My first cham and a little worried

GregorytheCham

GregorytheCham

New Member
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - veild, male, 2 months, I have had him less than a day
  • Handling - Not at all
  • Feeding - RN he gets 6-10 crickets dusted with calcium WITH D3. Once a day between 8-10 am (depending on how early i wake up). Feeders are fed with Flucker’s cricket quencher calcium fortified and Fluker’s High Calcium diet. (I have been made aware that this is not the best an will switch over food ASAP).
  • Supplements - Repti Calcium WITH D3 once a day (I have been made aware that this is not the best an will switch over food ASAP, should I change that to every other day or keep it at once a day)
  • Watering - I have the Repti rain mister which mists every hour for 30 second (I was thinking of changing that to 15 seconds). No I have not seen him drink.
  • Fecal Description - non yet
  • History - I bought him from FLCham.com
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Repti breeze 16X16X30
  • Lighting - (All Zoo Med) Repti basking light 50W, compact 5.0 UVB light (will be switched over to a long one once I get money) 8am - 10pm lights on
  • Temperature - 75ish at the bottom and 90ish (his basking spot 6 inched from the top). overnight is around 65. two temp probes one in his basking spot one on the floor
  • Humidity - 70% ish, i have a reptifogger. One of the temp probes also has a humidity monitor and i put that on the opposite side of the reptifogger
  • Plants - No live plants
  • Placement - he is in the main ahllway from the garage connected to my room (one of the most high traffic areas) *currenly realizing some mistakes* . The top of his cage is ab 6 feet from the floor
  • Location - I live in Bradenton FL
Current Problem -
So I just got a baby veiled Cham ab 4 months old. I put him in his cage and gave him 10ish crickets (he ate at least two i didn’t watch him eat the rest). And he looks like he is doing fine. Except when I walk by the cage he runs away even if I just walk by and don’t go near him. He has also be a brown for 12 hours. Should I be worried or am I fine and just need to build trust with him also should I consider hand feeding in the morning?
24B60592-5B3F-4423-8A27-722DE9B33958.jpeg 9F1BB587-9F2E-4336-8AF7-1A86708FA4C5.jpeg 8A74B0C7-A05B-455F-8F6B-C2BC2FBD4020.jpeg
 
I’ll chime in with some of my thoughts. First is your going to want to get him on a proper supplement schedule. Repti calcuim WITHOUT d3 everyday. A multivitamin every 2 weeks preferably one with preformed vitamin A. Repti calcuim WITH d3 also every 2 weeks. Alternating the weeks between these two. Bee pollen powder is also good to mix with your repti Calcuim when dusting your insects.

Next your going to want to add some variety to his diet crickets are good but add some silkworms, black soldier fly larva, blue bottle fly spikes, and a roach variety such as Dubai’s. Super worms and hornworms are good for treats. Your going to want to gutload these insects with different kinds of fruits and veggies on a weekly basis.

Your lighting will need to be upgraded sooner rather than later. I suggest a reptisun fixture with a 5.0 or 10.0 reptisun bulb. Or a fixture from lightyourreptiles.com with a 6% or 12% Arcadia bulb depending on the size of the fixture they will give off different uvi levels.

Do not fog during the daylight hours. Only fog during the cool hours of the night and early morning. Heat and high humidity can cause respiratory infections. You want your humidity to be as high as 100% at night. And around 30-40% humidity during the daytime. Here is a couple links on fogging and naturalistic hydration tactics. https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/
https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-110-fogging-and-airflow-with-mario-jungmann/

You will want his basking temperature to be around 85 degrees at his age no higher. Around 9 months you can raise it to around 90. Also I’d add more plants preferably live and some more areas for him to climb. This could be why he’s trying to hide from you. He’s still pretty young but you will want to upgrade to a 24x24x48 sized enclosure eventually.



