New enclosure

[lucimirka]

Hi there!
I would love to hear your oppinions on my chams new enclosure to be sure everything is fine and good for her.

Chameleon info:

• My chameleon - Veiled cham, female, 4,5 months, in my care for 2 months
• Handling - every other day, I handle her only if she wants - I don´t force her
• Feeding - crickets, around 25-30 crickets a day, I am feeding my feeders veggies (fresh every day), water gel and oats
• Supplements - ReptiPlanet
  • Calcium - 100% clear calcium
  • Multivitamin - D3, A, C, B1, B2, B6, B12, biotin, folic, choline chloride, minerals: Fe, Co, Mn, Cu, Zn, I, Se
• Watering - ReptiPlanet digital fogger with timer
• Fecal Description - every other day, sometimes every day, dark brown color, about 3 pieces of poop and one big piece of ,,urea" - lightly yellowish/white, has not been tested for parasites

Cage info:

• Cage type - glass cage with sandstone background, cleaning every sunday, dimensions - height 100 cm/39,9 inches, width 80 cm/31,5 inches
• Lighting - ReptiPlanet
  • UVB - 5.0, 13W
  • Heating bulb - 40 W
    • schedule (both bulb) - 7 am ->7 pm
• Temperature
  • cage floor - 21 C/69,8 F
  • Basking spot - 27-28 C/ 81-82 F
  • Lowest overnight temp - 19-20 C/ 66-68 F
• Humidity
  • daytime - around 50 %
  • night - around 80-90%
    • using digital fogger with timer
  • measuring with ReptiPlanet digital thermometer and hygrometer
• Plants - live plants only
  • Orchid
  • Crassula ovata
  • Calanthea
  • Monstera
  • Ficus
    • plants transplanted into non-toxic peat
    • before I gave them to my cham they were carefully cleaned with water and quarantined for a month (separated from my other plants in the house)
• Placement - in the living room (we are not there much often, so she has a peace and space to relax)
  • ventilation - holes in the top of the cage and around 20 cm/ 7 inches from the cage floor
  • cage is placed 40cm/15 inches above living room floor, so the top of the cage is 140 cm/55 inches relative to my living room floor
• Location- Central Europe

Thanks a lot! Have a nice day.

PS: I am attaching some photos.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. I’ll go thru all of your info but will take a bit of time.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ll be putting my feedback in bold and splitting this into two parts. I tend to talk a lot.
Chameleon info:

