Yoshi The Dinosaur

[ETK]

Hello World! This forum has been a great resource, so thanks everyone. Time to introduce my family’s newest member, Yoshi The Dinosaur.

Yoshi’s Stats
1) Male veiled chameleon DOB 4.14.25 (estimate)
2) Adopted 11.13.25 from Exotic Life in Chatsworth CA
3) Advertised as captive bred and friendly
4) 13” long as of January
5) about 14” long today 5.2.26

Enclosure
1) Reptisun 18”x18”x38” (on 10am-10pm, timer)
2) Celiwace dual 12” t5 fixture 12” with one 12” t5 10.0 UVB and one IHYCTV 12” t5 6500k grow light (on 10am-10pm timer)
3) Reptihome 75w heat bulb in a typical hood with ceramic base (10am-10pm timer)
4) monsoon mister with different brand nozzles (2). Runs 1 minute, at about 9am and 9 pm.
5) plants: Money Tree (floor), pothos (hanging), spider plan (hanging), empty hanging plant spot (was creeping fig but it ded)
6) two branching pieces of sand blasted “ghost wood”, hanging.
7) Star Wars ATAT
8) custom 3d printed drain pan coated in a few coats drylok original. There is a hole in the bottom that drains to a bottom half of a gallon plastic gallon water bottle. The enclossure sites in a shelf with a hole to allow it drip down onto the drain bottle on a shelf.
9) abustle pig chameleon feeding bowl. Keeps most critters in it, while making them looking yummy when they crawl up the central column.
10) temp and humidity: I have digital gauges, but I stopped checking. He stays at room temperature (air conditioned SoCal house), plus a little humidity boost from plants and around misting time.

Care and feeding
1) he really only like super worms. I know this could be a problem, and I really want him to eat dubia as a staple, with supers, hornworms, butterworms etc as treats.
2) since is (or was) young, we try to keep food available to him. We don’t really remove the food unless it sits for a few days. This is mostly because it seems like he doesn’t eat as much as he should: he will eat 2-3 super worms one day. And then take a day or two off. He has also eaten crickets, but he will go on a hunger strike until we give him supers, even with crickets in his enclosure. (Note: I hate keeping crickets)
3) I’ll spritz him with water to get the plant leaves wet once or twice a day if his poop is getting too much yellow in the white part. He drinks off the leaves and chomps them too.
4) I clean out the poop and dead leaves at the bottom as needed. Every week or two. Then pour some extra water on the drain pan and wide it down. Everything dries out nicely between mistings due to the drain pan.
6) we take him out most days. As long as no one is wearing red he like to crawl on a hand offered. He enjoys real sun outside but not for too long and is always eager to go back to his enclosure.
7) behavior: he is pretty active in the daytime, exploring his cage, munching his plants, basking, etc. Very friendly! He has puffed and hissed a few times, but we leave him alone if he shows any signs of agression. He does get a little more shy when is shedding or about to shed.

The fun part: here are some pics. As you can see he is really friendly, and we take him out about once a day. Note: he hates it when I wear red!

And if you have read this far, check out his YT channel that my daughter started for him: @YoshiTheChameleonDinosuar

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome! Yoshi is quite the handsome big guy. Since you gave all of your info, I’ll give you some constructive feedback.

