Proud new Papa to two veiled chameleons

[patrickfraser]

Well, I've always wanted a chameleon and now I have 2. My name is Scott and I thought I'd say HI. I'll be poking around and sifting through lots of info. I also keep mantids and go by the same screen name on the mantid forum.
I live in southern California (Downey) and went to the Pomona show today. I came home with a pair of veiled chameleons. They are adorable. When I got home and looked at them, I thought there'd been a "switcheroo". I had no idea of the amount or quickness of color change they pull off. I'm really excited to be able to keep such amazing creatures. Thanks for being here.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello, welcome to the forum, I have a couple of Veileds too Here's a great care sheet for them - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums! This a great place to learn and discuss chameleons. I keep veileds, panthers and have a parsonii. They are all an absolute pleasure to care for. My veileds show the most amazing personality but I free range and I'm very hands on with mine. Who did you buy your babies from? Do you know the sex? Males will have a spur (little bump) on the heels of their back feet. Have you named them yet?

I wrote a couple of blogs when my veileds had babies and I'm giving you the links to them below. The first is general care for you new babies, with a special section for females and the second is for the females in case one of your babies is a female. Females can and often do lay eggs and if you over feed and keep them too hot they can lay as early as 5 months old. The general care blog has links with pictures and where you can buy each item that you will need to keep your little ones alive and healthy. Most supplies that you need for a chameleon can't be found in your local pet store. When you get a chance post some pictures of your babies. There's nothing cuter than baby veileds.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!

Are you keeping them in the same cage? How old are they? Are they related?

Here's some information I hope will help you with supplementing, etc.....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

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.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity 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 which has beta carotene.)

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.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
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://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

 

[patrickfraser]

Thanks for the welcome and info. I have to make a list of all the necessities I need to purchase. Here are the "homecoming" pictures. I hope these come out ok. I bought them as a M/F pair. But being from the same vendor I may have a brother/sister pair. I haven't figured out names yet, but I think the smaller one is the male. I'll have to look for the "bump".

 

[patrickfraser]

I was wondering if you could tell the approximate age my babies. I've named them Beast(male) and Riddler(female). I had the female out and she came out with a wonderful pattern and it looked like question mark on her side. Hence, the name.

I just went with Beast for the male because I've heard they can be quite fierce. On the contrary, he seems very "chill". The female seems to eat more that the male. Is this common? I've been reading how winter affects their appetites, but I don't have any history to compare. How much should they be eating at this age?

 

[jannb]

They are such little cuties! Cool question mark on your male. That's his stress colors he's wearing. They look very young. My guess would be about a month old. They should be eating 12 to 15 very small feeders a day, no larger than the space between their eyes. I would recommend getting the proper lighting and supplements ASAP to keep them healthy. I have everything listed in my blog above that they require.