• My chameleon - Veiled cham, female, 4,5 months, in my care for 2 months She is a beauty!
• Handling - every other day, I handle her only if she wants - I don´t force her Very good. Here is a great blog on how to build trust. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/ Veileds are generally not the friendliest or most agreeable to handling once they’re grown, so be prepared.
• Feeding - crickets, around 25-30 crickets a day, I am feeding my feeders veggies (fresh every day), water gel and oats That is a tremendous amount of food and she is certainly old enough to cut that amount down to half and even less. She is soon to reach her reproductive stage and over feeding her will cause her to produce a huge amount of eggs, which can cause serious problems. I did the same and worse when I first started with my girl, but once I learned better, I immediately cut her down to a more reasonable amount and from there, was able to reduce her gradually. Right now she should be getting maybe around 12-15 feeders daily. Then by the time she’s around 6 - 7 months old, you’ll want to reduce her to around 5-8 feeders daily and it will reduce further from there. My blog on caring for our egg laying sweethearts explains it all. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/ Also, crickets are a good staple feeder, but variety is needed. I’m attaching some graphics to help guide you. I do know that not all feeder types are available everywhere, but there are generally a few which are. Excellent to fee your insects fresh veggies! I would avoid the oats though. Someone had recently cautioned against using them, but I can’t recall the reason. Depending on the veggies given, you probably don’t need the water gel. I just give my insects fresh leafy greens, like mustard, turnip, dandelion and arugula, different squashes, carrot, bell pepper and just a bit of fruit. If it’s exceptionally hot, I’ll give them some cucumber or melon which have high water content. I also use Repashy Bug Burger just to round out their diet. Healthy insects are more nutritious.
• Supplements - ReptiPlanet
  • Calcium - 100% clear calcium
  • Multivitamin - D3, A, C, B1, B2, B6, B12, biotin, folic, choline chloride, minerals: Fe, Co, Mn, Cu, Zn, I, Se
  • I’m not familiar with the details of this brand. You don’t say how often you are giving each. The calcium without D3 should be used at every feeding, except when using a different supplement. The multivitamin/D3 combo should be used for one feeding every other week, or twice a month (however you choose - it works out about the same) You want to dust lightly with the supplement. If your insects look like little snowmen, you’re using too much. I put the pinch of powder in my cup and then add the bugs. As they walk around, they dust themselves. Then I can put them in my chameleon’s feeding station.
• Watering - ReptiPlanet digital fogger with timer How long is each misting and how often does it mist? The ideal is to mist for at least 2 minutes right before lights go on and off. You want your enclosure to be able to dry out in between. If needed, you can either add a shorter 1 minute or so misting during the day or use a dripper for about 15-20 minutes. You’ll go by the color of urate to determine if she’s drinking enough. Many chameleons are very secretive about drinking.
• Fecal Description - every other day, sometimes every day, dark brown color, about 3 pieces of poop and one big piece of ,,urea" - lightly yellowish/white, has not been tested for parasites It’s always a good idea to test for parasites. Besides making sure your cutie is healthy, it’s great to be able to meet who your veterinarian will be. You want to know who and where your vets are before needing them.

More to come….

 

[MissSkittles]

Cage info:

• Cage type - glass cage with sandstone background, cleaning every sunday, dimensions - height 100 cm/39,9 inches, width 80 cm/31,5 inches This is close/equivalent to the minimum standard size of 60x60x120 cm for an adult, but somehow it looks smaller than those measurements.
• Lighting - ReptiPlanet I’m afraid this is one of the areas which needs more change than others. First, you really don’t want to have the lights inside of the enclosure. This presents a huge risk for burns. As well, it reduces the amount of space for her. It is best to have a screened top which you can then place your lights either on top of or slightly raised above. You want a distance of around 20-22cm between basking branch and lights.
