Your Feeding Schedule - Veiled

[nessagonza]

hello everyone! i am a new keeper, as a chameleon was re-homed to me on very short notice. i have been cramming with info the last couple weeks! i’m curious to see what your feeding schedules look like, that’s the one thing i can’t seem to find a solid answer on. all she was ever fed were crickets and wax worms, she has now tried superworms. i will be ordering dubia roaches, bsfl, and silkworms, but don’t know when/what schedule to feed! they said she will be one this month

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!
How old is she? Can you post some photos of her please?
Domyou know if she’s producing eggs?

 

[nessagonza]

Welcome to the forum!
How old is she? Can you post some photos of her please?
Domyou know if she’s producing eggs?

of course! they said she will turn one this month. here is a picture of her when she came home with me

 

[nessagonza]

an

Welcome to the forum!
How old is she? Can you post some photos of her please?
Domyou know if she’s producing eggs?

and as far as i know, she’s never laid eggs…

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. With our beautiful ladies we need to have their care as perfect as possible to prevent any problems with egg laying. If you’d like, we can fully review all of your husbandry. Just answer the questions found here. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/
To answer your question, I feed all of my chameleons 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week plus treats. Here’s a great article that you may find interesting and helpful.
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

 

[nessagonza]

Hi and welcome. With our beautiful ladies we need to have their care as perfect as possible to prevent any problems with egg laying. If you’d like, we can fully review all of your husbandry. Just answer the questions found here. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/
To answer your question, I feed all of my chameleons 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week plus treats. Here’s a great article that you may find interesting and helpful.
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

that thread is no longer accepting new posts, so i will just reply here!

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon, female, previous owner said she will turn one this month. she has been in my care for 2 weeks
• Handling - i’ve never handled, she is very skiddish
• Feeding - right now, her main feeder is crickets. i will throw a few waxworms in as a treat about every other day, along with some superworms. i am ordering dubia roaches, silkworms, and bsfl. she eats every day and as much as she wants, usually around 7 crickets, 2 superworms. i have been fut loading the crickets with sweet potato, carrot, apple, orange, and mustard greens.
• Supplements - i dust with repti-calcium without d3 every day. i will be purchasing calcium with d3 and a multivitamin
• Watering - i will be purchasing a mister, but for now i am spraying once in the morning and once at night. i haven’t seen her drink
• Fecal Description - she has never been tested for parasites. her poo has been looking okay, as far as i know. the poo looks like, well, poo and the urate has either been white or a little yellow
• History - i don’t really have any previous history

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - she is in a screen enclosure that was bought from petsmart. i have bought her a 24x24x48 it’s still in the process of getting set up
• Lighting - daily lighting is 12hours on 12 hours off. not sure the brand but she only has a small uvb bulb. i will be purchasing a long t5 and also a basking bulb
• Temperature - not sure, i also need to purchase a thermometer (lots to purchase!)
• Humidity - will also be purchasing a digital hygrometer
• Plants - her bigger enclosure will have live plants only. (dragon strand ledges should be here friday for mounting) i am going back to the nursery this weekend as they just got a shipment, but i currently have a golden pothos, hoya, calathea, money tree, and polka dot plant
• Placement - she is in my bedroom by the door. high traffic, but this is the warmest room. she is on top of a dresser so pretty high up.
• Location - located in the southern us, a desert!

Current Problem - looking for feeding schedule advice and also more information about egg laying, as far as i know she’s never laid any

 

[MissSkittles]

Give me a bit of time and I’ll have your full review.

 

[MissSkittles]

Putting my feedback in bold and will be splitting this into two parts (I talk a lot).

• Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon, female, previous owner said she will turn one this month. she has been in my care for 2 weeks Referring back to your pic, are you sure she’s a girl? Does she have any bumps on the heels of her back feet? I’m asking because the casque is not only too big for a one month old veiled, but is even big for a girl that is a couple of months old.
• Handling - i’ve never handled, she is very skiddish Veileds have a reputation and most live up to it. You will want to work on building trust though. This is a great blog on how to do that. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
• Feeding - right now, her main feeder is crickets. i will throw a few waxworms in as a treat about every other day, along with some superworms. i am ordering dubia roaches, silkworms, and bsfl. she eats every day and as much as she wants, usually around 7 crickets, 2 superworms. Perfect variety! Assuming baby is 1-2 months old though, she should be getting as much as she can eat in about a 15 minute period, twice a day. At around 3 months you’ll cut back to feeding about 15-20 feeders daily, a month later cut back to 10-12 and at 5 months 6-8 and then soon after cut back to every other day. i have been fut loading the crickets with sweet potato, carrot, apple, orange, and mustard greens. Excellent!
• Supplements - i dust with repti-calcium without d3 every day. Perfect i will be purchasing calcium with d3 and a multivitamin To simplify things, you can use a combo multivitamin/D3 like Repashy calcium plus LoD or ReptiVite with D3. Then you dust lightly every feeding with calcium without D3 and one feeding every other week you use the combo.
• Watering - i will be purchasing a mister, but for now i am spraying once in the morning and once at night. i haven’t seen her drink Many chams are very secretive about drinking. I joke that it’s a conspiracy.
• Fecal Description - she has never been tested for parasites. her poo has been looking okay, as far as i know. the poo looks like, well, poo and the urate has either been white or a little yellow Is always best to get a fecal check.
• History - i don’t really have any previous history

To be continued….

