New veiled cham questions

[niki]

As everyone Knows I had to euthanize My little Mr.Bobbers. I got up the other day from bed and started misting his cage until I realized he wasn't in their. It was a bit embaressing and well.....sad. I realized I needed something to fill the gap. Anyways I found an extremely healthy 8 month veiled chameleon. He is the most beautiful boy (veiled) I have ever seen. He is so big compared to a fischers cham. He eats like a pig, which is nice cuz Bobbers never really had much of an appetite. I was just wondering a good way to get him use to me and the cage. I did hold him yesterday but He was not impressed by the whole situation. I never was able to hold bobbers because the species is not very handable. Also he is hiding behing plants and not using all the vines, what can I do about that ? I want him to be the happiest little guy in the world right now. He ate 2 hornworms last night without problems. Oh I have a live pothos in with him. I have a 2.0 and a 5.0 with a 65 watt basking light. He lives in a 100 gallon flexarium. Not sure of basking temps yet because I just put him in there lastnight. His name is Irwin

 

[Julirs]

Irwin will probably need a few days to adjust, and then he probably won't be hiding quite so much. At 8 months old he may never get used to handling, esp. if he had never been handled much before. My male Veiled loves to come out and is easily handled (even at 8 weeks old he was easy and still is at 8 months), but my female is mean and nasty. Work on hand feeding-at least my female will eat out of my hand. Good luck with him and post a picture!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Niki

I'm sure you are all over this....but I have to bring it up.
Due to losing Mr. Bobbers to a, as far as we can tell, "mysterious" and invasive infection....any thing that was once his needs to be super-sterilized before it becomes Irwin's ....or thrown away.
Again, I'm sure you are on it....but thought it would be good to bring up.

-Brad

 

[niki]

nope thanks Brad. Irwin is in a brand new cage with all new vines and plants. Made sure of that. He seems to be moving around a little more now. He is still very dark though. Anything I can do? Oh has anyone ever heard or a habba? Misting system and how good are they?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

If memory serves...those in the know on this forum don't recommend the Habba Mist.
I'm sure someone will verify that.
I don't use an auto-mist system as I am home a lot and choose to use the hand pumped pressurized sprayer.

-Brad

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

The Habba-Mist product squirts for a max of 1 minute at a time if I remember correctly. Many of us mist for 20 minutes at a time twice a day. Take a look at the www.pro-products.com website as an example of what works well. The PMP-50 pump and accessories is a new product (not on the website yet but still orderable) with a lower price-point than the traditional PMP-60 mist pump. The 50 is getting good reports. I have a PMP-60 and a PMP-70 and have been happy. Go for a 50 or something similar to it.

 

[niki]

Just curious, is a running Jew? plant safe for chams?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I've always heard them called wandering....very politically incorrect
but safe!

-Brad

 

[Tygerr]

The Bluebeast list says that the Wandering Jew (Tradescantia zebrina) is safe to use (http://www.bluebeastreptile.com/plantlist.htm), but the University of Calfornia, Davis says that it may cause dermatitis or irritation on its Toxic Plant List
However, that list says the same thing (dermatitis) about Ficus, which is definitely a recommended plant. The sap of Ficus plants can potentially irritate reptile eyes, and so I presume the same applies to Wandering Jews.

 

[niki]

lol. I knew running jew didn't sound right ha ha. So it is safe eh? sweet. The one is huge. Yay. He started to move around a bit today. I went out and bought 2 more temp gauges and 2 more humidity gauges. 100 gallons are so big. Much bigger than my 38 gallon one. Anyways what is ideal for a basking temp for a veiled? I am presuming it is around 80?

 

[Julirs]

For young veileds around 80-85, but for adults in the mid to high nineties.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

As old as he is I would shoot for 85 to 90 at the hottest basking spot.
Veileds like to bask in some serious heat...even beyond 100 degrees
but I don't feel comfortable getting it that hot and Kitty does fine at around 86.

-Brad

 

[niki]

sounds good to me. I am just wondering if I should put a 100 watt bulb in? I just got a digital camera so I can take pics of Irwin once I figure it out.

 

[Vegas Chad]

Veilds like it hot and will usually bask all day long. Mine are kept with a basking area of 90-100… Just make sure that the temp only gets that hot in the basking area of the cage, it the dude gets too hot it needs a place to go cool down a bit. Running Jew… LoL… Don’t toss away your cash on the hubba… Tiz a POS; save up and get a pro mist or like system that it top shelf and will last you for many years. Just my 2cents worth. Good to have time for the forum again!

 

[niki]

I just bought an Hanging Ivy for his cage. He likes to hide in plants so he ought to love it. I want to fill his whole cage with live plants. I decided against the WANDERING jew because it looks sappy and sticky to me (Can't explain it). Is everyone 100% sure that these are safe? It is a huge plant that will take up more than half of his cage? How many plants shouls I have? If I keep going he won't be able to move.

 

[ChameleoG]

Size of cage

How wide is your cage?

 

[Ash]

My Veiled is the same, he liked being handled in the shop now he hates me.

I've managed to start hand feeding him though, which is a good sign!

Ash

 

[Tygerr]

My Veiled is the same, he liked being handled in the shop now he hates me.

I've managed to start hand feeding him though, which is a good sign!

Ash

The question really is: did he actually like you handling him at the shop, or did he just see you as a way to escape the cage they had him in at the pet shop? Now that he is more comfortable in his new home at your house, he might not appreciate being whisked out of there by you.

I've always considered it a bit dangerous to ascribe human descriptions to animal behaviour. I don't think emotions drive their actions like ours do - but they do have motives behind their actions. I think it's important to distinguish between the true motive, and an ascribed emotion.

 

[Tygerr]

I just bought an Hanging Ivy for his cage. He likes to hide in plants so he ought to love it. I want to fill his whole cage with live plants. I decided against the WANDERING jew because it looks sappy and sticky to me (Can't explain it). Is everyone 100% sure that these are safe?

What is the botanical name of the plant you bought? There are many plants that are given the common name "Ivy", even though they come from very different species. Some of these ivy plants are toxic, some are safe.
For instance, in South Africa (and many other places), Pothos is called "Devil's Ivy", but it is very different from other creepers called Ivy.

It is a huge plant that will take up more than half of his cage? How many plants shouls I have? If I keep going he won't be able to move.

That's pretty much the objective. You want it full of plants. He needs places to hide and feel secure, and places to get periodic shelter from the heat, UVB exposure and also moist places where the humidity is trapped in by the leaves.
You may think he won't be able to move, but you forget that these lizards have adapted of millions of years to navigate their way through dense foliage.
But also make sure there is a clear, open space at the top of the cage where the chameleon is able to bask, and also where the cham can get unimpeded UVB exposure (i.e. you don't want the plants blocking off all the light coming from that expensive UVB bulb you bought...).