ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
My responses will be in red. I’m going to link articles and care pictures at the bottom. I’m only commenting on your general husbandry since there are more experienced female veiled keepers on here. You will need a properly set up lay bin soon that will become a permanent part of her enclosure.
Your Chameleon - female veiled chameleon. I would guess around 4 months. Previous owner said she was about 4 inches long when they got her and they had her about 3 months. I just got her last night
Handling - Only twice since I got her last night- once to move to larger box for transport and once to put into enclosure.
Feeding -I was going to feed her a mix of discoids, crickets, and phoenix worms. I gut load them with sweet potatoes, carrots, and apples. She just ate a couple of crickets that I just purchased from the store. Your gutload needs more variety, and be careful on how much apple you feed. Are your feeders an appropriate size?
Supplements - Zoomed repticalicum everyday and reptivite with d3 on first and 15th of month. I gave her discoids with calcium this morning that she did not eat, but the crickets were dusted with reptivite. For supplementing, you use only one type for each feeding, like one feeding will have all of the feeders dusted in the same supplement right before feeding off. It’s not recommended to mix them. Your calcium has no D3, right?
Watering - Automatic mister. Usually I do 4 times a day for 2 minutes each time, but I increased to every 2 hours for 1 minute since she might be dehydrated. For veileds, if the terrarium humidity allows, you should only mist in the morning and late afternoon/night for day mistings. You can always add a dripper over some leaves for a 24/7 hydration opportunity. A minimum 2-5 minutes per misting is ideal.
Fecal Description- Have not seen droppings or urates yet. Make sure to bring a fresh fecal if possible to test for parasites when you go to the vet
History - Previous owner had about 3 months. She lived in a 40 gallon glass breeder tank with little to no foliage. They did not give her supplements and was fed crickets. She went for some time without a proper UVB, but I do not know how long.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - homemade wood 2 x 2 x 4. Screen on all sides except for back which is closed off with a board.
Lighting - 75 watt basking on dimmer. UVB is currently 10.0 T5 HO 22 inch. I ordered an Arcadia 12% that should be here sometime next week. Lights come on at 7:30 am and off at 7:30 pm. How far away is your UVB bulb from her highest/basking branch. Zoo Med 5.0 or Arcadia 6% is recommended for UVB bulbs because you don’t have to raise the fixture as much or waste as much terrarium space on lowering your basking branch to making sure the UVI level is correct
Temperature - Basking is 80-85. Lower is 70-75. Basking and lowest is measured with probe that is zip tied to branch. Basking probe is on vine directly under basking spot about 6-8 inches lower then fixture. Nighttime it is usually between 61 and 65. Basking temps for female veileds should be around 80*F so her egg clutches stay small.
Humidity - 20% - 30% daytime. 70-90% nighttime. I have a fogger that comes on at 8 pm and off at 7 am. Her daytime humidity should be 30-50%. Do you clean your fogger?
Plants - 4 pothos, schefflera, and bromeliad. rest are fake vines, but do not have moss. Veileds are notorious for eating plants, real or fake. She needs real plants only, no fake plants, leaves, or fake vines with leaves (fake vines with no leaves are fine). Your cage could also use more branches and vines.
Placement - cage is in my home office and no one goes in there. She is on wall opposite of window and not under a vent.
Location - Central Florida
Current Problem - Tongue seemed to not be shooting out fully last night, but I just observed it fully shooting out while she was eating a cricket. Only concern I have now is her shaky walk (refer to videos). She has an appointment tomorrow with an experienced chameleon vet. I will mention concern of MBD, parasite and possible vitamin deficiency. Make sure the vet also does bloodwork, x-rays, fecal test, etc. with her general check-up.
The Chameleon Academy is a great resource and worth reading through everything
https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/
http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2012/04/how-to-set-up-proper-chameleon.html
https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
https://chameleonacademy.com/choosing-and-arranging-branches/
https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-medical-metabolic-bone-disease/
Your Chameleon - female veiled chameleon. I would guess around 4 months. Previous owner said she was about 4 inches long when they got her and they had her about 3 months. I just got her last night
Handling - Only twice since I got her last night- once to move to larger box for transport and once to put into enclosure.
Feeding -I was going to feed her a mix of discoids, crickets, and phoenix worms. I gut load them with sweet potatoes, carrots, and apples. She just ate a couple of crickets that I just purchased from the store. Your gutload needs more variety, and be careful on how much apple you feed. Are your feeders an appropriate size?
Supplements - Zoomed repticalicum everyday and reptivite with d3 on first and 15th of month. I gave her discoids with calcium this morning that she did not eat, but the crickets were dusted with reptivite. For supplementing, you use only one type for each feeding, like one feeding will have all of the feeders dusted in the same supplement right before feeding off. It’s not recommended to mix them. Your calcium has no D3, right?
Watering - Automatic mister. Usually I do 4 times a day for 2 minutes each time, but I increased to every 2 hours for 1 minute since she might be dehydrated. For veileds, if the terrarium humidity allows, you should only mist in the morning and late afternoon/night for day mistings. You can always add a dripper over some leaves for a 24/7 hydration opportunity. A minimum 2-5 minutes per misting is ideal.
Fecal Description- Have not seen droppings or urates yet. Make sure to bring a fresh fecal if possible to test for parasites when you go to the vet
History - Previous owner had about 3 months. She lived in a 40 gallon glass breeder tank with little to no foliage. They did not give her supplements and was fed crickets. She went for some time without a proper UVB, but I do not know how long.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - homemade wood 2 x 2 x 4. Screen on all sides except for back which is closed off with a board.
Lighting - 75 watt basking on dimmer. UVB is currently 10.0 T5 HO 22 inch. I ordered an Arcadia 12% that should be here sometime next week. Lights come on at 7:30 am and off at 7:30 pm. How far away is your UVB bulb from her highest/basking branch. Zoo Med 5.0 or Arcadia 6% is recommended for UVB bulbs because you don’t have to raise the fixture as much or waste as much terrarium space on lowering your basking branch to making sure the UVI level is correct
Temperature - Basking is 80-85. Lower is 70-75. Basking and lowest is measured with probe that is zip tied to branch. Basking probe is on vine directly under basking spot about 6-8 inches lower then fixture. Nighttime it is usually between 61 and 65. Basking temps for female veileds should be around 80*F so her egg clutches stay small.
Humidity - 20% - 30% daytime. 70-90% nighttime. I have a fogger that comes on at 8 pm and off at 7 am. Her daytime humidity should be 30-50%. Do you clean your fogger?
Plants - 4 pothos, schefflera, and bromeliad. rest are fake vines, but do not have moss. Veileds are notorious for eating plants, real or fake. She needs real plants only, no fake plants, leaves, or fake vines with leaves (fake vines with no leaves are fine). Your cage could also use more branches and vines.
Placement - cage is in my home office and no one goes in there. She is on wall opposite of window and not under a vent.
Location - Central Florida
Current Problem - Tongue seemed to not be shooting out fully last night, but I just observed it fully shooting out while she was eating a cricket. Only concern I have now is her shaky walk (refer to videos). She has an appointment tomorrow with an experienced chameleon vet. I will mention concern of MBD, parasite and possible vitamin deficiency. Make sure the vet also does bloodwork, x-rays, fecal test, etc. with her general check-up.
The Chameleon Academy is a great resource and worth reading through everything
https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/
http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2012/04/how-to-set-up-proper-chameleon.html
https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
https://chameleonacademy.com/choosing-and-arranging-branches/
https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-medical-metabolic-bone-disease/