A few questions from a new veiled chameleon owner

[Charms]

Hi everyone!
I am a first time VEILED chameleon owner. I've got a few miscellaneous questions as my wife and I finish setting up the terrarium:

• I have purchased a simple thermometer and hygrometer that are battery-powered and attach to the glass wall of the terrarium. Are these sufficient, or should we get the probe hygrometer / infrared temp gun recommended in the "Veiled Chameleon Owner's Manual" by Jonathan Durham?
• Should I be using spring water or distilled water for misting? I've heard arguments for both.
• How often do you mist your enclosure manually (for veiled chameleons specifically)? I've read competing hypotheses on how humid they really need it to be. One of my books says the enclosure needs to be dripping wet multiple times a day. The other says veiled chameleons prefer less humidity than panthers and Jackson's because they come from semi-arid mountain regions of Yemen.
• Which cleaning product(s) do you recommend for cleaning the enclosure?

Thank you!

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Hopefully I’ll be able to answer your questions well.
It’s best to use at least a thermometer/hygrometer with a probe end which is used to measure basking temps. Many of us also use the temp guns too, just to double check.
I’m afraid I have to admit I haven’t read that or many books on chameleon care. I’ve gotten the bulk of my learning and husbandry from here. I do recommend highly https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/ or Neptune the Chameleon on YouTube for the most correct and up to date keeping and husbandry practices.
I use reverse osmosis water with my misting system (Mist King), but before I switched to that, I did use distilled to avoid mineral build up. If hand misting, either is fine.
It’s best to mist for at least 2 minutes, right before lights go on and off. If needed, you can either add a brief 1 minute misting during the day or add a dripper for 15-20 minutes. The enclosure needs to be able to dry out. Ideal humidity range during the day for veileds is between 30-50%.
It’s best to do some frequent cleaning of the poops - like daily or every other day and that helps avoid the need for deeper cleaning. Many use a dilute vinegar for cleaning. I’ve used that and a very dilute Nature’s Miracle for deeper cleaning. Avoid strong fumes or chemicals. Chameleons lungs are like tissue paper.

 

[ERKleRose]

Welcome on here, and congrats! Do you have your veiled yet or no? Also, what is the gender (their care slightly differs based on gender)? Here are some helpful links to read through if you haven’t already!
https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/ (this is most up to date, accurate, and science backed chameleon care available- read through every module if you can!)
https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/ (this is all correct except for precise feeding amounts based on age, basking temps can be lower for males, 80-85*F, and females need 78-80*F, and the humidity can dip lower during the day, too- 30-50%)
https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/ (only use veiled tested live plants, as veileds will eat plastic plants/plastic leaves on fake vines- no moss or Exo Terra vines either, they are both dangerous, as well, which can cause at minimum impaction, and at worst death. Make sure to clean the plants, repot them in organic soil, and cover the soil with rocks too big for your cham to eat before placing them in the cage)
https://chameleonacademy.com/setting-up-a-chameleon-cage/ (these last two are great links for cage set up examples, if you need any!)
http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2012/04/how-to-set-up-proper-chameleon.html

As for your questions, you’ll want to get a probed digital thermometer (or thermometer-hygrometer combo) to measure your basking temperature. You can use regular (unprobed) digital thermometer-hygrometer combos to measure other areas in the cage. Sadly temp guns are useless, as they measure surface temp while we need to measure air temp

You’ll use distilled water if possible, it produces much less build up on misting nozzles and is perfectly safe for chameleons

At minimum, you’ll mist around both lights on and lights off. Both of those mistings need to be at least 2 minutes long (or longer) each time, that’s the minimum amount of time to trigger a cham’s drinking response. If your humidity drops too low during the day (under 30%), you can add a misting session late in the day. You can also do short spurts of misting throughout the night to help raise humidity, too (much easier if you have an automatic mister). If there is enough of a nighttime temperature drop (preferably 65*F or lower), you can also use a cool mist humidifier/fogger during the middle of the night to help with hydration!

@JacksJill blogs, Cage Cleaning Sanitation is Sexier Than You Think, are a great source of info for cleaning!
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/blog/jacksjills-blog.40624/

If you have any other questions, let us know! Also, if you want to fill out a husbandry form to make sure your husbandry is in tip top shape, let us know!

 

[Charms]

Thanks for the info everyone.

