Nesting box question

[Beelzebun]

I have my veiled cham, jinx in a nesting bin. It's a plastic storage box with the potting soil in the bottom. I moved a couple of her little plants in there so she can hide, and the lid isn't clamped down so she can get air.. I'm feeding and misting her as normal, and the bin is on a high shelf so she isn't bothered. I put her in two days ago.. I was advised previously that she may be ready to lay, but haven't seen any eggs.. how long should I keep her in the bin?

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and welcome!

It can take some time. I’m curious why you put her in a bin vs making a lay bin that would fit in her enclosure.

 

[Beelzebun]

It was sudden and we couldn't find another bin that would fit her cage.. all of our food storage containers and stuff one would normally use are too long.. I'm also very new to this, ive only had her for about a month or so.. she was a gift from my aunt so I didn't have time to research before I got her.. I'm kinda learning and researching as I go

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Can you post some recent pics of your sweet little lady?

 

[Beelzebun]

Hi. Can you post some recent pics of your sweet little lady?

The pictures I have are her in her regular enclosure. I've attached them below. I can also provide pics of her nesting bin on that high shelf if you like

 

[elizaann2]

Totally get it. Well we are all here to help in anyway we can. @MissSkittles has a lot of experience with females. One thing that would be super helpful for us is if you can fill out the husbandry form below, the more info you share with us the better we can help you and your little lady.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with, and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high-traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem -

 

[elizaann2]

The pictures I have are her in her regular enclosure. I've attached them below. I can also provide pics of her nesting bin on that high shelf if you like

Yep that would be awesome! Try to get some good pics of your girl too if you can.

 

[Beelzebun]

Totally get it. Well we are all here to help in anyway we can. @MissSkittles has a lot of experience with females. One thing that would be super helpful for us is if you can fill out the husbandry form below, the more info you share with us the better we can help you and your little lady.

Chameleon:
- Jinx is a female Veiled Chameleon. I'm not sure how old she is.. but she's been in my care for about a month-month and a half
- I don't handle her often, but when I do try to I back off when she gets a darker color.
- for feeding, I give her 15 mealworms in a dish so she can eat them when she wants them.. I haven't been able to get feeders from petco for a week or so. and my grandma won't let me keep them in a Little farm, so I don't gut-load them myself. The supplement I'm dusting the worms with is Zoomed Reptevite. I dust them every time.
-i water her via 'The Little Dripper' from Zoo-Med. She usually prefers to drink by catching the drops with her tongue right before they fall. She does this often
- droppings have been soft, small brown logs with a whitish-yellow part.. I forgot what it's called, but it's what they do instead of urinate.
- I got her from my aunt who has three kids in the house at minimum. She belonged to the two younger boys. It was a very stressful environment from what I hear, loud and high traffic. which is why she came into my care.

Cage:
- her cage is made of a black wire mesh. 16×16×30 all in inches. Brand is Zoo-med.
- her lighting is a lamp also from Zoo-med. The labelling says 120V-100W max. There are two bulbs, one blue-ish round one and one white. It's fairly cold where I live during this time of year, so I try to leave the white one on all day to keep her warm. I also run a heater in my room.
- for temperature I try to always keep it between 70-80. The lowest it gets at night with her lights off is 60. I measure it with this little yellow Zoomed digital thermometer. It has a wire that runs into her cage and measures temp
- humidity isn't something I've thought about... I don't have anything to measure humidity at the moment due to tight funds, but I spray her cage throughout the day with a water bottle.
- her cage is located next to a window at the foot of my bed on a nightstand that is 24 inches high, making the top of her enclosure 64 inches from the ground.
- I'm located in Paris, Texas. It's pretty cold this time of year, which is my reasoning behind running her lights and my heater so long.


Id like to also state that I'm really really new to this.. she's my first reptile, and she didn't come at the best time.. my grandma just got outta the hospital a month ago after being admitted in June for a flesh eating bacteria. Its been so busy and funds have been tight from travelling so much to see her before she got out. I feel really bad for not doing everything right for jinx.. I love my girl, and I wanna do the best I can.. if there's anything else I need to buy for her I'll do it with my next allowance.. im getting it bumped up to $40 for taking care of Nana, so I'll get what I can!