Enclosure
1) Reptisun 18”x18”x38” (on 10am-10pm, timer) Your big guy has already outgrown this size and needs larger. The minimum size for an adult veiled is 2x2x4’ or equivalent. One option would be to get another of the same size that you have and join them together side by side.
2) Celiwace dual 12” t5 fixture 12” with one 12” t5 10.0 UVB and one IHYCTV 12” t5 6500k grow light (on 10am-10pm timer) Your uvb needs to be long enough to span the entire width of the enclosure. Usually it’s best to have it on the diagonal more in the center for broader coverage and to add to providing a gradient. Also, you want either ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% strength for your uvb. If you use the 10.0, you’ll need to have a distance of around 10-11” between basking area and light. With the 5.0 or 6%, the distance is 8-9”. For reliability of output, I advise only using ReptiSun or Arcadia brand bulbs for uvb.
3) Reptihome 75w heat bulb in a typical hood with ceramic base (10am-10pm timer) Ok
4) monsoon mister with different brand nozzles (2). Runs 1 minute, at about 9am and 9 pm. Ok. Two minutes each time would be better, but I don’t think Monsoon offers that length. What colors are his urates?
5) plants: Money Tree (floor), pothos (hanging), spider plan (hanging), empty hanging plant spot (was creeping fig but it ded) Pothos are probably a chameleon keepers best friend. They do come in different varieties and some are really pretty. You could try placing one on the floor and train it to grow upwards for extra large sized leaves. One of my favorite tall plants is schefflera, which is very tree like and provides not only lots of leaves to drink from, but to also take shade and hide in.
6) two branching pieces of sand blasted “ghost wood”, hanging. Those are some nice branches (something only a chameleon keeper would ever say lol). I suggest adding more little roads for him to travel on. Maybe get some of the Fluker’s bend a branch vines and weave those in and around. I use natural branches that I scavenge when my neighbors trim their oak trees. I wash in Dawn dish soap and then blast rinse with the hose and sun dry. I pretty much do the same to plants too, but maybe a bit gentler.
7) Star Wars ATAT Took me a bit to figure this one out. I’m more Trekkie than Star Wars.
8) custom 3d printed drain pan coated in a few coats drylok original. There is a hole in the bottom that drains to a bottom half of a gallon plastic gallon water bottle. The enclossure sites in a shelf with a hole to allow it drip down onto the drain bottle on a shelf. Cool!
9) abustle pig chameleon feeding bowl. Keeps most critters in it, while making them looking yummy when they crawl up the central column. Nice
10) temp and humidity: I have digital gauges, but I stopped checking. He stays at room temperature (air conditioned SoCal house), plus a little humidity boost from plants and around misting time. Ok, but what are your numbers at? What are his basking temps? Night time temps? Humidity?

Care and feeding
1) he really only like super worms. I know this could be a problem, and I really want him to eat dubia as a staple, with supers, hornworms, butterworms etc as treats. Yes, they all love their supers, but you really need to keep those for treats only. They are quite fatty, which not only can affect his weight, but eventually his organ function too. Attaching graphics for feeders and what to feed them. Roaches can be an acquired taste for some chams, so don’t give up. Try slipping 1-2 in with other feeders to help him adjust.
2) since is (or was) young, we try to keep food available to him. We don’t really remove the food unless it sits for a few days. This is mostly because it seems like he doesn’t eat as much as he should: he will eat 2-3 super worms one day. And then take a day or two off. He has also eaten crickets, but he will go on a hunger strike until we give him supers, even with crickets in his enclosure. (Note: I hate keeping crickets) Crickets are sometimes a necessary evil. You don’t want to leave them in his enclosure though as they can and will bite him when they get hungry. Since he’s a fully grown adult, it’s best to feed him every other day, or even just 3 days a week. I feed all of mine the equivalent of 3-4 feeders every Mon, Wed & Fri and one day of the weekend I give treats.
3) I’ll spritz him with water to get the plant leaves wet once or twice a day if his poop is getting too much yellow in the white part. You could add a dripper for about 15-20 mins per day or if your night temps are below at least 68F, you could run a fogger at night to boost humidity and simulate hydration thru fog such as they get in the wild. He drinks off the leaves and chomps them too.
4) I clean out the poop and dead leaves at the bottom as needed. Every week or two. Then pour some extra water on the drain pan and wide it down. Everything dries out nicely between mistings due to the drain pan. Great
6) we take him out most days. As long as no one is wearing red he like to crawl on a hand offered. He enjoys real sun outside but not for too long and is always eager to go back to his enclosure. Great! Most don’t like red.
7) behavior: he is pretty active in the daytime, exploring his cage, munching his plants, basking, etc. Very friendly! He has puffed and hissed a few times, but we leave him alone if he shows any signs of agression. He does get a little more shy when is shedding or about to shed.

The fun part: here are some pics. As you can see he is really friendly, and we take him out about once a day. Note: he hates it when I wear red!

And if you have read this far, check out his YT channel that my daughter started for him: @YoshiTheChameleonDinosuar I’ll have to check it out.
I tend to tal way too much, so have tried not to here. If there’s something I’m not clear enough on or anything, just ask or let us know. I’m very glad that you and Yoshi have found your way here.