 

[MissSkittles]

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - she is in a screen enclosure that was bought from petsmart. i have bought her a 24x24x48 it’s still in the process of getting set up Perfect!
• Lighting - daily lighting is 12hours on 12 hours off. not sure the brand but she only has a small uvb bulb. i will be purchasing a long t5 and also a basking bulb Will be perfect once you get the correct UVB.
• Temperature - not sure, i also need to purchase a thermometer (lots to purchase!) For little ones and girls, you won’t want her basking temp to exceed 80. Night time temp drops are ideal and unless below 55, no heat needed at night.
• Humidity - will also be purchasing a digital hygrometer Ideal daytime range is between 30-50%. At night if your temps are below at least 68-70, you can run a cool mist humidifier to boost humidity way up. It simulates the natural hydration of the wild thru fog.
• Plants - her bigger enclosure will have live plants only. (dragon strand ledges should be here friday for mounting) i am going back to the nursery this weekend as they just got a shipment, but i currently have a golden pothos, hoya, calathea, money tree, and polka dot plant Excellent! Do make sure to wash the leaves and rinse very well. I also repot with an organic soil. Some put large river rocks on top to prevent accidental soil ingestion. I don’t as I have bioactive enclosures and it would seem silly to cover the potted plant soil while I have my chams in giant boxes of soil.
• Placement - she is in my bedroom by the door. high traffic, but this is the warmest room. she is on top of a dresser so pretty high up. Make sure to really give her lots of hiding places with the plants and the traffic shouldn’t bother her. You could also cover the enclosure side facing the high traffic area.
• Location - located in the southern us, a desert!

Current Problem - looking for feeding schedule advice and also more information about egg laying, as far as i know she’s never laid any She’s much too young at 1-2 months old to produce eggs. However, veileds grow very fast and as young as 5-6 months old she can start producing and laying. I’m going to be lazy and copy down for you what I earlier told another new keeper about the reproductive process. I just need to hunt it down.

 

[MissSkittles]

Well, that took no time at all to find. Lol
I keep meaning to write up a blog on care and laying of veiled chams, but insecurity is my enemy. There’s a great article here that explains reducing egg production. http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html
From as young as 5-6 months, she can start producing eggs. You’ll know this as it starts with her developing her pretty colors of teal and mustard/orange and patterns as she becomes receptive for mating. Then she gets restless, searching for a boy all day. This is when you want to put a lay bin in as a permanent part of her enclosure.
At least a 12” wide and long container with some tiny drainage holes in the bottom, filled to about 6” deep with washed play sand OR 50/50 mix of play sand and organic soil makes a perfect lay bin. The substrate needs to be moist enough to hold a tunnel without collapsing. If you are super observant, you’ll be able to figure out the area that she likes to poo and can place the bin out of the line of fire.
She can be receptive for a couple of weeks. During this time she may have a decreased appetite. From approx 3 weeks after that phase ends she may lay at any time. She’ll start getting plump and maybe lumpy. Regular weighing on a gram scale is of big help to know when she is producing eggs and possibly close to laying. As she’s getting bigger, she may move less and the closer she gets to laying, the less she may want to eat. Nothing has ever interfered with my girls’ appetites - they are all different. One morning she won’t be in her usual basking spot and after hunting for her, you’ll see she’s in her bin and digging. Cover just the lower half of her enclosure and do not disturb her for anything! Nothing! Unless your house is on fire, just leave her to do her thing. If she sees anyone, she may stop digging and this could lead to becoming egg-bound. She may dig a few holes until she likes one and then she’ll dig to the bottom, turn around and lay. She’ll fully cover all of the holes and when she’s satisfied, will return to her basking branch. The whole process can take a couple of days and she may sleep in her tunnel. My girls return to their sleep spot at night. You’ll want to feed and hydrate her very well for a couple of days. Hornworms and silkworms are great at this time. Then return her to a reduced diet regimen of 3-4 feeders 3 days a week. At some point you’ll need to remove the eggs and count them. Hopefully there’s less than 30. They will rot, so toss them.
The reducing regimen can work so well that she may stop producing eggs completely. Each chameleon is of course different. One of my veiled girls hasn’t laid any eggs since Feb 2020! The other lays once a year a clutch in the mid 30’s. They can still be receptive and never lay. I’m never quite sure what is going on with my girls’ egg production and I pretty much take it as it comes. Their weights go up significantly and then back down, with no eggs laid. Colors flare up and nothing happens. If your husbandry is spot on, the likelihood of having laying problems is greatly decreased (it’s never zero).

