I recently got a veiled cham. Appx 5 month old female from pet store. her set up is the basic starterkit from pet smart with the mesh and two bulbs. We put some sticks and fake leaves along with a motorized water dripping leaf for her. I live in San Diego so the temps are pretty mild but we still leave the bulb on at night because it gets a little chilled at. I have heard some people say that it's OK to let her get colder at night unless you live in a place that gets below 50s. Mainly concerned because my girlfriend says the lizard is looking much darker in the morning. For the time we have had her she has gotten much more comfortable walking around and letting us picker her up so it does not seem like stress. Could it be temperature related or might it be something else?
New chameleon. Looking for advice.
- Thread starter ziggenvox
- Start date
urawrath
Member
If you fill this out and post picture of her setup and of her we can better help you to see if anything is wrong with her or if we can help you with and husbandry issues
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/
From what you've said so far if the temps don't drop below 60ish at night she is fine without a night bulb and the light from this can disturb their sleep. She is darker in the morning because when they darken they absorb heat better to better regulate their temp and bring it back up after the cooler night.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/
From what you've said so far if the temps don't drop below 60ish at night she is fine without a night bulb and the light from this can disturb their sleep. She is darker in the morning because when they darken they absorb heat better to better regulate their temp and bring it back up after the cooler night.
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
I would definitely compare the "pet smart" starter kit with this forum's husbandry articles and supply suggestions. The supplies they carry and their husbandry information have poor reputations! Better safe than sorry. You can find all sorts of trustworthy info under the forum's Resources tab.
xraygirl
Established Member
Welcome to the forums
Petsmart is the last place to get advice from, not trying to be rude, but in the couple of years I've been involved with chameleons, I've seen so many horror stories from folks who buy from the big box stores. But, you are here now, and in the best of hands. You can learn A LOT from folks here with all their knowledge from keeping chameleons from just a few years, to being 40+ years.
What two bulbs? A heat source (red bulb or white bulb?) and a UVB (not UVA) source?
Did they tell you anything about supplementing with calcium and vitamins?
Can you post a picture of the chameleon, and the cage set up?
You should turn the light off at night for her to sleep, it'd be as comfortable as you sleeping with your ceiling light on. They need complete darkness, and a temperature drop at night is good for them.
Chameleon Info:
- Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Female, approximately 6 months. I have had her for 1 month.
- Handling - I try to handle her daily as I remember (sometimes she is much less fussy and I never attempt to pull her if her feet don't let go voluntarily.
- Feeding - I feed her large crickets and meal worms. I feed her 5-6 large crickets daily and leave meal worms in a hanging bowl. I usually feed her morning to mid day with the crickets. We are feeding the crickets little orange cubes that claim to be good for gut loading(picture will be up soon).
- Supplements - Right now we were just using a sample of the vitamin duster and calcium(any recommendations)?
- Watering - I have a plastic spray bottle that is used to spray all the surfaces in the tank and a smaller atomizer bottle (very light mist) that we use to spray her directly. We wet the surfaces 2-3 times a day and spray her once. We do have a motorized dripper with big leafs that we see her use (Interestingly, I was told the chameleons like running water, but more often than not I see her drink water directly from the bowl on the bottom after we turn off the pump)
- Fecal Description - The droppings are always the same color consistency. A dark slimy brown with some wet ridges. I have not had her tested for parasites. I cant remember if the store said she was.
- History - The store said she was very aggressive and mean. They made jokes about her possibly dropping dead from stress if they handled her too much. From my experience, when we first got her, she was slow to approach her food and water. She also used to puff up and hiss when I tried to pick her up. As she got more comfortable, that turned into 1 hiss with no puffing or color change and trying to walk forward and I just let her walk into my hand (a little poking her above the tail). If she ever wont let go of the branch I just let her be. I have read her feet are super delicate. If I do take her out of the cage she ends up just relaxing on my fingers or climbing on my shoulders (sometimes she actually tries to climb my face or ears). I take that as a sign of comfort because she seems to know what my head was and it was possibly dangerous and now just climbs on it. She also seems to be much more comfortable with me than my girlfriend. Usually just getting her out of the cage is much easier for me.
- Cage Type - Cage type is all mesh. (Starter Pack)
- Lighting - I have a duel bulb fixture. One of the bulbs looks like a florescent bulb. I was instructed to use that for daylight. I just turn it on in the morning and off at night. The other bulb looks like an incandescent and is used all the time for heat. This will probably change. I was told its ok to let her temp drop to mid 60's at night.
- Temperature - I measure her temperature with a meter stuck to the side of the cage. Usually 80's around the top corner where she hangs out. We sometimes put a towel around her cage because we thought it was too cold in the room. She also has a heated cord wrapped around some of the lower branches. I tried to give her space to either be on the cord or in the light or neither as she chose.