  • UVB - 5.0, 13W Unfortunately this is the wrong type of uvb and is not able to provide adequate levels unless your chameleon is just a few cm below it. You need a linear T5HO fixture with either a ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6%. **I can’t speak about ReptiPlanet products, but I have tested the uvb output of a ReptiZoo uvb bulb and it was very poor. Because proper uvb is so essential for a healthy chameleon, this is one of the areas that there is no compromise.
  • Heating bulb - 40 W Ok. It’s whatever strength which will give you the basking temps of 25-26c.
    • schedule (both bulb) - 7 am ->7 pm Perfect!
• Temperature All of these are good. I’d keep basking a tad lower though.
  • cage floor - 21 C/69,8 F
  • Basking spot - 27-28 C/ 81-82 F
  • Lowest overnight temp - 19-20 C/ 66-68 F
• Humidity
  • daytime - around 50 % 50% is at the highest that you would want it to be. Having the open screen top and the ventilation holes lower on the glass give adequate ventilation, but if your humidity stays around 50%, you should add a small computer type fan on the top, sucking the air through and out the top.
  • night - around 80-90% Perfect! Do take care though that is your night time temperature is any warmer than around 20c, to skip or reduce night fogging. Heat plus high humidity increases risks (can even cause) respiratory infection.
    • using digital fogger with timer Excellent
  • measuring with ReptiPlanet digital thermometer and hygrometer ok
• Plants - live plants only Excellent!
  • Orchid
  • Crassula ovata This one I can’t imagine would be doing well with so much water. I suggest removing it.
  • Calanthea
  • Monstera
  • Ficus
  • Pothos is one of the most versatile plants and is a staple for chameleons.
• This seems to be the best place to talk about your set up. I’m afraid that yours needs a lot of improvement. The problem seems to be that everything is on the floor and you don’t know or have a way to attach anything to glass. This is a challenge, but not impossible. I would be going out and foraging for some sturdy natural branches, some as straight as I can find. Avoid pine, eucalyptus and other trees which have strong odor or sap. Wash the branches with dish soap, rinse well and dry in the sun. Using either zip ties or twine, create a sturdy scaffolding structure in an H (or A) shape to fit against the sides of your enclosure. Then you are going to cut to fit some branches to secure to them and keep everything standing on it’s own. This won’t be strong enough to secure plants to, but you can attach many branches and vines to it. Place a taller plant in the center of the enclosure - one with enough height to reach or come close to reaching the basking branch. Take your pothos vines as they grow and drape them over and around your scaffolding support. To place plants higher, you can use little plant stands or just flip over some pots to sit them on. The goal is to provide your pretty girl with lots of little branch roads of varied diameter to travel and exercise on and lots of leafy foliage to take shade or hide under and drink from. You will be needing to fit a lay bin in the enclosure, so do make sure you account for the space for that. You might want to use a corner of the lay bin to place a plant.
• Do you have any other animals in your home, or small children? If no to both, you could even think about going without an enclosure and providing her with a free range tree home like @Sonny13 keeps his. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/free-range-inspiration.2464/
  • Placement - in the living room (we are not there much often, so she has a peace and space to relax)
    • ventilation - holes in the top of the cage and around 20 cm/ 7 inches from the cage floor
    • cage is placed 40cm/15 inches above living room floor, so the top of the cage is 140 cm/55 inches relative to my living room floor This is a little bit low. The higher they are, the safer they feel.
  • Location- Central Europe
• I do hope I’ve been of some help. Ask whatever questions you may have and I do look forward to seeing your progress on making the improvements for your pretty girl.