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ll go thru your husbandry but it will take a bit of time and I am at work, so may get called away.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ll be putting my feedback in bold and splitting it into two parts.
Chameleon:
- Jinx is a female Veiled Chameleon. I'm not sure how old she is.. but she's been in my care for about a month-month and a half I’d like to see her a bit better. Can you take pics with the door open?
- I don't handle her often, but when I do try to I back off when she gets a darker color. Our veiled ladies can be spicy, but it’s good to try and build trust with her. Here’s a great blog on how to do that. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/ While she may never willingly walk onto your hand or not hiss and gape at you, she will know that you won’t harm her.
- for feeding, I give her 15 mealworms in a dish so she can eat them when she wants them.. I haven't been able to get feeders from petco for a week or so. and my grandma won't let me keep them in a Little farm, so I don't gut-load them myself. Mealworms aren’t a good feeder. I’m attaching some graphics below to help guide you. It’s also very important to feed your feeder bugs. They need to be healthy in order to be nutritious. Fresh produce is best and being insects, they aren’t that fussy and will eat scraps. Your grandma is probably afraid of having bugs in her home and I feel that! However, that’s what chameleons eat. Maybe instead of saying you need roaches, say you need some dubia bugs. They don’t fly and can’t climb smooth surfaces. As extra insurance you could put a thin coating of Vaseline around the top inch or so of your container. There are special little cricket keepers that make it more difficult for them to escape by making it easier for you to access them. Bsfl (aka calciworms, pheonixworms) are very easily kept in the container they come in and are perhaps the least likely feeder to escape or pose any risks of infestation or anything. The supplement I'm dusting the worms with is Zoomed Reptevite. I dust them every time. Please stop! Very important…does it contain vitamin D3? You need a phosphorus free calcium without D3 to lightly dust every feeding. Then one feeding every other week you’ll use a multivitamin like ReptiVite. If your ReptiVite has D3 in it, that is perfect and all that is needed. If it does not have D3, you will need to get a calcium with D3 and give that one feeding every other week too, but not the same week as you give the ReptiVite. For example, on the 1st & 15th you’ll use ReptiVite without D3 and on the 7th and 21st, use the calcium with D3. Calcium without D3 for every feeding except those four.
-i water her via 'The Little Dripper' from Zoo-Med. She usually prefers to drink by catching the drops with her tongue right before they fall. She does this often Ideally you should be misting for about 2 minutes before lights go on and off. You can use the dripper for about 20 minutes during the day.
- droppings have been soft, small brown logs with a whitish-yellow part.. I forgot what it's called, but it's what they do instead of urinate. Urate It’s always a good idea to have a fecal check for parasites.
- I got her from my aunt who has three kids in the house at minimum. She belonged to the two younger boys. It was a very stressful environment from what I hear, loud and high traffic. which is why she came into my care. Aww…chameleons aren’t the best choice of pet for younger kids as they are more like fish in that they are mostly to be watched and not handled or played with. Bless you for giving her some peace.

 

[MissSkittles]

