My new Veiled - Victoria

[TRI0N]

Okay well I went shopping and got my chameleon finally. Was going to get a Panther but this Veiled looked absolutly healthy and just beautiful skin compared to some of the other species that I saw. She's very active and loves to climb onto my hand right off. I'm happy.. She sure looks happy in her new home and loves to hunt her food down.

Though I have a misting system and The Big Dripper, I have not seen her lick water yet. So I hope that is okay she will drink when she wants to right?

 

[kinyonga]

Hope you will enjoy her!

I can't tell how old/big she is from the picture...but if she's over 4 months of age I would recommend putting a place for her to dig in case she has to lay eggs. Failure to provide a suitable place for her to lay eggs could lead to eggbinding. Veiled females can lay eggs even without being mated.

Does she have a UVB light or access to sunlight? Neither should pass through glass or plastic.You might like to read this article about the problem with some compact and tube lights to make sure you have one that won't harm her eyes...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm

Do you know about gutloading and supplementing? Importance of maintaining appropriate temperatures?

 

[TRI0N]

Hope you will enjoy her!
I can't tell how old/big she is from the picture...but if she's over 4 months of age I would recommend putting a place for her to dig in case she has to lay eggs. Failure to provide a suitable place for her to lay eggs could lead to eggbinding. Veiled females can lay eggs even without being mated.

She is about 3 months old and will place a sand dish behind some follage to conceal the dish. If there was some links or info on building a nest that would be great to see.

Does she have a UVB light or access to sunlight? Neither should pass through glass or plastic.You might like to read this article about the problem with some compact and tube lights to make sure you have one that won't harm her eyes...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm

Yes she has ZooMed 24" RaptiSun 5.0 UVB and the backing lamp is a ZooMed Retpti Basking Spot Lamp with UVA. She also has if needed at night a ZooMed Nocturnal Infrared Heat Lamp for cold seasons. Aswell as a ZooMed Blue Day Lamp and ZooMed Red Night Lamp.

Do you know about gutloading and supplementing? Importance of maintaining appropriate temperatures?

Yes I have gutload for crickets and only feed her ones that are no bigger then her head and supliment dust to shake worms in a bag before feeding. Nutralizer for Water without supliments. I have 2 Fluker's Thermo-Hygrometer. 1 near her basking area and the other near the bottom of her habitate. Basking is 90 degrees with 60% Humidity and the lower area is 75 degrees with a 57% Humidity.

 

[kinyonga]

She's still a little young to lay eggs...so at least you don't have to worry about it for a while! The container of sand should be about 10"L x 8" x 8"...this size will give her a place to dig....you may have to put her in a bigger container when she starts to dig.

You said..."Yes she has ZooMed 24" RaptiSun 5.0 UVB and the backing lamp is a ZooMed Retpti Basking Spot Lamp with UVA. She also has if needed at night a ZooMed Nocturnal Infrared Heat Lamp for cold seasons. Aswell as a ZooMed Blue Day Lamp and ZooMed Red Night Lamp"...you don't need heat on them at night unless your temps drop below 65F.

You said..."Yes I have gutload for crickets and only feed her ones that are no bigger then her head and supliment dust to shake worms in a bag before feeding. Nutralizer for Water without supliments. I have 2 Fluker's Thermo-Hygrometer. 1 near her basking area and the other near the bottom of her habitate. Basking is 90 degrees with 60% Humidity and the lower area is 75 degrees with a 57% Humidity"...basking temperature, etc. sounds fine. Is the supplement one that contains D3 or phosphorous as well as the calcium?
Do you have a vitamin powder too? You can give greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, white potato, sweet red pepper, etc.) to the crickets. If you have any plants in the cage they should be non-toxic and well-washed, both sides of the leaves, before adding them to the cage.

Hope you have good luck with her!

 

[davemailcall]

She is a beauty all right! Wish Clyde liked climbing in my hand, you're lucky to have one so friendly!

 

[TRI0N]

Shedding

Well I'll tell you one thing.. I guess pet stores lack providing them UVA. She basked in her light today and her whole body Shed like instantly where she only has like just a few flakes left on the top of her head. She seem really happy and dashes onto her vine that leads to the door when she saw me arrive with some worms to feed her. She was ready to grub. While I had the cage open a house fly got inside and she turned instantly when it landed and snatched that sucker right up.. LOL She a trip!

 

[TRI0N]

Here is a pic of her with some shedding flakes on her head. The whole ground had tons of shedding all over it and cleaned it out once she finished eating her meal. Has a slight bit of shed around the tip of her tail but obviously very loose and white as it has seperated from her under skin.

 

[dodolah]

can't help but notice the environment behind the veiled chameleon.
I am guessing you are using exo terrarium, right?

umm.. probably people will disagree.. but, go get a screen cage and QUICKLY
move your chameleon to the new cage ASAP.

Chameleon WILL get sick soon when you put it in glass aquarium (and exoterra only has 1 screen top. so the air inside will be stale soon).
My first chameleon get sick by the 5th days (thanks to my lack of research and the Petco people).

