New Veiled Cham questions

[Bstape]

Hi, new here, just got an approximately 5 month old female veiled, Lotus. I rescued her from Petsmart. Not to my surprise they gave me false information about her needs so I am building her a large screen enclosure over this weekend. Right now she is in a 12x16x24 Glass/screen enclosure. I was wondering what was recommended for firstly the enclosure Specs, and furthermore at what age should I try feeding her worms, and during the warmer months can I feed her caught moths/butterflies and the likes?

Thanks in advance


There is a picture of her on my elbow

 

[Syn]

Is that her real color? It's amazing.

 

[naich]

wow he is a georgius cham. You can feed him worms now if by worms you mean silks,supers,wax's. Also for the cage if hes a male a 2+2+4 all screen will be needed and as a female you could do the same or use a 2+2+3 screen.


good luck and wow hes a stunner!

ps....love that blue

 

[Bstape]

Thank you for the compliments, yes its her "stressed" color. I took it with my cell phone, no editing whatsoever.
And thank you for the information. Should she be eating 'large' or 'small' crickets by now? and besides a local petshop, where would you suggest buying crickets? I'm interested in buying in bulk.

 

[BocaJan]

I guy in bulk from my reptile store. It is cheaper to purchase close to you. If not, there are all kinds of places online. Check out Georgia Bugs. He's one of our sponsors. In fact, check out all our sponsors, many of them have bugs and super worms. She looks big enough for 3/4" crickets and regular supers. She actually looks full grown. My female veileds are smaller then her. Have you weighed her? She is a beautiful turquoise veiled. You are a lucky lady.

 

[Bstape]

Heh I'm just a 16 year old guy, but thanks. I'll check those out. It's entirely possible that the pet store gave me the wrong age, but I was under the impression that she would grow bigger.

 

[Fred]

Welcome! We're glad u rescued her!! Shes beautiful!! The first thing I would recommend is reading http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
I don't know how much u already know about chams, but u can never have too much info, this site will give u tons of info that is VERY important like proper lighting, supplements, egg laying (since u do have a girl this WILL come up eventually--even without a male) congrats on your new veild!!

 

[Bstape]

Thanks again,

I did have one last question. When I bought her she was apparently not fed well enough because she was very skinny and all her ribs were showing. I was told she was a male by the people at Petsmart but with the lack of spurs I'm assuming Lotus is a she. Anyways I've been supplementing her with multi vit once a week and calcium with d3 twice a week and feeding her twice a day to make her put on some healthy weight. Is there anything else I should do?

 

[Fred]

well if u truley want the best possible help, suggestions I would recommend filling this out to the best of ur ability (the easiest is to copy and paste it into ur reply then fill in ur answers) and people can let u know if everything is A1 perfect or if anything what needs tweeking, I would say ur supplement sched does need a little tweeking, u need rep-calc w/o D3 to use daily, then with D3 once a week and vitimins once or twice a month, hopefully someone with more experience will chime in after u fill this out!!


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage construction (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and type of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

Pictures are helpful

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[Bstape]

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage construction (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?

Currently 16x12x18 Glass/Screen cage which will be changed to a full sized 2x2x4 full screen by this weekend.

Lighting - What brand, model, and type of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?

I use a tube UVB light and a heating light in a dome placed around 8inches from her basking spot. I turn the lights off at 9:30pm and on at around 7 AM

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?

My basking spot is kept around 90 degrees. The resting spot at 75-80
Night temp is around 70. I have multiple thermometers.

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?

My humidity is around 30-35% with spikes up to 70% when misting.
I have a hygrometer in the cage

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

I'm not using any live plants as of yet but in my new cage I will have an umbrella tree.

Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?

My cage is on a table between 2 windows that brings it up a few feet from the floor. Its in a quiet area in my room where hardly anyone goes.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?

Veiled - Female - Presumed 5 months
She's been in my care for 2 weeks now

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

I try to handle her minimally but I am attempting to hand feed her and I mist her manually. I pick her up when Cleaning the cage or letting her roam to get some excersize.

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

Right now I am only feeding her 'small' size crickets from Petsmart. I feed her 10-12 per day in 2 feeding sessions, around 7:30 AM and 6 PM

I use Flukers and MonsterDiet commercial cricket gutloaders along with some pieces of sweet potato.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?

I have Rep Cal calcium with D3 that I supplement twice a week and Rep Cal Herpevite that I supplement once per week.

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

I mist twice a day for 5-10 minutes, I use a hand mister bottle with a nozzle. I don't really notice her drinking.


Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

She has dark brown stool with white parts, not sure what the name for those are. She has been tested for parasites and came back negative.

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Got her from Petsmart, appeared to be malnourished at purchase.

Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

I just wanted to run a checklist of proper schedules and supplements, and ask about how to help a chameleon put on healthy weight quickly without too much over feeding.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Have you read the articles here yet?

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

-Brad

 

[BocaJan]

I was about to ask the same question Brad.

 

[Fred]

I would update the supplement sched, add a dripper-set up so it trips on to the leaf the umbrella tree- I would turn the light on and off on a 12 hr cycle i.e. on at 7am off at 7pm, and u don't want to feed within 4 hours of lights off (so earlier feedings would be in order) they need time to digest and use basking to help this.) I personally have my lights on a timer b/c I would never be good about same on off times but thats me, everyone is different!! U may want to look at getting a cool mist ultrasonic humidifier and direct into enclosure to help keep humidity up when ur not misting, my cham loves it!!

 

[Bstape]

Just read through it and it answered all my questions, thanks again

 

[BigR]

very nice looking, especially considering where you got her from. No burns, cuts or missing limbs, that's a first coming from petsmart.

Big no on the wild caught bugs though, lots of nasty stuff on them.

lllreptile has a cage on special right now that would appropriate. 24x24x48

 

[Fred]

yeah wc bugs can carry parasites

 

[Brad Ramsey]

lllreptile has a cage on special right now that would appropriate. 24x24x48

Disagree.
I find that female veiled chameleons seem to be much more relaxed and comfortable (feel safer) in a smaller enclosure.
I use 18x18x36 and 16x16x30 enclosures for the girls.

-Brad

 

[OntarioLizardman]

wown those colors are amazing!

 

[blackbetty]

I recommend Georgia Bugs too. Dave is super sweet and answers any q's, even the silly ones! i got an awesome shipment today and he even threw in a couple extras since my last didn't go so well.

 

[Bstape]

Thanks again for the compliments

and in that case I'll be using captive bred insects only then

Looks like I'll be building a 18x18x36 enclosure then

thanks a bunch everyone for the quick and helpful responses