The New guy !

scotty1979

New Member
Hello to you all

As this is my first thread on this forum I am hoping that you will go easy on me
I am the proud owner-keeper Yemen Chameleon and I would like to show her to you and also her new home that I am still building.

I am hoping that you will give me your advice in a number of areas: - Lighting, feeding, Hydrating, Plants,

Also I would like to know your views on keeping 2 Chameleons in one home as from research they so do not do it!

But the pet shop I use always keeps multiple chameleons in a large viv with no problems.

Hope you like my set up !


Pic 1 is Cammy
Pic 2 is the old viv 1000mm hight 900mm wide 500mm deep
pic 3 New Viv 2000mm High 1200mm wide and 700mm deep No netting
Pic 4 new viv
Pic 5 New viv with netting and ligths
 

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Looks good, just add more plants. Be careful with the subtrate, I recommend against it becasue it can cause impaction. My male became impacted once, then he managed to pass it all while I was checking him over... It was kinda gross and large...

Chameleons can be kep to gether in very large cages, but it is not recommended unless you know exatly what you are doing and know the chameleons body language well as it could possibly lead to one chameleons death. Pet stores often keep more than one together for short periods of time. It is also detrimental to to the females health if they are kept in a male-female pair as she would be bred to death.

Any specific questions?

EDIT: oh yeah! I wouldn't use that red bulb. Get a plain incandescent house light to use, they dont recognize red as heat. the sun isn't red, is it? :)
 
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Reply

Thanks for your reply !

Please tel me what you mean by impacted!" Im guessing you mean ingest - ingested"

As the subtrate is very small only about the size of an ant for this reason.
And this is only on the surface of the large planted tube at the bottom.
This was done to show any marks of her attempts to lay eggs !
The tube allows for potting all live plants and for her to lay eggs.
I would love to keep more than one as i always feel she looks lonely.



Looks good, just add more plants. Be careful with the subtrate, I recommend against it becasue it can cause impaction. My male became impacted once, then he managed to pass it all while I was checking him over... It was kinda gross and large...

Chameleons can be kep to gether in very large cages, but it is not recommended unless you know exatly what you are doing and know the chameleons body language well as it could possibly lead to one chameleons death. Pet stores often keep more than one together for short periods of time. It is also detrimental to to the females health if they are kept in a male-female pair as she would be bred to death.

Any specific questions?
 
You'd need a way bigger cage to keep more than one. They aren't really a socializing pet, they like to be lonely.

Impaction is when they eat things like dirt, mealworms, and bark off of trees and it causes their insides to become blocked. I was lucky that he didn't die because many impactions kill. Or at the very least they cause a large, large vet bill! I also edited my post, so check that part out.
 
Personally I like your new sey up. It does need some more leafy plants for cover though. About half of my basking bulbs are 60 watt red bulbs, the other half are ceramic, and as soon as the lights come on in the morning my chams go running for those red bulbs and I haven't had problems yet. As long as you don't leave the rud bulb on at night you'll be ok because chams see the red light just like we do and won't sleep if its shining in their viv. No they don't associate red as heat naturally but after they notice the temp difference under the red light they will begin to use it all the time. Good luck.



Justin


EDIT: Do not keep two veilds in the same enclosure. They are generally agressive animals and the male will mate your female to a very exhausting and premature end. Substrate can work with certain chams that do not usually have interest in plants like panthers. Even then it is still very risky because they can get pieces of it with their food if they are hunting near teh ground and get impacted and die. I would never keep a veild with substrate because I can not count how mant times I have heard of veilds eating their trees, dirt, rock, and any other substrate. Some of those times the vet saved them, and others they died.
 
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And it doesnt matter what size the substrate is because if it doesnt break down in the chams stomach it will build up and build un and will still cause problems. For example a thousand little ant sized pieces of dirt = one big chuck of dirt that will prevent anything to pass and cause death.



EDIT: No my red bulbs don't emit UVA or UVB. I have them placed next to the 48" reptisun 5.0 though so they can heat up and get UVB or move to just get UVB at the otehr end if they want.
 
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I'm pretty sure chameleons need UVA and that bulb doesn't have it (from the description anyways.) you need a 5.0, not a 2.0 that is replaced every 6 months.
 
Welcome to the forum!
Be careful...chameleons are addictive....I haven't been able to give them up in the last 20 years!

