New to Chams. Help needed please.

Gibboltd · Dec 8, 2013

Hi all, I have a male Veiled Chameleon called Ringo who I'm lead to believe should be about 4 months old. I got him 7 weeks ago and originally had a much smaller exo terra vivarium for him but yesterday the heat mat stopped working and so did one of the bulbs. So I took the viv back to petsathome and they didn't have a replacement for me in stock, bare in mind this all happened half an hour before they shut, so it was a mad rush to find him a new home. I had already been on these forums reading about chameleons and how to correctly care for them. I already had doubts over the exo terra viv after reading comments on here and in one of the posts I seen someone mention a place called 'Viper and Vine' in Manchester, so I rang them and explained the situation and they stayed open for me until I got there. Got him a new set up now and it's so much different compared to his old one, not just in size. My cham means the world to me and I just want to make sure he will be ok in his new home, so any help/advice from you lovely people would be much appreciated. I'll insert pictures of his old/new cage. (Sorry if this is in the wrong section). I'll post his diet and more information in an hour or so when I get back home. Thanks in advance.

carol5208 · Dec 8, 2013

Hi and welcome to the forums. There are a few things with your cage that need to be changed. First of all, I only see one light. Is that a combo uvb and uva(basking) light? If not, you need one uvb light and on light for basking. Your plants are way too far away for from your light for your chameleon to warm up, unless the wattage on that thing is so high it is warm way down. You should have a sturdy basking branch or vine about 8 inches down below your basking bulb. You need to remove the mulch in the bottom. Your chameleon can injest that intentionally or accidentally and die. I would appreciate you going to the health clinic(click on the green forums tab) and then health clinic, then ask for help and fill out the form. The more details we have the better we can help you help your chameleon. Also on the home page to the right, is a box that says Chameleon Care, Start here. It will tell you everything you need to do to raise a healthy chameleon. Would be a good idea for you to read up on that.

Gibboltd · Dec 8, 2013

carol5208 said:
Hi and welcome to the forums. There are a few things with your cage that need to be changed. First of all, I only see one light. Is that a combo uvb and uva(basking) light? If not, you need one uvb light and on light for basking. Your plants are way too far away for from your light for your chameleon to warm up, unless the wattage on that thing is so high it is warm way down. You should have a sturdy basking branch or vine about 8 inches down below your basking bulb. You need to remove the mulch in the bottom. Your chameleon can injest that intentionally or accidentally and die. I would appreciate you going to the health clinic(click on the green forums tab) and then health clinic, then ask for help and fill out the form. The more details we have the better we can help you help your chameleon. Also on the home page to the right, is a box that says Chameleon Care, Start here. It will tell you everything you need to do to raise a healthy chameleon. Would be a good idea for you to read up on that.

Hi and thank you for you reply. Yes the bulb is uvb/uva it's the exo terra solar glo 125w I was told it'd be enough for heat and basking. I appreciate what you say about the plants being far away from the light but the cage is far from cold and the heat is quite intense from that light so I didn't quite want the chameleon getting too close since the whole cage is quite warm and was worried he could over heat, so I will rectify that if the bulb isn't enough. I've read the care sheet you are talking about and a lot of other chameleon care sheets too and in general I'm confident with raising him - until this new cage came a long. With his old cage I removed all the substrate from the bottom but was told yesterday that this style of cage needs it, so I will be taking that out today too. The cage came with a 'zoo med little dripper', I've been using for around 1 hour a day and place above the cage. I mist the cage roughly 4 times a day as and when it's needed. It's not so much his diet I need help with. I'm just worried about this big open cage since his old one had a mesh roof and glass sides. Sorry, I'm not the best at explaining stuff, especially over the internet. Is he too young to be in such a big cage? Will he get lost? Will he fall and hurt himself? Will he get too cold at night? Those are my main concerns. My house is roughly 20c in the day and 14c at night, so he should be OK with light off at night time. I had the staff at vine and viper put together everything he 'should' need but with most pet shops around here, I'm not sure the staff actually know what they are talking about or just sound like they do. I just need to know that he has everything he needs to be happy and healthy. Thank you and sorry for this big messy reply.

sandrachameleon · Dec 8, 2013

carol5208 · Dec 8, 2013

So 14c is 57f so yes that temp is OK. No heat needed at night. It is on the cool side but OK. What is your temp under that light? Problem with those combos is, if they do not want to bask, then they get no uvb. Getting a tube style uvb will cover way more area and also brighten up your cage. I am with Sandra and prefer seperate bulbs for basking and uvb.

Gibboltd · Dec 8, 2013

Thank you sandra, I can certainly put a live plant in and add more branches. I plan to replace the bulb in roughly 5-6 months so getting separate bulbs is definitely something I'll look into. The links you provided will make for some fun reading

.

Gibboltd · Dec 8, 2013

That's the information on the bulb and temperatures. I will 100% go for separate bulbs next time then. Really appreciate the help. I'm such a worrier.

ridgebax1 · Dec 8, 2013

I think the dripper going for one hour is not enough. I have mine set up so it goes the whole time the lights are on. I have a clamp on the tubing so I can shut it off at night (sometimes I forget though

). You may also want to consider getting an automated misting system. If you do stay away from the monsoon, it is crap; it works for a while then eithe stops or just goes off when it wants too!) I have attached some pictures on how I set up the dripper. I have access to IV tubing (I'm a nurse), but you can get it on amazon! The other tubing is regular 1/4 inch tubing and I got the connectors on amazon. They are for plant irrigation. They are way cheaper than the connectors they sell specifically for the mist systems.

New to Chams. Help needed please.

Gibboltd

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carol5208

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Gibboltd

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sandrachameleon

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carol5208

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Gibboltd

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Gibboltd

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ridgebax1

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