New to forums, need advice.

[JimLIZARD]

Hi all, my name is James and i'm new to these forums so please bear with me

I have read numerous care sheets about theses wonderful animals for a while and as a soon-to-be owner of a little veiled, i just need a couple of bits of advice from you guys.

Some say a screen enclosure of 16x16x20 (inches) will be ok for baby, but will obviously need to be upgraded within 8-10 months. Would it be ok to put him in a larger enclosure of about 24x24x48 straight away or will it feel 'too big' and maybe cause stress?

Thanks in advance

 

[chameleoman]

Ok way to big he won't eat like that just keep him in that baby cage un til he gets bigger and stay on thr forums so u can giv us updates on the little guy

 

[Olimpia]

Welcome James!

Not necessarily. I personally don't believe that any cage is too big, but it depends. I've gotten 2-3 month old panthers that look good for their age and others that look like tiny little things, and I'm not sure the latter would do well in a huge cage. However, there are easy compromises.

You can divide the large cage horizontally if you feel your baby will be too small. Something like a square foam, for example, can be pinned into the cage to create a false bottom. And then the plants can be hanged from the top - you take a couple wooden dowels of a decent little width, span them across the top frame of the cage on the outside, and then with something like strong fishing line you can secure the plants to the dowels without harming the screen, it'll just go straight through.

And as he grows or you see fit you can drop the false bottom or stop using it completely.

Also, if you don't want to divide anything, you can always try cup feeding your chameleon so he can have ready access to his food. This is the biggest concern with large cages, is being able to find food, but if you have a plastic container with crickets and/or worms in it available he'll be able to pick out his food without having to search high and low for it.

Just some ideas to mull over.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the chameleon forums. This is a great place to learn about chameleons. I keep veileds, panthers and a parsonii and they are all an absolute pleasure to care for. I normally recommend a small cage or baby bin (depending on the age of the baby you get) because in my experience they often they have a problem finding food in a large enclosure. They last thing you want is to get a new baby and he's not eating. I did have one baby that I free ranged from the moment she hatched and the only way I could get her to eat was to feed her in a baby bin or take her outside and sprinkle fruit flies and crickets all over and she's get a few and tons got away. It took me awhile to get her to cup feed (months) and I was home with her 24/7. You many be able to section off a large cage as Olimpia said but then you want have a small travel cage for vet trips and so forth. Below I'm attaching my blog for new keepers. Jann
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[JimLIZARD]

So if i went with a 16x16x30 (inches) enclosure, i presume a 10.0 Reptisun UVB would be too strong? Would a single 5.0 be ok or dual 2.0?

I'm sure you get these questions all the time and thanks for the swift replies and the warm welcome

 

[lindawaz]

Most of us use the single tube 5.0 with our chams.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!
Here's some more information I hope will help you ....
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.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also 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. 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. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well 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. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. 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.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

 

[Bernie]

I have been using 10.0 tubes successfully - but mine pass through a screen which filters the rays anyway.

If your UV won't be passing through a screen then 5.0 with a reflector would be perfect.

 

[Bernie]

I will also add that I have also successfully raised 2 Chams in larger enclosures from 2-3months old. Just make sure you use a portion of the space and ensure everything is in that space that the little guy needs.