NEW VEILED CHAMELEON OWNER FIRST REPTILE

Nice! Sometimes when they are new to you they are just shy with eating, glad to hear it worked! Now you need to work on the enclosure and get real plants instead of fake. Also you need T5 uvb linear bulb instead of the uvb you have next to your heat bulb.

Hello I’m a little concerned my chameleon has just started to keep his mouth open I’ve read that isn’t good for them to be doing that could he just be trying to cool off? It’s just strange that he’s doing this because he’ll be in his basking spot with his mouth open (basking spot is at about 79-80 degrees. I mist his cage 2 a day for about 2 mins straight and I noticed that if I mist his plants and enclosure he’ll quickly leave his basking spot and hide in the leaves I think maybe he tries drinking the water. This also the first time he’s done this am I over reacting or is this normal
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I got my veiled chameleon a year ago so I was your shoes as a new owner and I can give you some advice on your little guy. My chameleon was around 2 months old when I got him from PetCo and I started off with the same Reptibreeze kit that you did. You're gonna wanna upgrade to a larger enclosure when he's around 4-5 months old, depending on how quickly he grows. I'll add the links to a few websites I looked at when I was upgrading my chameleon's cage. They can get a bit pricy so the most important thing to look for in a new enclosure is height since chameleons like to climb.

I recommend taking nutrition seriously. My chameleon started showing early signs of metabolic bone disease because I wasn't feeding him the proper variety of insects and I wasn't taking gut loading seriously. It absolutely broke my heart that my ignorance as his care taker caused him to start developing a nutrient deficiency and his bones to start turning into mush. I took him to the vet and they gave me a diet plan and now my chameleon is much healthier but trust me, you don't want to learn this lesson the hard way. I have a monthly calendar where I mark out which days I give him which supplements and vitamins so I stay on top of it. I also get a variety of bugs shipped to my place every other week or so.

For hydration I mist my chameleon's enclosure several times a day for a few minutes but I also place a dripper on top of his cage. I position the dripper so that it hits a few plants and sort of trickles its way down. Your chameleon will move to the water if he's thirsty and if he's not, then he'll just ignore it.

One last thing because I saw a picture of your set up earlier, I would definitely place more leaves and coverage in his enclosure as soon as possible. He'll feel more at home and less stressed out when he doesn't feel so exposed and can hide in the leaves. I use a combination of both real and fake plants. Some people say fake plants should never go in veiled's enclosures but I've never had any problems with them. Just make sure to run them under water to rinse off any harmful chemicals or residues before any real or fake plants go into your cage.
 
I think your Cham is a she 😅..... also mine did the thing with his mouth open because he was too warm .. I just dropped his basking branch down slightly and he hasn’t done it since .....
 
I think your Cham is a she 😅..... also mine did the thing with his mouth open because he was too warm .. I just dropped his basking branch down slightly and he hasn’t done it since .....
Also if it is A girl your going to need an egg laying bin. Females can lay infertile eggs ... I would look into that if I were you 👍🏼
 
Welcome to the forums @ren.contreras3! I can see you have good intentions with your response, and sharing personal experiences is highly encouraged here on the forums. Love your suggestion on adding in more coverage. But I would caution you to give advice based on personal experience to new keepers who may not have the knowledge and skillset yet to determine what is safe or not safe for their chameleon.

Specifically the comment on suggesting fake plants. While your chameleon has not tried to eat them, there are many (not just veileds) who have passed away from eating fake plants. Since not all chameleons do this behavior, it is risky to suggest that without knowing for certain if the chameleon you are providing advice for does or does not. This is why suggesting live plants is the standard especially for new keepers who don't know better. Not to mention live plants also provide some humidity for enclosures which is added bonus especially for those living in drier climates. Live plants also can help catch water and help with overall drainage of excess water which is a common problem for new keepers.

Also keep in mind that the misting cycle that works for your chameleon may not work for others. This is very dependent on a chameleon's drinking response and most importantly the climate of where the chameleon lives. Someone in a drier climate is going to have a MUCH different misting schedule than someone who lives somewhere humid.

Thank you for your comment and suggestions -- just wanted to provide some additional insight for why live plants are the recommendation around here and why it's helpful to have all the information from the keepers. Again welcome, and please continue to contribute. It's how we all learn and grow :)
 
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