Veiled Cham...info please

[Momtowolf]

My son (12) just got a Veiled Cham at the Sac Pet Expo Reptile Show from BlueBeast company. My son's had lots of reptiles and really wanted to try a cham. She's really cute and her name is Sahara.

The little girl cham is about 2-3 months old now. My hubby and son made a cage for her and I worry that it's too big for her.

Also we do the drip system from the top of the cage for water.

I'm not sure how to post photos here but would love some advice on how you all think that Sahara looks.

We are feeding her crickets each day and fill her water cups up (they drip from the top of the cage down through the plant ) twice a day and mist each day.

Anyone have any advice or can tell me how to post photos from a MacBook?

Thanks,

MomSteph and Wolfgang

 

[Jordan]

Are you using lighting?
You will have to have a light that produces uvB?

When you post a reply or a thread and go into that screen there is a paper clip above. Click on this. The option is called manage your attachments. This will open another window. Once there it will give you the option to upload from your computer. If you know the name you can type it in if not browse through tell you find it. This image will have to be at the biggest 250x250 kb. The easiest way to go from there is to just continue to upload more pictures if you want them and close the window. If you do it this way they will show up after you post at the bottom.

Standard recommendations:
(for a veiled)

A basking area temperature: 90-110F
Ambient cage temperature: 80's
Humidity: 50-75%

Live plants. Veileds will eat vegatation. Live plants that are no-toxic. There is a list you can get to on the home page.

Lots of branches. They sell prefabricated vines. You can gather sticks and branches from the yard. Make sure they are wash and rinsed thourghly.

When setting up a spot near the basking bulb make sure they can not get directly under it. They can burn their casque and do not feel that area well so they will not know it is happening.

They will require a calcium supplement. This should be a phosporus-free powder. It should also have D3 (sometimes called cholecaliferol on ingredients). At young ages this should be given daily. With a female it will have to be given semi-regularly when older as she will produce eggs and this helps her out. You can put the crickets in bags and shake this onto them or similar method.

You should also have a multivitamin. Some give weekly others give twice a month.

They should also be misted. A garden sprayer works well and will run you about $10. Fill with the hottest water you can get and mist. The water may seem to hot to you when you pour it into the pitcher but remember as it goes through the air it will cool dramatically. The hot water will ensure that there is less of a difference between the water that is inside the cage and her body temperature. How many times is a preferance thing. I would say at the beginning of the day and the before the end.

A twelve hour light cycle. These guys come from very near the equator and that is a good middle number. This cycle should be consistent. A cheap timer at wal mart to control this work. It will cost about $8.

I would also recommend a digital thermometer/hydrometer. These run anywhere from $12-25 at wal-mart also. They sell slightly cheaper analog devices to measure this but they are extremely inaccurate.

The smallest sized cage I would recommend for a female veiled chameleon would be 30"x18"x30". Bigger is not a problem.

Handling should be kept to a minimum. This causes stress. The more stress the lower their immune system gets and this will leave them open to getting sick.

A light that produces UVB. This is a must. This helps them properly metabolise calcium and they will die if not exposed to it. They rate these in 2.0, 5.0...etc that means 2%, 5%. A rating of five percent or better is adequate. When setting these up make sure they are near the basking bulb. In nature they get warmth and uvB from the same place. A basking light is easy to set-up. A shop dome reflector and an incandescent light bulb can provide and area for heat. The wattage and the distance you place the bulb will probably be something you will have to toy around with. These are fire hazards if not set-up properly so think out the possiblities before decide on how you will set this up.

Veileds are know to be aggressive. To deture this I think hand feeding them is a good idea. They will see you in a positive way and not as a predator. This will never make a chameleon like you rather tolerate you. Females are either semi-friendly or the devil. I have a devil in my room. She is quite fun to remove from her cage when I do maitance. I never hand feed her and it shows.

Gut loading the insects properly. Maybe make a new thread on this. I just realize how long this thing is.

If your twelve year old is resposible this can be an extremely informative way for him to learn about a lot of things that he would probably never learn in school. From how calcium is metabolised to what a ficus is.