 

[nessagonza]

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - she is in a screen enclosure that was bought from petsmart. i have bought her a 24x24x48 it’s still in the process of getting set up Perfect!
• Lighting - daily lighting is 12hours on 12 hours off. not sure the brand but she only has a small uvb bulb. i will be purchasing a long t5 and also a basking bulb Will be perfect once you get the correct UVB.
• Temperature - not sure, i also need to purchase a thermometer (lots to purchase!) For little ones and girls, you won’t want her basking temp to exceed 80. Night time temp drops are ideal and unless below 55, no heat needed at night.
• Humidity - will also be purchasing a digital hygrometer Ideal daytime range is between 30-50%. At night if your temps are below at least 68-70, you can run a cool mist humidifier to boost humidity way up. It simulates the natural hydration of the wild thru fog.
• Plants - her bigger enclosure will have live plants only. (dragon strand ledges should be here friday for mounting) i am going back to the nursery this weekend as they just got a shipment, but i currently have a golden pothos, hoya, calathea, money tree, and polka dot plant Excellent! Do make sure to wash the leaves and rinse very well. I also repot with an organic soil. Some put large river rocks on top to prevent accidental soil ingestion. I don’t as I have bioactive enclosures and it would seem silly to cover the potted plant soil while I have my chams in giant boxes of soil.
• Placement - she is in my bedroom by the door. high traffic, but this is the warmest room. she is on top of a dresser so pretty high up. Make sure to really give her lots of hiding places with the plants and the traffic shouldn’t bother her. You could also cover the enclosure side facing the high traffic area.
• Location - located in the southern us, a desert!

Current Problem - looking for feeding schedule advice and also more information about egg laying, as far as i know she’s never laid any She’s much too young at 1-2 months old to produce eggs. However, veileds grow very fast and as young as 5-6 months old she can start producing and laying. I’m going to be lazy and copy down for you what I earlier told another new keeper about the reproductive process. I just need to hunt it down.

sorry, not sure if the age part was confusing…previous owners said she will turn one year old this month. they got her for their step- daughter and the step-daughter didn’t like feeding her. step-mom is a nurse, so she wasn’t getting the attention she needed and gave her to me last minute a few weeks ago. i’m pretty sure she’s a girl, as she doesn’t have the spurs, but she does seem small for her age. she was only getting 5 crickets whenever the step-mom was home to feed her. i have been trying to bond with her and it’s working! still skiddish but she doesn’t get terrified when i open the door anymore. she ate waxworms from my palm yesterday! i have washed the leaves as much as i can without hurting the plants and they had a certified organic soil i’ve transplanted into i live near a river so do plan to get some rocks and driftwood from there soon. neptune the chameleon on youtube has been a great source for info, i have been taking notes, so we have a ways to go until her setup is where i want it, but we’re making progress! i will look into making a laying bin, just in case. i will also look into somewhere to test her poo, i don’t know if any vets within a large radius, but will double check to be sure. thank you for all the info, i really do appreciate every bit!!

 

[MissSkittles]

Ohh…ok. That makes more sense for her to be one year old vs one month. I tend to read quickly so is easy at times for me to misunderstand. Since she’s an adult then, you’ll want to feed 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week.
If you’ve the time, you can look thru this post for a vet near you. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/area-by-area-country-vet-list.32880/ or try here https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661 Another option is to search the forum for ‘your nearest city‘ vet and see what comes up.
Neptune the chameleon is a great source of info and I’m glad you found her.

 

[nessagonza]

Ohh…ok. That makes more sense for her to be one year old vs one month. I tend to read quickly so is easy at times for me to misunderstand. Since she’s an adult then, you’ll want to feed 3-4 feeders, 3 days a week.
If you’ve the time, you can look thru this post for a vet near you. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/area-by-area-country-vet-list.32880/ or try here https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661 Another option is to search the forum for ‘your nearest city‘ vet and see what comes up.
Neptune the chameleon is a great source of info and I’m glad you found her.

looks like closest is about 2 hours away, so i will be trying to get ahold of them as well. thank you!

 

[kinyonga]

It may be lucky for your little chameleon that the previous owner didn’t feed her a lot. It likely saved her from reproductive issues!
listen to what @MissSkittles has told you…she’s always giving good advice!