61F9E60D-F8A1-47C1-B807-4FFC64220901.jpeg 0FEDAB03-2D0E-49EC-9E1D-4CCA790AA458.jpeg F79B9B5F-BFAE-488D-9874-8B7359BE0962.jpeg
 
Rlc1994 said:
I’ll chime in with some of my thoughts. First is your going to want to get him on a proper supplement schedule. Repti calcuim WITHOUT d3 everyday. A multivitamin every 2 weeks preferably one with preformed vitamin A. Repti calcuim WITH d3 also every 2 weeks. Alternating the weeks between these two. Bee pollen powder is also good to mix with your repti Calcuim when dusting your insects.

Next your going to want to add some variety to his diet crickets are good but add some silkworms, black soldier fly larva, blue bottle fly spikes, and a roach variety such as Dubai’s. Super worms and hornworms are good for treats. Your going to want to gutload these insects with different kinds of fruits and veggies on a weekly basis.

Your lighting will need to be upgraded sooner rather than later. I suggest a reptisun fixture with a 5.0 or 10.0 reptisun bulb. Or a fixture from lightyourreptiles.com with a 6% or 12% Arcadia bulb depending on the size of the fixture they will give off different uvi levels.

Do not fog during the daylight hours. Only fog during the cool hours of the night and early morning. Heat and high humidity can cause respiratory infections. You want your humidity to be as high as 100% at night. And around 30-40% humidity during the daytime. Here is a couple links on fogging and naturalistic hydration tactics. https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/
https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-110-fogging-and-airflow-with-mario-jungmann/

You will want his basking temperature to be around 85 degrees at his age no higher. Around 9 months you can raise it to around 90. Also I’d add more plants preferably live and some more areas for him to climb. This could be why he’s trying to hide from you. He’s still pretty young but you will want to upgrade to a 24x24x48 sized enclosure eventually.



View attachment 236878View attachment 236879View attachment 236880
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for your reply i will take all of this into consideration and adjust accordingly. One more thing tho i should use multivitamins every other week and in between that use the calcium WITH D3? Or use multivitamins, skip a week and use calcium WITHOUT D3?
 
Hi there and welcome. Please see my feedback in Red Bold. I will be repeating and adding to the info you already received. :)

Chameleon Info:

  • Your Chameleon - veild, male, 2 months, I have had him less than a day
  • Handling - Not at all
  • Feeding - RN he gets 6-10 crickets dusted with calcium WITH D3. Once a day between 8-10 am (depending on how early i wake up). Feeders are fed with Flucker’s cricket quencher calcium fortified and Fluker’s High Calcium diet. (I have been made aware that this is not the best an will switch over food ASAP). A two month old should be eating much more. Your looking at 15 or so crickets every morning.
  • Supplements - Repti Calcium WITH D3 once a day (I have been made aware that this is not the best an will switch over food ASAP, should I change that to every other day or keep it at once a day) You have already gotten the feedback here.
  • Watering - I have the Repti rain mister which mists every hour for 30 second (I was thinking of changing that to 15 seconds). No I have not seen him drink. Make sure the cage is drying out in between. Go listen to this podcast. https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/
  • Fecal Description - non yet Get this done to be on the safe side. Most vets will allow you to bring in a sample in a plastic baggy if it is fresh within the first 24 hours. This way you do not need to stress him by taking him in.
  • History - I bought him from FLCham.com
Cage Info:

  • Cage Type - Repti breeze 16X16X30 This will have to be bigger by the time he is about 6 months old 2x2x4 min for a Male Veiled.
  • Lighting - (All Zoo Med) Repti basking light 50W, compact 5.0 UVB light (will be switched over to a long one once I get money) 8am - 10pm lights on As stated you need to upgrade to the T5HO fixture and get rid of the compact bulb. If doing a single bulb T5HO then you need a 5.0 bulb. Nothing stronger.
  • Temperature - 75ish at the bottom and 90ish (his basking spot 6 inched from the top). overnight is around 65. two temp probes one in his basking spot one on the floor Too hot at basking... You want it no hotter then 85 at basking. If you are getting 83 at basking that is fine where he sits up a little higher it will be warmer. The compact UVB does produce some heat so once you upgrade that you may find that the 50watt bulb is just fine.
  • Humidity - 70% ish, i have a reptifogger. One of the temp probes also has a humidity monitor and i put that on the opposite side of the reptifogger Ok so humidity during the day for a Veiled. You want to be between 30-50Max. Your really looking for that 30-40% range during the day. No fogging during the day. Listen to the podcast link I gave you. It will cover fogging as well.
  • Plants - No live plants Get some :) Pothos, dwarf umbrella, and dracena are all good plants for a veiled. 1 inch river rock on top of the soil to keep him from eating it.
  • Placement - he is in the main ahllway from the garage connected to my room (one of the most high traffic areas) *currenly realizing some mistakes* . The top of his cage is ab 6 feet from the floor
  • Location - I live in Bradenton FL
Current Problem -
So I just got a baby veiled Cham ab 4 months old. I put him in his cage and gave him 10ish crickets (he ate at least two i didn’t watch him eat the rest). And he looks like he is doing fine. Except when I walk by the cage he runs away even if I just walk by and don’t go near him. He has also be a brown for 12 hours. Should I be worried or am I fine and just need to build trust with him also should I consider hand feeding in the morning?