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and welcome!! @MissSkittles has given you some excellent advice! I just wanted to jump in here and say your little veiled is darling

 

[Beppo]

I agree! She’s adorable welcome to the forums!

 

[lucimirka]

I’ll be putting my feedback in bold and splitting this into two parts. I tend to talk a lot.
Chameleon info:

• My chameleon - Veiled cham, female, 4,5 months, in my care for 2 months She is a beauty!
• Handling - every other day, I handle her only if she wants - I don´t force her Very good. Here is a great blog on how to build trust. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/ Veileds are generally not the friendliest or most agreeable to handling once they’re grown, so be prepared.
• Feeding - crickets, around 25-30 crickets a day, I am feeding my feeders veggies (fresh every day), water gel and oats That is a tremendous amount of food and she is certainly old enough to cut that amount down to half and even less. She is soon to reach her reproductive stage and over feeding her will cause her to produce a huge amount of eggs, which can cause serious problems. I did the same and worse when I first started with my girl, but once I learned better, I immediately cut her down to a more reasonable amount and from there, was able to reduce her gradually. Right now she should be getting maybe around 12-15 feeders daily. Then by the time she’s around 6 - 7 months old, you’ll want to reduce her to around 5-8 feeders daily and it will reduce further from there. My blog on caring for our egg laying sweethearts explains it all. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/ Also, crickets are a good staple feeder, but variety is needed. I’m attaching some graphics to help guide you. I do know that not all feeder types are available everywhere, but there are generally a few which are. Excellent to fee your insects fresh veggies! I would avoid the oats though. Someone had recently cautioned against using them, but I can’t recall the reason. Depending on the veggies given, you probably don’t need the water gel. I just give my insects fresh leafy greens, like mustard, turnip, dandelion and arugula, different squashes, carrot, bell pepper and just a bit of fruit. If it’s exceptionally hot, I’ll give them some cucumber or melon which have high water content. I also use Repashy Bug Burger just to round out their diet. Healthy insects are more nutritious.
• Supplements - ReptiPlanet
  • Calcium - 100% clear calcium
  • Multivitamin - D3, A, C, B1, B2, B6, B12, biotin, folic, choline chloride, minerals: Fe, Co, Mn, Cu, Zn, I, Se
  • I’m not familiar with the details of this brand. You don’t say how often you are giving each. The calcium without D3 should be used at every feeding, except when using a different supplement. The multivitamin/D3 combo should be used for one feeding every other week, or twice a month (however you choose - it works out about the same) You want to dust lightly with the supplement. If your insects look like little snowmen, you’re using too much. I put the pinch of powder in my cup and then add the bugs. As they walk around, they dust themselves. Then I can put them in my chameleon’s feeding station.
• Watering - ReptiPlanet digital fogger with timer How long is each misting and how often does it mist? The ideal is to mist for at least 2 minutes right before lights go on and off. You want your enclosure to be able to dry out in between. If needed, you can either add a shorter 1 minute or so misting during the day or use a dripper for about 15-20 minutes. You’ll go by the color of urate to determine if she’s drinking enough. Many chameleons are very secretive about drinking.
• Fecal Description - every other day, sometimes every day, dark brown color, about 3 pieces of poop and one big piece of ,,urea" - lightly yellowish/white, has not been tested for parasites It’s always a good idea to test for parasites. Besides making sure your cutie is healthy, it’s great to be able to meet who your veterinarian will be. You want to know who and where your vets are before needing them.

