Trying to fix my husbandry!!!

[lizcrespo93]

Hello,

my 15 year old niece got a veiled cham for her birthday at the end of April. She got the kit from petco, crickets, and the Fluker's orange cube to feed the crickets. From past experience of keeping other animals I knew from
the start she must have the set up wrong from listening to advice from petco and not doing any research. I began watching youtube videos so I could advice her but she quickly lost interest in the chameleon and I said I'd take him off her hands. Now, I am on a budget so I'm saving for the most expensive things I need to get to correct Camilo's (Camilo the chameleon) enclosure and his quality of life.
So here is what I'm working with:
The chameleon kit with 2 live croton plants, one fake plant, a rope and various branches. I quickly switched the compact uvb for a 12in linear reptisun bulb. Basking area is at 90 degrees and humidity ranges from 50 to 70 all day long. I do 2 mistings by hand, one in the morning and one in the evening. For meals Camilo has been having superworms and crickets gutloaded with sweet potatoes, leafy greens, and butternut squash. I still feed everyday because I believe him to be a juvenile still. I supplement with calcium with out d3, calcium with d3 and a multi vitamin supplement. I also free-range Camilo on a fake tree while supervised daily for about 30 min to an hour.

So here is how I'm going to correct his environment:

I'm ordering the dragon strand tall hybrid in september, as well as the starter kit mistking system. I have already ordered BSFL and plan to only use crickets sparingly. I live in Florida so no dubia roaches. I will vary the diet by including the occasional hornworm and waxworm as well as superworms and BSFL and BSF as the staples.
I will be ordering a 24 inch reptisun uvb t5 5.0 so that it will cover the new enclosure better and will be purchasing household bulbs for heat from now on to save some money. In the new enclosure I will have only live plants and will be keeping the smaller cage to take Camilo outside to get some sun frequently.

Is there anything else I need to be looking at, or am I covering all the basics? I want my chameleon to live a long and healthy life. Please share your thoughts.

 

[Hydra_cosplay]

If you wanted to try roaches to add variety to your other feeder you can get discoid roaches in Florida, they are similar to dubias, so in other words very nutritious for your Cham. My chameleon loves them! Sounds like you have the right mindset for caring for the chameleon which is nice! He's very handsome as well. Throw you a pothos plant in your cage they make for great foliage. They are usually sold in hanging baskets but I sat mine onto the bottom of the cage and tethered the vines upwards and around branches in her enclosure. Oh yes and you may wanna change out the rope like vine, their toenails have a tendency of getting stuck and torn off in material like that.

 

[Anisa.corp]

Well the basking temp is pretty high for a veiled basking should be in the mid 80's and the rest of the cage in the 70s the humidity is also a little high should be 40%-50% in the day and can be up to 100% at night

 

[MissSkittles]

You’ll need to add some calcium with D3 once every two weeks to supplement. Discoids are Fl legal and great feeders. You may want to start a small colony. Gutloading needs improvement. Attaching feeder and gutload graphics. Aside from that and previous feedback, you’re doing great!

 

[lizcrespo93]

If you wanted to try roaches to add variety to your other feeder you can get discoid roaches in Florida, they are similar to dubias, so in other words very nutritious for your Cham. My chameleon loves them! Sounds like you have the right mindset for caring for the chameleon which is nice! He's very handsome as well. Throw you a pothos plant in your cage they make for great foliage. They are usually sold in hanging baskets but I sat mine onto the bottom of the cage and tethered the vines upwards and around branches in her enclosure. Oh yes and you may wanna change out the rope like vine, their toenails have a tendency of getting stuck and torn off in material like that.

I'll get rid of the rope tomorrow when Camilo is awake. Didn't realize it could harm him. So many little things to keep an eye out for. As for roaches, I'll be honest, I could get my hands on discoids but I have a terrible roach phobia that extends even to feeder ones. I don't think I'm at the point where I can even stand to look at them. So unfortunately I'll stay away from those unless absolutely needed for my cham. As for the pothos plant, that's going to be my next plant to get for the new enclosure.

 

[lizcrespo93]

Well the basking temp is pretty high for a veiled basking should be in the mid 80's and the rest of the cage in the 70s the humidity is also a little high should be 40%-50% in the day and can be up to 100% at night

Thank you! I'll be getting a lower wattage bulb to try and fix the temperature being so high. As for humidity, I'm not sure what I could do to lower it, since I only mist twice a day and it seems to stay that humid throughout the day anyway.

 

[lizcrespo93]

You’ll need to add some calcium with D3 once every two weeks to supplement. Discoids are Fl legal and great feeders. You may want to start a small colony. Gutloading needs improvement. Attaching feeder and gutload graphics. Aside from that and previous feedback, you’re doing great!
View attachment 274904View attachment 274905

Thank you for the info! I had been supplementing with D3 only once a month, so I'll make a note to do it every 2 weeks. As for a roach colony, I have a phobia so that would probably give me a heart attack. It is unfortunate because I keep seeing how great of a feeder they are.

 

[MissSkittles]

Thank you for the info! I had been supplementing with D3 only once a month, so I'll make a note to do it every 2 weeks. As for a roach colony, I have a phobia so that would probably give me a heart attack. It is unfortunate because I keep seeing how great of a feeder they are.

I understand very well the roach phobia. Lol. However, as I started to realize how nasty crickets were, I reluctantly and with great fear ordered some discoids. Good Lord! The adults freaked me totally out and they were way to big to give to my cham, so I just set them aside in a tiny container and fed them as I didn’t know what else to do with them. I thought my vet was insane when he told me to start a colony with them. But...a couple of months later that is what I did. Now ten months later, while the adults are still big and gross to me, I have actually grown fond of them and find them fascinating to watch when I feed them. I still haven’t actually touched one and have no plans to do so. The baby roaches are kind of cute and I feel bad when I feed them to my chams.

 

[dinomom]

Thank you for the info! I had been supplementing with D3 only once a month, so I'll make a note to do it every 2 weeks. As for a roach colony, I have a phobia so that would probably give me a heart attack. It is unfortunate because I keep seeing how great of a feeder they are.

These guys are really very non-roachlike. Because of the hard shiny "shell" I just think of them as big roly-polies! the fact that they don't run fast is also a huge bonus. I think if you try them you will also find they are quite nice. Also NO smell unlike crickets that can turn your stomach AND they live a very long time-almost no die-off/waste.

PS I get the phobia, you have those huge red runners in FL. Once, one got into my roach bin and I looked in and it flew/sprinted in there and that is heart attack territory. So you do want nice fitting covers on the boxes