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garcraw4

garcraw4

New Member
My name is Garrett, i'm new to the site and owning a chameleon. I ordered my Veiled Chameleon last night so should be geting it today. I do have quite a few reptiles but not a Chameleon. I have, 2 sulcata tortoises, snapping turtle, box turtle, 2 anoles, skinks of different kinds and crickets! I've done a lot of reading on Chameleons and decided to get a boy. If anyone has any advice for me, please inform me of ANYTHING at all. I will make sure to post a picture of my baby once i get it!
 
Hi Garret and welcome to the forums!:D I am also fairy new to Cham keeping but you will find lots of information here along with great people with many years of experience.:) If you go to the "How to ask for help" section you will find a questionaire, fill it out, and post it here. It'll give us an idea of what supplies you have and you will be able to get some help. :D
 
Welcome Garrett to the most useful website on chameleon care. To start, check out this blog and then complete your set up and fill in the info below. This will give you a good place to start with raising a healthy cham.

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/


Chameleon Info:
•Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
•Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
•Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
•Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
•Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
•Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
•History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
•Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
•Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
•Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
•Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
•Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
•Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
•Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.


Pictures are helpful
 
Welcome to the forums Garrett! My last is Crawford and my husband's name is gary! When I saw garcraw your name caught my eye! Be sure and post some picture of your new friend and don't be shy about asking questions! You have come to the right place!!!
 
thank you guys for all your help! i'll make sure i do all of that very soon. Thanks again! I really think it'll be very useful with the help from you guys along the way. I wasn't able to get him yet and may not until Saturday:( but i'll make sure to post when i get him. i'll post some of my other animals! i'm not really sure hom to do it but i'll figure it out and do that now!
 
just click on post rely and then click on the little paper clip above and down load. If that doesn't work, you can download on photobucket.com. (for free) that is what I use cause my pictures are always too big and I cannot download on here
 
carol5208 said:
just click on post rely and then click on the little paper clip above and down load. If that doesn't work, you can download on photobucket.com. (for free) that is what I use cause my pictures are always too big and I cannot download on here
Click to expand...

If you go to Paint and open your pictures through there, you can re-size them. I do that so that they don't take up so much space and also so that when I upload them somewhere they aren't so huge.:)
 
I love tortoises! I had a Bells Hingeback Tortoise for about 7 yrs and he escaped under my fence and then into my neighbors yard and he was killed by their pit bull. It was a very sad day for me. :(
 
yeah i love tortoises as well. The picture of the two are Sulcata tortoises. The dark one is Leo and the light one is Petey. The first picture is my one eyed box turtle named Popeye who i got at a rescue place because i'm "turtle man" around here. The other one is my snapping turtle named killa who is actually very sweet. Everybody else is sleeping and hiding. I'm excited about my new chameleon! I ordered him from LLL Reptile out of Cali and i'm in NC. I ordered my tortoises from them and they did a very good job of communicating with me so i thought i'd do it again! i ordered a cage and all that as well so they are sending the cage first and then sending the chameleon. I should get the cage friday and then the cham saturday!
 
 
Welcome don't get your hopes up to much on getting your baby on sat. I don't think they ship on friday's if they ship him it would be when the temps are above 25 and we both now it's been 18-23 at night her right now. I know i have been waiting on an order of chameleons and geckos for a week and a half because of the temps.
 
very true, i haven't thought about that. they said they would ship with heat packs and it wouldnt be to much of an issue so im not 100% yet. i really hope i am able to get it or i won't be very happy. it's good to see a fellow north Carolinian! what part do you live, if you don't mind me asking?
 
haha, i have no idea where that is but i live in Hillsborough, between chapel hill and durham i i'm going to call LL L Reptile friday to make sure they will ship friday and i'll let you know.
 
Here's some information you might like to read.....
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it.

If you dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. (Some UVB lights have been known to cause health issues, so the most often recommended one is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light.) D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it.

Dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while.

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs....so its important too. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
 
garcraw4 said:
haha, i have no idea where that is but i live in Hillsborough, between chapel hill and durham i i'm going to call LL L Reptile friday to make sure they will ship friday and i'll let you know.
Click to expand...

Carolina is beautiful, I lived in Apex for about 3 yrs and loved Carolina Beach.
 
I love it here, it is always a very pretty place and it has the mountains, piedmont, and beach so it's got it all! Apex isn't to far from where i'm at, at all.
 
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