More to come….
View attachment 354561View attachment 354562

• My chameleon - Veiled cham, female, 4,5 months, in my care for 2 months She is a beauty!
  
  Thanks a lot! I am trying my best I got her from the animal stock exchange where I was not on purpose. So taking her was not planned, I felt so sorry for her and couldn't leave her there.
• Handling - every other day, I handle her only if she wants - I don´t force her Very good. Here is a great blog on how to build trust. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/ Veileds are generally not the friendliest or most agreeable to handling once they’re grown, so be prepared.
• Feeding - crickets, around 25-30 crickets a day, I am feeding my feeders veggies (fresh every day), water gel and oats. That is a tremendous amount of food and she is certainly old enough to cut that amount down to half and even less. She is soon to reach her reproductive stage and over feeding her will cause her to produce a huge amount of eggs, which can cause serious problems. I did the same and worse when I first started with my girl, but once I learned better, I immediately cut her down to a more reasonable amount and from there, was able to reduce her gradually. Right now she should be getting maybe around 12-15 feeders daily. Then by the time she’s around 6 - 7 months old, you’ll want to reduce her to around 5-8 feeders daily and it will reduce further from there. My blog on caring for our egg laying sweethearts explains it all. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/ Also, crickets are a good staple feeder, but variety is needed. I’m attaching some graphics to help guide you. I do know that not all feeder types are available everywhere, but there are generally a few which are. Excellent to fee your insects fresh veggies! I would avoid the oats though. Someone had recently cautioned against using them, but I can’t recall the reason. Depending on the veggies given, you probably don’t need the water gel. I just give my insects fresh leafy greens, like mustard, turnip, dandelion and arugula, different squashes, carrot, bell pepper and just a bit of fruit. If it’s exceptionally hot, I’ll give them some cucumber or melon which have high water content. I also use Repashy Bug Burger just to round out their diet. Healthy insects are more nutritious. Thanks for your advice. From today I will feed her less. I don't want to look like a bad pet owner who is overfeeding their animal on purpose. As I already said, when I got her she was not healthy. She was underweight and also so tiny and fragile. She was also not green (like now beautifully greenish), she was dark green and grayish. She just was so unhappy I suppose. That's why I was overfeeding her by mistake. At the beginning of our journey she wasn't even eating, I was feeding her around 8 times a day, cricket by cricket (of course very small ones). So we have a lot behind us.
• Supplements - ReptiPlanet
  • Calcium - 100% clear calcium every feeding
  • Multivitamin - D3, A, C, B1, B2, B6, B12, biotin, folic, choline chloride, minerals: Fe, Co, Mn, Cu, Zn, I, Se on every 1st and 15th day of the month so 2 times per month
  • I’m not familiar with the details of this brand. You don’t say how often you are giving each. The calcium without D3 should be used at every feeding, except when using a different supplement. The multivitamin/D3 combo should be used for one feeding every other week, or twice a month (however you choose - it works out about the same) You want to dust lightly with the supplement. If your insects look like little snowmen, you’re using too much. I put the pinch of powder in my cup and then add the bugs. As they walk around, they dust themselves. Then I can put them in my chameleon’s feeding station.
• Watering - ReptiPlanet digital fogger with timer How long is each misting and how often does it mist? The ideal is to mist for at least 2 minutes right before lights go on and off. You want your enclosure to be able to dry out in between. If needed, you can either add a shorter 1 minute or so misting during the day or use a dripper for about 15-20 minutes. You’ll go by the color of urate to determine if she’s drinking enough. Many chameleons are very secretive about drinking. The fogger is misting every hour for 10 minutes - it keeps her enclosure humidity between 40-50%. During the night it's misting the same and keeping terrarium humidity between 80-90%. I also use a dripper but she is used to drinking every 2-3 days from the sprayer I offer her. And I also mist by myself with sprayer whole enclosure (plants) 2 times a day.
• Fecal Description - every other day, sometimes every day, dark brown color, about 3 pieces of poop and one big piece of ,,urea" - lightly yellowish/white, has not been tested for parasites It’s always a good idea to test for parasites. Besides making sure your cutie is healthy, it’s great to be able to meet who your veterinarian will be. You want to know who and where your vets are before needing them.

