Newbie Help

[Cwolf977]

Hi everyone,

I recently aquired a young veiled chameleon from a friend who couldn't take care of him anymore... she knew I had kept reptiles before and thought I might be able to help better than petco or petsmart. I have experience with desert reptiles such as Leopard Gecko, tortises and monitors and I admit I am having some trouble with this little guy. I live in Colorado so there is no such thing as Humidity here and I'm trying to keep his cage humid but while I'm at work it drops to around 30%. I tried putting a humidifier next to one of the screen sides of the cage and when I did that he decided to drop to the floor of his cage and lay there till I shut it off...what suggestions do you guys have for me...I'm afraid that I'm putting far too much stress on him just from my attempts to make him happy. please help.

 

[Syn]

If you can afford a swamp cooler, invest in one. It saves me a lot of time spraying every 5 minutes.

Much love from the Desert!

 

[jannb]

Hello and welcome to the chameleon forums. It would be very helpful to us if you would fill out the info below and post some pictures of your cham and your cage. I'm a little concerned that he would lay on the bottom of his cage.

How to ask for help

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types 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?
Placement - 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?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

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

 

[scut]

Hi everyone,

I recently aquired a young veiled chameleon from a friend who couldn't take care of him anymore... she knew I had kept reptiles before and thought I might be able to help better than petco or petsmart. I have experience with desert reptiles such as Leopard Gecko, tortises and monitors and I admit I am having some trouble with this little guy. I live in Colorado so there is no such thing as Humidity here and I'm trying to keep his cage humid but while I'm at work it drops to around 30%. I tried putting a humidifier next to one of the screen sides of the cage and when I did that he decided to drop to the floor of his cage and lay there till I shut it off...what suggestions do you guys have for me...I'm afraid that I'm putting far too much stress on him just from my attempts to make him happy. please help.

From what I understand veileds can handle a bit lower humidity because they live in the higher mountains, so it's not like you need a tropical rainforest in his enclosure. Maybe a drip system would help?

 

[kinyonga]

"Indigenous to the southwestern coastal regions of Saudi Arabia and western Yemen, the veiled chameleon occupies the wadis and agricultural lands of this otherwise arid region."...
http://adcham.com/html/taxonomy/species/chcalyptratus.html

However, as long as they are well watered they seem to be able to tolerate somewhat lower humidities.

If you want to make sure your husbandry is right then you need to fill out the "help thing" as was already suggested.

 

[Cwolf977]

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Combo Cage with screen on the top and two sides and glass on the front and back about 2.5 feet tall 2 feet wide and about 10 inches deep
Lighting - lighting used is a forecent UVB bulb in aquarium hood over tank plus basking light which I have set on at timer which sits about an inch above the screen on top.
Temperature - Remp range of about 68-83 degrees F. using a digital thermometer located in the middle of the cage by the basking spot and a on glass therm near the base of the tank
Humidity - humidity is varying between 40% and 70% using an on glass gauge. trying to keep it closer to 70% spraying down often
Plants - no live plants but various silk ones in cage. with combo of wood and bendable perching
Placement - is located on a side of my bedroom on the floor near the far side of my bed not near a fan or air vent.
Location - Colorado


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon. not sure exact age. been in my care for almost a week.
Handling - haven't really handled him yet.
Feeding - Feeding wax worms and crickets every other day
Supplements - dusting with Reptivite
Watering - have waterfall set up in tank... mist every few hours. observed swallowing after misting
Fecal Description - not observed a fecal yet..


I'm noticing he tends to spend alot of time at the bottom of the cage...lots of times with only his forelimbs on perching

 

[jannb]

Your UV light, is it a long tube style or a coil bulb? What kind of basking light do you have? What watt?

Your humidity level look fine

Get rid of the water fall......bacteria grows in those thing and you can't keep it clean......bad for your cham

Put his cage up on a table.....they like to be high

You need 3 kinds of dust. Plain calcium which you should use at just about every feeding. Calcium with d3 which you should use twice a month and the Reptivite only use once a month.

Post some pictures and get some of his front and back legs.