New mom, LOTS of questions

tommytwotoe

New Member
Hello,
We just got our new baby veiled chameleon today and while the breeder gave us some info, we still need alot of help!!

What are the best temps? He can't get real close to his light bulb, we don't want him to get burnt, should he be able to get closer? What should his night temps be?

Humidity, the breeder said to mist him three times a day and he won't need anything else because he's not a "tropical" species of veiled. I'll call him tomorrow and find out exactly what breed it is.

Food, we're feeding him gut loaded and calcium dusted pin head crickets currently (Tommy is vvveeerrryyy tiny). Would we be able to feed him Phoenix worms? We have them for our beardie and he loves them, I thought maybe Tommy would like them also.

We have a uvb bulb, we're working on making it to where he can get closer to it. We have a vine in his tank that he seems to like pretty well, we'll probably get something else to put in there too.

Any help, suggestions, advice or whatever will be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!
 
Hello,
What are the best temps?
What should his night temps be?

...he's not a "tropical" species of veiled.

Food,...Would we be able to feed him Phoenix worms?

We have a uvb bulb, we're working on making it to where he can get closer to it.

We have a vine in his tank that he seems to like pretty well, we'll probably get something else to put in there too...
Thanks!
Howdy,

I'll toss-in a few quick notes and let others fill-in more...

Basking ~90F with gradients down to 70F at the bottom.
Nighttime - no added heat if the room temp is about 60F.

Consider a Veiled, any Veiled, at least a sub-tropical species who will thrive when given access to water through lots of misting; maybe twice a day for 20 minutes.

Phoenix worms are ok.

If your UVB is not somewhere between a rating of 5.0 and a 10.0 and less than 6 months old then replace it with a Zoomed ReptiSun 5.0 tube. Place it where he can get within 6" to 12" from it. NO plastic or glass between the tube's surface and your critter!

Add live plants like ficus or umbrella etc.

A few more sources of info just in case you haven't seen them:

http://www.chameleonnews.com/ especially http://www.chameleonnews.com/ref.html

http://www.chameleonsdish.com/

http://www.adcham.com/
 
Consider a Veiled, any Veiled, at least a sub-tropical species who will thrive when given access to water through lots of misting; maybe twice a day for 20 minutes.

If your UVB is not somewhere between a rating of 5.0 and a 10.0 and less than 6 months old then replace it with a Zoomed ReptiSun 5.0 tube. Place it where he can get within 6" to 12" from it. NO plastic or glass between the tube's surface and your critter!

Twice a day for 20 minutes! We just use a spray bottle filled with water and squirt the plant, a vine, we have hanging in his cage. We get it pretty damp, but that's it. Do we need to really drench the plant?

The uvb is outside a screen top, could we put it inside his cage? I'd be afraid he'd get stuck behind the bulb or something.

Thanks
 
I would not keep him in a tank, I would get a screen cage-Reptarium makes a 22 gallon that is a good size for babies. My 3 month old is in a 38 and it works out very well. Get a good thermometer. Tanks heat up very, very fast and babies will cook themselves. Do not put any lights into the cage as they will get burned.
 
Thanks Will, true enough. In my inexperience with Chameleons I believe I had a part in the death of my first veiled, less than 1 month old (the remainder of the part), by keeping him in an aquarium that was far too hot. A very good thermometer can save a life. Sometimes I forget my Indiana heritage and the great humidity that we Floridians have.
 
cant you tell when they are too hot though? Naturally, if they have their mouth open, they are thermoregulating, and thus attempting to cool off. So if your cham is moving around and sometimes has its mouth open, and other times has it closed, shouldn't this be a good indicator that your cham is comforterable?

I havent had chams long at all, but this is the case for m bearded dragons, they seem to be very happy!
 
You still need a thermometer or two.
Besides, babies are notoriously bad at thermoregulating...don't depend on them to do what's right.
They need a specific safe range of temp that we control and moniter.

-Brad
 
I was also wondering how many hours of light and how many without? Since he's so tiny, how many and how often do we feed him pinhead crickets? How long should we let him destress before trying to pick him up?

Thanks for everyones help.
 
Twice a day for 20 minutes! We just use a spray bottle filled with water and squirt the plant, a vine, we have hanging in his cage. We get it pretty damp, but that's it. Do we need to really drench the plant?

The uvb is outside a screen top, could we put it inside his cage? I'd be afraid he'd get stuck behind the bulb or something.

Thanks
Howdy,
The basic idea is to give him access to a source of water that he wants to drink. Sometimes a dripper will work but many times it takes getting him wet, as if it is raining, to trigger his drinking response. Remember, he's wired to think of rainy/drippy/leaf-puddling water as his best source.

If the UVB lamp is on top of a screen, it is usually ok.
 
10 to 12 hours of light a day.
No heat source at night...total darkness and drop in temp required.
Let him eat as much as he wants right now, remove crickets at night.
I would hold the animal as little as possible.

-Brad
 
Howdy,
The basic idea is to give him access to a source of water that he wants to drink. Sometimes a dripper will work but many times it takes getting him wet, as if it is raining, to trigger his drinking response. Remember, he's wired to think of rainy/drippy/leaf-puddling water as his best source.

If the UVB lamp is on top of a screen, it is usually ok.


So if im using a pump then i should be spraying for a long long time!? like up to 20 mins!?!? sounds crazy, but if its what i have to do to keep her happy and healthy, i'll be damned if i dont do it! Here you go Annie! LOTS OF MIST!!! i like to spray her through the mesh because then you get an extra fine mist!!!

When spraying by hand, what is the recommended duration for a spray session?
 
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Use one of these two types of misters to get a sustained mist flow and not have to hand pump.

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i also suppose the propose is to get her wet too? i have heard that others try and avoid this because they think it stresses them out. What are the opinions on this matter?
 
They may not like it for the first bit, but its supposed to simulate rain, and rain is what stimulates them to drink. Use warm water and many seems to react as though it's refreashing after they become accustomed to it.
 
As long as it takes them to drink, and as long as they will drink. Which for most keepers is usually about a 10 minute period or so, a few times daily. Many keepers cant do that without a misting system, nor a drainage system, so, basically as long as you can.

Many of these keepers use showers to give a simulated heavy downpour.

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