Substrate, planting plants, laybin?

[Nal0114]

I’m sure there are posts everywhere about this topic so I’m sorry if this seems redundant. I have a veiled Cham. Estimated to be between 6-8 months old.

I have her in a dragon stand hybrid cage which she absolutely loves.

Now I know chammies spend all or most of their lives in trees and stuff. I wanted to plant plants at the bottom but idk what substrate is safe for her especially if she’s planning on crapping eggs out anytime soon.

That leads me too.

Can I see everyone’s laybin ideas because I’m at a loss she hates everything. But I know she has eggs in there

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!

Perhaps you’d like to answer the questions below so we can check out her husbandry…What uvb light are you using? Longnlinear or spiral, brand', etc? Supplements? How much do you feed her in a week?
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

Laybin ideas…



I’ll leave it to some others to tell you about substrates in chameleon cages because I never use them.

 

[elizaann2]

Omg she does look like she hates everything . I love her sweet little grumpy face! I’ll share pics of my lay bin below

Also let’s double check that UVB, if she wasn’t getting proper uvb she may struggle to turn the follicles in her body into eggs. (Something I’m currently dealing with myself)

 

[elizaann2]

Omg she does look like she hates everything . I love her sweet little grumpy face! I’ll share pics of my lay bin below

Also let’s double check that UVB, if she wasn’t getting proper uvb she may struggle to turn the follicles in her body into eggs. (Something I’m currently dealing with myself)

Oh some info on my lay bin. It’s 50% organic play sand, 50% organic dirt. I have two plants in there for a root ball for her to dig and lay against and buried in one of the empty corners are some rocks. The bin itself is quite large I can get you measurements if you need.

I then have lots of sticks and some pothos vines leading into the bin.

 

[Nal0114]

Welcome to the forum!

Perhaps you’d like to answer the questions below so we can check out her husbandry…What uvb light are you using? Longnlinear or spiral, brand', etc? Supplements? How much do you feed her in a week?
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

Laybin ideas…



I’ll leave it to some others to tell you about substrates in chameleon cages because I never use them.

Currently she has a spiral 10.0 bulb zoo med, but she has a new linear one coming it just hasn’t gotten here yet, and that is an Acadia forest. She eats everyday between 3-6 crickets depending on her and what she’s feeling and half of them have calcium powder the other half doesn’t (because she’s a picky eater and won’t always eat powdered crickets).

I bought her as a sick Cham. I knew she was sick, but I am a vet tech and I wanted to try to help her. She was severely and I mean absolutely severely underweight, she had a poor shed resulting in her eyes not wanting to open. We did an x ray and that’s how we knew she had eggs in her

 

[Nal0114]

Oh some info on my lay bin. It’s 50% organic play sand, 50% organic dirt. I have two plants in there for a root ball for her to dig and lay against and buried in one of the empty corners are some rocks. The bin itself is quite large I can get you measurements if you need.

I then have lots of sticks and some pothos vines leading into the bin.

She’s a little turd, she is definitely the most picky reptile I’ve ever owned in my life. She got an attitude when I added the bromeliad to her enclosure then she decided she likes it so I’m barely around to make sure it’s watered enough .

I didn’t try planting plants in it I just gave her a container of dirt and she looked at it very disgustingly and then gave me that same look.

Her 2 bigger plants are in containers. I haven’t seen her show interest in them yet, but she will go hunting for her bugs in them.

 

[MissSkittles]

I really like bioactive set ups for so many reasons, one of which is having the entire floor of the enclosure be a giant lay bin. However, I learned all too well from one of my girls that she would only lay her precious eggs in her standard lay bin that she had used prior to having her enclosure made bioactive. I have a panther princess that has only ever known her bioactive, but she has never laid eggs. She just enjoys hanging out waiting for a stray isopod to wander by for her to eat. Both of my veiled girls preferred large bins of at least 12” long and wide (deep also). After drilling some small drainage holes in the bottom, I filled it to about 5-6” deep with washed play sand kept moistened enough to hold a tunnel without collapsing. Don’t forget to provide a couple of stable ways in/out of the bin. To spare so very much typing and such, here’s my laying 101. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/help-please.191685/post-1789678

 

[Nal0114]

I really like bioactive set ups for so many reasons, one of which is having the entire floor of the enclosure be a giant lay bin. However, I learned all too well from one of my girls that she would only lay her precious eggs in her standard lay bin that she had used prior to having her enclosure made bioactive. I have a panther princess that has only ever known her bioactive, but she has never laid eggs. She just enjoys hanging out waiting for a stray isopod to wander by for her to eat. Both of my veiled girls preferred large bins of at least 12” long and wide (deep also). After drilling some small drainage holes in the bottom, I filled it to about 5-6” deep with washed play sand kept moistened enough to hold a tunnel without collapsing. Don’t forget to provide a couple of stable ways in/out of the bin. To spare so very much typing and such, here’s my laying 101. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/help-please.191685/post-1789678

I really want a bioactive set up I just think it looks nicer but everyone says it’s a horrid idea. I saved your post it’s very informative. She hasn’t started showing colors like that yet. She did at one time have little black spots but she was also upset that the fogger turned in.