- Humidity - Humidity is around 40-50 in between sprays. Usually we just spray into her cage. Since its mesh it does not stay high for long. I have a duel gauge in the cage.
- Plants - The leaves are all fake. Originally we had some moss to try and improve humidity but she tried to eat it. So that came out. There are some sticks in the cage. I made sure they were dry and had no sap or bugs and pulled off any small hanging pieces and washed them well before I put them in.
- Placement - The cage is on top of a dresser. It is not near anything but an AC unit is on the other side of the room. It is about 7-8 feet from the floor at the top of the cage.
- Location - San Diego.
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xraygirl
Established Member
Chameleon Info:
Cage Info:
- Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Female, approximately 6 months. I have had her for 1 month.
- Handling - I try to handle her daily as I remember (sometimes she is much less fussy and I never attempt to pull her if her feet don't let go voluntarily. Just give her space, she's only been with you for a month. Try to not stress her by getting her out of her cage. I let my guys acclimate for months with very small introductory things, such as being near the cage, then having the cage door open, cleaning the bottom of the cage, and after several months try some chin rubs. But any puffing up, "karate foot", color change, etc is a sign of stress.
- Feeding - I feed her large crickets and meal worms. I feed her 5-6 large crickets daily and leave meal worms in a hanging bowl. I usually feed her morning to mid day with the crickets. We are feeding the crickets little orange cubes that claim to be good for gut loading(picture will be up soon). Meal worms aren't that great nutrition wise and can be hard to digest. You should try to offer a variety of feeders such as silkworms, hornworms, blue bottle flies, superworms, wax worms, butter worms, roaches, etc etc. It would be kinda like you eating beef jerky everyday and not getting anything else to eat from.
- Supplements - Right now we were just using a sample of the vitamin duster and calcium(any recommendations)? You will need to get (and it looks like you have it in the picture but can't tell from the angle) Calcium without D3, calcium with D3, and the multivitamin (make sure its without D3). You should dust your feeders nearly every day with the plain no D3 calcium. Then use the calcium with D3 two days, and the vitamin on two days. For instance, I use Saturday's as my "special" supplement day (easier to remember), so last Saturday my guys got calcium with D3, this Saturday they'll get the multivitamin, the Saturday after that they will get calcium with D3, etc.
- Watering - I have a plastic spray bottle that is used to spray all the surfaces in the tank and a smaller atomizer bottle (very light mist) that we use to spray her directly. We wet the surfaces 2-3 times a day and spray her once. We do have a motorized dripper with big leafs that we see her use (Interestingly, I was told the chameleons like running water, but more often than not I see her drink water directly from the bowl on the bottom after we turn off the pump) I always encourage folks to try to do something for drainage for a cage. I use a MistKing and a little dripper in each cage, so I use a lot of water. I have drainage set ups to go into a 5 gallon bucket. Easier and no damage to anything. Just make sure if you are using the leaf water thing to clean the water out every day. Water can get nasty quickly.
- Fecal Description - The droppings are always the same color consistency. A dark slimy brown with some wet ridges. I have not had her tested for parasites. I cant remember if the store said she was. What does the urate (white part) look like? White? Yellow? Orange? If it's white, she's hydrated. Yellow - getting dehydrated. Orange- dehydrated.
- History - The store said she was very aggressive and mean. They made jokes about her possibly dropping dead from stress if they handled her too much. From my experience, when we first got her, she was slow to approach her food and water. She also used to puff up and hiss when I tried to pick her up. As she got more comfortable, that turned into 1 hiss with no puffing or color change and trying to walk forward and I just let her walk into my hand (a little poking her above the tail). If she ever wont let go of the branch I just let her be. I have read her feet are super delicate. If I do take her out of the cage she ends up just relaxing on my fingers or climbing on my shoulders (sometimes she actually tries to climb my face or ears). I take that as a sign of comfort because she seems to know what my head was and it was possibly dangerous and now just climbs on it. She also seems to be much more comfortable with me than my girlfriend. Usually just getting her out of the cage is much easier for me. I wouldn't poke or try to get her out of the cage, unless you absolutely have to. Slowly work and see if she'll come out on her own. Sometimes veiled can be very mellow, but most can be a little feisty and are truly "just look no touch" animals. She climbs to the top of your head because it's a higher point, therefore it's a safer spot to be. I would really give her her space and let her acclimate more. It took a year and a half for my one male to want to come out of his cage all on his own, it took the other 10 months to want to come out.
The only other suggestions I can offer is to ditch the orange cube stuff. It's just not good, it's like somewhat pliable plastic orange cubes. If you give crickets some scrap fruits and veggies from what you eat, you'll be better off and giving your crickets something healthier to eat, versus plastic cube stuff. I toss in with my crickets pieces of apple, grapefruit, oranges, bell pepper, squash, etc. Anything scrap I save for feeders.
