Supplements? Ect

newbieCham

New Member
Hello!
I have had my veiled for a little over a month now, with help from others on this forum we are estimating her to be 4-5 months.
We just finished building her a 2 ft wide by 4 foot high cage, and currently working on placing all of her new plants before moving her over. With suggestions from others I am replacing her current lighting duo and will just be using a reptisun t5ho 22” bulb with no other lighting. Is this okay? I’ve had many people tell me it was, but I’m a paranoid Cham mom.
I also just received all of the new supplements and will be using;
-Fluckers calcium without D3
-Repashy superfoods calcium plus
-repti calcium with D3
Will these work for supplements? What kind of schedule should I use them?
Is there anything that I’m missing?

I should add, we are currently using a watering tree. (A fake tree that drips water down the leaves) but I plan on returning it tomorrow and replacing it with a misting system. The average temperature in our house and her cage is 73 degrees.
She is cricket fed. They are gut loaded with fluckers complete cricket diet, collard greens, bananas, carrots and occasionally apples.
Thank you in advance for your help. I originally just wanted to ask about the supplements but as soon as I come on this forum I second guess everything that I “know” so far.
 
Hello!
I have had my veiled for a little over a month now, with help from others on this forum we are estimating her to be 4-5 months.
We just finished building her a 2 ft wide by 4 foot high cage, and currently working on placing all of her new plants before moving her over. With suggestions from others I am replacing her current lighting duo and will just be using a reptisun t5ho 22” bulb with no other lighting. Is this okay? I’ve had many people tell me it was, but I’m a paranoid Cham mom.
Your chameleon will need a basking light, and the plants will need plant lights.

For basking, I prefer (in order of preference):
  1. Household incandescent bulb (not LED)
  2. Incandescent flood light (not LED and not spot light)
  3. Halogen flood light (not spot light)
A clamp light fixture works well for basking lights.

Basking lamps are best installed/mounted at an angle to produce a temperature gradient rather than a hot-spot.

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Determining wattage, distance, and angle are a matter of trial & error. I suggest starting with 75W (or equiv.) and if necessary, move up or down in wattage.

For plant lights, I prefer LEDs, specifically for a 24 x 24 x 48 enclosure I like/recommend:
https://www.sansiled.com/70w-led-grow-light-full-spectrum.html
Coupons are usually available.

LEDs are generally more powerful, last 5X longer, don't contain mercury, and many (like above) are self-contained and don't require an additional fixture.

I try to set up lights like a Venn diagram to allow the cham to seek out/find the light it wants/needs. This isn't as important for plant lights except that plant lights are often the brightest in an enclosure and reptiles instinctively try to bask under the brightest source.

1621429353697.png

I also just received all of the new supplements and will be using;
-Fluckers calcium without D3
-Repashy superfoods calcium plus
-repti calcium with D3
Will these work for supplements? What kind of schedule should I use them?
Is there anything that I’m missing?
Those should be sufficient.
Schedule: Pick a day of the week to be Supplement Day. I use Sunday because that's the day I clean enclosures & perform other reptile-related weekly chores.

Mark your calendar ahead of time so you don't have to remember. Alternate Supplement Days, dust with either multivitamins or calcium with D3—not both. Every other day of the week, dust with calcium without D3/phosphorus.

I should add, we are currently using a watering tree. (A fake tree that drips water down the leaves) but I plan on returning it tomorrow and replacing it with a misting system. The average temperature in our house and her cage is 73 degrees.
She is cricket fed. They are gut loaded with fluckers complete cricket diet, collard greens, bananas, carrots and occasionally apples.
Variety in diet is best. These feeder insects can usually be found locally or online.

1624081383873.png


Mealworms—particularly Giant mealworms—aren't bad as "in moderation" or emergency feeders.

