Newbie Yemen Chameleon owner

[allymc]

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Yemen we think male as hes got a little lump(spur) on back of each foot , not sure of age as bloke we kept harrassing about everything we needed was off but will go back and find out only got him yesterday (28th feb 2011)


* Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
handeled when we put in vivarium not touched since

* Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
locusts and going to gutload on dandilion leaves not sure hat else to feed him and whats best worm wise.

* Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Nutrobal Calcium Supplement gonna use it once a week by dusting locusts in it .

* Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
At mo im misting but ordered a little dripper so will be using that.seen him lapping off dropplets three times since been put in viv.

* Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
Not tested droppings but are brown with white and little orange.

* History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Has shed in shop but still have tiny bit left on head but looks like shedding come away fine elsewhere looked at tail and feet and alls fine .


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
At mo hes in a 45x45x45 exo terra but going to build bigger viv.

* Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Exo Terra Repti Glo 10.0 UV and we have it in the viv at back daily lighting was shop hours 9am til 5.30pm but were going to keep it from 7.30am till 10pm when we roll into bed.

* Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Have Exo Terra Glow Light with reflector on top of mesh with Repltile Bulb Ceramic Euro Rep Black Magic 60 Watt with Habistat Pulse-proportional Reptile Thermostat have it at 32 but unsure if we have done it properly not sure actually to set habistat at 24 or more so enclosure is 24 or more and basking point under is hotter nearer to bulb etc help


* Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
only misting will need advive on this one

* Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
we have 4 fake plants no real ones

* 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?
we have it in our bedroom not near window or fans etc on a set of chest of drawers untill we put up a shelve out of dog height and little childrens fingers cant reach but will be in lounge with us but up high

* Location - Where are you geographically located?
UK

 

[Hoj]

hello welcome

first thing i see is suppliments, i dont recognize what you are useing but most members reccomend calcium w/o d3 at every feeding, a calcium w/d3 twice a month and a muti vitamin twice a month as well.
with watering you can make a small dripper by just poking some holes into a small plastic container so that it drips every 2 or 3 sec, i fill mine twice a day and it runs for over a hour each time. that combined with mistings will help make sure he is hyddrated,
the 10.0 reptiglow is a little high for a cham and if it is in the enclosure with your cham it should not be. the lights should be outside the cage and not shining through any glass or plastic as it will block the uvb. either way make sure he has lots of hiding places.
i would conside some live plants to keep humidty up just makesure that they are cham safe as veiled like to munch on greens as well as cover all soil with rock so your cham cant eat it. you should be able to purchase a small digital temp/humidty meter from any hardware store, to tell you accuarte readings.

hope this helps a bit
hoj

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the world of chameleons!

Not sure what your lights are...but see below about lighting the cage. Also...with a veiled, they will sometimes eat vegetation so its best IMHO to have live plants that are non-toxic and that have been well-washed (both sides of the leaves) in the cage rather than fake ones.

Here's some information about chameleon husbandry with some links at the bottom...

Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption. For a hatchling veiled I keep the cage temperatures more even in the low to mid 80'sF...but for male veileds that are about 5 months old the basking temperature can be in the mid to high 80'sF during the day.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/

 

[allymc]

Bud

Thank you for replies still need more info on right temps so will look at your sites you have recommended xx

 

[kinyonga]

For young veileds I have a double fluorescent hood over the cages with a Repti-sun 5.0 in one side and a regular household fluorescent tube in the other side. The aim is to keep the temperature in the low to mid 80'sF.
http://chameleonnews.com/02NovHorgan.html

I keep the temperatures more moderate for young ones so that their small bodies don't cool off or warm up or dehydrate. It also keeps them from growing too rapidly.

 

[allymc]

Changes

Just been out and got 5.0 UVB bulb and also got some exo terra multi vitamins and some exo terra calcium with d3 is this ok to use as supplement to dust locusts xx

 

[allymc]

Age????

Can anyone approx age bud for me from the pic I posted x

 

[AMGChams]

Can anyone approx age bud for me from the pic I posted x

My female was about 3 months old at that size so my guess woudl be 3 - 4 months ish maybe