I do not yet have the veiled. I'm adopting one this weekend, hopefully. The enclosure is finally set up. My wife and I built a bioactive enclosure based on some videos we watched, and we spared no expense. Got all chameleon-safe plants, special reptile soil, hydroballs, vines, moss, the works. We have introduced the worms and isopods as well.

I intend to adopt a male; the females seem a bit more complicated, and I don't want to endanger one as my first pet.

Rose, you mentioned "no moss or exo terra vines" - but these were recommended by both the reptile specialist we met (Reptropolis, Dana Point) and the videos we watched. Should we remove them? We were told they help manage the humidity and give the chameleon more drinking options.

Do you have a specific thermometer / hygrometer combo you recommend? I'll buy it.

 

[ERKleRose]

I do not yet have the veiled. I'm adopting one this weekend, hopefully.

Awesome! Do you know the age (if you do, @Beman can give you a feeding schedule to stick to, as I only know adult veiled feeding schedules)? Where are you getting him, if you don’t mind me asking? Sadly not all sources are reputable, so you want to get a cham from one that is so you start out with a healthy little dude!

My wife and I built a bioactive enclosure based on some videos we watched, and we spared no expense. Got all chameleon-safe plants, special reptile soil, hydroballs, vines, moss, the works. We have introduced the worms and isopods as well.

That sounds great! I’d love to see pics! I’d start out with the cham in a quarantine set up so if anything health issue pops up, you don’t have to potentially trash the entire bioactive enclosure. You can remove the soil and everything in it to another bin to continue establishing or set up a different quarantine cage altogether. I’d also remove all the moss (besides the moss already mixed into the soil if you have that), it’s an impaction risk, especially for veileds. For chameleons, you cover the soil entirely with leaf litter, no moss layer then leaf litter. Do you have any springtails?

I intend to adopt a male

I’m so excited for you and your wife! Do y’all have a name picked out already?

Rose, you mentioned "no moss or exo terra vines" - but these were recommended by both the reptile specialist we met (Reptropolis, Dana Point) and the videos we watched. Should we remove them? We were told they help manage the humidity and give the chameleon more drinking options.

Definitely remove them! Sadly it’s very hard to find proper husbandry, and not many pet stores, even the reptile ones, know proper cham care. You can search the forums and see the issues they’ve caused. A better way to help raise humidity is more live plants, going bioactive, and longer misting times. Better drinking options are plant leaves and real branches and vines

Do you have a specific thermometer / hygrometer combo you recommend? I'll buy it.

There’s multiple options you can decide from depending on which you prefer. There’s basic digital ones, and there’s smart ones you can connect to your phone using Bluetooth. You can get a basic digital from the weather section at any home improvement store, some pet stores also sell digit combos, and online (reptile supply stores, Amazon, etc). I like to make sure there’s a max and min humidity part and a highest and lowest temp part along with the current temperature and humidity levels if you go this route. I’ve just dipped my toe into smart combo ones, but a lot of people use the Govee ones: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=govee+sm...smart+ther,aps,142&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_16 . This is the one I bought, but I literally installed it only a couple of days ago, so I can’t tell you much yet: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXP3XLLR?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 . I do like that with the probe, I can keep the main part out of the cage (I installed this grommet on my screen cage to stop holes in the screen and squishing wires in the door: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BF9LQ4CL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 ). Whichever type and option you buy, make sure that the accuracy difference is as small as possible! If possible, make sure your humidity and temp levels for day, night, and basking (do you know where to put the probe for this?) are already honed in before you get your cham!


You and your wife sound like incredible keepers already, your future cham is a lucky little guy!

 

[ERKleRose]

Here’s the probeless Bluetooth one I bought, and it happens to be Govee
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0872V9WJ5?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

 

[Beman]

Might post a picture of your set up.... There are a few things you mentioned having for it that would be concerning with a Veiled.

Feeding schedule depends on if this is a male or a female your adopting.

Females
As babies they get as much as they want... Typically 2 dozen small insects per day.
As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6-7 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7-8 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeder amounts so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.


You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces. The hotter the temp the more their metabolism speeds up so we have to keep the temp lower since we are doing lower food intake.

A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/

Males
As babies they get as much as they want... Typically 2 dozen small insects per day. Normally around 7-9 months old they will start curbing down on their own. This is your sign to reduce insects down to 10-12 per day. You want to do a gradual reduction week over week after this point. I normally take one feeder away each feeding each week. By 11 months old I take them to every other day feedings. Because by the time they are 12 months old they need to be on a feeding schedule of every other day 3-5 insects.