New to chameleons. Our first set up.

[Fla_tony]

So as the title says, my fiance,I and my 4 year old daughter have gotten a chameleon. It was an early Christmas present from me to them since my fiance has wanted one her whole life and after my daughter saw tangled she was hooked.

Background on me, I have had saltwater reef tanks for the last 10 years or so. Currently I have a 90 gallon mixed reef. I've owned a few lizards and turtles over the years but never seriously got into reptiles. I know how to have good husbandry and the work involved with such animals. My reef tank is an everyday task. So I'm fully up to the task for chameleon keeping.

We started with:
Exoterra 16x16x30 screen enclosure
Dual tropical uvb and heat lamp
Reptisun 5.0uvb bulb
60w daylight blue bulb
Some artificial vines and plant
Multiple natrual branches (baked for 30min and cleaned)
Umbrella tree re-potted with organic potting soil, topped with eco earth coconut fiber substrate, covered with river rock.
Monsoon rs-400 misting system
Humidity gauge
Digital temp gauge
Custom cricket enclosure with 1000 3/4 inch crickets

Everything has been setup and running and Sunday we went to a local reptile expo and purchased our first vieled chameleon, "Pascal". He ate about 6 dusted crickets today and has exhibited great colors and attitude. The crickets are feed oats, fresh fruits and veggies changed out everyday. The mister is set to go off every 4 hours for 30 seconds and stop for 12 hours overnight. Lamps are on for 13 hours 7am to 8pm. Just looking for any advise or problems you experts can see with what we have set-up for our new chameleon.

When he was coming out of the container he was transported in, he walked up my arm before I could even get the container open all the way to move him to the enclosure. Today is his second day and when my fiance reached her hand in the enclosure he walked right up on her hand from the screen door he was hanging on and his colors lit up.

Thanks for reading.

A recent picture of my reef.

 

[Theveiled]

I would just add some thicker branches at the top for basking and maybe some more folliage. He looks good though! Did you get him at raleigh repticon? Just wondering

 

[Peachypink]

Welcome! Super cute! You've come to the right place.

Like @Theveiled suggested I would add more branches to the upper area. I would take the branches you already have in there and just make them horizontal at different heights rather than vertical. You can easily do that with some thumb tacks pushed into the ends from the outside to help them in place. Be careful when attaching things to the top because he could climb too close to the light and get burned. They don't feel it until it's too late.

Also, I would add at least one 3-5 minute misting session and up a couple of those 30 second ones to 1 minute. a longer misting session gives them time to clean out their eyes and stimulate them to start drinking.

Adding a little variety into their diet is also good when you are able. I keep dubia instead of crickets as my staple and include super worms, horn worms, black soldier flies and silk worms.

 

[Replife]

Welcome to are cham family...I use the same mister for my vailed I mist for 2mins every 2 hours or so most ppl mist a few mins longer but I believe that 2 mins several times a day is plenty for a vailed also you might want to add some black plastic bags or any plastic to the outside of the back and left side of your enclosure to hold in some humidity but vaileds don't need much humidity unless they are shedding

 

[Remkon]

HI and welcome!

Make sure he has a good, more or less horizontal basking spot under the uvb and heat lamp, distance to UVB lamp usually is around 8" - 12" (this differs from brand to brand and type of lamp) .

Nice looking salt water tank too! I wanted one but gave up on aquariums altogether because of that watery mess... Now I have chameleons and I have to move around even more water than with the aquarium...

 

[Fla_tony]

Thanks you for the great advise everyone! We will move some of the branches horizontally and turn up the misting.

I would just add some thicker branches at the top for basking and maybe some more folliage. He looks good though! Did you get him at raleigh repticon? Just wondering

We got him at a small local expo in Estero, Fl.

Welcome! Super cute! You've come to the right place.

Like @Theveiled suggested I would add more branches to the upper area. I would take the branches you already have in there and just make them horizontal at different heights rather than vertical. You can easily do that with some thumb tacks pushed into the ends from the outside to help them in place. Be careful when attaching things to the top because he could climb too close to the light and get burned. They don't feel it until it's too late.

Also, I would add at least one 3-5 minute misting session and up a couple of those 30 second ones to 1 minute. a longer misting session gives them time to clean out their eyes and stimulate them to start drinking.

Adding a little variety into their diet is also good when you are able. I keep dubia instead of crickets as my staple and include super worms, horn worms, black soldier flies and silk worms.

Thanks! I was planning on adding a variety to his diet as the most common food seemed to be crickets buying in bulk was much cheaper and keeping them alive and healthy isnt too much work. How often should I change it up for him? Or include the worms ect in his daily diet?

Welcome to are cham family...I use the same mister for my vailed I mist for 2mins every 2 hours or so most ppl mist a few mins longer but I believe that 2 mins several times a day is plenty for a vailed also you might want to add some black plastic bags or any plastic to the outside of the back and left side of your enclosure to hold in some humidity but vaileds don't need much humidity unless they are shedding

I was thinking about using the plastic aquarium backround for that purpose. the humidity usually hangs around 35 when the mister goes off it goes up to 55-60.