 

[MissSkittles]

I really want a bioactive set up I just think it looks nicer but everyone says it’s a horrid idea. I saved your post it’s very informative. She hasn’t started showing colors like that yet. She did at one time have little black spots but she was also upset that the fogger turned in.

Why do people tell you bioactive would be a horrid idea? The worst thing that I’ve experienced is every now and then I’ll find a lost isopod walking down the hall. I enjoy having a little slice of nature for not just my animals, but for me too. It’s not that difficult to get set up, but certain things do need to be done correctly (regarding drainage mostly). This is what I use as a guide. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/ I use fabric root pouches to contain my substrate. If you want to do bioactive, you’ve got support and assistance for it from here.

 

[BleuSaphir]

Why do people tell you bioactive would be a horrid idea? The worst thing that I’ve experienced is every now and then I’ll find a lost isopod walking down the hall. I enjoy having a little slice of nature for not just my animals, but for me too. It’s not that difficult to get set up, but certain things do need to be done correctly (regarding drainage mostly). This is what I use as a guide. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/ I use fabric root pouches to contain my substrate. If you want to do bioactive, you’ve got support and assistance for it from here.

If OP getting their information from Facebook…that where everyone SAID substrate is a health risk hazard. There is no benefits for chameleon to have bioactive enclosure.

 

[Nal0114]

Why do people tell you bioactive would be a horrid idea? The worst thing that I’ve experienced is every now and then I’ll find a lost isopod walking down the hall. I enjoy having a little slice of nature for not just my animals, but for me too. It’s not that difficult to get set up, but certain things do need to be done correctly (regarding drainage mostly). This is what I use as a guide. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/ I use fabric root pouches to contain my substrate. If you want to do bioactive, you’ve got support and assistance for it from here.

They say it breeds bacteria which I’ve read the absolute opposite of. Idc about clean up I have a shop vac. But everyone seemed against it and I’m still 100% all
About it.

 

[BleuSaphir]

They say it breeds bacteria which I’ve read the absolute opposite of. Idc about clean up I have a shop vac. But everyone seemed against it and I’m still 100% all
About it.

Try not to take advice from them like it a bible like they do. It contradictory to say substrate is bad for them because it breed bacteria. Avoid all cost to keep it bare bottom. But to say a Female chameleon Need a laying bin WITH substrate.

Chameleon Academy have lot of information with many approaches you can seek.

 

[kinyonga]

You said…”She eats everyday between 3-6 crickets depending on her and what she’s feeling and half of them have calcium powder the other half doesn’t (because she’s a picky eater and won’t always eat powdered crickets)”…large crickets? If so, this will likely make her produce/release more follicles than she should, thus lead to a bigger clutch than she would produce in the wild and also push her towards follicular stasis and/or dystocia. Cutting them back on the number of insects and keeping her basking temperature at 80F will help prevent both of these Issues.

Regarding dusting the insects…IMHO, it’s important to dust all the crickets (and other insects that have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous). How heavily are you dusting the ones you dust?

 

[Nal0114]

Try not to take advice from them like it a bible like they do. It contradictory to say substrate is bad for them because it breed bacteria. Avoid all cost to keep it bare bottom. But to say a Female chameleon Need a laying bin WITH substrate.

Chameleon Academy have lot of information with many approaches you can seek.

I don’t follow it like a bible I WILL have a bioactive set up for her, I was just looking for tips on safe ways to set it up I want her to feel like she’s at home. And she isn’t gonna feel that way in a generic set up

 

[MissSkittles]

The way I see it, nature isn’t sterile or even clean (by human standards). Not all bacteria is bad. I’ve questioned whether or not my leopard geckos are happy in their bioactive tanks. Then I see how they explore, dig a bit and climb and much more active than they ever were when just on paper towel substrate. My chameleons enjoy hunting isopods.

 

[elizaann2]

The way I see it, nature isn’t sterile or even clean (by human standards). Not all bacteria is bad. I’ve questioned whether or not my leopard geckos are happy in their bioactive tanks. Then I see how they explore, dig a bit and climb and much more active than they ever were when just on paper towel substrate. My chameleons enjoy hunting isopods.

I appreciate you sharing this as I’ve been exploring bioactive for my chams as well.

 

[Nal0114]

I agree I can’t wait til plants start coming into season

 

[elizaann2]

I agree I can’t wait til plants start coming into season

Me too! I’ve got some ideas for my figure bioactives I really want to do.

 

[Nal0114]

You said…”She eats everyday between 3-6 crickets depending on her and what she’s feeling and half of them have calcium powder the other half doesn’t (because she’s a picky eater and won’t always eat powdered crickets)”…large crickets? If so, this will likely make her produce/release more follicles than she should, thus lead to a bigger clutch than she would produce in the wild and also push her towards follicular stasis and/or dystocia. Cutting them back on the number of insects and keeping her basking temperature at 80F will help prevent both of these Issues.

Regarding dusting the insects…IMHO, it’s important to dust all the crickets (and other insects that have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous). How heavily are you dusting the ones you dust?

It’s barely a coating they almost look like they don’t have anything on them. She doesn’t seem to like the powder and would sooner starve than eat a bug that’s got it

 

[kinyonga]

I’d worry about her getting enough calcium.
each cricket has a bad ratio of calcium to phosphorous, so only dusting half of them is only giving her enough calcium to make up for that half of the crickets being short of calcium.