New to forum and Chameleons

rikki

rikki

New Member
Hi everyone!! I am new to the forum as well as to chameleons. My son got one for his birthday but I will be the one taking care of him. Now as I am very new to them I am sure I will have lots of questions about him so I hope thats ok.

I have attached 2 pics of Casey (my son named him) and I look forward to reading through all the posts.

Casey2.jpg

Casey1.jpg


Rikki
 
Hello and welcome-you are at the perfect place to make sure you get off to a good start. First things first, you are in Michigan, so glass through the winter may not be a terrible thing, but it looks like you have him in a fish tank, which is entirely not a good thing for many reasons including air flow, height, and water drainage. It looks like you have a 7 month or older animal there, which will need an ideal cage size of at least 24x24x48. In the Southern states, well many states, screen cages are the way to go to provide adequate air flow, cage height, and water drainage.
 
Welcome!

Hello & welcome. There is allot involved in properly caring for a Chameleon. Most breeders will set you in the right direction with that care however if you got your guy from a Petstore the chances are you did not get the "proper" information. This is a great place to learn about proper care & husbandry. There are lots of great experienced people here who are willing to help newcomers as we want to ensure all Chams are being cared for properly and kept healthy! So we are happy to see you! If you can please fill out the questions in the following link and post it here... we can go from there making sure you ahve everything "right" for your guy.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

I noticed he is in a glass enclosure... not that this cannot be done but it is typically not recommend as Chams need lots of ventilation and obviously that is not possible in a glass enclosure.

Also many people make the mistake of using subtrate or ground cover in the bottom of the cage, I cannot see that in your picture so let us know about that. If you have subtrate in there I would recommend removing it as it breeds bacteria and Chams can ingest it which may cause a blockage.. not good. But take a moment to fill in the "ask for help" form it is the bast way we can assist you and you guy! :D
 
Next, and hugely important to address would be temperature. That guy will need a basking spot of about 90 degrees usually provided in one corner/side/top of the enclosure. You need a digital thermometer to measure this accurately. Too hot or too low and you will have problems. Chameleon associate white light with basking heat, and basking is how they digest food. You also absolutley need a UVB light-perferably a Zoomed Reptisun 5.0 linear tube (not a compact UVB). This would run the top of the cage. They need this to along with calcium supplementation to prevent MBD-metabolic bone disease. I will also add here that UVB does not pass through glass or plastic, so make sure your fixture has no cover and that the top of your cage is sceen. Since most chameleons will drink off leaves, you need some good plant cover. Live plants are best-Pothos, Schefflera, and Ficus being commonly used. There is plenty of great info here on gutloading your insects and supplementation.
 
Agreed!

Julirs said:
Next, and hugely important to address would be temperature. That guy will need a basking spot of about 90 degrees usually provided in one corner/side/top of the enclosure. You need a digital thermometer to measure this accurately. Too hot or too low and you will have problems. Chameleon associate white light with basking heat, and basking is how they digest food. You also absolutley need a UVB light-perferably a Zoomed Reptisun 5.0 linear tube (not a compact UVB). This would run the top of the cage. They need this to along with calcium supplementation to prevent MBD-metabolic bone disease. I will also add here that UVB does not pass through glass or plastic, so make sure your fixture has no cover and that the top of your cage is sceen. Since most chameleons will drink off leaves, you need some good plant cover. Live plants are best-Pothos, Schefflera, and Ficus being commonly used. There is plenty of great info here on gutloading your insects and supplementation.
Click to expand...

Agree here! This is why if you can fill out the form we can see what you have right and tell you what may need adjusted so that you can have a healthy Chameleon. ;)
 
Here's some information that I often post for newbies...
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.

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.

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/

Sorry this is to long...but hope it helps.
 
Last edited:
 
Thanks for the info. I do have him in a glass enclosure however I was told this was acceptable, now that I seen it is not I will have to wait a while until I canm afford a cage one. I had already bought and set this up.

