My new girl

sisco

New Member
Here are a couple of pis of Jade. My first chameleon.


Jade3.jpg


Jade2.jpg


Jade6.jpg
 
She looks nice. Please remove her from the shiny glass cage that is reflecting like a mirror and making her feel as if someone is watching her and invading her territory at all times.

From another post:
Zerah Morris said:
Wow you guys are tons of help. Hope he/she is not a why person.

CFree3344,
In general you will find it recommended that an all mesh or screen enclosure be used. Glass enclosures are out, because of the lack of air movement, long dry time (too much moisture can cause respiratory infections), weight to size, poor height to width ratios for the money, and reflectivity of the interior surfaces causing stress to the cham. That said all screen enclosures are very poorly insulated structures, are difficult to maintain humidity and temp in, can cause foot injuries in larger adult animals, and have a tendency to rust or rot. European keepers have for years used enclosures that are made of high percentages of sheet goods, like OSB and veneered ply, combined with pvc coated hardware cloth or aluminum screening, in an attempt to maintain better climatic conditions without having to heat, cool, or humidify an entire room to do so. The reptarium is a very convenient cage, easy to setup, cheap, etc and can be used with good success. Many breeders and serious collectors swear by them. Another alternative would be to build a cage. This is often a more expensive and time consuming endeavor but the benefit to both captive and keeper can be high if proper thought is put into it, and an adequate amount of research done before building starts.

-Zerah J Morris
 
I'm in the process of building a mesh enclosure but I'm trying to figure out the best dimension and lighting setup. I have been getting alot of different input. Any help would be appreciated.
 
congrats on your new cham...make sure u give her enough calcium and make sure u see her drink water and not get dehydrated. i almost lost my cham because of mbd...but he is recovering. good luck with her. if you can try to make an appointment with the local exotic vet. i wish i did so he can help u out with any Q.s u may have but then again thats y we have these forums:) good luck to u and jade
 
I 'm starting to worry because I have not seen her drink yet. Its been Five days. How do I know if she has been drinking?

Sisco
 
Also try some real plants. Vaileds are known to like to munch on some greens once and a while. It also helps clean the air and keep the humitity up.
 
I want to put in some real plants but I don't know what plants are best for veilleds. Still a major noob here. lol.

Sisco
 
Click on the plants links on the home page. It lists a few good plants for your cage, and search the forum it has been covered a million times now.
 
Regarding the glass cage...depending on the climate that you live in, they can be necessary. My cages have screen lids and doors, but because the climate here is cool and the humidity is often low, this works.

Contrary to what is normally said, I have not found chameleons to pay much/any attention to their refelections. My female veileds consistently live to be over 6 and my males even older than that kept like this.

I always recommend using real non-toxic well-washed (both sides of the leaves) plants with chameleons. That way there is no problem with them ingesting a fake leaf and ending up impacted. I use pothos in my veiled cages but there are lots more that you can use too.

Please be aware that females can lay eggs even when not mated so she should have a suitable place in her cage to dig in. If you don't want her to lay large clutches, you need to control her diet a little more than if she were a male too.

Full spectrum light including UVB (that does not pass through glass or plastic) is necessary. Direct sunlight is even better.

As was suggested, dust the insects with (phosphorous free) calcium powder before giving them to your chameleon. I also dust the insects with a vitamin/mineral powder (with beta carotene sources of vitamin A) twice a month and, because my chameleons don't get any direct sunlight, I dust lightly with a calciunm/D3 powder twice a month.

Its advisable to gutload the insects with a nutritious diet too.

Hope you enjoy your chameleon!
 
kinyonga said:
Regarding the glass cage...depending on the climate that you live in, they can be necessary. My cages have screen lids and doors, but because the climate here is cool and the humidity is often low, this works.

Contrary to what is normally said, I have not found chameleons to pay much/any attention to their refelections. My female veileds consistently live to be over 6 and my males even older than that kept like this.

This is really poor information. Some chameleons do adapt to living surrounded by their reflections just as some do adapt to living communally despite them largely being solitary animals.

There is no situation in which glass provides any advantage, and never any situation in which glass is "necessay"! If humidity is an issue in you climate you are better off to use solid OSB or veneered plys sealed and then covered in cork panels or fern root panels. Alternatively you can also use spray foams covered in a mix of black silicone with peat/coco fiber. All provide additional insulation as apposed to screen and hold moisture to help maintain humidity. Glass provides none of these advantages. It is a horrible insulator, holds no moisture, and creates issues with lack of evaporation and bacteria growth often resulting in URI.

I respect that your chameleons have lived the stated life spans. However I would say that this was in-spite of their enclosures and not because of them.
 
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I beleive that the "Necessary" may have been more directed towards towards the 'Solid side' aspect of the enclosures she uses. And I'm absolutely positive shes aware of siding options. She explains what is working great for her.

BTW, my solid side enclosures that I posted on the other forum are working well. Much improved from all the other designs I have worked through. Point is, use what works and make the changes as you see fit or necessary to provide the best habitat for chameleons.
 
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