Newbie needs help - veiled chameleon info?

treebeard

New Member
I have a juvenile veiled chameleon for only about 10 days now, and I'm overwhelmed searching for reliable information. Does anyone know of any really good books and websites for veiled chameleons? I want to read up on everything I can.

Right now, he's molting. I noticed that he's not into eating anything right now, and I figure it's because he's just too busy molting, is that normal behavior?

I have him housed in a Reptibreeze enclosure, he's perched up near the top, right under the light, and just wanted to hide away from me, so I put a small cloth over the front to give him some privacy (LOL!) I'm wondering if I should put some crickets in there or just wait a little until he's finished?

I'm not sure exactly how old he is, he's around 3 inches (not including tail).

I've been feeding him twice a day, and I spoke to another chameleon owner at the store that told me to spray his crickets or mealworms twice a week with calcium and once a month I think (can't remember) with Vitamin Supplement with Beta Carotene - both bottles are Zilla "food spray". I'm not totally sure how much vitamin supp. I'm supposed to use actually, but I used it once. It's super tough to spray crickets so I've been spraying the mealworms.

Also, I'm not totally sure how much I should be feeding him. I usually give him 3 mealworms in the morning, and some crickets later in the day, but I've seen some mention that mealworms are fattening? He loves em though, it seems. I've been holding up a small container lid with the mealworms and he just grabs them, because when I leave them down low somewhere, he doesn't always notice they are there. Not sure if that's wise either, because I think he's getting used to me feeding him in this way...

I'm hoping someone here can point me in the right direction, I'm totally new with chameleons.

Thanks!
 
Hi welcome to the forum. The care sheet you have been given is excellent IMO. I wouldn't recommend any books as you may find conflicting advice which can be confusing. Most folks on here are singing from the same song sheet so to speak so I would advise you ask as many questions as you like and you will get a quick response. Your supplements are a bit off. You need to dust your feeders with plain calcium without d3 daily , calcium with d3 every two weeks and a multivitamin twice a week. Sprays are not very good as you don't really know how much you are giving.:)
 
Video Master - Thanks for the link to the caresheets - a lot of reading there!

Kate - thanks for the info. I had a feeling those sprays were a bit off, but not surprised, considering the source (guy at petsmart) but at the time, I didn't have any other info yet. So I guess I'm way off on the amounts too. I don't know where to find the right supplements though, there's not much around here where I live so I'll probably have to search online. What brand(s) do you use?
 
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