Rango

[BigCountry111802]

Hello everyone my name is Caleb and I recently bought my first reptile, a veiled chameleon, she has been a blessing. She an awesome creature and I love her a lot. I wanted to make sure I'm doing everything ok and if you have some tips and tricks please let me know! I spray her cage down 2 to 4 times a day and the humidity ranges from 40 to 60 percent. The top area in her cage ranges from 80 to 85 is this ok? I feed her meal worms crickets and I put greens in there, she seems content. Please let me know what I can do!!

 

[Mrjamwin]

Hello Big Country. Welcome to the group. What I'm going to suggest is to fill out the information I have provided below and then we will review it and make suggestions for you. But off the top of my head do you have a laybin setup for your girl yet?

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.

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?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

 

[Haley Hendrix]

Hello everyone my name is Caleb and I recently bought my first reptile, a veiled chameleon, she has been a blessing. She an awesome creature and I love her a lot. I wanted to make sure I'm doing everything ok and if you have some tips and tricks please let me know! I spray her cage down 2 to 4 times a day and the humidity ranges from 40 to 60 percent. The top area in her cage ranges from 80 to 85 is this ok? I feed her meal worms crickets and I put greens in there, she seems content. Please let me know what I can do!!

Hi Caleb. Just a few things i can pick out real quick.

• Humidity is a little high, aim around 25-45%
• I wouldn’t go above 81 for a female, higher temps and an unbalanced diet with cause her clutches to be bigger
• Mealworms have a hard outer shell that can be hard for chameleons to digest, IMO i wouldn’t feed those
• I would get some live plants in there for her to eat on her own, and remove all the fake ones to avoid the risk of impaction
• I would mist once before lights on, mid day, and right before bedtime, make sure it dries out between each time
• In the picture it looks like you have reptile carpet, i would remove that, that’s a easy place for bacteria to grow
• I only see a dual fixture in the picture, you need a T5 HO 5.0 of 6% UVB
• fill out the form above so we can give you more advice

 

[BigCountry111802]

Hello Big Country. Welcome to the group. What I'm going to suggest is to fill out the information I have provided below and then we will review it and make suggestions for you. But off the top of my head do you have a laybin setup for your girl yet?

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.

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?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

- My chameleon is a veiled chameleon, I got her just a couple of days ago and I'm pretty sure she's a juvenile!
- I haven't handled her since I got her into my room I have done extensive research and I've seen that it stresses them out. So I do not handle her.
- I feed rango a combination of meal worms, red worms, crickets that have been gutloaded with potato, and I put greens into her cage!! I usually use bamboo tongs to feed her.
- I use calcium supplements on my crickets, I also steralize the water that's in her dripper, and I used some other vitamins. I put it in the worm package and shook em up.
- I usually spray her cage with a mister by hand, I spray it until I see that everything is dripping water. I also just purchased a dripper and the tube is hanging down from the top of the cage so she can drink. I have not seen her drink a ton but I have a few times.
- Fecal is a lot bigger than I anticipated tbh. She poops quite large for her size. But it is white and brown and solid.
- She is a juvenile and she's a content chameleon she just sits around and chases crickets haha. I love her so far!!
- I have a starter screen cage for rango, I have a bunch of vines with real branches from trees, along with fake leaves I bought from petco.
- I use a red light idk the brand but the petco person recommended it, I also use the starter uvb light for her. I plan to upgrade all of her things when she gets bigger!!
- the temp at the top of the cage ranges from 80-85 and the bottom is room temp around 70-75 I have a temp gauge at the top of her cage
- her humidity ranges from 40-60, I spray her cage when it's dry and the humidity is near 40. I have a littte humidity have at the top of the cage.
- I took some branches from my birch tree outside and stuck em in there. But I use mostly fake plants within her cage. I have two fake vines, 3 flower bushy things that hang on the sides and the top.
- My cage is in my dorm room on top of my mini fridge, the top of the cage is probably 5 and a half feet off the ground, usually at most there is four people in there. My roommate has a fan maybe three feet away from her but not blowing directly on her.
- I do have a few questions for you guys, yesterday rango was a dark color and was just acting weird, I started to wonder if she's ready to lay unfertile eggs, what do they look like and act like when they are ready? Also am I doing a good job I've been trying my absolute hardest to keep her happy and most of the time she's ok but I just wanna make sure she's gonna be ok with my actions towards her.
- Please let me know what I can do to make her as comfortable as I can and just tell me how I'm doing. I can take constructive criticism so please don't be afraid. Thank you all for your time

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome! Give me a few minutes and I’ll go thru your husbandry.