He is going to be stressed the first week or so trying to get used to the new environment. Just give him time.
Additionally take out the green carpet... It will hold bacteria. Get a plastic hot water heater pan to go below the cage to catch water. You can wet vac this out.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
 
Beman said:
Hi there and welcome. Please see my feedback in Red Bold. I will be repeating and adding to the info you already received. :)

Chameleon Info:

  • Your Chameleon - veild, male, 2 months, I have had him less than a day
  • Handling - Not at all
  • Feeding - RN he gets 6-10 crickets dusted with calcium WITH D3. Once a day between 8-10 am (depending on how early i wake up). Feeders are fed with Flucker’s cricket quencher calcium fortified and Fluker’s High Calcium diet. (I have been made aware that this is not the best an will switch over food ASAP). A two month old should be eating much more. Your looking at 15 or so crickets every morning.
  • Supplements - Repti Calcium WITH D3 once a day (I have been made aware that this is not the best an will switch over food ASAP, should I change that to every other day or keep it at once a day) You have already gotten the feedback here.
  • Watering - I have the Repti rain mister which mists every hour for 30 second (I was thinking of changing that to 15 seconds). No I have not seen him drink. Make sure the cage is drying out in between. Go listen to this podcast. https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/
  • Fecal Description - non yet Get this done to be on the safe side. Most vets will allow you to bring in a sample in a plastic baggy if it is fresh within the first 24 hours. This way you do not need to stress him by taking him in.
  • History - I bought him from FLCham.com
Cage Info:

  • Cage Type - Repti breeze 16X16X30 This will have to be bigger by the time he is about 6 months old 2x2x4 min for a Male Veiled.
  • Lighting - (All Zoo Med) Repti basking light 50W, compact 5.0 UVB light (will be switched over to a long one once I get money) 8am - 10pm lights on As stated you need to upgrade to the T5HO fixture and get rid of the compact bulb. If doing a single bulb T5HO then you need a 5.0 bulb. Nothing stronger.
  • Temperature - 75ish at the bottom and 90ish (his basking spot 6 inched from the top). overnight is around 65. two temp probes one in his basking spot one on the floor Too hot at basking... You want it no hotter then 85 at basking. If you are getting 83 at basking that is fine where he sits up a little higher it will be warmer. The compact UVB does produce some heat so once you upgrade that you may find that the 50watt bulb is just fine.
  • Humidity - 70% ish, i have a reptifogger. One of the temp probes also has a humidity monitor and i put that on the opposite side of the reptifogger Ok so humidity during the day for a Veiled. You want to be between 30-50Max. Your really looking for that 30-40% range during the day. No fogging during the day. Listen to the podcast link I gave you. It will cover fogging as well.
  • Plants - No live plants Get some :) Pothos, dwarf umbrella, and dracena are all good plants for a veiled. 1 inch river rock on top of the soil to keep him from eating it.
  • Placement - he is in the main ahllway from the garage connected to my room (one of the most high traffic areas) *currenly realizing some mistakes* . The top of his cage is ab 6 feet from the floor
  • Location - I live in Bradenton FL
Current Problem -
So I just got a baby veiled Cham ab 4 months old. I put him in his cage and gave him 10ish crickets (he ate at least two i didn’t watch him eat the rest). And he looks like he is doing fine. Except when I walk by the cage he runs away even if I just walk by and don’t go near him. He has also be a brown for 12 hours. Should I be worried or am I fine and just need to build trust with him also should I consider hand feeding in the morning?

