BayEmChameleon
Member
Charlie is my veiled chameleon about 3-4 months old, I got him from petsmart (I know I know) when I first got Charlie about a month and a half ago, he was VERY nervous and stressed. I am very new to the chameleon family. However with research and help from this forum, I think I have improved his quality of life. He is still young and growing, so he is currently in his starter enclosure, a reptibreeze screen enclosure. At first I was using the dual dome lighting with the heat lamp/UVB combined. I have now upgraded to a T5 HO 24 inch hood, and 22 inch UVB bulb 10.0. As soon as I set up the new UVB, Charlie has been more active and eating a lot more. I can definitely see a difference in this lighting. So for new Cham owners like myself. Please invest in the T5 HO linear fixtures!! Now my husbandry consists of a small potted bonsai tree, Safe soil, with larger rocks for draining, and for my Cham to drink off of. A small SAFE plant just to add some greenery to his life, and vines that I washed a placed inside for him to roam around on. He also has climbing sticks (washed) that he basks on and perches on when eating. I have also added a fake taller, very sturdy plant with thicker branches that he like to hide in and often sleep in. I created my own drip system, with a container I popped pinholes in. It drips about 1-2 drops every second, I've often seen him drinking from this, and licking of the leaves of his enclosure. This drains into a tall vase that I empty frequently, to keep his substrate from flooding. On the outside I have a humidifier to work with my dripper to keep the humidity around 50%-60%. I still mist his enclosure just to ensure he stays hydrated. I recently switched to feeding him Dubai roaches which he loves, also dusted with Calcium powder (without D3) and about every 3 weeks I dust with a multivitamin. I gut load my dubia roaches and keep them happy as well. He is on a 12 hour on, 12 hour off schedule, this is very precise and always accurate. Sorry for such a long post! Please give me any feedback and suggestions of anything I can do to improve my methods or if I am doing anything wrong! I will attach pictures to give you a visual of his everyday life! Also I do not handle Charlie at all, I try to just watch him from afar, I have only taken him out to clean his cage, and only plan to handle him only when necessary! Thank you in advance for any advice y'all can offer! Also I am located in Northeast Ohio, so keeping humidity levels precise here is very important to me for my Cham!