Second try with a veiled chameleon

[Sir Blaze Alot]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and somewhat new to chameleon keeping. I kept a veil chameleon about 5 years ago somewhat successfully. He lived a few months but I certainly made my fair share of mistakes. Anyway, I want to try again.

I plan on getting a 18x18x36 cage for a veiled chameleon. I know I don't need a substrate. But, what kind of plants/branches should I put in the cage optimally? Can someone send me a link where I can just directly buy the decor.

And also, can someone please send me a link to the most reputable chameleon dealer where I can order online. I live in Wisconsin so it is pretty hard to find a place that has them.

Thanks, and any other questions ill be sure to post here!

 

[Thompson]

You can buy all your supplies at lllreptile.com Check our site sponsors, many have a lot of veileds for sell Good luck with your search!

 

[Silkyslim]

Sweet another Wisconsinite. Where in the state you at? I been having a tough time locating other cham enthusiasts in our state, seem everyone's into bearded dragons, snakes and iguanas.

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...nd-live-plants/living-plants-and-tillandsias/

That is where I bought my plants, they also have everything else you could want to buy for your enclosure.

I'm looking to buy my cham from Screameleons as they seem to be one of the best reputable breeders I have found online, plus their website is awesome and full of great info.

Edit: Screameleons sells panthers though

http://www.screameleons.com/index.htm

 

[Ellron]

LLL is the place to get everything.
All our sponsors are GREAT!
I got my veiled from Chameleons101 but I don't think they have any more.
FL Chams has them, and so do alot of the other sponsors. Just check out them and you won't be disappointed.
You can post an ad in the classified section of the forum and see if anyone can give you a good price on their clutches.

Happy Hunting!

 

[kinyonga]

If you had problems keeping the first one then I would suggest you make sure you know more this time.

Here are some sites to get you started...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...rnals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20060421.../index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

 

[jannb]

I recently had baby veileds and this was the info that I provided to the new owners. Hopefully it will help you with your new veiled. I would also highly recommend you get a male.

You will need a starter cage to began with. I'd get a cage no bigger than 30 high at the max to start with. Too big he will not be able to find his food. Even a little smaller would be good. lllreptiles has about the best cages for the money and get something small enough that it will fit in your car so you can use it for travel......vet visits and so forth when he moves up to a big boy cage (48 inches high) or a free range tree. http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/reptile-cages-glass-and-screen/

You need a Reptisun 5.0 tube light. You can see a pic of it here: It's the best UV bulb.
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...por-bulbs/-/zoo-med-24-repti-sun-50-uvb-bulb/

You probably will not need a basking light right at first if he's young.....under 4 months old. He'll be so young he'll only need to bask at about 80 to 82 until 4 or 5 months old. Luie (my adult male veiled) bask as at 88 or 89.....once in awhile it gets to 90. You can use a household bulb you'll have to keep testing the temps. (25 to 40 watt or so)

Your lights need to be across the top of the cage and you need allot of vines and branches 8 inches or so down from the top.....under the lights. Veileds love to bask and you don't want him rubbing his veiled on the screen or he'll wear the top off.

You can make a homemade dripper. Take a plastic cup or bowl and poke a couple of very small holes in the bottom. As adults you can use a plastic milk jug. Fill it with warm water and make sure it drips very slow over a vine with leaves so your little guy can drink from the leaves. Also mist for a pretty long time. It takes awhile for them to start drinking. I would mist 3 or 4 times a day for 3 minutes or so at first. Just make sure the cage dries out real good between each misting. As adults I mist twice a day for about 5 minutes and mine drink water from a dropper.....see video below. You will need drainage for your cage. Maybe some holes in the bottom with a bucket or pan sitting under it to catch the water.

Branches from outside are ok from most trees. Clean them well and some member bake them in the oven. Cut the branch the size you need and thumb tacks can be use on each end to hold the branches up. You can also get vines and branches here: http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...terrarium-plants-vines-and-terrarium-accents/

You will need a couple of live plants....Ficus and pothos work great and are cham safe.

You really need the 5.0 UVB bulb like the one in the link above. It has to be the tube style. A must to keep you guy from having MBD. If it's fairly warm in your house at 2 to 3 months old you will not need a basking bulb, when older or if your house is cold you will need one. Measuring the heat is very important. I have a temp. gun. Very important to know their temps. They can fry in a very short time in the heat. At night he needs to be dark, no light, and cool so he can rest. He should be 10 degrees cooler at night than in the daytime but not below 65........70 as a baby.

The feeders have to be "lightly" dusted with 3 kinds of supplements. Plain calcium (no d3) at just about every feeding...... if you skip one or two days a month that's ok. Calcium with d3 twice a month and a multi. vit. once a month. In this link I use the 1st, 3rd and 5th one. http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/vitamins-medicines-and-cage-cleaners/

You need to gut load the feeders with collard greens they are excellent. You can also use kale, carrots, butternut squash apple and orange. You can also buy a premixed gut load. My vet makes one that I use and one of the Forums members sales it. https://www.chameleonforums.com/dry-gutload-sale-37717/

The Raising Kitty link on keeping veileds is excellent. I still refer to it from time to time. http://raisingkittytheveiledchamele...-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=11