When should I feed?

[ERKleRose]

I am looking at juvenile male Veiled Chameleons. I plan on handling very day after the first week of having it. I would feed it mostly crickets every day until it is an adult, with leafy greens one to two times a week. I would gut-load the crickets before bed so they would be ready in the morning and feed then. For supplements, I would use Zoo-Med Repetitive with D3 for vitamin and Zoo-Med Repti Calcium without D3. I would dust with Calcium every day and Vitamin once a week. For watering, I would mist 2-3 times a day and have a dripper system in case I miss any mistings. For the enclosure I would start with a Zoo Med ReptiBreeze Open Air Screen Cage, 18 x 18 x 36 and upgrade to 24 x 24 x 48 when it becomes an adult. The temp in the basking spot would stay at 90 during the day and near the bottom, in the low 70's. I am not sure what the humidity should be yet. I have read that is should be 50% or higher. I want to use live plants, but I don't know what kind. Any suggestions? I will also use fake plants for climbing. The cage would be placed in the basement and not placed near a vent or fan. I live in a subdivision so there is minimum traffic. It would be placed directly on the floor unless someone suggests differently. I live in MI, USA.

I don't have a current problem (except for what I stated before) but would like critiques on my planning.

Sorry for the delayed response! Don’t handle daily, only if absolutely needed or once in a blue moon. Chams are like fish, look but don’t touch, they are purely display animals. You can build up trust by just hanging around in the room he’s in and/or hand feeding him. If you do handle him, always do it with positive reinforcement, like giving him his favorite feeder, going to a free range set up, or going outside (when it’s warm enough). Variety is key, some great common feeders are silkworms, hornworms, butterworms, black soldier flies and larvae, blue bottle flies and spikes, the occasional superworm, dubia roaches, red runner roaches, ivory-headed roaches, and orange-headed roaches (PS- none of these roaches can climb or fly). Make sure to gutload everything with either it’s own special diet (silk and horn worms), a quality commercial gutload, like Mazuri, Pangea, Cricket Crack, Repashy, and/or organic fresh fruits and veggies from the gutload list here in the food and nutrition tab in resources. You need a phosphorus free calcium without D3 every feeding and Reptivite with D3 twice monthly (every two weeks). Get the 2’ by 2’ by 4’ tall enclosure immediately, it’ll save you money and your cham can go straight into it, no need to buy a smaller one. Make sure to mist for at least 2 minutes minimum each time, but preferably for more. Invest in an automated mister and use either a t5HO or T8 linear uvb bulb and fixture. A 10.0 linear uvb bulb (get Zoo Med) is best for a 2’ by 2’ by 4’ tall veiled chameleon cage. The veiled care sheet here has proper temps for different ages of chams, along with proper humidity levels. Go to the hardware store and get a plug-in timer (for the lights), a digital temp gun (for basking temps), a digital hygrometer/thermometer combo (for ambient temp and humidity), and a regular white light heat incandescent bulb (for basking). Here’s a safe plant list: https://flchams.com/chameleon-safe-plant-list/ High traffic means would there be lots of activity in that room? Put the cage on a stand and have a drainage system, as well. Here’s the veiled care sheet: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[maddoggie8401]

Sorry for the delayed response! Don’t handle daily, only if absolutely needed or once in a blue moon. Chams are like fish, look but don’t touch, they are purely display animals. You can build up trust by just hanging around in the room he’s in and/or hand feeding him. If you do handle him, always do it with positive reinforcement, like giving him his favorite feeder, going to a free range set up, or going outside (when it’s warm enough). Variety is key, some great common feeders are silkworms, hornworms, butterworms, black soldier flies and larvae, blue bottle flies and spikes, the occasional superworm, dubia roaches, red runner roaches, ivory-headed roaches, and orange-headed roaches (PS- none of these roaches can climb or fly). Make sure to gutload everything with either it’s own special diet (silk and horn worms), a quality commercial gutload, like Mazuri, Pangea, Cricket Crack, Repashy, and/or organic fresh fruits and veggies from the gutload list here in the food and nutrition tab in resources. You need a phosphorus free calcium without D3 every feeding and Reptivite with D3 twice monthly (every two weeks). Get the 2’ by 2’ by 4’ tall enclosure immediately, it’ll save you money and your cham can go straight into it, no need to buy a smaller one. Make sure to mist for at least 2 minutes minimum each time, but preferably for more. Invest in an automated mister and use either a t5HO or T8 linear uvb bulb and fixture. A 10.0 linear uvb bulb (get Zoo Med) is best for a 2’ by 2’ by 4’ tall veiled chameleon cage. The veiled care sheet here has proper temps for different ages of chams, along with proper humidity levels. Go to the hardware store and get a plug-in timer (for the lights), a digital temp gun (for basking temps), a digital hygrometer/thermometer combo (for ambient temp and humidity), and a regular white light heat incandescent bulb (for basking). Here’s a safe plant list: https://flchams.com/chameleon-safe-plant-list/ High traffic means would there be lots of activity in that room? Put the cage on a stand and have a drainage system, as well. Here’s the veiled care sheet: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Thank you for the info!!

 

[Thehippie]

great start plan, I have an adult male veiled and I hand feed him every morning and leave crickets in his feeding cup only up to 10 on an very other day schedule, for juvenile chameleons its best that they get fed every day in the morning and a varied diet, get them used to having roaches, crickets and a variety of worms, veileds can even have some fruits or veggies depending on if they'll eat it or not so good luck and I hope you find a chameleon you like

 

[Thehippie]

also if you plan to free range feeders and use live plants, veileds are known for eating substrate and causing impaction, I would recommend to cup feed or hand feed