New enclosure husbandry review

PistachioG

Member
Chameleon Info:

  • Your Chameleon - veiled, female, 3 years old. I’ve had her for 3 weeks.
  • Handling - several times a week if she’s in the mood for it.
  • Feeding and supplements - 7-10 crickets or BSFL (soon to add silk worms to the mix) every other day gut loaded with carrots or other approved veggies and dusted with EarthPro A and Repashy calcium no D every feeding and Calcium low D twice a month. Hornworms or wax worms one twice a week.
  • Watering - MistKing 2 min at 7pm, 8pm, 9pm, 1:00 am, 2:00am, 3:00am, 5:00am, 6:30 am.
  • Fecal Description - Every other day, looks healthy and formed with urate. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No
  • History - Original owner had her since a few months old. No mention of any health or feeding issues. Never laid eggs but also didn’t have a lay box consistently.

Cage Info:

  • Cage Type - Screen with back side covered, 36x18x36
  • Lighting - Arcadia T5 6% linear + daylight bulb . On from 7am until 7pm.
  • Temperature - Basking upper =85, lower =80 Low overnight = 69. I use a therm pro with a waterproof sensor plus temp gun and hand under basking just to triple check.
  • Humidity - 48-50% during the day, 60-80% at night. See watering for more info. I use a thermpro waterproof that can stay in the enclosure 100%.
  • Plants - Lipstick, pink polka dot, weeping ficus, prayer, fern, pothos
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Bedroom. Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? None of these. At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? 6.5-7ft
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? Washington state, USA
Has a lay box filled with 50% washed play sand 50% potting soil

Things I plan to add by the end of the week:
  1. Drain in bottom of substrate pan
  2. A new polka dot plant (she ate almost the whole thing)

Current Question - please review her new enclosure and let me know if anything is missing. I just placed her in there this morning.
 

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Hi. She could definitely use many more branches/vines. Regarding husbandry, you’ll want to reduce her feedings and basking temp to help reduce egg production. Not only does frequent laying shorten their lives, but overly large clutches increase risks for egg binding. I give my girls 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week (plus occasional treats) and keep basking temp no higher than 80. One girl has only laid once in the past year 1/2 and the other hasn’t laid at all in all of that time.
I’m not sure about your combination of supplements, but I’m sure someone else better with all of the various supplements will comment if needed.
The only thing I am curious about is your misting schedule. Why every hour for 3 hours in the evening?
Aside from these few things, all looks good to me. :)
 
Hi. She could definitely use many more branches/vines. Regarding husbandry, you’ll want to reduce her feedings and basking temp to help reduce egg production. Not only does frequent laying shorten their lives, but overly large clutches increase risks for egg binding. I give my girls 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week (plus occasional treats) and keep basking temp no higher than 80. One girl has only laid once in the past year 1/2 and the other hasn’t laid at all in all of that time.
I’m not sure about your combination of supplements, but I’m sure someone else better with all of the various supplements will comment if needed.
The only thing I am curious about is your misting schedule. Why every hour for 3 hours in the evening?
Aside from these few things, all looks good to me. :)
I’ll get more branches in there. I have quite a few in different sizes.

Pistachio has never laid eggs. I can lower the basking temp but I’m curious why they would eat so little compared to a male when their body is working harder by making eggs?

For misting, I was under the impression that humidity should be as high as possible at night. The schedule I use is based on what is recommended by Bill Strand but mist for short bursts at the recommended times vs a longer mist as that seems to maintain humidity better for the enclosure I have.
 
I’ll get more branches in there. I have quite a few in different sizes.

Pistachio has never laid eggs. I can lower the basking temp but I’m curious why they would eat so little compared to a male when their body is working harder by making eggs?

For misting, I was under the impression that humidity should be as high as possible at night. The schedule I use is based on what is recommended by Bill Strand but mist for short bursts at the recommended times vs a longer mist as that seems to maintain humidity better for the enclosure I have.
It’s a bit strange that she’s three and hasn’t laid eggs before. I don’t really understand the physiology of how feeding less and lower temps help reduce egg production other than metabolism is involved. I believe the lower temps help slow metabolism so they digest their food a bit slower and don’t feel hungry. In general, when food is plentiful, many animals tend to reproduce more. Also, it has been found that the lower temps also help prolong the lives of both male and female chameleons. Again, don’t understand the physiology of it, just that it’s been shown to work.
You are correct about night humidity. I was just curious about the frequency, but we all do what works for our individual situations to meet the same goal. :)
 
It’s a bit strange that she’s three and hasn’t laid eggs before. I don’t really understand the physiology of how feeding less and lower temps help reduce egg production other than metabolism is involved. I believe the lower temps help slow metabolism so they digest their food a bit slower and don’t feel hungry. In general, when food is plentiful, many animals tend to reproduce more. Also, it has been found that the lower temps also help prolong the lives of both male and female chameleons. Again, don’t understand the physiology of it, just that it’s been shown to work.
You are correct about night humidity. I was just curious about the frequency, but we all do what works for our individual situations to meet the same goal. :)
Thank you for the replies. I’m definitely feeding way too much, thanks for catching that. I’m not sure where I read how much to feed. I only recently learned where the more reliable sources are. I’ll edge the temps down a little, that’s easy enough to fix.
 
I’ve run into a dilemma with misting and would like some suggestions. I tried placing the MistKing on the front right but the lipstick plant blocks most of the mist and the plant it there to provide privacy for the basking area. So I tried moving it to the back right but then it is misting the basking area which maybe is ok because it’s on when the basking light would be off at night anyway?? I have a giant pothos on the other side so can’t place the mist there. Only other option would be a center placement and add a dual nozzle but maybe this is overkill??

Here’s an updated photo of the progress.
 

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