New Chameleon Owner, lots of questions

[Easytarget 12]

Hey Guys!

So, I'm about to make the leap into the wonderful world of Chameleon Ownership. I've got my enclosure all set (I think) and my Veiled is on his way, arriving this coming Thursday.

Basically, I'm just wondering if you guys have any pro-tips for a newbie. I've got the UVB light, and the basking light, I made a basking area about 4-6 inches from the basking light, got my thermometer set up in the basking area, indicating it's at about 95 degrees F, I got a nice big Hydrangea in the back corner, and tried to vary the shade that was available on the vines (I'm using fake vines with fake leaves, along with the Hydrangea). I've got a drip thing, a sprayer, and an automatic timer set to come on at 9AM and turn off at Midnight. I've got two "rep-cal" brand products, Herptivite and Calcium, which I think I'm supposed to use to gut-load my crickets (right?).

So, if you guys could look over this post and the pictures below, let me know if anything sticks out at you as being wrong/ missing, that would be awesome. My main questions right now are:

1- Is it okay to just rest my lights on top of my enclosure? I've run them for a day or two now, they seem find but the mesh definitely heats up a little bit, esp. under the heat lamp.
2- I usually work from 10AM-7PM. If I mist before I leave (9:30) and as soon as I return home (7:30), and have the drip going all day, is that going to be sufficient? Or should I be looking at auto-misters (and if so, is there a brand you guys like?)
3-I put a stop sign behind the cage. Will this influence my chameleon to develop some red coloring, or is that purely a genetic function?
4- Do I have enough vines/climbing stuff?

Sorry for the long post, but I want to make sure everything is hunky-dory when my little guy arrives.

Photo #1: The enclosure, from the front.


Photo #2: The basking area (Yes, I know I need to clip those zip-ties!)


Photo #3: The main climbing routes


Photo #4: Top of the enclosure, heat lamp is resting directly on mesh at the moment.

 

[mc9423]

The stop sign could actually stress him out. And, unfortunately, chameleons *don't* change colors to fit their surroundings! From a veiled, you should expect yellows and greens - maybe a hint of blue if you have a really colorful guy.

Lower the basking temp about 5-10 degrees.

For supplements, you need Calcium w/D3, Herptivite or MinerAll, and plain calcium (you can buy a 5lb bag for less than $20 at premiumcrickets.com) You don't gutload with these - you dust the feeder right before feeding - dust lightly.

You should definitely look into getting a MistKing.

A 9-12 lighting schedule will only work if there aren't any winodws to let natural sunlight in before 9. If there are, the schedule should be closer to natural daylight times.

 

[laurie]

Hello & welcome to chameleon ownership. I have a couple of things to mention, first the red sign will most likely just stress your chameleon, it won't effect his developing any special color. Next don't leave the basking light sit on the mesh because your chameleon can get burned by being too close and you will ruin the mesh. What kind of light do you have for UVB? It looks like you have the long tube which is good but tell me more like brand and is it 5.0 or 10.0, a normal time for lights is a 12 hour cycle to follow daylight if you can.

I don't know what kind or age of chameleon you are getting( I missed the veiled chameleon) so some of the questions like temperature and humidity will be difficult to address. Also on your supplements you listed calcium is that with d3 or without d3, as you will need both for dusting your feeders.

So if you could let us know more maybe we can provide answers. This is a great place for getting information and answers but we do ask a lot of questions to be able to give you correct information.

 

[Olimpia]

Lol Sorry, but I thought the stop sign was cute. It's actually not going to influence his color at all, but it might stress him out, since it's a danger color. So it's better if you remove that.

If you have a dripper going all day then it's probably fine. The best misting system is the starter one by Mistking, it's ~$140 with everything but it's absolutely worth every penny.

 

[reptoman]

You should check with chamelisa. She had a pretty good deal on a mistking starter kit. She has it in the classifieds but I dont know if the deal is still good.
Not to change you game plan but if you were looking for reds, you want a panther. The stopsign still would probably be stressfull. Any cham would be sensitive to bright contrasting colors constantly in their environment. They could see that as a potential threat and never relax.
I would make sure you can raise and lower your heat lamp so that you can adjust the basking temp. It will fluxuate more than you realize even in the house running the ac. I mounted a wooden shelf to the wall and clipped the light to that and was able to turn the shelf to raise andlower it. Just a thought.

 

[Easytarget 12]

Thanks for all the replies. I did not really think the stop sign would do anything (I'm not 'hunting' for red, it was just there) so I'm glad I asked-- I had no idea that would stress him out!

Good call on the heat changing-- this place has central air, and my temp has varied from 88-96 over this day. So I'll build a little shelf, per Reptoman's suggestion.

The room is windowless (hooray city living!), so I sohuld be OK with my weird 9-12 cycle, yes?