He is going to be stressed the first week or so trying to get used to the new environment. Just give him time.
Additionally take out the green carpet... It will hold bacteria. Get a plastic hot water heater pan to go below the cage to catch water. You can wet vac this out.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
Click to expand...
Thank you for the help
 
Ok so a few updates i fed him this morning (I tried hand feeding and it didn’t work) so i put the crickets in the enclosure I haven’t seen him eat but I also haven’t seen any crickets. I have also stopped fogging during the day and have a timer on it to only fog at night. I have a larger enclosure i just have to find it. I am also looking at new lights and will be getting some as soon as i get my paycheck. Basking temp has changed to around 80. He will be moved into my room over the next few weeks to get out of the high traffic areas. I will also get rid of the carpet. Thank you for all your help
 
Chams won’t eat for the first 2-3 days of having them they still need to adjust to their new environment.
 
GregorytheCham said:
Ok so a few updates i fed him this morning (I tried hand feeding and it didn’t work) so i put the crickets in the enclosure I haven’t seen him eat but I also haven’t seen any crickets. I have also stopped fogging during the day and have a timer on it to only fog at night. I have a larger enclosure i just have to find it. I am also looking at new lights and will be getting some as soon as i get my paycheck. Basking temp has changed to around 80. He will be moved into my room over the next few weeks to get out of the high traffic areas. I will also get rid of the carpet. Thank you for all your help
Click to expand...
The ideal basking temp is between 85-90 that’s what I’ve found to work the most for my veiled if you need more heat try changing to a higher wat light bulb
 
GregorytheCham said:
Ok so a few updates i fed him this morning (I tried hand feeding and it didn’t work) so i put the crickets in the enclosure I haven’t seen him eat but I also haven’t seen any crickets. I have also stopped fogging during the day and have a timer on it to only fog at night. I have a larger enclosure i just have to find it. I am also looking at new lights and will be getting some as soon as i get my paycheck. Basking temp has changed to around 80. He will be moved into my room over the next few weeks to get out of the high traffic areas. I will also get rid of the carpet. Thank you for all your help
Click to expand...
Try to get as close to 85 degrees for his basking temperature. A veiled cask is a couple inches higher than the basking branch he’s on so you have to take that into account. If your using a laser temperature gun the branch should be reading around 82 give or take to account for his body being closer to the basking lamp. I’d advise lifting the basking lamp off the screen if possible. Young chameleons are know to climb screen and if he gets right under the lamp it could cause thermal burns.

You will want to try to rig something for drainage after you get rid of the carpet. There are many options if you search around on the forums. Drilling holes in the bottom of the cage floor and having a pan or bucket to catch the excess water underneath is a simple solution.
 
Jbennaim said:
Chams won’t eat for the first 2-3 days of having them they still need to adjust to their new environment.
Click to expand...
This is not always the case. It really depends on the cham.

Jbennaim said:
The ideal basking temp is between 85-90 that’s what I’ve found to work the most for my veiled if you need more heat try changing to a higher wat light bulb
Click to expand...
For the age of his Veiled 90 is way too hot. It would be 85 max.
 
Y
Rlc1994 said:
Try to get as close to 85 degrees for his basking temperature. A veiled cask is a couple inches higher than the basking branch he’s on so you have to take that into account. If your using a laser temperature gun the branch should be reading around 82 give or take to account for his body being closer to the basking lamp. I’d advise lifting the basking lamp off the screen if possible. Young chameleons are know to climb screen and if he gets right under the lamp it could cause thermal burns.

You will want to try to rig something for drainage after you get rid of the carpet. There are many options if you search around on the forums. Drilling holes in the bottom of the cage floor and having a pan or bucket to catch the excess water underneath is a simple solution.
Click to expand...
es i do plan on draining i think someone said something ab a hot water heater pan and putting it under and dripping holes in the bottom
 
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