New Chameleon Owner!!!

[Beedy112]

Hello everyone, we just bought a veiled chameleon a week ago. Her name is Chamela. Wanted to post some pictures to make sure we are doing things right. Also we feed her meal worms every morning, crickets dusted in calcium every two days, we put ice on top of her cage right now for a drip system, it works very well. We also have an motorized mister to mist the fake plants we have. Right now we have a 16x16x20 cage and working on building a bigger one for her. We do also have the UVB and UVA and the nighttime light. We also have two thermometers and one hygrometer. One thing we have just noticed is she is starting to shed, when we bought her the pet store said they have had her for about 6 months.

Please let us know if we are doing everything right. Also we have not picked her up yet, she likes he corner of her cage near her basking light.

 

[OOOst16]

your supplements need to consist of. calcium dust with d3 every 2 weeks. calcium without d3 5 days a week. and a multivitamin once a month. all of these are dusts wich you add to the insects. you need to gutload them aswell. apples, oranges, collard greens work nicley. though contriversial id sugest removing the substrate at the bottom. it can esaly cause impaction if eaten acidentaly or eaten on purpos. id also sugest using real plants if you can . shafflera arbicol, dracena, pothos, bromilliad, ficus are the best plants in my opinion for chameleon use.(always to rember to plant them in fertalizer free organic potting soil wich you cover to prevent impaction....and wash the leaves off before you place them inside the vivarium. yours is a nice enclosure besides the substrate though. since it is female your going to have to do research on laying bins. extra calcium without d3 should be provided when eggs are being formed inside the chameleons body.all female chameleons produce infertal eggs when not matting and will still lay them even know they may have never been anywhere near a male. good choice on the screen viv, and good choice on getting a tube uvb bulb. compact uvb bulbs ( the swirly ones) cause eye issues and health hazzards .your uvb bulb should be a 5.0.....some people use 10.0 and have no issues however.

 

[Beedy112]

Thank you

Thank you for the reply OOOst16, we are very grateful to have a place that we can talk to other chameleon owners. We do have the calcium with d3, we will get the calcium without d3 also. When we build the bigger cage here in about a week, we will look into real plants. What do you recommend when we guy load the crickets, we have not figured out what to do. The pet store said we can buy a box for the crickets to keep in and feed them, but we are not sure yet. Should we buy the home or just feed them in the bag?

Other than the recommendations and changes the cage looks good? With her starting to shed, what do you recommend her, she does not like being sprayed.

 

[ChamFreak]

this is my opinion and some may agree or disagree but the ice cube drip idea could be to cold for your cham.

A dripper is cheap and even cheaper a dixie cup with a pin hole works well.

I am assuming with your misting she can get water as well

I thought to myself it looks a little small, I cant really tell but your cham looks very happy.

 

[OOOst16]

well you should be using a digital thermometer/ hydrometer. they read much more acurate then the anolog. most chameleons dont like being sprayed (mine hates it aswell)....a room humidifyer helps emensly for keeping humidity up. the multivitamin is very important to have for use once a month as a dusting. reptical has the best products for the 3 supplements wich can be purchased at lllreptile.com ...they are great for products (along with other site sponsers). i personaly use apples , oranges, and collard greens for gutloads. i rotate them every time i get a new batch of crickets . i keep my crickets in a little plastic reptile carrier thing you can get at any petstore. when crickets die they release fumes that kill other crickets so you need a vented keeper of some sort. i would also get a dripper with a hose atachment. that can be purchased at lllreptile.com aswell or at some petstores depending on your location. chams only drink moving water....so a dripper satisfyes there drinking needs. rember never use a waterfall as a drinking sorce.....they grown harmfull bacteria....and also chameleons love to deficate in water.....so chameleons usualy poop in the waterfalls causing more evil bacteria ! yuck! anymore questions just message me or make some new posts! id love to help. also a basking spot for a female of 6 months old give or take a month or 2....should be around 80-85 degrees dont exceed 85.

 

[Beedy112]

We hope she is happy, the only time she kinda gets mad at us is when we have to spray her cage. We like to use the ice when we are going to be gone for awhile, mostly we spray between 3-5 times a day. We are looking into a dripper, with her cage now not having a place for water to fall, we have to change the towel underneath.

Another question came up, with her shedding, she has gone lethargic, and sleepy. Is that normal?

 

[Beedy112]

well you should be using a digital thermometer/ hydrometer. they read much more acurate then the anolog. most chameleons dont like being sprayed (mine hates it aswell)....a room humidifyer helps emensly for keeping humidity up. the multivitamin is very important to have for use once a month as a dusting. reptical has the best products for the 3 supplements wich can be purchased at lllreptile.com ...they are great for products (along with other site sponsers). i personaly use apples , oranges, and collard greens for gutloads. i rotate them every time i get a new batch of crickets . i keep my crickets in a little plastic reptile carrier thing you can get at any petstore. when crickets die they release fumes that kill other crickets so you need a vented keeper of some sort. i would also get a dripper with a hose atachment. that can be purchased at lllreptile.com aswell or at some petstores depending on your location. chams only drink moving water....so a dripper satisfyes there drinking needs. rember never use a waterfall as a drinking sorce.....they grown harmfull bacteria....and also chameleons love to deficate in water.....so chameleons usualy poop in the waterfalls causing more evil bacteria ! yuck! anymore questions just message me or make some new posts! id love to help. also a basking spot for a female of 6 months old give or take a month or 2....should be around 80-85 degrees dont exceed 85.

You have been very help, we are going to look into that site. We have noticed with the thermometer and hygrometer readings haven't changed for awhile, so a digital one does seem like a better idea.

