Need suggestion for better set up

Thrunthru

New Member
Hello everybody.

I have a veiled chameleon since nearly a month with my girlfriend. We're new to the chameleon hobby even though I own a few tarantulas. So please be kind with us (the noobs, haha)!

We went to a local pet shop and were told that the chameleon needs high level of humidity. We had been keeping her at 55-60% and were needed to reach a minimum of 75-80% accordingly to the store's expert. So we bought the fogger/waterfall combo by ExoTerra. It worked great for a few days even though the waterfall itself had a broken piece (I ignored that one). Then it started working strangely. Humidity was surely high, but it was all soggy on the bottom. The broken part was only where the fogger unit goes, and if it leaks, it falls underneath and gets sucked back to the top by the circular maneuver of the waterfall.

My girlfriend found some tiny insects walking on the wood bark, so she removed it. I also found that there were the same insects walking in one of my tarantula's terrarium..

Anyway, it has been 5 days already we got the combo and these two pictures show what we get! There were no water in the place where the cricket is when I removed that one part of the waterfall.

Is there something better than ExoTerra? I heard of MistKing though, but I don't know how long the shipping would take!
 

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As I've been told, the fogger/waterfall just causes lots of bacteria build up. So with that I'd say remove the fogger/waterfall asap. I would also remove the bark and stuff. Its doable in glass terrariums but most of the keepers use screen to provide ventilation. Some manually spray their enclosures, and some use either mist king and/or aquazamp.

I've been out of the hobby since February, due to family issues. But I'm getting my little in July. :)
 
Hello and welcome! Don't worry I wont be too hard on you! As suggested, remove the waterfall and the substrate. As you can see you have a soggy mess. That type of environment is a mold and bacteria breeding ground. This can set your chameleon up for respiratory infections. If your humidity is around 60% without the waterfall you should be ok. You can run a dripper and use more live plants to keep up the humidity. Glass does hold the moisture more so you have to be careful of causing stagnant and unsanitary conditions. You have come to the right place to get things set up right. The pet stores do not always give the best advice unfortunately. What are you using for lighting? Do you have a uvb bulb?
 
Hello and welcome! Don't worry I wont be too hard on you! As suggested, remove the waterfall and the substrate. As you can see you have a soggy mess. That type of environment is a mold and bacteria breeding ground. This can set your chameleon up for respiratory infections. If your humidity is around 60% without the waterfall you should be ok. You can run a dripper and use more live plants to keep up the humidity. Glass does hold the moisture more so you have to be careful of causing stagnant and unsanitary conditions. You have come to the right place to get things set up right. The pet stores do not always give the best advice unfortunately. What are you using for lighting? Do you have a uvb bulb?

I wasn't too hard was I?
 
do yourself a favor...get rid of the fogger..its junk I have went threw about 7 of them. still standing water I your habitat is noticed by your cham as a toilet...so the waterfall and the jungle moss needs to go...could cause impaction....I use a screen cage with fake plant and vines everywhere I keep paper towels at the bottom and a mister to keep up humidity...keep it basic don't over think it and a glass environment is not a good idea they need free moving air. hope this helps!!!
 
Hello and welcome! Don't worry I wont be too hard on you! As suggested, remove the waterfall and the substrate. As you can see you have a soggy mess. That type of environment is a mold and bacteria breeding ground. This can set your chameleon up for respiratory infections. If your humidity is around 60% without the waterfall you should be ok. You can run a dripper and use more live plants to keep up the humidity. Glass does hold the moisture more so you have to be careful of causing stagnant and unsanitary conditions. You have come to the right place to get things set up right. The pet stores do not always give the best advice unfortunately. What are you using for lighting? Do you have a uvb bulb?

Hi and thanks!

Yes, we're using two Repti Glo 5.0 compact tropical terrarium lamps @26W.
 
Updates

I have removed everything that was on the bottom, except one plastic plant which I have washed before putting it back into the terrarium. We'll be returning the waterfall+fogger combo tomorrow and meanwhile I'll be searching for something different.

On top of everything, I'm thinking to get that MistKing starter kit. I could move things around in my room to even have one nozzle for my arboreal tarantula (she needs to move more! Hahaha) because I've sealed the 1/2 of the top screen with Glad's Cling Wrap and have done the same for our Veiled Chameleon (Mhaï) for about 2/6 to keep the humidity up. I find that the bulb kills the humidity, at least, in my case! Misting every now and then it's not very helpful because I'm not always home.

Both of these exotic creatures need a good amount of humidity and lighting, which I've struggled for a good while to keep it stable with my tarantula since I got her. I'm not looking forward for the same problem for Mhaï, though!

So yeah, I know there's a lot to read and research, and if you may, give us some ideas or how we ought to think for our baby!

It'd be much appreciated! :)
 
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