New to the forum, just wanted to share

[JaMeSoN]

I just picked up this baby veiled chameleon today at LLL reptile. Still reading up and trying to learn as much as I can

Heres a couple pictures

Her home... Dont worry, its not really on the floor near the xbox(thinking about changing her set up already, so If youre interested in the cage, let me know )

and her (dont have a name yet)

 

[BrandonG]

Whew...before we address anything, let's start with what we can't see. What type of lighting are you using?

 

[dodolah]

Hi Jameson,
beautiful chameleon you have there.
May I suggest reading the link provided here for better and proper husbandry?
https://www.chameleonforums.com/links/chameleon-websites-2/

My first suggestion for you is to take out the substrate out of the cage.
Substrate can cause impaction.
Crickets tend to bury inside the substrate and your chameleon might accidentally ingest the bark when she try to shoot at the crickets.

Do you have proper lighting for her (uvb, basking lamp) and supplements?

Read the links I provided, then if you have anymore Qs, feel free to ask us.
We are here to help.

 

[GooglezNvincent]

You are going to have so much fun learning! like Frans said read up on that and try to soak up all the info. Also find a place that you can put the cage so it is higher and not on ground level. Welcome to the forum and congrats on your first cham! shes a cutie!

 

[JaMeSoN]

Thanks for the helpful link. The substrate was recommended to me by the employee at LLL. I guess he didnt really know too much

This is the lighting I got, also recommended by the employee

I had originally planned to buy a pair of pygmys, so I did all my research on what I needed for them, but when I checked them out, they didnt look too healthy, there was also a couple dead ones at the bottom of the tank.. So I got a veiled one instead and had the employee help me out with what I "needed"

 

[Fearaffect]

Well, if it was LLL Reptiles(a site sponsor by the way)....then what they told u MUST be right..........ahem........


That UV bulb will cause eye problems....even though the manufacture says that issue has been resolved.........
Get a plant(real or fake) that offers alot of coverage(ficus is a good one...others use different plants also)

 

[Julirs]

OK-remove the substrate, replace the coil UVB bulb with a linear Zoomed 5.0-18" will work fine on that cage. Take back the coil and the one clamp lamp. I know they are trying to fix the issues with coiled bulbs, but until I see some proof I am a non-beleiver. Get a plant with LEAVES (Ficus, Schefflera, Pothos) that will take up the same kind of space as the dead one, and you will be off to a good start. Your cham does not have any drinking surfaces with the plant with no leaves. Congrats on your baby!

One more thing-75W is a bit strong for a baby. Make sure you have a good thermometer to check temps with-no garbage analog dials-spend $10 and get a digital. You want temps low to mnid 80's in the basking spot,

 

[Lovereps]

First off, congrats on your new chameleon girl!

She's so cute!
Your future questions will probably get more attention if you post them to one of the other forums here (like the Enclosures And Supplies or Health forums.)
The very first things I would do are get rid of the substrate, get a long tube Reptisun 5.0 bulb and fixture , add leafy non-toxic plants and add a dripper.
If you don't have any means of checking temperatures and humidity, then add a temperature/humidity sensor to the list.
We just had a forum member's cham accidentally choke to death on a small piece of bark. The bark was from a branch and was a freak accident, but you now know what can happen with bark. If they don't choke, it can cause intestinal blockage--another often fatal problem.
She desperately needs some better non-toxic plants (ficus, schleffera,pothos are popular).
What she is on in the pics is basically a bunch of living sticks--cause there aren't any leaves!
The plants leaves serve 2 purposes in a chams cage:
1) She will drink water off of them
2) Equally as importantly, she needs them so she can hide from predators--that's her instinct. BTW, people are giants compared to chameleons, so chams don't realize that we're not interested in eating them.
Many chams do eventually seem to recognize their owners and relate thm to food, but they are not like bearded dragons, in that chams are better-off with as little handling as possible---Especially while they're getting used to a new cage, new plants, new everything.
Maybe it's just the pics, but she may be a bit dehydrated, as her eyes seem a little sunken-in.
I'm assuming they sold you a spray bottle for misting the enclosure?
The idea is to both raise humidity and to form droplets of water on the leaves for her to drink.
The dripper provides a longer-term water source for her. You want it to drip onto leaves.
A dripper can be purchased or you can very cheaply make your own using any type of clean container and putting a pinhole in the bottom.
Mine are made from those disposable Glad food storage containers--cheap, but effective.

 

[jannb]

Congrats on your new veiled and welcome to the chameleon forms. I totally agree with everything said above and I have two veileds. If you make all these changes your will have your girl off to a good start. I'm attaching another good link for raising veiled chameleons. It will be very helpful too.

http://raisingkittytheveiledchamele...-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=11

 

[jesses]

What are the dimensions of that cage? And where'd you get it? Cute cham, btw!

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Jameson,

If LLL Reptile will exchange that CFL, the safe bet is to get the 18" ZooMed Reptisun linear 5.0 tube and a fixture to house it. There will never be a concern that your UVB source is part of any future health issues with that choice. Fortunately the ReptiGlo 5.0 CFL is not on the truly "deadly" list. The ReptiGlo 10.0 is on the "questionable" list though . But even though that ReptiGlo 5.0 CFL isn't a killer, you still have to make sure that it is positioned at a safe distance. I'm not too familiar with the exact uW/cm2 levels from that particular brand of CFL (combined with that reflective housing) but based on some other data from a similar CFL product (http://www.uvguide.co.uk/compactlamps.htm), you'll want to make sure that it is positioned about 10" to 12" away from the basking area.

As has been noted, remove the bark chips and re-pot the plant. By the way, slide over to Home Depot etc. and buy a ficus or Schefflera with some leaves on it .

They are ok but I'm not a big fan of spot lights for chameleon basking areas. A low-cost 60W flood like: http://www.lighting.philips.com/us_...g&parent=7593748565&id=us_en_products&lang=en (Home Depot etc.) may better serve the needs of a basking light in your application.

 

[laurie]

Looks like everything you need to know has already been said so I will just add welcome,we are really happy to have you, and hope for a long and good relationship for you and your chameleon.