Ok I am going to make notes in your form so look for red... lol
Your chameleon: Veiled Chameleon, Female, age not sure. Been in my care for 4 days (
keep in mind if you see little spurs on her hind legs she is not a female and is a male.
Handling: Only handled when I absolutely have to
Feeding: 12-15 small crickets in the morning or wax worms
The amount of feeders is good for her right now. Looks to be somewhere around the 3-4 month mark. Ok so wax worms are only treats. 1 a day no more. They are essentially all fat. So it would be like you living off of cake.. No real nutritional value. Morning feeding is perfect. You can add in other feeders as well. I like Black soldier fly larvae or BSFL> They are a great feeder to work in. I will post a graphic that will help with this. make sure you are gutloading your feeders.
Supplements: Rep Cal Calcium with D3 every 2 weeks, Repti Calcium without D3 every feeding and Multivitamin will soon be bought
Perfect the multi will be 2 times a month as well. Do it on the opposite week of the calcium with D3. Lightly coating the feeders not a powdered donut effect.
Watering: Spray down the cage every 1 1/12 - 2 hours. Mist down the cage for about 2 min every time. Once in a while I will see her drinking
I would spray every 4 hours. you need the cage to dry out in between. The branches do not want to remain wet or you can end up dealing with bacteria growth and issues with her feet being on a moist surface all the time. Add a little dripper to the top of the cage. Put it on a slow drip and the tube through the top of the screen to drip on plants. This is where adding live plants is helpful as well. A pothos plants and a dwarf umbrella plant are great options not only to raise humidity but they like to munch on their plants. And it gives a place for the dripper to drip into.
Fecal Description: Solid dark brown. Has not been tested for parasites
I would get a fecal done just to ensure she does not have any parasites. Call around and find a reptile vet. Ask if you can just bring in a fecal to be tested that she is not unhealthy you are just wanting to double check. Get a fresh stool in a plastic baggy and take it in to the vet.
History: Was bought from Petco
Cage Info:
Cage Type: Screen enclosure measuring 16x16x30
I would eventually upgrade. I really like dragon strand cages myself.
Lighting: ZooMed double bulb fixture. 75W regular house bulb and UVB bulb that came with the ZooMed multibreez setup. 12 hours of UVB and basking light and shut everything off when I go to sleep.
You already know what you need to do here. But I love this for raising my heat lamp up. I just drilled holes in the mounting plate to screw it directly into the frame. It is good because it allows you to control the heat level without buying multiple bulbs. Also if she screen climbs it lowers the burn risk because the heat is not directly on the screen. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007D1BUJY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Temperature: The cage stays at about 80 degrees out of the basking spot and around 86 in the basking spot. Overnight can get to about 72 degrees
Ok so I would get a temp gun this way you can get exact temps. You will want a horizontal branch below her new uvb fixture about 8 inches down. She should not be any closer to uvb or heat. You want the bottom of the cage to be cooler about 70ish. The basking level to be no hotter then 83. So point the heat gun at the branch and if it is 80-81 your good. If it is higher then it is too hot. Because it gets hotter the closer you get to the bulb. Females really should stay at about 82-83 degrees. High enough for digestion but as they mature. We control their clutch size with their heat level and the amount of feeders. They get a lower heat and less feeders to ensure a smaller amount of eggs laid.
Humidity: This is something that I have been struggling with. I recently learned about covering the sides and will give it a try. Humidity is really low currently
I am wondering if your gauge is working. I would expect a higher level of humidity due to you living in Florida. I would get a new gauge. You want daytime humidity to be between 30-50% and night time to be high. I use this one. It is very accurate. Just make sure that it is not where it is getting sprayed in the cage. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H1R0K68/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Plants: No live plants
Pothos and dwarf umbrella would be great choices. Pothos vine and they love them. cover the top of the dirt in the pot with 1 inch river rock to ensure she does not eat the dirt.
Placement: In my bedroom where the is a ceiling fan and my air vent is located 7 feet away from the cage. The top of the cage is about 5/12 feet from the floor
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Current Problems:
Keeping a stable humidity and making sure her temperature levels are accurately kept. I also now worry after reading everything that I have done the setup absolutely wrong and feel absolutely awful about it.
Don't ever feel bad. You are here and learning what to do right. Almost all of us have been in your position. It sucks to be told the wrong info but you found people that can help you correct everything. Continue learning and asking questions. Here are some other resources for you.
www.dragonstrand.com amazing cages.
www.lightyourreptiles.com fixtures and Arcadia brand bulbs. I prefer Arcadia. their 12% uvb is comparative to the 10.0 zoo med.
www.chameleonbreeder.com amazing podcasts full of fantastic info.
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it's worked wonderfully, and I think it's a much better alternative to the shower curtain! It's not even more expensive, unless you dont already own a hair dryer lol
