New owner. Cage pics and tips appreciated

[bgwilly31]

Hi everyone.

Well i just picked up a 2 month veiled chameleon not sure if male or female yet.

But its for me and my son he loves the movie tangled.

Anyhow heres a couple pics. I got a monsoon rain system and UV lights and heat lamp. I get some stats when i get home tonight on temps and such. But Helpful tips would be appreciated. Excited to get him out of his shyness stage. but hes used to being handled. So i dont think hes that bad. The pet store told me to take him out of his cage and put him a box with a couple crickets for feeding time. I picked him sunday afternoon and ive done this twice a day since but hes still not eaten. Which i just read here they may not eat for up to a week. But he did pee on me so im assuming hes drinking.

 

[bgwilly31]

oh and ps the pet store told me (Jacks pets) to only feed crickets no meal worms because they can clog up his digestive system. And gave me a calcium dust to cover crickets in around once a week.

 

[leedragon]

oh and ps the pet store told me (Jacks pets) to only feed crickets no meal worms because they can clog up his digestive system. And gave me a calcium dust to cover crickets in around once a week.

dude that´s no a terrarium thats a aquarium, my school is chameleons shouldn´t have anyting at the bottom of the terarrium, no water eaither because of the bacteria and other stuff ( i lost my jacksonii that way) and a good ventilation, veiled what I know get problems with the breathing system beacuse of too much moisture

 

[Psychobunny]

Hi, welcome 2 the forum.
Congrats on your new little cham, unfortunatly, you are doing almost everything wrong!

First, please get him out of that aquarium and into a screen terrarium, a small Reptibreeze will be fine for now.

Second, your little guy is way too thin! You need to be giving him several food items very lightly dusted with the calcium w/o D3 EVERY DAY, calcium WITH D3 once a week, and a powder multivitamin once every 2 or 3 weeks.

You need to GUT LOAD your cricks with fresh veggies and fruit, no water needed as the will only drown (they are extremly stupid!!) and get their moisture from the veggies anyway.

Also, you need to give him/her a VERIETY of different feeders; silkworms, cricks, roaches, hornworms, flies, phoenix worms, etc.

 

[bgwilly31]

kk ill make some modifications. ditch the water

 

[bgwilly31]

ill pick up the vitamin stuff as well. Thanks. for the info. But he's not eating right now. Like i said got him about 3 days ago. Ive tried once in the am. and pm. I put him in a box with a few crickets and he just sits there. Pays no attention to them. I do stick them in the cage with him. But ive never seen him eat.

 

[Psychobunny]

ill pick up the vitamin stuff as well. Thanks. for the info. But he's not eating right now. Like i said got him about 3 days ago. Ive tried once in the am. and pm. I put him in a box with a few crickets and he just sits there. Pays no attention to them. I do stick them in the cage with him. But ive never seen him eat.

You cant feed your new cham that way.
Get him in a well ventilated screen cage first thing, then put enough vines and leaves in there so he can hide and feel secure, then just completly leave him alone for a day or 2.
He will not come near you until you have earned his trust.
Just turn the dusted cricks loose in his cage and let him hunt them.
Dont use adult cricks, esp Jamican field cricks because the can harm a little cham.
It will likely be several days/weeks before he will actually eat from your hand.

P.S. dont worry about seeing him eat, just look for poop every day/other day. If it's normal, he is eating.

 

[trumpetmonkey]

I've got a bunch of baby veileds right now and one of them is about the size of your little one. I've been offering a number of different types of foods to spark interest.

Also, in the wild they tend to eat throughout the day and at different levels will find different bugs. I suggest letting them free feed in their enclosure. Your little one will find the food and eat when ready.

Good luck! They're a ton of fun.

 

[bgwilly31]

so what do you guys say about the pet store telling me only crickets and meal worms are bad for him?

maybe he just dont feel like crickets....should i try a different food?

 

[deadhd5]

so what do you guys say about the pet store telling me only crickets and meal worms are bad for him?

maybe he just dont feel like crickets....should i try a different food?

Congrats on your new Cham.

They are right about mealworms, they cause impaction. Gut loaded, calcium dusted crickets are a good staple, but variety is key. Silkworms and blue bottle flies are the two healthy bugs that all 3 of my chams quickly gobble up. Superworms and wax worms are like candy, not too good for them, but they will eat them up quickly. Phoenix worm and butterworms are both very healthy but it is hit or miss if the cham will like them.

Good luck!

 

[deadhd5]

I was in the same situation as you when I got my first chameleon... I spent quite a bit of cash and a lot of effort setting up an incorrect enclosure based on bad advice from a petstore (mine was actually at a reptile show).

