New cham coming soon

[JuniorC]

Ok so after reading thru this forum plenty of times day and night and asking questions and messaging people for help or advice. I finally got my first cage setup. I've been messing with the lighting to get the temps and humidity right and heres the setup. (I KNOW I will need a bigger cage sooner then later so already working on a custom build.)

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon
The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? 2 month Veiled cham coming from FL chams
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Plan on doing minimum to none
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? Have dubias, hornworms and bsfl plan on feeding dubias mixed with the bsfl every morning and hornworms 2 to 3 a week then will do them every so many weeks
How are you gut-loading your feeders? Switching between Bell pepper, carrots and sweet potatoes. Also threw in bee pollen granules in there
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Zoomed calcium without d3 everyday day, zoomed reptivite vitamins without D3 2 times a month and repcal calcium with d3 2 times a month
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Hand misting 1-2 minutes 3 times a day and have a dipper going into the leaves
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?) Screen 16x16x30 (I know I need a bigger one and am currently working on one)
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 12 hrs of zoomed reptisun t5 5.0 and will be switching to the 10 once this one is done. Also using a plant bulb for basking light
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking spot 78° goes up to 83° bottom drops to around 68-70. Overnight have seen around 60 to 65.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity stays between 40% to 50% overnight goes up
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Real pothos and fake plants as the background
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? In one a room no one uses
Location - Where are you geographically located? Queen Creek, Arizona
Posted pics the last picture is what I did for drainage

 

[Dbash44]

Ok so after reading thru this forum plenty of times day and night and asking questions and messaging people for help or advice. I finally got my first cage setup. I've been messing with the lighting to get the temps and humidity right and heres the setup. (I KNOW I will need a bigger cage sooner then later so already working on a custom build.)

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon
The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? 2 month Veiled cham coming from FL chams
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Plan on doing minimum to none
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? Have dubias, hornworms and bsfl plan on feeding dubias mixed with the bsfl every morning and hornworms 2 to 3 a week then will do them every so many weeks
How are you gut-loading your feeders? Switching between Bell pepper, carrots and sweet potatoes. Also threw in bee pollen granules in there
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Zoomed calcium without d3 everyday day, zoomed reptivite vitamins without D3 2 times a month and repcal calcium with d3 2 times a month
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Hand misting 1-2 minutes 3 times a day and have a dipper going into the leaves
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?) Screen 16x16x30 (I know I need a bigger one and am currently working on one)
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 12 hrs of zoomed reptisun t5 5.0 and will be switching to the 10 once this one is done. Also using a plant bulb for basking light
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking spot 78° goes up to 83° bottom drops to around 68-70. Overnight have seen around 60 to 65.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity stays between 40% to 50% overnight goes up
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Real pothos and fake plants as the background
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? In one a room no one uses
Location - Where are you geographically located? Queen Creek, Arizona
Posted pics the last picture is what I did for drainage

Looks good imo.

Make sure you measure basking spot with that plant light. Infrared thermometers work well for this.
I don't know if a single plant light will emit sufficient/infusfficient heat. Depends on what kind, though. I've read reports of some people getting away with using plant lights as a basking light given the fixture is large enough/puts off enough heat. Be sure you pay attention to your chams behavior with all the lighting especially at that young age. They are very very fragile at that age so it's important that you're careful and observant.

Also, don't know when you plan to change the UVB bulb. "Once this one is done" can be subjective. For some keepers that's four months, others it's six or more depending on what one is comfortable with. I'm not saying you're wrong, just want to bring up that changing the bulb to the 10.0 too soon could be harmful to your cham if he/she's not large enough to handle that level of UVB. I've had eye problems with chams in the past providing them with 10.0 too soon.

I always suggest using something to block sides and back of cage. In my experience, my chams are much less aggressive when I do this as it allows them more privacy. Plus, it'll help with any overspray from mistings.

Please don't take what I'm saying as "THIS IS THE WAY AND THE ONLY WAY!" I'm not trying to school you or tell you I know everything. Everyone does things a little differently. What I've shared is just my experience with chams.

 

[Dbash44]

@JuniorC

Oh and be careful with that drainage tray. It will work, but be sure to empty it/disinfect it often. I've had issues with mosquitos and stagnant water in the past. Just because it's not full does not mean you shouldn't empty it/clean it. Just my two cents.

 

[JuniorC]

@JuniorC

Oh and be careful with that drainage tray. It will work, but be sure to empty it/disinfect it often. I've had issues with mosquitos and stagnant water in the past. Just because it's not full does not mean you shouldn't empty it/clean it. Just my two cents.

@JuniorC

Oh and be careful with that drainage tray. It will work, but be sure to empty it/disinfect it often. I've had issues with mosquitos and stagnant water in the past. Just because it's not full does not mean you shouldn't empty it/clean it. Just my two cents.

Yeah I was planning on emptying it out every night and will definitely disinfect it often and as far as upgrading to a 10.0 I was gonna go off of size and age because I have read it can harm them at a young age. I figured these last around 6 months from what everyone says and if he's at the size hes supposed to be at by then then maybe I'll upsize it but time will tell. Thanks a lot for the feedback I will take alllll advice from people on here the more people tell you the more you learn lol

 

[JuniorC]

Looks good imo.