Cage:
- her cage is made of a black wire mesh. 16×16×30 all in inches. Brand is Zoo-med. This is too small for an adult veiled chameleon. I do understand that funds are tight and getting a new XL ReptiBreeze (2x2x4’) even on sale won’t be easy. However, I can maybe offer some ideas of ways around that. The first is to get a second enclosure in the same size as what you have and attach them side by side or even front to back. It’s giving her much more space, even though it won’t be as tall. To compensate for the height, place her enclosure on something high, so that she will have that sense of safety. Look on FaceBook marketplace, Neighborhood app thing and maybe even yard sales for another enclosure like what you have or you might get lucky and find the XL one at a good price. Do be very careful if using want ads…it’s a dangerous world out there. Have an adult you trust help you with this…like maybe your aunt. Many people will make their own enclosure, however this is almost expensive as buying one new.
- her lighting is a lamp also from Zoo-med. The labelling says 120V-100W max. There are two bulbs, one blue-ish round one and one white. This is where you need to spend your $$. It’s essential to give your girl correct uvb. The screw in bulbs aren’t adequate. You need a linear T5HO fixture with either a 5.0 or 6% uvb bulb. Usually when you buy the fixture (ReptiSun and Arcadia Pro T5) you get a uvb bulb (make sure to get the right strength). You might be able to save a few $$ if you can find the fixture used and then buy a new uvb bulb. It does need to be long enough to span the width of your enclosure. Even though currently you could get away with using a short 14” uvb, I advise planning ahead and getting a 24” one.
It's fairly cold where I live during this time of year, so I try to leave the white one on all day to keep her warm. Yes, she needs a basking light to keep her warm. Reptiles are cold blooded, meaning they don’t generate their own heat like we do. They need an outside heat source, like the sun or a light bulb. I believe it is the blue bulb that is your basking light and the white coil is the (useless) uvb. You need to keep the lights on a 12 hour on/off schedule. No lights at all at night. Unless your temps are really cold, like down in the 50’s, she doesn’t need any heat at night. Having your temps drop below 70 is actually desired for her. I also run a heater in my room. Well, you need to be comfortable too.
- for temperature I try to always keep it between 70-80. The lowest it gets at night with her lights off is 60. I measure it with this little yellow Zoomed digital thermometer. It has a wire that runs into her cage and measures temp Excellent. Make sure you are measuring the temps where she sits for basking. She’ll need it to be around 78-80.
- humidity isn't something I've thought about... I don't have anything to measure humidity at the moment due to tight funds, but I spray her cage throughout the day with a water bottle. Veileds don’t need high humidity and their ideal is between 30-50%…about what we’re comfortable with. Do let her enclosure dry out in between misting. High heat plus high humidity increases risks for respiratory infection.
- her cage is located next to a window at the foot of my bed on a nightstand that is 24 inches high, making the top of her enclosure 64 inches from the ground. Perfect!
- I'm located in Paris, Texas. It's pretty cold this time of year, which is my reasoning behind running her lights and my heater so long.


Id like to also state that I'm really really new to this.. she's my first reptile, We all start at the beginning and she didn't come at the best time.. my grandma just got outta the hospital a month ago after being admitted in June for a flesh eating bacteria. Yikes! I do hope she’s ok. It’s been so busy and funds have been tight from travelling so much to see her before she got out. I feel really bad for not doing everything right for jinx.. No need for that. You’ve done your best with what you know and have. I love my girl, and I wanna do the best I can..This is all that matters…wanting to give her the best you can and taking steps to make the needed improvements if there's anything else I need to buy for her I'll do it with my next allowance.. im getting it bumped up to $40 for taking care of Nana, so I'll get what I can! The uvb is the most urgent along with the correct supplements. While the supplements shouldn’t be too expensive, the uvb will require some saving up for it…usually runs around $65-70. The uvb bulbs do need to be changed periodically. ReptiSun (last I knew) needed to be changed every 6 months, while Arcadia lasts for a year. A new bulb is usually around $20-25. Do NOT get the Arcadia shade dweller 7%! It is not the same and neither the fixture nor the bulb will work for a chameleon.
I do have a little bit more to say (I talk a lot), but will end this here and add another post.

 

[MissSkittles]