It is very frustrating to find out that a bunch of changes need to be made after all that effort (your aquarium looks really good aesthetically), but some good advice has been given so far.

My saving grace was the search tool located in the green command bar. Anything you want to know has been asked and answered... You can get immediate answers to your question without having to wait.

Good luck!

 

[bwert435]

if you have a little bit of capentry skills you can always build your own enclosure. I made mine for under $100 and its bigger than most commercial brands for the same price

 

[Decadancin]

I will be honest with you, I an worried that if your new "guy" (I think from the first photo) doesn't eat soon he will start trying to eat the sphagnum moss. My boy did this and nearly couldn't pass it! You have gotten some great advice so far. I started with a 29 gallon aquarium as well, and quickly learned that it was a bad idea. It was difficult to regulate temperature, humidity, air quality, and many other aspects of the environment. I would also suggest a different type of enclosure soon! This could prevent a costly vet visit, (respiratory issues, bacterial infections, etc.) or worse! As for eating, you could try cup feeding. I did this using a plastic glad container and it worked very well! You can tell if he is eating because there will be no crickets left. Some may jump out, but he will get 'em! Taking him out a few times a day to feed in a box will never work. This will only scare the poop out of him! Best of luck with your new guy (?) and let us know if you have any concerns.

 

[deadhd5]

I will be honest with you, I an worried that if your new "guy" (I think from the first photo) doesn't eat soon he will start trying to eat the sphagnum moss. My boy did this and nearly couldn't pass it! You have gotten some great advice so far. I started with a 29 gallon aquarium as well, and quickly learned that it was a bad idea. It was difficult to regulate temperature, humidity, air quality, and many other aspects of the environment. I would also suggest a different type of enclosure soon! This could prevent a costly vet visit, (respiratory issues, bacterial infections, etc.) or worse! As for eating, you could try cup feeding. I did this using a plastic glad container and it worked very well! You can tell if he is eating because there will be no crickets left. Some may jump out, but he will get 'em! Taking him out a few times a day to feed in a box will never work. This will only scare the poop out of him! Best of luck with your new guy (?) and let us know if you have any concerns.

I'd also be worried about him snagging some of that blue fish gravel along with a bug. That would be extremely difficult if not impossible for him to pass.

 

[Rango183]

ur new cham seems to look like a male congrats ,screen cage lots of vines plants etc,5.0 uvb uva light reg house bulb you need to pur chase two more calcium and make a dripping system and also you need to get where the water is going to go you can put a bucket and clean it daily

 

[Rango183]

this enclosure would be grat for pygmy chameleon but it still would need foilage

 

[Ilovechameleons1122]

i got me a veiled chameleon on black friday and hes the same size as yours and same age but hes a male , you can tell by the color and size of the thing on its head , me and my dad like it lots , i feed it mealworms it loves them but i feed him 8 and then wait until he poops and 1 days after he poop too feed him just by a little bowl from a pet store put some meal worms in there and hell eat em right up , ps mine loves handling too good luck with her

 

[Decadancin]

i got me a veiled chameleon on black friday and hes the same size as yours and same age but hes a male , you can tell by the color and size of the thing on its head , me and my dad like it lots , i feed it mealworms it loves them but i feed him 8 and then wait until he poops and 1 days after he poop too feed him just by a little bowl from a pet store put some meal worms in there and hell eat em right up , ps mine loves handling too good luck with her

I would definitely suggest a varied diet. Small crickets are the best for a young one. At that age, they should be eating every day. When they get to be almost a year (depending on size and weight) you can cut back to every other day or so. The easiest way to tell a male is the rear feet. Males will have a small nub on the rear feet and females will not. At an early age, the casque may be small and not the best indicator of sex.

 

[Tez]

Help

I have a veiled female that can't hold her self up and kept falling of branches also when I was sold the pair I was told all the wrong info,I was told that they would live together quite happily together for witch over 2 months was fine but then she fell pregnant and had 39 eggs and ever since then she has deteriorate I e not eating and missing with her tong,I would welcome any advice that any one could give.

Many thanks

 

[Decadancin]

I have a veiled female that can't hold her self up and kept falling of branches also when I was sold the pair I was told all the wrong info,I was told that they would live together quite happily together for witch over 2 months was fine but then she fell pregnant and had 39 eggs and ever since then she has deteriorate I e not eating and missing with her tong,I would welcome any advice that any one could give.

Many thanks

Start a thread in the health section. There is a quick form to fill out to tell us about your husbandry and enclosure that will minimize our questions and let us answer more readily. Initially it sounds like a supplement issue after eggs, but can't be sure.