For those of you that want to own a chameleon, just to let you know, a veiled chameleon is one of the cheapest (if you buy one online, any of the site sponsors are great) and they are on the easier side of care.
First, let's talk about temperatures. A veiled chameleon needs a basking spot of about 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. An average 100 watt house bulb from home depot or lowest will do the trick. The cooler areas should only be about 70 to 80 degrees, give or take a couple. It is important that you get the temps right. Too hot or too cold can be stressful.
If you notice your veiled chameleon just sitting on a vine or something with its mouth hanging open, that probably means that you should reduce the temperature. Lower the wattage of the basking bulb to 60 watts.
Night time heating is unnecessary. This can actually keep your cham up at night.
Switch with daytime/nighttime temps about twelve hours each. Day time should start when you wake up.
Humidity: humidity can be a bit troublesome. The humidity range should stay between 60 to 80%. You can keep this humidity by spraying either by hand or by an automatic mister, like a mistking. You also want to give your cham a warm misting twice everyday. It may not like it at first, but it will get used to it eventually.
Foliage: you can have fake plants and live plants. You want to have a lot of vines at the top. I use fake plastic vines that I ordered from LLLReptile. At the bottom, you want to have live plants. These will help keep the humidity higher. You can use ficus benjamina (weeping fig) or another kingdom of ficus that is sometimes called a rubber tree.
You can use this link to see a list of safe plants for your chameleon. http://www.flchams.com/safe_plant_list.asp
Food: nothing should make up more than 50% of your cham's diet. Crickets can be 40 percent of the diet. Waxworms are a great and should only be a monthly treat. Roaches can be 40 percent of the diet. Superworms can be 20percent of the diet. Stick bugs can be 20 percent of the diet. Black soldier fly larvae can be 40 percent of the diet. Hornworms can be 10 percent of the diet. These are good if you want to get your chameleon hydrated. Butter worms can make up 10 percent of the diet.
Hydration: your cham will lick water droplets off of the leaves of the plants. You can set up a drip system so that there is always a supply of water.
Handling: this should not be done unless you HAVE to take your Cham out of the cage. Veileds can be aggressive and probably will try to bite you as young ones.
Health: cham's often won't show any sign of being sick until it is far into the disease/parasitic sickness. If you notice sunken eyes, rounded joints, double elbows, tongue drops, or not having a strong grip, go to a veterinarian IMMEDIATELY!!! The fate of your Cham will be in your hands...
Supplementation: you need a calcium w/o phosphorus and w/o d3 for every feeding, lightly dust food. Calcium w/o phosphorus with d3 once a week. Multivitamin once a month. You need to gutload the feeder insects so your Cham can get good nutrients that it wouldn't get otherwise. You can look at sandrachameleons blogs to see what you need to do to make a good gutload.
That is pretty much it! Remember, taking care of an exotic pet is not easy. For first time reptile owners, a chameleon is not for you. Bearded dragons or leopard geckos would be an easier pet for a beginner.
Good luck
First, let's talk about temperatures. A veiled chameleon needs a basking spot of about 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. An average 100 watt house bulb from home depot or lowest will do the trick. The cooler areas should only be about 70 to 80 degrees, give or take a couple. It is important that you get the temps right. Too hot or too cold can be stressful.
If you notice your veiled chameleon just sitting on a vine or something with its mouth hanging open, that probably means that you should reduce the temperature. Lower the wattage of the basking bulb to 60 watts.
Night time heating is unnecessary. This can actually keep your cham up at night.
Switch with daytime/nighttime temps about twelve hours each. Day time should start when you wake up.
Humidity: humidity can be a bit troublesome. The humidity range should stay between 60 to 80%. You can keep this humidity by spraying either by hand or by an automatic mister, like a mistking. You also want to give your cham a warm misting twice everyday. It may not like it at first, but it will get used to it eventually.
Foliage: you can have fake plants and live plants. You want to have a lot of vines at the top. I use fake plastic vines that I ordered from LLLReptile. At the bottom, you want to have live plants. These will help keep the humidity higher. You can use ficus benjamina (weeping fig) or another kingdom of ficus that is sometimes called a rubber tree.
You can use this link to see a list of safe plants for your chameleon. http://www.flchams.com/safe_plant_list.asp
Food: nothing should make up more than 50% of your cham's diet. Crickets can be 40 percent of the diet. Waxworms are a great and should only be a monthly treat. Roaches can be 40 percent of the diet. Superworms can be 20percent of the diet. Stick bugs can be 20 percent of the diet. Black soldier fly larvae can be 40 percent of the diet. Hornworms can be 10 percent of the diet. These are good if you want to get your chameleon hydrated. Butter worms can make up 10 percent of the diet.
Hydration: your cham will lick water droplets off of the leaves of the plants. You can set up a drip system so that there is always a supply of water.
Handling: this should not be done unless you HAVE to take your Cham out of the cage. Veileds can be aggressive and probably will try to bite you as young ones.
Health: cham's often won't show any sign of being sick until it is far into the disease/parasitic sickness. If you notice sunken eyes, rounded joints, double elbows, tongue drops, or not having a strong grip, go to a veterinarian IMMEDIATELY!!! The fate of your Cham will be in your hands...
Supplementation: you need a calcium w/o phosphorus and w/o d3 for every feeding, lightly dust food. Calcium w/o phosphorus with d3 once a week. Multivitamin once a month. You need to gutload the feeder insects so your Cham can get good nutrients that it wouldn't get otherwise. You can look at sandrachameleons blogs to see what you need to do to make a good gutload.
That is pretty much it! Remember, taking care of an exotic pet is not easy. For first time reptile owners, a chameleon is not for you. Bearded dragons or leopard geckos would be an easier pet for a beginner.
Good luck
