My new cham, needs an ID please.

[soccerbum474]

Hey y'all! Just picked up my first Cham last weekend and i have some questions about the little guy. I wasn't able to get very much information on him from his last owner except for that he called it a "pygmy veiled chameleon"

Info I have on him already:
body about 3-4 inches, including tail ~ 8 inches.
Both back feet have the tarsal spur
eating about 4 crickets a day
drinks out of water bowl?!?!?! (seen it with my eye)


heres some pictures of him.

 

[ScubaSteve318]

looks like a regular veiled?

 

[Julirs]

That is a thin dehydrated veiled. There is no such thing as a Pygmy veiled.

 

[Sir Spiral Tail]

I could be wrong, but i have never heard of a pygmy veiled, and 8 inches does not sound like a pygmy to me. Looks like you have yourself a veiled

 

[Rocky]

1. There's no such thing as a pygmy veiled. He is a regular male veiled.
2. While he may drink out of the bowl that is a horrible thing and it is probably his last resort because he is dehydrated (looks like it as well)
3. What kind of enclosure is he in? He will need a well ventilated all screen 2ft x 2ft x 3-4ft tall screened enclosure more than likely.
4. Then you should get a live plant in there for him and mist him 2-3 times a day so he will be properly hydrated.

I suggest reading this http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

Unfortunately most of what you were told sounds wrong.

 

[Sir Spiral Tail]

Don't use the water dish, set up a drip system, and use a mister in his enclosure. I started by putting ice on top of mine's cage and then got a drip system later.

 

[Sir Spiral Tail]

too late both times.....haha

 

[soccerbum474]

wow.. okay thanks alot guys!
(im a member of a few reef/saltwater forums so i know how theses turn out)
SO first off, please no one get mad at me! I barely received him on saturday (5 days ago) and I had no control of his prior situation.
His cage as of right now is a 10g aquarium the bottom has a 1" layer of soil, one small live plant, the water dish, cheap hydrometer (40 - 60%) and a few brances and twigs.

I throw 5 crickets in the cage in the morning and by night all or only one is left.
I mist the entire cage 3-4 times a day, letting it dry between mists. (i still witness him drinking from bowl, it may be a habit he'll never loose as the previous owner only gave him a bowl.

So on the to-do list.
cage with better ventilation (what about a computer fan blowing air throught?)
mister/dripping system for moisture.
more live plants

any more suggestions or commands?

 

[Warrix642]

wow.. okay thanks alot guys!
(im a member of a few reef/saltwater forums so i know how theses turn out)
SO first off, please no one get mad at me! I barely received him on saturday (5 days ago) and I had no control of his prior situation.
His cage as of right now is a 10g aquarium the bottom has a 1" layer of soil, one small live plant, the water dish, cheap hydrometer (40 - 60%) and a few brances and twigs.

I mist the entire cage 3-4 times a day, letting it dry between mists. (i still witness him drinking from bowl, it may be a habit he'll never loose as the previous owner only gave him a bowl.

any more suggestions or commands?

Sometimes people get crazy on here, dont take it to heart... Soil at the bottom is bad because it can and usually will cause impaction. Do you have a UVB light yet or is he in the sun outside? I would take the water bowl out so he can get used to mistings and drippings. The water bowl is a breeding pit for bacteria.

Dustin

 

[pssh]

Welcome! If you make some quick changes and do a lot of misting I bet he'll be just fine.


Here is my basic checklist for a baby veiled:

-a screen cage of appropriate size (baby:16x16x30, adult female 18x18x36, adult male 24x24x48) you can also buy the adult sized cage and just section off the bottom so it is smaller
-live plants that are non toxic and have covered organic fertilizer free soil
-a normal incandescent house bulb of appropriate wattage
-a dome to put the house bulb in
-a linear reptisun 5.0 and appropriate hood
-a digital thermometer or temp gun to check temperature
-a digital hygrometer to check humidity (you can buy a 2 in 1 thermometer/hygrometer)
-three supplements: calcium with d3, calcium without d3, and a multivitamin that contains no vit A (make sure all are phos free)
-a pump style spray bottle to spray chameleon
-a dripper of some sort
-drainage for the water so that the cage does not flood
-many horizontal, vertical, and diagonal branches/vines/perches make sure there are many at different levels under the basking branch so he can move around under them to get a certain temp, the closest one to the bulb (6-8 inches under it) should have the maximum temperature a baby veiled can handle (80-83 degrees)