- Cage Type - Cage type is all mesh. (Starter Pack) What is the size of the cage? (looks like a medium? 18x18x36?)
- Lighting - I have a duel bulb fixture. One of the bulbs looks like a florescent bulb. I was instructed to use that for daylight. I just turn it on in the morning and off at night. The other bulb looks like an incandescent and is used all the time for heat. This will probably change. I was told its ok to let her temp drop to mid 60's at night. I would advice to get the tube/linear UVB bulbs, I feel that they have a better light spread and they aren't known to cause damage to the eyes like the coiled ones have in the past. One thing to remember with UVB bulbs is they ABSOLUTELY have to be changed out about every 6 months (depending on the brand). A lot of new keepers don't follow this and end up with MBD (metabolic bone disease), which if you catch at first can be great, but if left untreated for too long, the bones in their legs, jaw, etc can get really "soft" which can lead to deformations (jaw), or broken bones from falling or just the stress of weight on their weakened bones. This is another reason why is it SO crucial to use calcium with D3, and to go outside for some natural sun (which is even better than our UVB) whenever the weather is warm enough.
- Temperature - I measure her temperature with a meter stuck to the side of the cage. Usually 80's around the top corner where she hangs out. We sometimes put a towel around her cage because we thought it was too cold in the room. She also has a heated cord wrapped around some of the lower branches. I tried to give her space to either be on the cord or in the light or neither as she chose. If you go to Lowe's you can get a laser gun thermometer for like $15. When my guys bask, I'll use it on their skin surface to get a accurate reading of their basking spot temperature, as it'll vary from head to tail. I use a regular analog style thermometer/hygrometer to measure the temperature and humidity in the middle of the cage. I would take the heat cord stuff out, if it has any faults it can cause burns. I don't think I've heard of anyone yet who uses the heated cord stuff in chameleon cages.
- Humidity - Humidity is around 40-50 in between sprays. Usually we just spray into her cage. Since its mesh it does not stay high for long. I have a duel gauge in the cage. You can wrap 3 sides of the cage with plastic, like a shower curtain to help maintain humidity. A lot of folks do that.
- Plants - The leaves are all fake. Originally we had some moss to try and improve humidity but she tried to eat it. So that came out. There are some sticks in the cage. I made sure they were dry and had no sap or bugs and pulled off any small hanging pieces and washed them well before I put them in. Veileds like to chomp on leafy stuff, You can put a umbrella tree, or a pothos in the cage. Benefit of a pothos plant is it requires low light to grow, and it's a vine plant, so vines = more climbing stuff for a chameleon.
- Placement - The cage is on top of a dresser. It is not near anything but an AC unit is on the other side of the room. It is about 7-8 feet from the floor at the top of the cage.
- Location - San Diego.
I would definitely suggest more leafy stuff. Offering a lot of areas to hide will make your chameleon feel a little bit more secure. I have a lot of leafy stuff in my cages to offer some privacy, but I also made an area that would completely hide them out of view - my one male sleeps in that spot every night.
Maybe an extra vine or two... really no such thing as too many vines.
I really don't respond to forums much anymore, but I hope this helps you out!
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brownie64
Avid Member
I think xraygirl has covered just about everything, but I'll leave a link to the care sheets just in case. Follow this advice and you and you cham should have a long and lasting relationship. But if something should come up please don't hesitate to ask. Good luck
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
There is one more thing I should mention Your cham is a female, and at the age she could lay eggs which she will do even if she hasn't been with a male. So you'll need to get a laying ben set up ASAP. I'll leave a video showing you haw to set that up.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
There is one more thing I should mention Your cham is a female, and at the age she could lay eggs which she will do even if she hasn't been with a male. So you'll need to get a laying ben set up ASAP. I'll leave a video showing you haw to set that up.
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she walks out alone and still hisses a little bit if I approach her quickly. If I go slowly her eye just follows me and she barely moves.
Kboz1991
Avid Member
Get repcal calcium 3 different types of containers without d3 green with d3 pink and multivitamin blue Monday through Saturday without d3 green first and thus Sunday pink withd3 and 2 and 4 Sunday use multivitamin blue. Gut load your crickets with greens and fruit I use collar greens oranges apples kale strawberries I use those orange cube with all that also. I would find some pothos plants or hibiscus they have a age list of live plants for chameleons it will help keep the humidity up. The cage seems pretty bare you could get some more fake plants or live onesthe more foliage the safer they feel. Also they say that the CFL bulbs throw off uvb in weird directions or to intense or not enough so I would look into getting a linier florescent light myself they have them on amazon I'll put the link up of a good one that comes with a 5.0 reptisun lamp with it for 50 bucks.
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