Make sure you measure basking spot with that plant light. Infrared thermometers work well for this.
I don't know if a single plant light will emit sufficient/infusfficient heat. Depends on what kind, though. I've read reports of some people getting away with using plant lights as a basking light given the fixture is large enough/puts off enough heat. Be sure you pay attention to your chams behavior with all the lighting especially at that young age. They are very very fragile at that age so it's important that you're careful and observant.

Also, don't know when you plan to change the UVB bulb. "Once this one is done" can be subjective. For some keepers that's four months, others it's six or more depending on what one is comfortable with. I'm not saying you're wrong, just want to bring up that changing the bulb to the 10.0 too soon could be harmful to your cham if he/she's not large enough to handle that level of UVB. I've had eye problems with chams in the past providing them with 10.0 too soon.

I always suggest using something to block sides and back of cage. In my experience, my chams are much less aggressive when I do this as it allows them more privacy. Plus, it'll help with any overspray from mistings.

Please don't take what I'm saying as "THIS IS THE WAY AND THE ONLY WAY!" I'm not trying to school you or tell you I know everything. Everyone does things a little differently. What I've shared is just my experience with chams.

Oh and I also have a black plastic wrap on the back side and clear window film in the right side to help with humidity

 

[Dbash44]

Yeah I was planning on emptying it out every night and will definitely disinfect it often and as far as upgrading to a 10.0 I was gonna go off of size and age because I have read it can harm them at a young age. I figured these last around 6 months from what everyone says and if he's at the size hes supposed to be at by then then maybe I'll upsize it but time will tell. Thanks a lot for the feedback I will take alllll advice from people on here the more people tell you the more you learn lol

Yeah man no worries, always glad to help. I find the forums the best place for info since everyone seems to be beside themselves rather than being "chameleon experts." I see other forums where people have gone to the dark side and become very narrow minded with cham keeping. Keep coming back here for help and you'll get it. Don't be afraid to sound stupid or dumb. I've been doing this 10 years and still say stupid things from time to time. lol

Back to the drainage tray, I'm not sure if you'll be getting water runoff on the side. I usually use potted plants to make the floor a bit concave and use gravity to centralize the water to the center. I'll attach a video below for some ideas in case you want to change it up at some point. You'll find that you'll always be tweaking things once you get your cham. An idea might be putting a plug on the front corner of the substrate try. That way you can just slide out the tray half way, pull the plug and let it empty into a bucket or something similar. Would eliminate having to remove the tray from the cage and potentially spilling it all over your carpet.

Six months is pretty typical. I always changed at four months before I got my solar meter. Can never be too safe with that vital of an ingredient to your chameleon husbandry. If I were you, I'd invest in the arcadia brand bulbs when you upgrade. They work better than the zoo med imo. Plus they're SUPPOSED to last almost a year before needing to be changed. Can't contest to that, though, as I haven't had mine for a year yet.

 

[Dbash44]

Oh and I also have a black plastic wrap on the back side and clear window film in the right side to help with humidity

That's good. You might find that the clear plastic doesn't work for your cham, though. Maybe covering the clear plastic with more black plastic will give your cham more privacy. If you cham only needs to be defensive with the front side, it may stress him out less. Also, if using black, be careful about heat. Black will attract more heat and your cage will be hotter. In fact, covering sides will increase your ambient temps too so just be aware of that. Like I said, you'll tweak things a lot when you get your cham.

 

[JuniorC]

That's good. You might find that the clear plastic doesn't work for your cham, though. Maybe covering the clear plastic with more black plastic will give your cham more privacy. If you cham only needs to be defensive with the front side, it may stress him out less. Also, if using black, be careful about heat. Black will attract more heat and your cage will be hotter. In fact, covering sides will increase your ambient temps too so just be aware of that. Like I said, you'll tweak things a lot when you get your cham.

Yeah I've already experienced that. Although I dont have the cham yet I've been treating the cage as if there was one in there and I find myself messing with one thing or another. You dont know how many times I've heard from the wife "what are you messing with this time" lol

 

[Dbash44]

Yeah I've already experienced that. Although I dont have the cham yet I've been treating the cage as if there was one in there and I find myself messing with one thing or another. You dont know how many times I've heard from the wife "what are you messing with this time" lol

I love how you're getting everything ready and acclimating the environment prior to receiving the chameleon. A lot of people research the day they get their cham. It's frustrating! haha you're a good one

You know how many times I've heard of the significant other not approving or being skeptical towards the new hobby, followed by them hopping on board once they get addicted, too? Just be patient with her, she'll follow along once she falls in love with the little babe.

 

[JuniorC]

I love how you're getting everything ready and acclimating the environment prior to receiving the chameleon. A lot of people research the day they get their cham. It's frustrating! haha you're a good one

You know how many times I've heard of the significant other not approving or being skeptical towards the new hobby, followed by them hopping on board once they get addicted, too? Just be patient with her, she'll follow along once she falls in love with the little babe.

Yeah I went thru a lot of changes and tweaks lol thats why it took me some time to actually get him. But look forward to more changes as he grows.

And what's funny is she called me over to the cage and actually pointed out a spot and said I should put another plant in there and I just thought heeeeeck yeah! So like you said little by little and shell be pulled in lol it begins