to Neptune the Chameleon. https://www.youtube.com/@NeptunetheChameleon She has videos for new keepers. Start watching those as well. These two things will help you a ton.

Note no sticky anything on the inside of the cage. If you need to attach stuff to the screen use tiny zip ties or floral wire but with floral wire the sharps have to be on the outside of the cage. For bigger veiled safe plants go to home depot or lowes inside nursery. mine currently has a ton of mature plants. See image attached and get the ones that say veiled safe.

As you start coming up with questions ask us here. We are happy to help you on your journey.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2022-06-27 at 11.41.38 AM copy.png
    Screen Shot 2022-06-27 at 11.41.38 AM copy.png
    887.8 KB · Views: 12
There’s lots of different ways to attach branches and vines to screen enclosures. The key is to make sure it’s the frame that is bearing all of the weight. Don’t attach anything to the screen. Dragon Ledges are awesome! https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ At times when I didn’t have those, I did as @Andrew1283 said above and made little scaffolding with branches, which I wired the basic framework corners to the corners of the enclosure. Recently I discovered the joy of using garden trellis and am using it in a couple of my enclosures. 😄 If you want how I did that, just ask. Giving you a pic of one of my recent set ups. I did later add another pothos to the top right.
IMG_3336.jpeg
 
Back
Top Bottom