I have some Dahlia plants in there with him along with some fake ones and branches. There is nothing on the bottom of the cage, I took it out. I do have a UVB light on there as well as his basking place. It is set at 92 degrees there and the tank is 80 degrees.

I do have a question though. What should the humidity be??
 
I do not think you need to be too concerned with humidity in that glass cage -except for it being too humid with too low airflow. I am not sure Dahlia is an approved plant-possibly poisonous so you may want to remove. Part of the tank needs to be in the low to mid 70's.
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, around 6 months(I was told), 2 days
Handling - I have not yet besides to put him in the cage.
Feeding - Crickets and meal worms.
Supplements - Not sure of the name at this moment I will look in a bit.
Watering - Misting with a spray bottle. Alot. Yes he has been drinking
Fecal Description - Semi Losse brown color. No he has not been tested.
History - To my knowledge he was in great health.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass. Not sure of the exact dimensions but it is in a 50 gallon tall.
Lighting - Basking Lamp, UVB Light. I have had both on until about 9 at night and then back on at 7 am
Temperature - Basking is 92 degrees, cage temp is around 80. Lowest overnight so far was 62. Thermometer is used
Humidity - Around 70. We are misting.
Plants - Fake and a real Dahlia
Placement - In my sons room. It is fairly quit in there. He is on the top of the dresser.
Location - In the US Michigan

Current Problem - Just what the humidity should be
 
What type of uvb light are you using?. Coil or linear? Supplements are very important so make sure you get what is needed from the info that has been provided to you. Humidity should be around 50-60% with spikes after misting.Try not to let the humidity go below 50%
 
There are somtimes conflicting opinions on some plants that are safe and are not. Most memeber use these different plants, pothos, umbrella aka (shefflera, or arboricola) ficus, ficus benjamin and hibiscus. We know for a fact that these plants can be eaten and are not fatal to chameleons. Havine a veiled you really have to be careful because they tend to eat or chew on plants more than the panther chameleons.
 
rikki said:
Ok, I was worrid it was too low. It usually stays around 55.

I am using a coil UVB bulb
Click to expand...
Coil UVB bulbs have been known to cause eye issues in some chameleons. Others have had success with them. The recommended bulb is the reptisun 5.0.tube model None of us have any issues with these bulbs at all. Watch and make sure that your chameleon is not closing its eyes during the day. It could be due to the lighting. You may not have any problems with the coil, but we just want to make you aware that there can be issues. 55 is ok on the humidity.
 
The lights need to be on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours. So you could do 7am to 7pm or 9am to 9pm. I do 7 to 7. They need their sleep.
 
I am in Central Michigan, I just built a nice screen cage for my veiled. I don't think most homes would get below even 65 degrees, even in winter, here. The screen cage seems to be working very well. With the tube uvb and a basking light during the day, I feel even in Michigan, the temps are okay for the screen cage. I have noticed a remarked improvement in my Cham after removing him from the glass terrarium he came to me in. I built the cage for less then $80.00. I can give you some ideas if you are interested.
He also came with the coiled type of uvb and I switched to the reptisun and can tell he is much better, I truly think the coil was hurting his eyes...
 
There is often controversy about using glass cages. I have used glass cages with screen lids for over 20 years. It depends on where you live, etc. as to whether I would recommend them or not. If you live in a cold climate then IMHO there is no problem with them as long as you don't let water lay stagnant on the floor of the cage and as long as you put the lights to one side or back or front of the lid of the cage to create air flow. Of course the screen ones would be better in a hot climate.
 
I didnt know that about the bulb. A new one is going to have to wait as I just spent $30.00 on this one. I did however have my husband start making a new enclosure for him. I hope it is ok. It is bigger than what he is currently in also. It is 28" Wide 32" Tall and 16" Deep.

Cage1.jpg


And is the Yucca Plant safe for them or no?
 
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