All of this can be bought on lllreptile.com but it would be cheaper to buy the uvb hood, normal incandescent house bulb and dome, plants, and digital thermometer from home depot or lowes (unless you are getting a temp gun, then tempgun.com) Veiled chameleons can handle temps as low as 50 degrees (at night) so there is no need to use a night light, though I would try to keep it around 60 for a baby. If you do need extra heat, use a space heater or ceramic bulb.

 

[soccerbum474]

Sometimes people get crazy on here, dont take it to heart... Soil at the bottom is bad because it can and usually will cause impaction. Do you have a UVB light yet or is he in the sun outside? I would take the water bowl out so he can get used to mistings and drippings. The water bowl is a breeding pit for bacteria.

Dustin

As of tomorrow morning i'll remove the soil. He has two lights on him, the red heat lamp and the white UVB light, but my room is a converted "solarium" so UV rays from the sun will never be a deficiency.

Welcome! If you make some quick changes and do a lot of misting I bet he'll be just fine.


Here is my basic checklist for a baby veiled:

-a screen cage of appropriate size (baby:16x16x30, adult female 18x18x36, adult male 24x24x48) you can also buy the adult sized cage and just section off the bottom so it is smaller
-live plants that are non toxic and have covered organic fertilizer free soil
-a normal incandescent house bulb of appropriate wattage
-a dome to put the house bulb in
-a linear reptisun 5.0 and appropriate hood
-a digital thermometer or temp gun to check temperature
-a digital hygrometer to check humidity (you can buy a 2 in 1 thermometer/hygrometer)
-three supplements: calcium with d3, calcium without d3, and a multivitamin that contains no vit A (make sure all are phos free)
-a pump style spray bottle to spray chameleon
-a dripper of some sort
-drainage for the water so that the cage does not flood
-many horizontal, vertical, and diagonal branches/vines/perches make sure there are many at different levels under the basking branch so he can move around under them to get a certain temp, the closest one to the bulb (6-8 inches under it) should have the maximum temperature a baby veiled can handle (80-83 degrees)

All of this can be bought on lllreptile.com but it would be cheaper to buy the uvb hood, normal incandescent house bulb and dome, plants, and digital thermometer from home depot or lowes (unless you are getting a temp gun, then tempgun.com) Veiled chameleons can handle temps as low as 50 degrees (at night) so there is no need to use a night light, though I would try to keep it around 60 for a baby. If you do need extra heat, use a space heater or ceramic bulb.

so should i take out the soil or not? its not soil that i just got from the backyard, its the organic sterilized stuff from the pet store for frogs and whatnot. Ill work on either building a screen cage or buying on this weekend. I have the Chameleon in my room and my room rarely goes below 60 degrees (from palm springs originally) so heating at night isn't a problem.
I'm a HUGE DIY type of person so building an automated drip system wouldn't be a problem.
As for supplementing the Chameleon ill do my own thing, no offense to the old guys here that probably have been doing the same thing for decades with no problems, but I'm going for my pre-vet degree so supplements are second hand.
(Many of the supplements aren't even required but rather a safety net to spend your money on. Cham's do need their calcium regularly but the supplementation of vitamin d3 is a WASTE. Only a small amount is requires to aid the process of calcification. Which can be produced by your Cham given that it receives a couple hours of direct sunlight per week.)

THANK YOU BOTH FOR ALL THE HELP AND SORRY IF I SOUNDED A LITTLE STUBBORN.

 

[pssh]

The d3 is more of a precautionary thing for chams that don't see natural sun. People that do have chameleons that get sufficient natural sun generally are told calcium with d3 isn't needed. It's only recommended for twice a month anways. Better safe than sorry without the real sun.