Welcome to the world of chameleons!
Here's the short course on keeping them...
Appropriate temperatures allow for good digestion which plays an indirect part in nutrition absorption. You can use a regular incandescent household bulb in a dome hood for heat/basking. The wattage used is determined by the temperature produced in the basking area and cage.
Exposure to UVB allows the chameleon to produce d3 which allows it to use the calcium in its system. The UVB can come from direct sunlight or from a UVB light. The most often recommended light is the long linear fluorescent tube Repti-sun 5.0. Some lights can be dangerous for your chameleon so be careful that you chose a good one. The UVB either from the light or sun should
not pass through glass or plastic.
Many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus so its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings.
I also dust twice a month lightly with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder. D3 from supplements can build up in the system, so don't overdo it.
I dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. Vitamin A from beta carotene will not build up in the system like prEformed sources can. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene so some people give a little bit of prEformed once in a while. Excess vitamin A can interfere with the D3 and push the chameleon towards MBD...so be very careful with it.
Gutloading/feeding your insects a nutritious diet is important too. You can gutload/feed crickets, superworms, roaches with a wide assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, etc.).
Watering can be done with a mister and a dripper...but I don't start using a dripper until the chameleon is several months old.
Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are all important players in bone health and play parts in other systems too and they need to be in balance. To attain a balance you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the chameleon and what you feed the insects.
Here are some sites that you might like to look at...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://adcham.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...rnals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=102
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
Good luck!