My calcium supplement DOES have D-3, so I'll go out and get some without it.

And my UVB Bulb is a 18″ Flourescent 5.0 UVB Bulb. That should be enough, yeah?

thanks for all the help.

 

[beeze]

Welcome to the forums! What age chameleon are you getting? You need to work on getting the temps down for any age. Babies around 80 to adults around 89 for basking spots. Cooler in the mid cage section to mid 70's at the bottom.

 

[jbc]

hi.
have a look over my album it might give you some ideas..
I also use vit D3 and it's good..
I spray once a day to clean their faces as for water the pics I've uploaded will show you how they get it.
And welcome to joy as chams can be such fun and your learn each day some thing new.

 

[Easytarget 12]

So, The-still-unnamed-Chameleon arrived today! Very exciting. He's 4 months and about 6 inches (estimate) long. I got him into the enclosure (offered my hand to see if he would climb on but he hissed at me, so in with a branch) and now he's climbing the back wall of the cage? He hasn't eaten or drank anything yet... granted it's only been an hour.

I misted the cage a little, but when some of the water hit him he didn't seem happy about it. I've read online that I should try and avoid misting him directly, but then I also read accounts of people spraying right into the cham's mouth? Any thoughts on this, anyone?

I'm going to go out and pick up some crickets, but if this behavior strikes anyone as important, please, let me know? Thanks.

Pictures soon.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Give him time to settle in - he will eat and drink eventually. I dont spray them directly myself. and my drippers provide 99% of their drinking water.
do you need any advice with regards to good gutloading and feeder choices?

 

[Easytarget 12]

I would love some gutloading/feeder advice! Right now I've got some small crickets in there, don't think he's eaten any of them yet though. He did take a drink or two from the dripper. I'm a little concerned that he is just staying in the basking area-- he has moved back and forth maybe 4 inches all day... guess he's just settling in? He seems OK but I'm nervous about helping him acclimate!

 

[WinstonChrchll]

Just give him his space. The change in scenery streses them and they need time to get used to their environment. The lack of movement could be that he just doesnt like being watched so he stays put as you do so. Just limit your contact and make sure to be as un-threatening as possible to him (ie. dont grab him and what not). If hes drinking thats already a good sign. If your worried about how much hes eating, try using a feeding cup under his perch so you can monitor how many he eats. Other than that, just keep doing what you are doing.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I would love some gutloading/feeder advice! Right now I've got some small crickets in there, don't think he's eaten any of them yet though. He did take a drink or two from the dripper. I'm a little concerned that he is just staying in the basking area-- he has moved back and forth maybe 4 inches all day... guess he's just settling in? He seems OK but I'm nervous about helping him acclimate!

It can take awhile for them to settle into a new environment. That he drank a bit is a good sign He will be fine. Like WinstonChrchll said, disturb him as little as possible. Give him space, keep at a distance, stay low, stay slow. Cup/bowl feeding is a good option for monitoring intake (hang near and below where he spends most of his time.

Regarding feeders and gutloading, you may find these blog entries useful:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html

 

[Easytarget 12]

so, with the cup/bowl feeding thing, is there an easy way to keep the crickets IN the bowl? I'm just using a paper cup, but they keep jumping out...

really appreciate all the feedback!

 

[sandrachameleon]

so, with the cup/bowl feeding thing, is there an easy way to keep the crickets IN the bowl? I'm just using a paper cup, but they keep jumping out...

use something deeper.
or remove one or both hind jumping legs from the cricket

 

[WinstonChrchll]

Also use something with a smooth surface, like a plastic cup or small container. That way they cant climb up. If you move them slowly and without much agitation they don't tend to jump. Although Sandra's bloodthirsty method of leg amputation also works wonders

 

[wanker]

I would add some more branches for climbing, specifically belowing your basking light so your chameleon can self-regulate its tempurature by moving from the higher to lower branches.

 

[Easytarget 12]

Thought I'd post a few pictures of the little guy. One thing i noticed is that his tail never straightens all the way out-- it stays hooked, like in the picture below. Is this normal?

 

[sandrachameleon]

tail tip was probably crimped or broken at some time.

 

[keanenk]

That heat lamp is way too close to the vine. Move the vine down or the lamp up and maybe lower the wattage. Upper 80s for a basking temp would be perfect.

If you're gonna go with a misting system, the MistKing starter setup is what you want. You can't beat it for $99 (add $30 for shipping cause they're in Ontario)

It seems like you need to do more research. Just browse around on this site as much as you can. There is a wealth of chameleon knowledge here. Don't mess with the supplementation. It's VERY important you get that right to prevent MBD (metabolic bone disease) and other potentially fatal illnesses.

As others have said definitely get rid of the stop sign haha

Good luck! You're gonna love having a cham for a pet. They're amazing creatures.