 

[MissSkittles]

• My chameleon - Veiled cham, female, 4,5 months, in my care for 2 months She is a beauty!
  
  Thanks a lot! I am trying my best I got her from the animal stock exchange where I was not on purpose. So taking her was not planned, I felt so sorry for her and couldn't leave her there.
• Handling - every other day, I handle her only if she wants - I don´t force her Very good. Here is a great blog on how to build trust. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/ Veileds are generally not the friendliest or most agreeable to handling once they’re grown, so be prepared.
• Feeding - crickets, around 25-30 crickets a day, I am feeding my feeders veggies (fresh every day), water gel and oats. That is a tremendous amount of food and she is certainly old enough to cut that amount down to half and even less. She is soon to reach her reproductive stage and over feeding her will cause her to produce a huge amount of eggs, which can cause serious problems. I did the same and worse when I first started with my girl, but once I learned better, I immediately cut her down to a more reasonable amount and from there, was able to reduce her gradually. Right now she should be getting maybe around 12-15 feeders daily. Then by the time she’s around 6 - 7 months old, you’ll want to reduce her to around 5-8 feeders daily and it will reduce further from there. My blog on caring for our egg laying sweethearts explains it all. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/ Also, crickets are a good staple feeder, but variety is needed. I’m attaching some graphics to help guide you. I do know that not all feeder types are available everywhere, but there are generally a few which are. Excellent to fee your insects fresh veggies! I would avoid the oats though. Someone had recently cautioned against using them, but I can’t recall the reason. Depending on the veggies given, you probably don’t need the water gel. I just give my insects fresh leafy greens, like mustard, turnip, dandelion and arugula, different squashes, carrot, bell pepper and just a bit of fruit. If it’s exceptionally hot, I’ll give them some cucumber or melon which have high water content. I also use Repashy Bug Burger just to round out their diet. Healthy insects are more nutritious. Thanks for your advice. From today I will feed her less. I don't want to look like a bad pet owner who is overfeeding their animal on purpose. As I already said, when I got her she was not healthy. She was underweight and also so tiny and fragile. She was also not green (like now beautifully greenish), she was dark green and grayish. She just was so unhappy I suppose. That's why I was overfeeding her by mistake. At the beginning of our journey she wasn't even eating, I was feeding her around 8 times a day, cricket by cricket (of course very small ones). So we have a lot behind us.
• Supplements - ReptiPlanet
  • Calcium - 100% clear calcium every feeding
  • Multivitamin - D3, A, C, B1, B2, B6, B12, biotin, folic, choline chloride, minerals: Fe, Co, Mn, Cu, Zn, I, Se on every 1st and 15th day of the month so 2 times per month
  • I’m not familiar with the details of this brand. You don’t say how often you are giving each. The calcium without D3 should be used at every feeding, except when using a different supplement. The multivitamin/D3 combo should be used for one feeding every other week, or twice a month (however you choose - it works out about the same) You want to dust lightly with the supplement. If your insects look like little snowmen, you’re using too much. I put the pinch of powder in my cup and then add the bugs. As they walk around, they dust themselves. Then I can put them in my chameleon’s feeding station.
• Watering - ReptiPlanet digital fogger with timer How long is each misting and how often does it mist? The ideal is to mist for at least 2 minutes right before lights go on and off. You want your enclosure to be able to dry out in between. If needed, you can either add a shorter 1 minute or so misting during the day or use a dripper for about 15-20 minutes. You’ll go by the color of urate to determine if she’s drinking enough. Many chameleons are very secretive about drinking. The fogger is misting every hour for 10 minutes - it keeps her enclosure humidity between 40-50%. During the night it's misting the same and keeping terrarium humidity between 80-90%. I also use a dripper but she is used to drinking every 2-3 days from the sprayer I offer her. And I also mist by myself with sprayer whole enclosure (plants) 2 times a day.
• Fecal Description - every other day, sometimes every day, dark brown color, about 3 pieces of poop and one big piece of ,,urea" - lightly yellowish/white, has not been tested for parasites It’s always a good idea to test for parasites. Besides making sure your cutie is healthy, it’s great to be able to meet who your veterinarian will be. You want to know who and where your vets are before needing them.

I don’t know what an animal stock exchange is, but it sounds like a place I should never go to…I’d want to save them all.
We all work hard to keep the forum a helpful and inviting place without judgement for all. We’ve all started at the beginning and made various mistakes. When I first started, I overfed my little girl like no one would ever believe. My girl also was very thin and malnourished when she came to me, so it was a good thing for her. Luckily I found the forum rather quickly, so my little cutie only suffered my lack of knowledge for a couple of weeks or so. It’s a process and journey of learning and making needed corrections and improvements for our googly eyed friends. The most important change right now is getting correct uvb and moving the lights out of the enclosure and having screening between them and your cutie.
An oops on me! I read over too quickly and my brain missed the word fogger, thinking it was mister. You never want to fog during the day or when temperatures are above 20-21c. Heat plus high humidity plus a glass enclosure is a recipe for a respiratory infection. We want warm dry days and cool humid nights. The ideal range for humidity for a veiled is between 30-50%. Unless you live somewhere exceptionally dry or wet, ‘normal’ household humidity is perfect.
When I first started, I read every post, even if it didn’t relate to me and if I had no clue what was being discussed. There’s several different threads on enclosures and how everyone has theirs set up…you just have to search for them. Then there’s a ton of information over at https://chameleonacademy.com/. Besides everything on the site, there are podcasts in which specialists in various fields explain the details of why and how, videos (on YouTube) and an e zine. Keep asking questions here, learning and of course, sharing news and pics of your little beauty.

