I will begin this blog as a dictation of how I am raising my baby veiled chameleon, Marvin. This blog entry will be on the basics.
General Information
Chameleon: Veiled chameleon, Chamaeleo calyptratus
Name: Marvin
Sex: Male
Birth date: 9/11/12 (age ~3 Months)
Purchased at: Ontario CA, Reptile Expo.
Cage: ZOO MED LABORATORIES - ReptiBreeze Alum Screen Cage 16 x16 x20
Light:ZooMed, Reptisun 5.0 UVB, compact fluorescent, 26W AC120V/60Hz
Food
Baby dubia roaches
Small silk worms occasionally
Baby giant horned worms (NOTE: these guys get big REALLY quick, I would only recommend them if you also have a larger chameleon who can take care of the the ones that get too big for a young chameleon.)
Small crickets (from Petsmart)
Gut Loading
I feed my crickets: Fluker's High Calcium Cricket Feed in addition to vegetable scraps (bits of broccoli, carrots, & spinach)
I feed my dubia colony: mostly fruits (pineapple, pears, oranges, apples) as they seem to be able to easily eat the soft tissue of the fruit. I also throw in some of the dry cricket feed ( I think this helps keep the dubia container not so moist which can lead to bacteria and mold build up).
I do not gut load the silk worms, as they are shipped with their specific food. (if you do get silk worms, make sure you buy more of their food. I bought some silk worms (pack of about 100) and they ate just about all their food in roughly a week. They started to die after a week; however, I was able to feed most of them off, so I didn't have too much of a loss.
The giant horned worms were shipped with their respective food; however, after a week the food was just about all gone. I currently have the horned worms in a 1 gallon milk jug filled ~half way with dry peat moss (substrate) and some sweet potatoes & spinach (for gut loading) {I will explain my method in subsequent blog entries}.
Feeding
I have installed a food dish/bowl. The food dish came from Petsmart, and is intended for parrot/bird cages, but it was really easy to install on Marvins wire cage, by punching a hold through the aluminum mess wall. The location of the food dish/bowl is towards the bottom so when he is basking near the top of his cage he can see all the little critters in his food dish/bowl. I understand that food dish/bowl method can make your chameleon lazy (not get enough exercise) so I also release some crickets in his cage so he can hunt and get exercise. The food dish/bowl is an excellent way to feed baby dubia roaches, as the smaller dubias may be small enough to escape the cage. Putting the dubias in the dish/bowl keeps them all in the same place and allows Marvin to eat them when he wants (Dubias, especially the small ones, are notorious for hiding in ridiculously small dark spot for long amounts of time, keeping them in an accessible place for your chameleon is a good idea.)
Hydration
I spray the cage (mostly from the top of the cage downwards) 3-4 times a day, with distilled water. Once Marvin gets bigger and needs a bigger cage I will rig up a Mist-King misting system.
Cage Decor
The cage contains a small ficus tree along with dry branches. I keep the ficus plant placed in a water catching dish, which I fill when needed as the basking light can make the ficus dry out.
NOTE: I wrote this quickly, and I may have forgotten to include something. If anyone has any comments/questions/ or suggestions please don't hesitate.
General Information
Chameleon: Veiled chameleon, Chamaeleo calyptratus
Name: Marvin
Sex: Male
Birth date: 9/11/12 (age ~3 Months)
Purchased at: Ontario CA, Reptile Expo.
Cage: ZOO MED LABORATORIES - ReptiBreeze Alum Screen Cage 16 x16 x20
Light:ZooMed, Reptisun 5.0 UVB, compact fluorescent, 26W AC120V/60Hz
Food
Baby dubia roaches
Small silk worms occasionally
Baby giant horned worms (NOTE: these guys get big REALLY quick, I would only recommend them if you also have a larger chameleon who can take care of the the ones that get too big for a young chameleon.)
Small crickets (from Petsmart)
Gut Loading
I feed my crickets: Fluker's High Calcium Cricket Feed in addition to vegetable scraps (bits of broccoli, carrots, & spinach)
I feed my dubia colony: mostly fruits (pineapple, pears, oranges, apples) as they seem to be able to easily eat the soft tissue of the fruit. I also throw in some of the dry cricket feed ( I think this helps keep the dubia container not so moist which can lead to bacteria and mold build up).
I do not gut load the silk worms, as they are shipped with their specific food. (if you do get silk worms, make sure you buy more of their food. I bought some silk worms (pack of about 100) and they ate just about all their food in roughly a week. They started to die after a week; however, I was able to feed most of them off, so I didn't have too much of a loss.
The giant horned worms were shipped with their respective food; however, after a week the food was just about all gone. I currently have the horned worms in a 1 gallon milk jug filled ~half way with dry peat moss (substrate) and some sweet potatoes & spinach (for gut loading) {I will explain my method in subsequent blog entries}.
Feeding
I have installed a food dish/bowl. The food dish came from Petsmart, and is intended for parrot/bird cages, but it was really easy to install on Marvins wire cage, by punching a hold through the aluminum mess wall. The location of the food dish/bowl is towards the bottom so when he is basking near the top of his cage he can see all the little critters in his food dish/bowl. I understand that food dish/bowl method can make your chameleon lazy (not get enough exercise) so I also release some crickets in his cage so he can hunt and get exercise. The food dish/bowl is an excellent way to feed baby dubia roaches, as the smaller dubias may be small enough to escape the cage. Putting the dubias in the dish/bowl keeps them all in the same place and allows Marvin to eat them when he wants (Dubias, especially the small ones, are notorious for hiding in ridiculously small dark spot for long amounts of time, keeping them in an accessible place for your chameleon is a good idea.)
Hydration
I spray the cage (mostly from the top of the cage downwards) 3-4 times a day, with distilled water. Once Marvin gets bigger and needs a bigger cage I will rig up a Mist-King misting system.
Cage Decor
The cage contains a small ficus tree along with dry branches. I keep the ficus plant placed in a water catching dish, which I fill when needed as the basking light can make the ficus dry out.
NOTE: I wrote this quickly, and I may have forgotten to include something. If anyone has any comments/questions/ or suggestions please don't hesitate.
