Some questions from a new owner! Any help?

[etclement]

Hi! I'm getting my first chameleon (2-3 Month Veiled from Flchams) in a few days and I had a few questions before I'm ready to put him in his cage.

Here is an overview of what my husbandry will be like:

Cage

Cage is a 2x2x4 Reptibreeze XL. Lighting includes a 75w Repti Basking Spot Lamp for heat, and a ReptiSun 5.0 Compact Mini bulb for UVB. Humidity stays around 55-60 when not misting, and goes to 80 after misting. I mist for 1 min when the lights go on, 3 mins an hour later, 3 mins around 4:00 and 3 mins around 9:00. Temperatures at the basking spot range from 82 to 84. Lower in the cage, temps stay around 65 F, and the temperatures in the entire cage drop to 63 after the lights go off. I also have a Little Dripper.

Food

I'm going to be feeding him crickets, possibly dubia later on. They will be the appropriate size for his age. I am currently breeding the crickets and they are on a maintenance diet of vegetables and water. I am going to gut load with vegetables and Cricket Crack, or possibly just vegetables. I'm going to dust with Repashy Calcium Plus daily.

Setup

I have 1 dragon tree, 2 Pothos, 1 Parlor Palm, and a fake Pothos vine. For climbing, I have a ton of natural sticks and a few fake vines. Basking spot is about 7 inches from the lamp and ceiling.

Thanks for reading all of that if you got here! I'm very excited to finally get a cham after months of research and saving! I only have a few questions:

What multivitamin should I use and when?
Is a ReptiSun 5.0 Compact Mini too weak?
How many crickets should I give per day?

Thanks everyone for reading! If you see anything wrong that wasn't in the questions, feel free to correct me, I don't have the cham yet!

 

[starryskiezz]

I'm so excited for you!! <3 In terms of how much you should feed the baby, when I raised my Bames I would feed him once in the morning and once at night. I'd let him eat as many crickets as he wanted and would hand feed him. Also it's recommended that you give your cham crickets dusted with calcium and D3 at least twice a month, but I would give Bames calcium-dusted crickets at least once a week when he was your chams age so he could grow properly.

Also, as a baby I find it's beneficial to have extra humidity. When my chameleon was a baby I had him in a small terrarium that had a lid with lights in it which helped to maintain heat and humidity. Then, when Bames was older I moved him into a terrarium with higher airflow, as chameleons that are older do better in slightly less humid environments. Thus, I would personally suggest since you have a reptibreeze cage, I would cut some thick clear plastic or a clear shower curtain and use it to cover most of the sides to keep humidity in.

 

[starryskiezz]

Also in terms of multivitamins, just grab him one from a pet store for reptiles, and also grab him another calcium and vitamin D3 supplement!

 

[etclement]

I'm so excited for you!! <3 In terms of how much you should feed the baby, when I raised my Bames I would feed him once in the morning and once at night. I'd let him eat as many crickets as he wanted and would hand feed him. Also it's recommended that you give your cham crickets dusted with calcium and D3 at least twice a month, but I would give Bames calcium-dusted crickets at least once a week when he was your chams age so he could grow properly.

Also, as a baby I find it's beneficial to have extra humidity. When my chameleon was a baby I had him in a small terrarium that had a lid with lights in it which helped to maintain heat and humidity. Then, when Bames was older I moved him into a terrarium with higher airflow, as chameleons that are older do better in slightly less humid environments. Thus, I would personally suggest since you have a reptibreeze cage, I would cut some thick clear plastic or a clear shower curtain and use it to cover most of the sides to keep humidity in.

Also in terms of multivitamins, just grab him one from a pet store for reptiles, and also grab him another calcium and vitamin D3 supplement!

Thanks for the help! I heard that Repashy Calcium Plus had little enough D3 to be given daily, is that true? Also, is there a specific multivitamin you recommend?

 

[Glen the Jackson's]

i would not give him the calcium with d3 daily. i ordered just plain calcium off of amazon. The enclosure looks awesome, he's gunna love it

 

[kinyonga]

It's recommended that you dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at almost every feeding to help make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects.

It's recommended that you dust twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving the chameleon to produce the rest of the D3 from its exposure to the UVB. UVB from supplements can build up in the system and lead to health issues but D3 produced from exposure to the UVB won't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it at will.

It's recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene prOformed source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A won't build up in the system but prEformed sources will...so this leaves you in charge of the prEformed.

It's important to feed/gutload the insects well as well. I use a wide assortment of greens and veggies and a little bit of fruit.

 

[etclement]

It's recommended that you dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at almost every feeding to help make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects.

It's recommended that you dust twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving the chameleon to produce the rest of the D3 from its exposure to the UVB. UVB from supplements can build up in the system and lead to health issues but D3 produced from exposure to the UVB won't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it at will.

It's recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene prOformed source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A won't build up in the system but prEformed sources will...so this leaves you in charge of the prEformed.

It's important to feed/gutload the insects well as well. I use a wide assortment of greens and veggies and a little bit of fruit.

Thanks! I got a gutload of mustard greens, carrots, apples, and oranges today, and I'm going to order a better UVB bulb. I also bought Calcium with D3, pet store didn't have without D3. I'm also going to get a cleaner crew soon. Do you have any recommendations for a cleaner crew?

 

[Inky]

what i reccomend , and this is completly preference is that instead of breeding crickets i would switch to breeding dubia roachs.. i know its hard for some people to get over the fact that there roachs but there much better then crickets in so many ways . i strongly reccomend you watch this video !

 

[Nursemaia]

Thanks for the help! I heard that Repashy Calcium Plus had little enough D3 to be given daily, is that true? Also, is there a specific multivitamin you recommend?

You don't need any additional vitamins if you use the Repashy. It's an all-in-one and all you need and safe to use everyday

 

[etclement]

what i reccomend , and this is completly preference is that instead of breeding crickets i would switch to breeding dubia roachs.. i know its hard for some people to get over the fact that there roachs but there much better then crickets in so many ways . i strongly reccomend you watch this video !

I was going to switch to dubia after a while, but I have to know if the Cham likes them or not. Thanks!