 

[OOOst16]

chameleons shouldnt be sleeping during the day. if they are that means somthing is rong. only hatchlings are able to sleep during the day. and i mean hatchlings......and they shouldnt be sleeping for very long. shdding usualy stuns the appitite for a lil while. she may decrease in food intake. but she shouldnt be sleeping in the day. if she is up for less then 10 hours during the day ....there is an issue. there should be a 12 hr rotation on the lights. no lighting should be givin at night. vield chameleons can go down in the 60s at night with no issues. you want a pitch black cage at night when they are sleeping.

 

[ChamFreak]

with that much foilage I would say misting 2 times a day would be plenty. I may stand corrected but it may be to much humidity.

Also, yes that towel could be bad if not changed often. Mildew can grow and can be hazardous to your chams health.

 

[OOOst16]

i also agree to the mildew issue. please specify if the chameleon is sleeping during the day.

 

[kpritch17]

Welcome to the forums!

All of the suggestions above are great. I would also recommend removing the night light. They don't need any light at all at night as long as it doesn't get too cold. They need at about a 10 degree drop at night. If it is too cold, look into getting a ceramic heat emitter bulb.

Its easiest to buy a cricket container and just feed them every morning (I would suggest about 2 hours before you feed to your cham so you know they have good stuff in them when your cham eats them)

Also, since you know she is over 6 months, do a search on this website for a laying bin. Females produce eggs (that are infertile) even when they are not with a male.

 

[Beedy112]

She has her eyes closed right now and she is up in her corner where she always sleeps. Her shedding has also started near her eyes, so would that be of a concern? We did turn down her light because the pet store said a higher basking degree. Here is a picture of her in her corner right now. Sorry for the blur.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

I'm hoping that your Zilla fixture can hold an 18" T8 (1" in diameter) and not the T5 (5/8" in diameter) UVB tube . I'm also hoping that it isn't currently holding one of their "Desert 50" or "Tropical 25" tubes. There have been extreme health issues (death) with their older models and their newer models have not been verified for safety by the "UV Guide UK" yet. I would be really happy if you told me that you are using a ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 tube or maybe even one made by Exo Terra . Also, I couldn't tell for sure from the photo but that particular fixture used to come with a transparent plastic shield covering the tube. Those original shields filtered out 100% of the useable UVB . It's easy to remove with just 2 screws holding it in place. The newer Tropical and Desert fixtures actually used a plastic cover that only filtered part of the UVB but even still, were deadly .

Sorry if all of this sounds so scary, but better safe than sorry. (Closed eyes during the day would be the first symptom to watch for.)

What part of the world are you located?

 

[Beedy112]

I will check into the Dave. I am not sure, but it will be looked into. Thanks.

 

[OOOst16]

hmm how long has she been up? this is probrably going to mean a vet trip. petstore chameleons usualy are unhealthy to begin with (unless you buy from a specialty store/ breeder that knows what they are doing) eyes closed while daytime is not good , this means the chameleon is sick. the sheeding on the eyes has nothing to with it unfortuantly. there eyes should always be open during the day time. (when my male vield sheds near his eyes they are always open.) i would scedual a vet visit to a exotic reptile vet , one that knows about chameleons and their treatment.

 

[Beedy112]

hmm how long has she been up? this is probrably going to mean a vet trip. petstore chameleons usualy are unhealthy to begin with (unless you buy from a specialty store/ breeder that knows what they are doing) eyes closed while daytime is not good , this means the chameleon is sick. the sheeding on the eyes has nothing to with it unfortuantly. there eyes should always be open during the day time. (when my male vield sheds near his eyes they are always open.) i would scedual a vet visit to a exotic reptile vet , one that knows about chameleons and their treatment.

I am going to look into that right now. She usually is not asleep when it is day time. So I am going to call one that I found near us.

 

[OOOst16]

fantastic. rember use only reptisun 5.0(made by zoomed) or reptiglo 5.0(made by exotera)linear uvb bulbs. there has to be only screen between the bulb and the chameleon. glass/ plastic filters out all uvb. if weather permits taking the chameleon outside for some natural uvb from the sun is fantastic for them.

 

[Beedy112]

Howdy,

I'm hoping that your Zilla fixture can hold an 18" T8 (1" in diameter) and not the T5 (5/8" in diameter) UVB tube . I'm also hoping that it isn't currently holding one of their "Desert 50" or "Tropical 25" tubes. There have been extreme health issues (death) with their older models and their newer models have not been verified for safety by the "UV Guide UK" yet. I would be really happy if you told me that you are using a ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 tube or maybe even one made by Exo Terra . Also, I couldn't tell for sure from the photo but that particular fixture used to come with a transparent plastic shield covering the tube. Those original shields filtered out 100% of the useable UVB . It's easy to remove with just 2 screws holding it in place. The newer Tropical and Desert fixtures actually used a plastic cover that only filtered part of the UVB but even still, were deadly .

Sorry if all of this sounds so scary, but better safe than sorry. (Closed eyes during the day would be the first symptom to watch for.)

What part of the world are you located?

Unfornitaly, that is the bulb we have the zilla dessert 50. What do you recommend we do. It is also what the pet store sold us.

 

[OOOst16]

u need to pitch the desert 50. pet stores do NOT know anything about chameleons from my experiance. chameleons are the most exotic of the exotic. this angers me that the petsore knew so little. you need to pitch it and go out and buy a reptisun 5.0 or reptiglo 5.0. linear, dont buy the compact swirly ones. get the one that fits your hood (remove the plastic if your hood has it.) This lighting may be the issue to the sleeping of your chameleon.

 

[Leilaskeeper]

Yay! Congratulations

Because she is a female, you may want to place a laying bin within her enclosure just in case she may become gravid. Otherwise, her enclosure is very nice. Enjoy bonding with your new cham!

And thank god for Dave pointing out those very important facts! Life saving!!!