 

[lucimirka]

I don’t know what an animal stock exchange is, but it sounds like a place I should never go to…I’d want to save them all.
We all work hard to keep the forum a helpful and inviting place without judgement for all. We’ve all started at the beginning and made various mistakes. When I first started, I overfed my little girl like no one would ever believe. My girl also was very thin and malnourished when she came to me, so it was a good thing for her. Luckily I found the forum rather quickly, so my little cutie only suffered my lack of knowledge for a couple of weeks or so. It’s a process and journey of learning and making needed corrections and improvements for our googly eyed friends. The most important change right now is getting correct uvb and moving the lights out of the enclosure and having screening between them and your cutie.
An oops on me! I read over too quickly and my brain missed the word fogger, thinking it was mister. You never want to fog during the day or when temperatures are above 20-21c. Heat plus high humidity plus a glass enclosure is a recipe for a respiratory infection. We want warm dry days and cool humid nights. The ideal range for humidity for a veiled is between 30-50%. Unless you live somewhere exceptionally dry or wet, ‘normal’ household humidity is perfect.
When I first started, I read every post, even if it didn’t relate to me and if I had no clue what was being discussed. There’s several different threads on enclosures and how everyone has theirs set up…you just have to search for them. Then there’s a ton of information over at https://chameleonacademy.com/. Besides everything on the site, there are podcasts in which specialists in various fields explain the details of why and how, videos (on YouTube) and an e zine. Keep asking questions here, learning and of course, sharing news and pics of your little beauty.

Okay, thx a lot. So I will turn off my fogger during a day and only mist with a sprayer (about 2 times a day), is that okay? And during a night, can I turn the fogger on? On low mode and only to fog a little (to keep overnight humidity 80-90%) or I should not use fogger at all? Now I am so woried about the respiratory infection. Do you have any tips I should do to prevent it? And any tips about the fogger? I did not know it was bad for my baby girl

I am attaching photo of the fogger and the website. Thanks for your help.
https://www.superzoo.cz/repti-planet-digitalni-mlhovac-s-casovacem/#

 

[lucimirka]

Cage info:

• Cage type - glass cage with sandstone background, cleaning every sunday, dimensions - height 100 cm/39,9 inches, width 80 cm/31,5 inches This is close/equivalent to the minimum standard size of 60x60x120 cm for an adult, but somehow it looks smaller than those measurements.
• Lighting - ReptiPlanet I’m afraid this is one of the areas which needs more change than others. First, you really don’t want to have the lights inside of the enclosure. This presents a huge risk for burns. As well, it reduces the amount of space for her. It is best to have a screened top which you can then place your lights either on top of or slightly raised above. You want a distance of around 20-22cm between basking branch and lights.
  • UVB - 5.0, 13W Unfortunately this is the wrong type of uvb and is not able to provide adequate levels unless your chameleon is just a few cm below it. You need a linear T5HO fixture with either a ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6%. **I can’t speak about ReptiPlanet products, but I have tested the uvb output of a ReptiZoo uvb bulb and it was very poor. Because proper uvb is so essential for a healthy chameleon, this is one of the areas that there is no compromise.
  • Heating bulb - 40 W Ok. It’s whatever strength which will give you the basking temps of 25-26c.
    • schedule (both bulb) - 7 am ->7 pm Perfect!
• Temperature All of these are good. I’d keep basking a tad lower though.
  • cage floor - 21 C/69,8 F
  • Basking spot - 27-28 C/ 81-82 F
  • Lowest overnight temp - 19-20 C/ 66-68 F
• Humidity
  • daytime - around 50 % 50% is at the highest that you would want it to be. Having the open screen top and the ventilation holes lower on the glass give adequate ventilation, but if your humidity stays around 50%, you should add a small computer type fan on the top, sucking the air through and out the top.
  • night - around 80-90% Perfect! Do take care though that is your night time temperature is any warmer than around 20c, to skip or reduce night fogging. Heat plus high humidity increases risks (can even cause) respiratory infection.
    • using digital fogger with timer Excellent
  • measuring with ReptiPlanet digital thermometer and hygrometer ok
• Plants - live plants only Excellent!
  • Orchid
  • Crassula ovata This one I can’t imagine would be doing well with so much water. I suggest removing it.
  • Calanthea
  • Monstera
  • Ficus
  • Pothos is one of the most versatile plants and is a staple for chameleons.
• This seems to be the best place to talk about your set up. I’m afraid that yours needs a lot of improvement. The problem seems to be that everything is on the floor and you don’t know or have a way to attach anything to glass. This is a challenge, but not impossible. I would be going out and foraging for some sturdy natural branches, some as straight as I can find. Avoid pine, eucalyptus and other trees which have strong odor or sap. Wash the branches with dish soap, rinse well and dry in the sun. Using either zip ties or twine, create a sturdy scaffolding structure in an H (or A) shape to fit against the sides of your enclosure. Then you are going to cut to fit some branches to secure to them and keep everything standing on it’s own. This won’t be strong enough to secure plants to, but you can attach many branches and vines to it. Place a taller plant in the center of the enclosure - one with enough height to reach or come close to reaching the basking branch. Take your pothos vines as they grow and drape them over and around your scaffolding support. To place plants higher, you can use little plant stands or just flip over some pots to sit them on. The goal is to provide your pretty girl with lots of little branch roads of varied diameter to travel and exercise on and lots of leafy foliage to take shade or hide under and drink from. You will be needing to fit a lay bin in the enclosure, so do make sure you account for the space for that. You might want to use a corner of the lay bin to place a plant.
• Do you have any other animals in your home, or small children? If no to both, you could even think about going without an enclosure and providing her with a free range tree home like @Sonny13 keeps his. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/free-range-inspiration.2464/
  • Placement - in the living room (we are not there much often, so she has a peace and space to relax)
    • ventilation - holes in the top of the cage and around 20 cm/ 7 inches from the cage floor
    • cage is placed 40cm/15 inches above living room floor, so the top of the cage is 140 cm/55 inches relative to my living room floor This is a little bit low. The higher they are, the safer they feel.
  • Location- Central Europe
• I do hope I’ve been of some help. Ask whatever questions you may have and I do look forward to seeing your progress on making the improvements for your pretty girl.

