New to the forum

[kevinviger]

Hey there everyone,
I am new to the forum. I have an almost 6 month old Veiled chameleon. I was curious...who has the oldest veiled here. Just curious what our chameleon could potentially grow to be.

 

[laurie]

Hello & welcome. We have a lot of veiled owners who can tell you about their ages. I currently have a panther who will be 7 in Feb. i am sure we have veileds at least that old living with forum members.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!
Do you have a male or female?
Is it your first reptile?

I've had quite a few female veileds live to be over 6 years of age and the males live even longer.

Here's some information you might find helpful......
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. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

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

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. (I use herptivite.)

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.

Here are some good sites for you and your parents 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/

 

[Ricardo]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[kevinviger]

Alright...Colors is a male approx. 6 and a half months. Purchased at a reptile expo from Fl Chams. Very good eater. I feed him about a dozen med. size crickets dusted with the same calcium dust on the weekend and during the week days I feed him dubia roaches. And when I can, I pickup silkworms. I recently introduced him to mustard greens which he likes. I feed the roaches lettuce and shaved carrots but haven't tried anything else yet. Any suggestions?

For the lighting I have the 18 inch 5.0 tube light and a 75 watt basking lamp. He gets his light source from that alone..it has cooled off here so I am waiting for the warmer weather before treating him to the outdoors. I keep the lighting on for about 11 hours..is that ok? I am about to build a larger screened enclosure with alot more vegetation...I currently use a combination of vines, and artificial plants. Not so much of a green thunb so I havent done much as far as live plants. I have a smaller plant that I put him on when I run the shower and let him hangout with water spraying on the walls and not directly on him..

This is my first reptile.

 

[Elizadolots]

Waves HI!

Hey, you'll find that live plants are very helpful for keeping humidity up. I'm terrible with plants (I swear, they commit suicide rather than let me care for them) but I've found that Pothos plants do really well in the cage. They seem to thrive in the environment of dripping water and chameleon poop.

 

[kevinviger]

Cool...I am heading down to home depot as soon as the sun rises.