HI and welcome!

Make sure he has a good, more or less horizontal basking spot under the uvb and heat lamp, distance to UVB lamp usually is around 8" - 12" (this differs from brand to brand and type of lamp) .

Nice looking salt water tank too! I wanted one but gave up on aquariums altogether because of that watery mess... Now I have chameleons and I have to move around even more water than with the aquarium...

Thank you! there are some vines that are hard to see, that run horizontally at the top which seems to be where he likes to bask. He usually sits about 6-8 inches below the lamps. I plan on moving some of the branches horizontally tomorrow when I'm off work to accommodate him better. I also plan on adding some more foliage as well.

I love my reef tank and yes they are definitely a watery mess. I have gotten my maintenance down pretty good and have a lot of automation to help with the ease of care. This tank is still relatively young at 4 months old. It was an upgrade from a 30 gallon lagoon. So it still has a lot of growing to do.

Again thank you everyone for the help and look forward to sharing his progress with you all and look forward to the advise and help along the way!

 

[Fla_tony]

Got some of the branches moved! More horizontal now. I have also turned up the misting to 2 minutes every 2 hours and off from 7pm to 7am. The humidity has gone from 35-45 before misting to 65 before misting. The temp is 82 just below his basking site. I'm hoping all this is keeping the little guy happy.

 

[rminnis]

As a couple have said he will feel much more comfortable if you put more greenery up near the top for him to stay hidden and climb around in. Good start though!

 

[Fla_tony]

Yea more foliage is next on the list! He has been very mobile today. Climbing all over the enclosure.

How many crickets and how often should I be feeding? He ate about 5 crickets this morning and I was planning an afternoon meal as well.

 

[Replife]

As many as he wants

 

[Fla_tony]

So cyber Monday brought an order of 2 new 24x24x48 reptibreeze enclosures from petco. Killer deal on them. Purchased 2 for $40 less than the original price of one. What should I look into for lighting for these bigger enclosures? will I need more heat or more uvb? Appreciate the help everyone!

 

[Replife]

R u going to turn them into one huge enclosure?

 

[Fla_tony]

Planning on keeping them separate. It seems my fiance and daughter may want another species cham. I'm preparing for that. lol

 

[Replife]

Lol I understand that so there are a few light options on lightYourReptile.com made just for 24×24×48 you should check them out

 

[medgecko]

If you place them next to each other (w/a partition to block the view), you could get a 4' fixture/bulb to reduce expenditure.

 

[Fla_tony]

So I got one of the new enclosures set up overy the weekend. I need to add more foliage for sure, i will do that over the next weekend. Planning on getting a larger umbrella for the bottom and moving the smaller one possibly up into the branches somewhere. I will also probably pick up some artificial plants as wellong to fill in. I plan to add a dripper this coming weekend as well. I have not upgraded the lighting yet. I added a pothos to the top left corner which he immediately retreated to when being pit in for the first time. I'm happy with the outcome and look forward to filling it in. Any advice is always appreciated. Thanks everyone!

 

[Peachypink]

So I got one of the new enclosures set up overy the weekend. I need to add more foliage for sure, i will do that over the next weekend. Planning on getting a larger umbrella for the bottom and moving the smaller one possibly up into the branches somewhere. I will also probably pick up some artificial plants as wellong to fill in. I plan to add a dripper this coming weekend as well. I have not upgraded the lighting yet. I added a pothos to the top left corner which he immediately retreated to when being pit in for the first time. I'm happy with the outcome and look forward to filling it in. Any advice is always appreciated. Thanks everyone!

It could just be the angle, but that top branch looks awful close to the light.

And I would definitely check out Light your Reptiles and get a good florescent hood. A double or a quad with plant tubes are great. I have a quad waiting to be put on my new dragon strand cage when it gets here. And like someone else suggested, you could go wit a 4 foot double or quad fixture and just put the cages next to each other and use it across both. Just making sure to put a solid divider between the two to block visual.

 

[Fla_tony]

The top branch is about 6" from the light. the basking temp at the closest point is 97 degrees. I will try to lower it a few inches. Lighting upgrade is definitely next. Unfortunately the cages will not be next to each other so I will need 2 separate fixtures.

 

[guanagator]

Go with linear fluorescents for your UVB the coil bulbs can cause eye issues. Enclosures look good and what luck you had getting a friendly veiled! What other species are you considering? You may also want to look into an outdoor set up for them, natural sun does wonders for chameleons. I'm in Florida too and we are lucky in that respect our chameleons can get plenty of natural sunlight almost year round depending on species.

 

[Fla_tony]

He can be a handful to get out of the enclosure sometimes. He is not fond of being handled, once he is out he will tolerate it and climb to the top of your head. He does like to explore. Whenever he is in his umbrella tree on the table during cleaning he manages to get down and explore the house. I don't know if friendly is the best description. lol. As for the other species, she has been fond of Panthers. We haven't made a solid decision yet. I need to set up the deck d enclosure and get light for that one as well. Thank you for all the great advice