A Little advice to a new owner?

[gino_simmons]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum thing and to chameleons in general so I wanted to maybe get a little advice from you all. Anyways, heres some info about my chameleon.


Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled, less than a year old, I've had her since August of this year.
• Handling - Recently, she's been scratching against the cage, seeming like she wants to come out, so a couple times in the past 3-4 days, but usually I only do it a couple times a week.
• Feeding - I feed her once a day, sometimes twice if the first meal was small. Usually each meal is 6-9 medium sized crickets.
• Supplements - I dust crickets every meal without D3, and once a week with D3. Multivitamin once a month.
• Watering - I have a dripper, that I refill once every couple days, whenever it is near empty/stops dripping.
• Fecal Description - Not been tested, but in the past it has seemed perfectly up until the past week or so. Lately both have been really small, except I've noticed the small amount is still white, which is better because it used to be sort of yellow. Small poops too.
• History - No prior history.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Aluminum, mesh, 16in length, 16in width, and 30 in height.
• Lighting - ZooMed Tropical UVB & Heat Lighting Kit & I also have a basking light, I think it might be Fluker's. Unsure of wattage.
• Humidity - I have a zoomed hygrometer and thermometer. I mist several times a day keeping it around 40-55%.
• Plants - I am not using live plants & only have two fake ones, which obviously don't hold water well. However with the new cage I am making soon, I would like to get some, any recommendations? I also only have a couple vines, and I have some grapevine branches too.
• Placement - My cage is located in my bedroom in the corner sorta close to the door. I didn't really think about it much but my couch is near his cage and I am on it pretty frequently.
• Location - Portland, OR United States

Current Problem - General Health/Egg laying
My questions:
-She is pacing around the cage a lot the past few days, and has just recently gotten gold and blue colors, which I've been told is a sign she's maturing, so I put an egg laying bin inside her cage (7x7in and 8 inch deep). What should I do about this? She's scratching the mesh cage sometimes and acts as if she's trying to find something, but I have a laying bin inside.

-How old do you guys think she looks? Cause I have no idea. I got her around August this year.

-If I should adjust anything such as feeding, humidity, lighting, etc, please let me know. Any sort of constructive criticism would be great. Thank you

 

[gino_simmons]

Here's a couple more pics.

 

[gino_simmons]

2 more.

 

[rminnis]

Looks pretty healthy to me! I would defintely invest in some small pothos plants, or shefflera plant or tree even, ficus, philodendron, palm plants are some of the best look for the pothos or philodendron with long vines or ones that are starting. They need more places to hide to truly feel safe. Also i had the same cage and had the same climbing and scratching on it until i upgraded the size to one with much more room. Your girl looks like shes ready for more room is all I know they grow quickly!

 

[Replife]

Nursemaia is a member here I feel could help with sum advice

 

[gino_simmons]

Looks pretty healthy to me! I would defintely invest in some small pothos plants, or shefflera plant or tree even, ficus, philodendron, palm plants are some of the best look for the pothos or philodendron with long vines or ones that are starting. They need more places to hide to truly feel safe. Also i had the same cage and had the same climbing and scratching on it until i upgraded the size to one with much more room. Your girl looks like shes ready for more room is all I know they grow quickly!

Thanks for the response!
I've been investing in some good tools & stuff the past couple years so I think Im going to make my own cage. What size do you think would be optimal? Also, what do you think I should do with the laying bin? I just have it sitting at the bottom of her cage and Ive never seen her climb inside it or dig in it.

 

[Replife]

I have a male about the same age but I have no experience with a gravid female but she probably doesn't feel safe laying in such a small unclosed she needs at least 24x24x48 but the bigger the better

 

[Replife]

Wat do you have for her laying bin? I would say you would need soil close to 16in deep or so and she would need plenty of privacy

 

[gino_simmons]

Wat do you have for her laying bin? I would say you would need soil close to 16in deep or so and she would need plenty of privacy

The laying bin is 7x7 and only 8 deep. So I'd assume that's too small too, right? Whats the minimum size I should do?
Im considering making a laying bin that is incorporated into the entire cage, so the entire bottom of the cage is available for her to dig, do you think that would work?(If it was 28x28x16)

 

[rminnis]

Thanks for the response!
I've been investing in some good tools & stuff the past couple years so I think Im going to make my own cage. What size do you think would be optimal? Also, what do you think I should do with the laying bin? I just have it sitting at the bottom of her cage and Ive never seen her climb inside it or dig in it.

If I was going to make something custom I would definitely try to make something 30 inches wide and 40 or so tall and 18-20 deep. Depends on what kinda space u have and where its going to sit I just think the 16 in or even the 24x24x48offer very little space to crawl around or more importantly offer a way to really change its hot/cold gradient so i like the enclosures that have more width.
Just make sure the dirt can be tunneled without collapsing and that there is a vine or branch or an easy way into it and make sure you give her plenty of privacy. I know its hard to fit a laying bin in the smaller cages just try to find something that is at least a little longer than the length of your cham.

 

[rminnis]

try using a plasic flower pot or something similar for a small laying bin

 

[medgecko]

I'm using an old plastic pot that's 13.5" across and 12" deep, a 7.5 gallon I think. Chamille is 4-6 (if I've properly interpreted the receptive/gravid timelines) weeks away from needing it as she started sporting her man-hunting dressage in early November.

 

[gino_simmons]

If I was going to make something custom I would definitely try to make something 30 inches wide and 40 or so tall and 18-20 deep. Depends on what kinda space u have and where its going to sit I just think the 16 in or even the 24x24x48offer very little space to crawl around or more importantly offer a way to really change its hot/cold gradient so i like the enclosures that have more width.
Just make sure the dirt can be tunneled without collapsing and that there is a vine or branch or an easy way into it and make sure you give her plenty of privacy. I know its hard to fit a laying bin in the smaller cages just try to find something that is at least a little longer than the length of your cham.

Perfect, thank you so much for the help!

 

[gino_simmons]

I'm using an old plastic pot that's 13.5" across and 12" deep, a 7.5 gallon I think. Chamille is 4-6 (if I've properly interpreted the receptive/gravid timelines) weeks away from needing it as she started sporting her man-hunting dressage in early November.

Yeah mine started showing her colors about the same time as well, so I'll have to get all this stuff ready pretty soon.