 

[TRI0N]

She has 2 cages. One from Lil-Reptile and the Exo Terra. The Exo Terra I keep in the living room and then place here in her main cage (in office) each night or when I don't move here to the Exo-Terra. She dosn't seem to mind her reflection at all and I keep her habitat spot clean at all times. She shows no signs of even wanting to hide in her plants and moves from vine to plant to control her own temp. She's very active and happy and loves to hunt so I will keep an eye out for any signs of her habbits changing but the main cage is huge and all screen sides with all the works I put into the Exo habitat but tons more plants and equipment. I also have a Zipper Terranium I plan to use for outside when its hot and sunny. So she is pretty spoiled here.

The Exo Terra does have front vent under the door all away across. At night when she is in the main cage I leave the doors open on the Exo so I'm pretty up to it in keeping her safe from anything that would harm her.

When I bought her I wanted to have a way to keep an eye on here when I spend time wathing TV and working on the laptop. While the office has 5 computers running at all times the tempature and humidity in there is excellent.

See seems to change to the Brown color when she is hunting and back to the Green and Yellow when she is just haning out. When I let her climb onto my hands and just hang out she does not change color and I would imagine that means she is very comfortable with it and is not emotional at all.

 

[dodolah]

well...
just be very aware and alert if you gonna keep him in exo terra.
i would still suggest you to get rid of that glass aquarium (return it to the store if it still possible) and just have all side screen cage just to be safe.

plus they are way cheaper than exo terra

 

[kinyonga]

TRION....what country do you live in? (Just wondering because your chameleon turns brown.)

dodolah said..."Chameleon WILL get sick soon when you put it in glass aquarium (and exoterra only has 1 screen top. so the air inside will be stale soon).
My first chameleon get sick by the 5th days (thanks to my lack of research and the Petco people)."...its a shame that you lost your chameleon in only 5 days when in an exoterra....its heartbreaking to lose a chameleon so soon. How do you know the death of your chameleon was due to being in an exoterra though?

I have kept chameleons for about 20 years and when I first started off I kept them ALL in glass cages...and most of them did well. Keep in mind that ALL of them were WC and some died for reasons related to that (being WC) and not because of the glass cages. NOT ONE of them died from a respiratory infection (which is what most people say will happen to them when kept in glass cages)....I know because I got necropsies on almost all of the chameleons that I lost.

My first CB chameleons (that I hatched myself) were C. chamaeleons and most of them (I kept 13 or so) lived to be over 6 years old including the females. Only one of them had to go to a vets and that was for a rub on the tip of her mouth that she got from digging to lay her eggs.

I'm not saying that glass cages are easy or perfect...but neither are screen ones. Glass can work well but demand attention to detail....basking lights need to be placed to one side/corner to help with air flow...no water can be left standing on the floor of the cage, etc. With screen cages all I hear is how difficult it is to keep the humidity and heat right and the chameleon spends more time than it should under the basking lights to keep warm.

Right now I use some cages that have screen lids and fronts and they are still difficult to keep warm enough in the winter months here....and they get too dry too.

I respect that you are trying to help. This is just my two cents worth....many different things work for many different people...the main thing is to do the best you can for your chameleon. Not much is written in stone.

BTW...I have never had one suffer from seeing its own reflection either.

 

[dodolah]

TRION....what country do you live in? (Just wondering because your chameleon turns brown.)

dodolah said..."Chameleon WILL get sick soon when you put it in glass aquarium (and exoterra only has 1 screen top. so the air inside will be stale soon).
My first chameleon get sick by the 5th days (thanks to my lack of research and the Petco people)."...its a shame that you lost your chameleon in only 5 days when in an exoterra....its heartbreaking to lose a chameleon so soon. How do you know the death of your chameleon was due to being in an exoterra though?

I have kept chameleons for about 20 years and when I first started off I kept them ALL in glass cages...and most of them did well. Keep in mind that ALL of them were WC and some died for reasons related to that (being WC) and not because of the glass cages. NOT ONE of them died from a respiratory infection (which is what most people say will happen to them when kept in glass cages)....I know because I got necropsies on almost all of the chameleons that I lost.

My first CB chameleons (that I hatched myself) were C. chamaeleons and most of them (I kept 13 or so) lived to be over 6 years old including the females. Only one of them had to go to a vets and that was for a rub on the tip of her mouth that she got from digging to lay her eggs.

I'm not saying that glass cages are easy or perfect...but neither are screen ones. Glass can work well but demand attention to detail....basking lights need to be placed to one side/corner to help with air flow...no water can be left standing on the floor of the cage, etc. With screen cages all I hear is how difficult it is to keep the humidity and heat right and the chameleon spends more time than it should under the basking lights to keep warm.

Right now I use some cages that have screen lids and fronts and they are still difficult to keep warm enough in the winter months here....and they get too dry too.

I respect that you are trying to help. This is just my two cents worth....many different things work for many different people...the main thing is to do the best you can for your chameleon. Not much is written in stone.

