What size crickets??

[Paulycham]

I'm getting my veiled chameleon tomorrow, need to get crickets!!! He's only gonna be 2-3 months old, so what size to i get and what to gutload them with?
Thanks for your help....

 

[hkitchen]

They should be pretty small. There are a lot of ways to gutload the feeders, search on the forums for gutloading and you should get a lot of results.

 

[Paulycham]

They should be pretty small. There are a lot of ways to gutload the feeders, search on the forums for gutloading and you should get a lot of results.

Thanks, i got small ones. He's kind of small for 2-3 months, his body's only 3inches. I keep forgetting about the temp for his basking spot, is it somewhere around 80-85 degrees? Or higher? Just caught him with his mouth open.

 

[ChamDE86]

80-85 degrees is fine for a 3 month old. I'd go closer to the 85 range and then around 90-95 when he gets older. At that age I would feed him 1/2 inch crickets. I think Veiled's are slightly bigger than Panther's in general, but the rule of thumb is for the feeder to be no bigger than the width between your chameleon's eyes. They do open their mouth when they get too hot and that's fine as long as you're not hearing any weezing/popping noise. Can you post a picture of your set up and your chameleon when you get him? It would give us an idea and help us help you if there are any issues.

 

[Paulycham]

80-85 degrees is fine for a 3 month old. I'd go closer to the 85 range and then around 90-95 when he gets older. At that age I would feed him 1/2 inch crickets. I think Veiled's are slightly bigger than Panther's in general, but the rule of thumb is for the feeder to be no bigger than the width between your chameleon's eyes. They do open their mouth when they get too hot and that's fine as long as you're not hearing any weezing/popping noise. Can you post a picture of your set up and your chameleon when you get him? It would give us an idea and help us help you if there are any issues.

Ok, I haven't been able to get a good pic of him yet, but i will along with his cage.

 

[Paulycham]

Ok, I haven't been able to get a good pic of him yet, but i will along with his cage.

I took some pics of him and his cage (2-2-4) but it wasn't easy he kept hiding. I got my lights from lightyourreptiles(24" HO T5 Double Bulb fixture with two Arcadia 12%). Question is where to put them(front or back) of the cage? and should i rest it on top of the cage or raise it?
Thanks for the help..... Pauly...

 

[hkitchen]

Why did you get light bulb for desert species when chameleons are tropical? Pretty much everyone puts the lights on top of the cage, and its not a bad idea to raise them a bit just to be safe especially as your veiled grows and his casque gets taller they have a tendency to get too close to the lights and may burn themselves.

 

[Paulycham]

Why did you get light bulb for desert species when chameleons are tropical? Pretty much everyone puts the lights on top of the cage, and its not a bad idea to raise them a bit just to be safe especially as your veiled grows and his casque gets taller they have a tendency to get too close to the lights and may burn themselves.

Are you talking about the UVB lights?

 

[ChamDE86]

12% UVB bulb is fine. Just be sure to provide plenty of foilage so your chameleon is able to hide in the shade if he wants, and a 2x2x4 cage is plenty big for him to be able to get away.