 

[MissSkittles]

Putting my feedback in red.
- My chameleon is a veiled chameleon, I got her just a couple of days ago and I'm pretty sure she's a juvenile!
- I haven't handled her since I got her into my room I have done extensive research and I've seen that it stresses them out. So I do not handle her.
- I feed rango a combination of meal worms, red worms, crickets that have been gutloaded with potato, and I put greens into her cage!! I usually use bamboo tongs to feed her. So the only thing you’re feeding that is ok is the crickets. Add some different feeders like roaches, silkworms, bsfl for staples. How many bugs are you giving and how often? You’ll need to improve your gutloading too. Attaching feeder and gutloading sheets for you. I’m not a fan of using tongs to feed as there’s always risk of tongue damage. I use a little cup that I hold for my ladies and my male has a Shooting Gallery feeder. https://tkchameleons.com/products/shooting-gallery?variant=30018608595032
- I use calcium supplements on my crickets, I also steralize the water that's in her dripper, and I used some other vitamins. I put it in the worm package and shook em up. I need to know if your calcium has D3 in it or not. What is the name/type of the vitamins? Proper supplementation is very important. You should be using a calcium without D3 on every feeding except one per week. That one weekly feeding you’ll alternate using a calcium with D3 and the next week a multivitamin.
- I usually spray her cage with a mister by hand, I spray it until I see that everything is dripping water. I also just purchased a dripper and the tube is hanging down from the top of the cage so she can drink. I have not seen her drink a ton but I have a few times. How often are you misting? Many chams are secret drinkers.
- Fecal is a lot bigger than I anticipated tbh. She poops quite large for her size. But it is white and brown and solid. The white is the urine, called urate.
- She is a juvenile and she's a content chameleon she just sits around and chases crickets haha. I love her so far!!
- I have a starter screen cage for rango, I have a bunch of vines with real branches from trees, along with fake leaves I bought from petco. The minimum size for an adult cham is 2x2x4’, so start planning to upgrade soon. Vines and branches are great and you could/should add more. You’ll need to get some live plants and get rid of the fake. Veileds nibble their plants and if she eats a fake leaf, she could get impacted. I use the fake plants on the outside of my enclosures to provide my chams some privacy.
- I use a red light idk the brand but the petco person recommended it, I also use the starter uvb light for her. I plan to upgrade all of her things when she gets bigger!! Sorry, but the Petco person was wrong. Colored lights can be damaging to chams eyes and you have the wrong uvb. The coil uvb doesn’t provide adequate levels. You need a T5 ho fixture with a 5.0 uvb bulb, long enough to span the width of your enclosure. For basking, an old fashioned incandescent light bulb works well. LED bulbs don’t give off enough heat to be used. These changes are very important and can’t wait. Without proper uvb, her bone health is at very high risk.
- the temp at the top of the cage ranges from 80-85 and the bottom is room temp around 70-75 I have a temp gauge at the top of her cage A little bit too warm. Lower it to 80 and you’re good.
- her humidity ranges from 40-60, I spray her cage when it's dry and the humidity is near 40. I have a littte humidity have at the top of the cage. Not too bad. Ideal humidity range is between 30-50%. You do want everything to dry out between misting.
- I took some branches from my birch tree outside and stuck em in there. But I use mostly fake plants within her cage. I have two fake vines, 3 flower bushy things that hang on the sides and the top. Get a pothos or philodendron or a few and get the plastic out.
- My cage is in my dorm room on top of my mini fridge, the top of the cage is probably 5 and a half feet off the ground, usually at most there is four people in there. My roommate has a fan maybe three feet away from her but not blowing directly on her. The higher they are, the safer they feel.
- I do have a few questions for you guys, yesterday rango was a dark color and was just acting weird, I started to wonder if she's ready to lay unfertile eggs, what do they look like and act like when they are ready? Can you post a better pic of her? First she will become receptive...she’ll show all of her pretty colors and be restless. This is when she’s wanting to mate and lasts for a week or two. A few weeks after that she’ll start looking plumper and you may even see some little egg bulges. Anywhere from a few weeks to a month or so she’ll lay her eggs. To avoid guessing, it’s best to keep a lay bin as a permanent part of her enclosure. The lay bin should be at least 10x10x10” and filled to about 6-8” with washed play sand. It needs to be kept moist enough to hold a tunnel without collapsing. Once she starts digging, she’ll need absolute privacy...if she sees anyone watching, she’ll stop digging and most likely become eggbound. I cover the visible sides with a light sheet and have cut small holes so I can peek and monitor. Also am I doing a good job I've been trying my absolute hardest to keep her happy and most of the time she's ok but I just wanna make sure she's gonna be ok with my actions towards her.
- Please let me know what I can do to make her as comfortable as I can and just tell me how I'm doing. I can take constructive criticism so please don't be afraid. Constructive advice given...hope I don’t sound critical. Thank you all for your time