BTW...I have never had one suffer from seeing its own reflection either.

well, first of all, the chameleon that get sick fortunately did not turn up dead.
Lucky, i manage to detect the symptoms early.
but, it cause a whooping vet bill.
he's overly stressed seeing his own reflection so he stop drinking and eating.
the reason i know this cause he's often change his color to spotted dark green when he stares at the glass side.
b4 i wasn't aware that's seeing his own reflection will stress him so (i was
not that knowledgeable b4)

by the 4th day he just sleep in the mid of the day. lucky my gf caught him sleeping and give me a call.
good thing that i know enough to tell a sleeping chameleon in the midday is a sick one.

as far as screen cage goes, i put 4 plants inside, and i always manage to get
the humidity around 50% with an occasional rise to 70% during rainy day.
and.. as far as heat goes (i am not sure why it's hard because my basking light is more than enough for him.. he never goes to close to the lamp).

i guess it's depend on individual chameleon..
but it's better to b in cautious side, right?

 

[TRI0N]

TRION....what country do you live in? (Just wondering because your chameleon turns brown.)

Atascadero, California, USA. Very hot zone during the day all year round at most and can get very cold in the winter during rain and nights so I keet the Red Heat Light ready for those days that the inside of her habitat gets below 65. Other then that she goes under her lamp when she needs it and goes back to her hang out spot on the plants on her own. She doen't hang out under her lamp all day and likes to jump to the cool spot to eat.

Oh BTW thanks for the tip on the sand. So it needs to be 8" deep? Just making sure when the time comes and that Article was nice reading material.

 

[kinyonga]

I just realized that when talking about the glass cages that I didn't mention that I live in a northern climate. If you live in an area where its hot then glass cages are not likely a good idea if you have no air conditioning. Its mostly a matter of looking at each individual situation and making a determination of what provides the best environment for the chameleon.

dodolah said..."the chameleon that get sick fortunately did not turn up dead"...oops....sorry about assuming that's what you meant. How long did it live or is it still alive?

What did the vet say about your chameleon?

Was your cage near/in view of a window?

You said..."as far as heat goes (i am not sure why it's hard because my basking light is more than enough for him.. he never goes to close to the lamp)"...its because I live in Canada and its cold here much of the year....so the temperature during the day in the house during most of spring, fall and winter is usually only 74F. The heat dissipates rapidly through the screen, so the chameleon's cage is cool everywhere but under the basking light. Regarding the humidity, with the furnace on the air is dry so its hard, even with plants in the cage and misting, to keep the humidity up. Using a humidifier allows mold to grow which would cause health issues for the chameleon and me.

You said..."it's better to b in cautious side, right?"...for sure!

TRION said..."thanks for the tip on the sand. So it needs to be 8" deep?"...that is about the minimum. I have had quite a few veileds and panthers lay in that size of a container...but some don't seem happy with it and need to be moved to a bigger one. I use a 65 liter rubbermaid type container to move them to once they start digging intently in the container in the cage. I cut a large hole in the lid of the 65 liter container and put screen over it. I fill the container with at least a bag of washed playsand (moistened so that it will hold a tunnel) and add a branch. I put the chameleon in the container and put the lid back on. I put a light over the screen. Be careful not to overheat the container. You can water her and feed her while she is in there....but when she turns her bum around in the hole to lay the eggs...make sure there are no insects left in their or they may nibble her or the eggs. While a chameleon is digging its important that she doesn't see you watching her or she will abandon the hole. If she abandons it too many times, it can lead to eggbinding. Also, when a chameleon is digging, she may dig the same hole more than one time or she may dig several test holes first and then chose one (hopefully).

I didn't realize you lived in California TRION...so just be careful that your glass cage doesn't get too hot or humid....and definitely don't use a glass one outside!

 

[dodolah]

dodolah said..."the chameleon that get sick fortunately did not turn up dead"...oops....sorry about assuming that's what you meant. How long did it live or is it still alive?

What did the vet say about your chameleon?

Was your cage near/in view of a window?

You said..."as far as heat goes (i am not sure why it's hard because my basking light is more than enough for him.. he never goes to close to the lamp)"...its because I live in Canada and its cold here much of the year....so the temperature during the day in the house during most of spring, fall and winter is usually only 74F. The heat dissipates rapidly through the screen, so the chameleon's cage is cool everywhere but under the basking light. Regarding the humidity, with the furnace on the air is dry so its hard, even with plants in the cage and misting, to keep the humidity up. Using a humidifier allows mold to grow which would cause health issues for the chameleon and me.

You said..."it's better to b in cautious side, right?"...for sure!

It is still alive.
It does not live near window at all.
The only reflective thing is the aquarium itself.
The vet basically says he's dehydrated mostly due stress (he refused to eat and drink..).


I live in California so the heat is never a problem..
In fact, next summer, i am going to buy a portable AC just to keep the temp down.
This summer my room goes up to a whopping 97 degree F without any lamp
turned on (but luckily when it happened, i do not own any chameleon at the moment).