It’s important to have only safe live plants. Our veiled ladies really seem to enjoy nibbling/eating their plants. It only takes one nibble from a fake leaf and they can get a potentially fatal bowel obstruction. I’m going to strongly suggest some sites to learn all about caring for your sweet and spicy girl, including plants. The most accurate and up to date info is here. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-basics/ Here’s the plant list and info. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/ If you prefer videos, chameleon academy has some on YouTube and do make sure to check out Neptune the Chameleon. She has tons of videos on so many topics. She also has a site now. https://www.neptunethechameleon.com/
Back to plants. Pothos is probably the one that is most often used and imho the best for chameleons. It doesn’t need any special plant lighting, is very easy to care for and propagate (make more plants) and our veiled girls find it tasty. The long vines are nice additions to their ’roads’, the leaves are nice and big for drinking from and hiding under. I picked up some fairly decent pothos from Walmart recently for under $10. Just about everyone and everywhere has pothos and ask if you can have some clippings. Sit them in a glass of water until some roots form and then plant them. Similarly (and not on the list but I use them) is heart leaf philodendron. It looks almost the same as pothos and has the same characteristics, but maybe not as yummy to our girls. Spider plants are good and easy to start from the little babies they send shoots out with. Tradescantia is another super easy plant. If you can find a weeping fig tree, that would be awesome!
Now for branches. These are free for the gathering. Avoid ones from trees with sticky sap or strong odors, like pine/firs, eucalyptus. Oak is perfect and very commonly found. Gather some branches of different widths /diameters. Give a little scrub with soapy water (dish soap is perfect to use), rinse very well and air or sun dry. Attaching things to screen is a challenge, but not impossible. The key is that the frame of the enclosure needs to bear the weight and not the screen. Attach some straighter branches to the frame corners with thin wire or even thread and then attach another branch between them, forming an ‘H’ shape. Do be careful not to interfere with the closing of the door. Then you can attach branches and vines to these. I used some scraps of plastic garden trellis, attached to the frame and it’s strong enough to hold a couple of plants too. I’ll put a couple of pics below. Neptune the chameleon has a video on how to attach branches with some other ideas. Just make sure to give your girl lots of little chameleon roads to travel and at varied heights so she can choose where she wants to be and get some exercise.
Now for the lay bin. You need a decently sized bin of around/at least 12” long and wide. You can probably find something that will work well at one of the dollar stores. Poke some tiny holes in the bottom for extra water to drain out and fill to about 5-6” with moistened play sand. It needs to be moist enough to hold a tunnel without collapsing. Keep it in her enclosure all the time. When she needs it, it’s there and she’ll find it. Once you do see that she’s started digging in it, she will need absolute privacy. I use an old sheet that I can make peek holes in to cover the bottom half of my enclosure. You’ll know she’s done when she’s sitting in her usual basking spot and looks much thinner. The whole laying process can take a couple of days and she might sleep in her hole. She might try digging a few holes until she likes one. No need to worry about feeding her or even misting. Just use your dripper, but make sure it isn’t dripping into her bin.
Before she is even ready for laying eggs, she will first become receptive. She’ll have her colors and patterns on full display and be restless - constantly roaming her enclosure. She’s all dressed up and is looking for a boy. This can last for maybe 2-3 weeks. Then she’ll start to slowly plump up and as soon as about 30 days later, she could be ready to lay her eggs.
Laying eggs takes a lot out of our girls and shortens their lives. Plus, the more eggs they produce in one clutch, the higher the risk of complications like follicular stasis and egg binding, both of which need surgery or are fatal. The number of eggs produced is directly related to how much they eat, so we limit their food. For a girl that is at least a year old or has already laid a clutch, you’d feed her only about 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week. This is how I feed all of my adult chameleons plus I give a treat or two every weekend. Keeping the basking temp no higher than 80 helps keep their metabolism just a bit slower, so they don’t feel as hungry. When stuck to, this regimen helps reduce the number and frequency that our girls produce eggs. I had one of my girls who went three years without laying. My other girl was laying once a year, but now it’s been about 20 months since she laid last.
Also, just so you know…once a girl has developed her big girl colors and patterns, she won’t return to being just plain green again. The vibrancy of her colors will change according to mood and her reproductive state.

This is not the finished look. This is just to show attachments.

This shows how branches were attached. This is about the same size enclosure as you have.

I added a schefflera as the main plant and then more branches around it. I elevated some other plants on empty plant pots flipped upside down in the back. This was almost the completed enclosure. (Was for a baby)

 

[elizaann2]

I just want to say thank you for doing your best for your girl and that @MissSkittles has given you some amazing advice. We are all here to help you as well so please feel free to stick around and ask as many questions as you need. My veiled girl was also my first reptile and my experience felt very much like jumping off the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim. If we can do anything to help you along the way while you are learning about reptiles and chameleons please let us know!