1624081578975.png


Do you have instrumentation to monitor temperatures & humidities? I like to use digital hygrometer/thermometers with probes; they're inexpensive, and far more accurate & reliable than dial/analog gauges/meters.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Y6CYVT9/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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I also just received all of the new supplements and will be using;
-Fluckers calcium without D3
-Repashy superfoods calcium plus
-repti calcium with D3
Will these work for supplements? What kind of schedule should I use them?
Is there anything that I’m missing?
So the Flukers Calcium without D3 is fine. Use this at every feeding.

Repashy Superfoods Calcium Plus (better known as just Repashy Calcium Plus on the forums) has both D3 and a multivitamin. This means that supplementing with Repticalcium with D3 is unnecessary as you will get both D3 and multivitamins from Repashy Calcium Plus. Too much D3 can be deadly, so you can safely get rid of the Repticalcium with D3. Use the Repashy Calcium Plus twice a month.

For the lighting, insect feeders, and gutload, refer to the post above.

For the linear uvb light, is it a 5.0 or 10.0? This number will help determine how far under the uvb light you need to place the basking branch.
 
I use the rapashy calcium plus (both regular and the LoD3) exclusively and have not had to use any other supplement. I dust every feeding with the calcium plus lightly, and use the LoD3 on weeks where they can get a couple days of sunshine so I don't over supplement d3.
 
I use the rapashy calcium plus (both regular and the LoD3) exclusively and have not had to use any other supplement. I dust every feeding with the calcium plus lightly, and use the LoD3 on weeks where they can get a couple days of sunshine so I don't over supplement d3.
@Thompson, Panther chameleons can take more D3 than veileds. Some people with panthers have success using it at every feeding and others have not. But to my knowledge, veiled chameleons cannot take the extra D3. Twice a month should be plenty for a veiled.

Thompson, if it works for you, keep the schedule. I checked out (and followed) your Instagram account and your chams are healthy and extremely beautiful, so I know they are doing well! However, it never hurts to use less D3 than at every feeding.
 
@Thompson, Panther chameleons can take more D3 than veileds. Some people with panthers have success using it at every feeding and others have not. But to my knowledge, veiled chameleons cannot take the extra D3. Twice a month should be plenty for a veiled.

Thompson, if it works for you, keep the schedule. I checked out (and followed) your Instagram account and your chams are healthy and extremely beautiful, so I know they are doing well! However, it never hurts to use less D3 than at every feeding.
I usually only use the LoD3 when I take them outside for a couple of hours. I use the calcium plus every other feeding though!
 
@newbieCham It can be confusing for us when there are multiple threads posted about the same issue. For future reference, please stick to posting only one thread per topic/issue
 
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I usually only use the LoD3 when I take them outside for a couple of hours. I use the calcium plus every other feeding though!
That's backwards IMHO...we put chameleons in the sunlight so they can make their own D3 from exposure to the sun. We give D3 in supplements once or twice a month to provide some D3 but in a way that it doesn't overdose the chameleon on D3. D3 from supplements is fat soluble and builds up in the system and leads to health issues. D3 produced from the sun shouldn't lead to an overdose as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the sun at will.
 
That's backwards IMHO...we put chameleons in the sunlight so they can make their own D3 from exposure to the sun. We give D3 in supplements once or twice a month to provide some D3 but in a way that it doesn't overdose the chameleon on D3. D3 from supplements is fat soluble and builds up in the system and leads to health issues. D3 produced from the sun shouldn't lead to an overdose as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the sun at will.
If your chams are outside long enough, they shouldn't be getting supplemented with D3 at all
Sorry! I don't dust feeders when my chams are outside. I just switch to the LoD3 on the next feeding, on the day after my chams have spent a good amount of time out in the sun. Would you say this is still overkill? In this case, would you say a regular calcium supplement w/o the d3 is needed so that I can ensure they get the calcium they need in their diet on the weeks they get their d3 naturally from the sun?
 
When they get enough sun, it should be phosphorus-free calcium w/out D3 every feeding and a quality multivitamin w/out D3 (and preferably with preformed Vit. A, like Zoo Med Reptivite W/Out D3) once every 2 weeks
 
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