Okay about the uvb bulb. I have searched the one you told me about. Is this (photo) the right one? Also thx for the tips. I will change the lights and put them above the enclosure I also corrected a humidity during a day to 35% (I stopped fogging). If I got it right, I can only fog if the night temperature is below 20C?

 

[TheMotherChameleon]

you can fog if the nighttime temperatures are below 20 Celsius to avoid chances of a respiratory infection

 

[TheMotherChameleon]

Okay about the uvb bulb. I have searched the one you told me about. Is this (photo) the right one? Also thx for the tips. I will change the lights and put them above the enclosure I also corrected a humidity during a day to 35% (I stopped fogging). If I got it right, I can only fog if the night temperature is below 20C?

and yes that is the right uvb bulb just make sure it’s the 6% not the 12%

 

[MissSkittles]

Okay, thx a lot. So I will turn off my fogger during a day and only mist with a sprayer (about 2 times a day), is that okay? And during a night, can I turn the fogger on? On low mode and only to fog a little (to keep overnight humidity 80-90%) or I should not use fogger at all? Now I am so woried about the respiratory infection. Do you have any tips I should do to prevent it? And any tips about the fogger? I did not know it was bad for my baby girl

I am attaching photo of the fogger and the website. Thanks for your help.
https://www.superzoo.cz/repti-planet-digitalni-mlhovac-s-casovacem/#

Just only use the fogger when the night time temps are below around 20c. You want the days to be warm and dry and the nights to be cool and humid. Just remember that and to have good air circulation and your cutie should be fine.
The Arcadia is the correct uvb light and as has already been said by @TheMotherChameleon make sure to buy only the 6% strength. I love that you’re being quick to make the improvements.

 

[GrannyK]

So taking her was not planned, I felt so sorry for her and couldn't leave her there.
I am a firm believer that in certain situations our pets find us. This may just happen to of been one of those instances. so happy you didn’t leave her and are doing right by that precious girl! And that you found this forum, your both in great hands.