New owner have some questions..

Sancho

Sancho

New Member
First off I must say I love chameleons and never had the chance to own one but now I own two! I bought 2 veiled chameleons about 5 months ago. And I'm totally in love with them. Now for the questions..

1.) Food? I've been feeding them (crickets and mealworms) every month I give them some wax worms but they don't seem to like it. Anything else these guys might enjoy?

2.) Sex? I've read that you have to look behind their legs to see but can be hard to tell what sex they are. I bought them at the same time and one has doubled in size and the other is the same size.

3.) Plants? Right now I just have a fake plant that I got from Petco and they love it. Also have some fake vines. But lately I've noticed the smaller one wanting to get to my prosperity plant that I have outside their cage. What live plants could I put in there for them to enjoy?

4.) Handling? When I bought them from petco the guy said not to handle them for awhile. But it's so hard not wanting to hold them or let them out the cage. My question is when is a good time to handle them? Also the smaller one likes to puff up and hiss when you get near it the bigger one just sits there sometimes he plays shy.

5.) Water? I have a dropper water system but I spray them with a water bottle too. My question is spray them direct or just the inside of the cage? the smaller one loves it when I spray them and runs to the top as close as it can get the other one hides.

6.) Soil? I've been using "Zoo Med Eco Earth Compressed Coconut Fiber Expandable Substrate" which petco said to use. Is this the only thing?

Thanks for your time below is a picture of my two babies (sorry it's a cell picture) Kissing in their sleep!
 
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I would say ditch the mealworms... not a very nutritious feeder... better to change those out with gutloaded supers...silkworms are also a great staple. I recommend reading up as much as you can about the basics, and then come to us to fill in the holes. Research is vital. There are so many threads on here that have good info on what you are looking for. Brad's site is a great place to start.

Good Luck...

_Joe
 
You got a lot of adjusting to do!! You had them for 5 months?? It appears they are both females to me. First you have to seperate them. Screen cage is the best for chameleons except for the pygmy chams they do well in aquarium tank.

For plants, ficus and pothos.

Just do a search on the forum for housing a veiled chameleon. There will be a lot of information for you.

I recommend to order the cages from lllreptile.com

I would get the 18x18x36 but the bigger the better for your juv-adult cham.
 
PantherVeileD said:
You got a lot of adjusting to do!! You had them for 5 months?? It appears they are both females to me. First you have to seperate them. Screen cage is the best for chameleons except for the pygmy chams they do well in aquarium tank.

For plants, ficus and pothos.

Just do a search on the forum for housing a veiled chameleon. There will be a lot of information for you.

I recommend to order the cages from lllreptile.com

I would get the 18x18x36 but the bigger the better for your juv-adult cham.
Click to expand...


Dang I was reading all before I bought them. Seperate them? Reason?
 
First of all let me say, "It's not your fault!" Petstores, esp. big box chains SUCK at getting people set up in cham keeping. You need to get 2 of those nicely on sale cages from LLLReptile and set those little girls up right. If you do have a boy, on the back of his heels there will be a noticeable bump. Now-why do I say 2 cages? If they were the same size when you got them and now are that vastly different, one is dominant and is getting more food and/or intimidating/stressing the smaller one. They will be much happier apart. That glass cage is 1. A recipe for upper respiratory infection, and 2. Way too small for one let alone 2 chams. You need live plants, they are telling you so. Ficus, Pothos, and Schefflera are the greatest cham plants. What are you using for UVB lighting-absolutely needed. Basking temps, cage temps? Now-the article that was quoted above is most exellent at describing all other needs.
 
I wanted to say that jannb. Didn't want to be the first meanie. HAHA jk! Yeah I was shocked that he had them for 5 months together. Probably because they are both females? I don't know...I'm guessing they are over 8 months old now.
 
WOW after reading all your post I'm really feel stupid about all this. I'm so upset with PETCO right now it's not even funny.

Below is another picture of the babies. Input?


EDIT ATTACHMENT IS REALLY SMALL HERE IS THE BIGGER PICTURE.. The bigger one is on the ground near the green bowl..

11bv9.gif
 
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don't feel stupid, items such as chameleons is an animal that petco and petsmart shouldn't carry with average people being there care givers.


don't get me wrong im still new to chameleon but a quick google search should be able to fill you in almost 50x better then the average petco. im glad i live so close to a reliable petstore that have like PHD's in herpotology.
 
tbs-do your chams there have UVB lighting and are you supplementing with calcium?-I am afraid that it looks like due to the small size they may have a bone disease.
 
Julirs said:
tbs-do your chams there have UVB lighting and are you supplementing with calcium?-I am afraid that it looks like due to the small size they may have a bone disease.
Click to expand...

I have a heat pad at the bottom and a ceramic light at the top. (was all I was told I needed) I will be making a trip out to LLLreptiles this weekend since they are about 30 Minutes from me. I put REPTOCAL on their crickets before feeding them.

I will be picking up the following..

UVB light
New Screen Cage
 
petco ruins another day how many times do i have to say on here to boycot large corp pet stores the should only sell dog and cat food and ok reptile supplies but until they stop selling reptiles period if its a anole or a panther yes ive seen panthers in there this is ridiculous filling newbies heads with all the wrong info wonder where they get it do they make it up as they go along im goin to bed disgosted once again by these places good nite every one
 
tbs350z said:
I have a heat pad at the bottom and a ceramic light at the top. (was all I was told I needed) I will be making a trip out to LLLreptiles this weekend since they are about 30 Minutes from me. I put REPTOCAL on their crickets before feeding them.

I will be picking up the following..

UVB light
New Screen Cage
Click to expand...

I am so glad that you found the forum and are ready and willing to help make your chams a better home! If you go to my website there is a list off of LLL Reptile that you can print and take with you-it has exactly what you need. For now turn off the heat pad and ceramic light. They need to cool down at night.
 
Julirs said:
I am so glad that you found the forum and are ready and willing to help make your chams a better home! If you go to my website there is a list off of LLL Reptile that you can print and take with you-it has exactly what you need. For now turn off the heat pad and ceramic light. They need to cool down at night.
Click to expand...

Thanks I will be printing all that. I find it weird you can't have 2 in one cage. :(
 
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