You said..."I am hoping that you will give me your advice in a number of areas: - Lighting, feeding, Hydrating, Plants"...
I use a Repti-sun 5.0 long linear fluorescent tube light and a regular fluorescent light on all my female veileds. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic. (This applies to sunlight too BTW.) Unless the temperature drops quite low, I don't use a basking light. Keeping them this way, along with their diet and everything else I do, they don't produce eggs and live long lives.

I gutload/feed the insects a good diet and I supplement as follows...
At most feedings I dust with a phos.-free calcium to help make up for the often poor ratio of calcium to phos. in most feeder insects.

I dust twice a month lightly with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon has some without overdoing it. The rest should come from exposure to UVB. D3 from supplements can build up in the system...so don't overdo it.

I dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. Beta carotene can't build up in the chameleon's system...however, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert it so some people give a little prEformed vitamin A once in a while. PrEformed vitamin A may interfere with the D3 and can push the chameleon towards MBD...so be careful with it.

With baby chameleons I mist several times a day. I don't use a dripper until they are several months old because it has been said that they can aspirate water if it pools or if the drips are too big.

The dripper can be as simple as a deli cup with a tiny hole in the bottom of it.

Plants should be non-toxic and well-washed (both sides of the leaves) and the soil rinsed through thoroughly. Its usually recommended that the soil be covered with large pebbles (too big to ingest) to prevent the chameleon from eating the soil.

You said..."Also I would like to know your views on keeping 2 Chameleons in one home as from research they so do not do it!"...most of the time one or both will eventually have health issues. In the wild they can move away from each other when one is stressing the other out. In captivity there isn't usually enough distance that can be put between them...so the often silent stress can get the best of them.

BTW...I would recommend that you make a place in her cage for her to dig in case she has to lay eggs.
Also...can you post a couple of pictures of her standing on something...I'm concerned she might have MBD.

Here are some good sites that you might read...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://adcham.com/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=102
 
Many thanks to you for your information !

Please tell me what MBD is ? :confused:
What sort of phot do you wont ! Ie good shot of her on a branch?and i will post them straight away !
Also the bottom of the cage is a larg potted tray that is 4 feet x 2 feet and 10 inches deep for potting the plants and for her to lay her eggs if needed !


Welcome to the forum!
Be careful...chameleons are addictive....I haven't been able to give them up in the last 20 years!

You said..."I am hoping that you will give me your advice in a number of areas: - Lighting, feeding, Hydrating, Plants"...
I use a Repti-sun 5.0 long linear fluorescent tube light and a regular fluorescent light on all my female veileds. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic. (This applies to sunlight too BTW.) Unless the temperature drops quite low, I don't use a basking light. Keeping them this way, along with their diet and everything else I do, they don't produce eggs and live long lives.

I gutload/feed the insects a good diet and I supplement as follows...
At most feedings I dust with a phos.-free calcium to help make up for the often poor ratio of calcium to phos. in most feeder insects.

I dust twice a month lightly with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon has some without overdoing it. The rest should come from exposure to UVB. D3 from supplements can build up in the system...so don't overdo it.

I dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. Beta carotene can't build up in the chameleon's system...however, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert it so some people give a little prEformed vitamin A once in a while. PrEformed vitamin A may interfere with the D3 and can push the chameleon towards MBD...so be careful with it.

With baby chameleons I mist several times a day. I don't use a dripper until they are several months old because it has been said that they can aspirate water if it pools or if the drips are too big.

The dripper can be as simple as a deli cup with a tiny hole in the bottom of it.

Plants should be non-toxic and well-washed (both sides of the leaves) and the soil rinsed through thoroughly. Its usually recommended that the soil be covered with large pebbles (too big to ingest) to prevent the chameleon from eating the soil.

You said..."Also I would like to know your views on keeping 2 Chameleons in one home as from research they so do not do it!"...most of the time one or both will eventually have health issues. In the wild they can move away from each other when one is stressing the other out. In captivity there isn't usually enough distance that can be put between them...so the often silent stress can get the best of them.

BTW...I would recommend that you make a place in her cage for her to dig in case she has to lay eggs.
Also...can you post a couple of pictures of her standing on something...I'm concerned she might have MBD.

Here are some good sites that you might read...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://adcham.com/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=102
 
What is your supplementation schedule? It is possible to over supplement. Also, I don't think you are using the correct supplements. You need Repcal with and without d3 and a multivitamin. Do the legs or appear bendy at all? Can you get pictures of just the legs?
 
Repcal isn't necessary. Though, I wouldnt use nutrobal or that suppliment because they both have vit A in it and vit d3. Try a plain (phos free) calcium without d3, a plain (phos free) calcium with d3, and a multi vitamin with no vitA in it.
 
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