Slow Acclimating and Not Feeding.

Your ambient temps are fine, I would bump up the basking temp only after you get him in a screen cage. It is hard to provide a good temperature gradient in a glass cage, so definitely wait until you get a screen cage. Its not the most important issue right now, it is for sure your small glass cage. But yea I would personally have a 75 watt bulb for a veiled in a screen cage because a 50 watt will not give enough heat for a basking spot.

-chris
 
175 gal Reptarium, softtray, and supplements ordered. Had to split it between Big Apple and LLL since softtray was out of stock at Big Apple. Hopefully, I will at least get the cage before the weekend since they advertised same day shipping.....
 
Brad Ramsey said:
Repti-Sun 5.0 is the preferred linear tube.
If you are going to use a reptarium tho, you might want the 10.0 linear tube.
Here is some husbandry info for the species (since you're new to chameleons):

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

-Brad
Click to expand...


Sorry I don't mean to be a bother here and look like I am stealing the thread, but I have my Cham in a 32 gallon flexarium (he is still small got him in October as a baby) He seems to be doing fine, but did you suggest the 10.0UVB because not enough UVB will get through? If this is the case should I do the same for my guy? The brand I use is 5.0 Exo-Terra, Repti-sun is not offered up here.
 
Ok, the Reptarium is here and he is in it. Seems nice, but instructions on installing the netting would have been nice for the nonhandy among us. :( Finally figured it out. I also thought there would be a few anchors for climbing stuff other than just the cage frame. Oh well.

I was also worried the spot light would melt through the netting on top so I just took the metal screen top from the aquarium placed it on top and put the spot and Slimline on top of that. I'll check the temps tomorrow. I did buy a 75W halogen to upgrade my spot. Could not believe that Home Depo which had hundreds of cheap spots a year ago did not sell a one, halogen only. WTF??


Anybody use halogen spots?? Good??

Of course, he heads right for the floor despite all the branches I painstakingly setup. Hopefully he will come up to bask in the AM.

It is going to be a work in progress as the softtray has not even left California yet. I guess Big Apple ships quicker than LLL.


We will see if the Cham has read the forum and knows he is supposed to calm down now, start eating, and attain a more natural appearance.......;)
 
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Which UVB did you get? I apologize if I missed it...
I would be afraid that concentrated heat from the Halogen spot would melt the mesh-I just use 100 watt lightbulbs-they work fine-just make sure the bulb itself is not touching the mesh.
 
Repti Glo 10.0 tube.

Don't know if straight 100W would fit in my fixture due to the bulb shape vs the flat topped spot.

I know I am new to this but it seems pretty obvious these cages should have metal not nylon screening for the top only, or am I missing something??
 
I have been using Reptariums for years and have never had a melting problem-crickets chewing through the mesh-YES-but never melting. Make sure you remove the lens from that Slimline fixture. I had actually thought about doing the same thing with an aquarium screen top but that filters out even MORE of the UVB.
 
You put your heating lamp right on the mesh?? What type do you use? I have the standard ceramic based herp spot.

Eating through the mesh? Yikes. He better start eating the infernal things then!:)

Yeah, I removed the plastic last week as soon as I starting using the tube rather than the CF
 
What plants do u have in there? Luckly we live in Fl so plants are cheap and easy to find! I would rec going to a nursery, they seem to be cheaper and have larger plants, once u get some (there is a list of safe and recommended plants on this forum) u will have to repot them and wash them to remove the fertilizer and pesticides.You want it to be as dense with plants as possible!! Also are u misting? Do u have a humidity gauge? Awesome u got one "outta ur backyard-WC"
 
Fred said:
What plants do u have in there? Luckly we live in Fl so plants are cheap and easy to find! I would rec going to a nursery, they seem to be cheaper and have larger plants, once u get some (there is a list of safe and recommended plants on this forum) u will have to repot them and wash them to remove the fertilizer and pesticides.You want it to be as dense with plants as possible!! Also are u misting? Do u have a humidity gauge? Awesome u got one "outta ur backyard-WC"
Click to expand...

If he's wild caught, he's going to HATE a cage. You should try free range. Jann
 
Just my opinion but if he's not for a breeding project which he's obviously not I'd let him go exactly where you found him. I would never keep a heathy wild chameleon or any wild animal. I just think it's cruel. If you want a chameleon as a pet buy a CB one from a reputable breeder.
 
alhickabee said:
Just my opinion but if he's not for a breeding project which he's obviously not I'd let him go exactly where you found him. I would never keep a heathy wild chameleon or any wild animal. I just think it's cruel. If you want a chameleon as a pet buy a CB one from a reputable breeder.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:

Every cb Chameleon in the world came from wild caught stock.

And pretty much every biologist and wildlife scientist would tell you collecting an exotic is a good thing. At least those that would not just insist you should kill it out of hand......
 
Lloyd Heilbrunn said:
:rolleyes:

Every cb Chameleon in the world came from wild caught stock.

And pretty much every biologist and wildlife scientist would tell you collecting an exotic is a good thing. At least those that would not just insist you should kill it out of hand......
Click to expand...

No shit chameleons weren't made in a laboratory. But those WC chameleons were used for breeding so that people like you and me can buy CB chameleon and not have to damage wild population. CBs will be all around better pets and WC chams should be left for the experienced breeders. I'd really don't think that any biologist or wildlife scientist would think its a good idea to take a healthy animal that isn't causing any problems from his habitat. It's only causing unneeded stress and if enough people start scooping up their own WC it'll eventually destroy the wild population. Now the only rebuttal I can see is that veileds are not a native species to FL but isn't cool that there are wild populations now that we should be advocates of protecting.

Perfect example is box turtles. Here in TX they were everywhere in the 80s now their numbers are hurting and they are semi-protected. What do you think caused this.... everyone wanted one as a pet and it was easier to go collect WC ones than breed CB ones. Luckily in the last couple of years they've started to come back. I've been tracking and cataloging wild box turtles around a neighborhood lake on my own for the last couple of years and I've seen a slight rise in how many specimens I catalog each year, thank god. All I'm trying to say since we are all animal lovers here we should pay respect to wild animals by leaving them be.
 
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alhickabee said:
l I can see is that veileds are not a native species to FL but isn't cool that there are wild populations now that we should be advocates of protecting.
Click to expand...

Absolutely not.
I am in full support of any collection of these animals in Florida.

-Brad
 
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^Really?!?!, why? I don't know their effects in Florida if they are damaging the native eco-system then I would agree. Care to back-up your statement with a reason?

Who are is anyone to say that an animal born in the wild and who made it to adulthood should be captured and forced to live this rest of his life in a cage. I don't think you'd like being thrown in prison for no good reason other than the guard thought you were pretty and wanted look at you everyday. Now if you were to collect them and relocate them back to their real natural habitat I'd have no problem. These are wild animals and should be left to enjoy their freedom in the wild.
 
Well, my heart would agree with you alhickabee, but my head tells me otherwise. They are a feral species here. Someone let some go and unfortunately/fortunately Florida temps allow many non-native species to survive and even thrive. The non-native snake issue is huge in the Everglades. Any species that is non-native is doing some damage to the ecosystem. I do agree that a WC cham from anywhere is not a good first cham. unfortunately again you see these FL WC chams in the Petstores here all the time and the people buying them do not have a clue.
It reminds me of the deer hunts in Indiana. I always felt bad when they would have the hunts in the State Parks, but once you saw how overpopulated they were with few predators and the numbers of them that were literally starving, your head knows that the herd will be better off with fewer numbers,
 
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