New member here! Just wanted to share my enclosure and veiled, criticism welcome!

Chance1

New Member
The veiled (Ovid) is sleeping. Though he does keep his right eye closed often which I’ve dropped some sterile saline and mist a bit more than usual.
 

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Welcome! If you tell me where you live I might be able to recommend a good chameleon vet.
Below is the ask help form that was mentioned above.

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

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Please Note:
  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.

Last edited: Jan 20, 2010
 
Hi and welcome! :) Eye issues can be from a number of different causes, so as has been said, a vet visit is your best action. It’s also a great idea to have a general wellness check and fecal test for parasites with any new animal. We can review all of your husbandry and make sure you have everything perfect for your little green sweetie. Just copy/paste the questions provided with your answers. :)
 
I will also post this in the health section but I’ll post here as well.

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - it’s a male (I think, I know the differences but I honestly still can’t tell. He is probably a few months old. I’ve had him for a week and a half.
  • Handling - Every other day I’ll handle him to either put him on a plant to take him outside, and sometimes to feed him.
  • Feeding - ive been feeding him crickets, super worms, and dubia roaches, varies greatly the amount since he’s still settling in I presume. I keep the bugs in separate plastic containers with cut up various veggies and a wet paper towel.
  • Supplements - I bought repticalcium without D3 and dust a few bugs a week.
  • Watering - I have a mistking and fogger, and I’m going off The dragonstrand care sheet (misting in morning and night for a minute Each, every other day I’ll mist in the afternoon to help with his eye. And I time the fogger on and off every 30 minutes as he sleeps
  • Fecal Description - My cage is very dense with plants and I’ve yet to see any feces, hard to say
  • History - I bought him from PetSmart, even though I hate supporting the practice, I couldn’t find any local breeders.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - 2ft x2ft x 4ft tall
  • Lighting - I’ve used all the dragonstrand care sheet equipment with a reptisun 5.0 UVB bulb in the closest slot to the center of the cage
  • Temperature - around 60 degrees at night, and ranging from 65-90 depending on the area
  • Humidity - Humidity is usually around 50-60 during the day, and 80-100 during the night
  • Plants - All my plants are real and I have too many to remember but I spent hours making sure they would be all safe. I have hibiscus, whispering Jew, Japanese aralia, fiscus, umbrella, Pothos, ect.
  • Placement - I live in a studio apartment and it is across the room where I spend the least amount of time so when I’m in bed or at my computer I am as far away from him as can be. His cage is elevated 2ft with the top being 6ft tall, which is the same height as myself. I wish I could put it another foot higher but I don’t have the resources for it
  • Location - Seattle, WA
 
Your husbandry looks pretty good, but I do have a few suggestions to make.
First is you’ll be needing to get a multivitamin and a D3 supplement. An easy way is to use Reptivite with D3 or Repashy calcium plus for one feeding every other week. Both of those supplements contain preformed vitamin A which is good for eye health. Just need to be careful with it as preformed A (and D3) are fat soluble and not quickly excreted. The eye issue could be due to lack of vitamin A, but seeing a vet to confirm is still the best option.
To determine gender of a veiled, look at the back of the back feet. Males have protrusions called tarsal spurs, females (generally) do not. These are usually apparent from hatching. Pic of my males spur below. If you do find you have a female, do let us know as the care of females is a little different because of egg laying.
Daytime humidity is a bit high. If you can bring it down to below 50%, that would be perfect. Ideal daytime range is 30-50%.
Daytime temp is a tad high too. I keep my males at no higher than around 85.
Feeding amounts vary by age and gender and with veileds we need to be careful as they get older not to cause obesity. They are opportunistic eaters so we can’t go by the appearance of being hungry or not.
I have each of my males in double wide enclosures (2 XL ReptiBreezes attached together) and they do seem to use and enjoy having all of that space. If you have no other animals such as cats or dogs, you could maybe set up a free range area with plants for your cham to explore a few times a week. Just an idea.
Very happy to have you here and taking such great care of your little beauty. 🥰
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