am i giving too much or too little calcium?

[whitespyder]

i have a 6 month old female veiled and i just want to see if im giving her the proper amount of calcium/vitamins.

i alternate what i gutload the crickets with every few days or so:
1) a blended mixture of dandilion greens, mustard greens, endive, watercress, and collared greens (the majority of the mix being dandelion and collared greens)
2) grated carrot
3) wet dog food (rarely since it spoils quickly)
4) tropical fish flakes

i dust her crickets with phosphorous-free calcium powder with D3 every third day and i give her reptivite vitamin dust without D3 around 3 times a month. she also eats mealworms and waxworms which i dont dust but i use them as treats for her. (i dont like to give her alot of them since i hear mealworms can be hard to digest. once she gets larger ill feed her superworms instead of mealies.) she also has proper lighting with UVB.

do you think shes getting the proper amount of vitamins and calcium? i dont want to give her too much of course but im afraid im not giving her enough. and with the crickets i dont want to be giving her too much calcium dust if the gutloaded crickets alone are enough. im trying to prevent her from laying eggs but if she eventually grows some i want to maintain a good balance so that she wont become eggbound or too weak after laying eggs.

sorry if any of this was confusing ill try to clear it up if you have questions. thank you guys for reading and any advice will be appreciated!

 

[jannb]

The things you need to change are:

Do not use dog food or fish food to gutload your crickets.

Dust your feeders with calcium without D3 at every other feeding.

Dust with D3 calcium 2 times a month.

Dust with a multi vitamins such as Rep-Cal Herptivite once a month.

What type of UVB bulb do you have? and is it tube or coil?

How hot is your basking spot?

At 6 months I would only feed her 8 feeders every other day and keep her highest temps. in the very low 80's.

 

[whitespyder]

i have a 20 watt super uv coil lamp from ESU reptile. the basking spot gets up to 95F so ill have to get a smaller watt daylight bulb. she has ample room to go to cooler areas and usually spends most of her time underneath the uv light where its cooler.

would carrots and the dark greens mix be enough variety for the crickets or should i add something else? also she'll be very upset with me if i fed her every other day lol. would it be ok if i fed her 4 feeders everyday and dust with d3-free calcium every 3rd or 4th feeding?

thank you for your advice!

 

[jannb]

Get rid of that coil ASAP.

Most greens are fine. Collard greens are excellent!

I would dust with plain calcium at everyother feeding and at every feeding for a week or two after laying a clutch. Do you have a laying bin for her? At those temps she could lay a clutch at anytime.

Below is a link from a forums member that's been raising veileds for over 20 years. Read what she says about keeping them cooler and feeding less to prevent eggs.

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

 

[whitespyder]

the entire substrate at the bottom of her cage is 5 inches deep of moist dirt and sand which wouldnt collapse if she tunneled through it. should i get a tube UVB light instead of the coil? she doesnt get much natural sunlight.
that website is very helpful! thanks

 

[jannb]

Yes, she needs a tube UVB. It is best to have nothing on the floor of the cage and set up a laying bin. Veileds like to eat dirt and can become impacted. I use washed play sand in my laying bin and the laying bin should be 12 inches deep.

 

[chameleon97]

Read the link JannB gave you.
GET RID OF COIL
GET RID OF SOIL
hey, lol that rhimes (sp?)

But With those conditions, your Cham coul become Impacted and BLind soon

-Steve

 

[whitespyder]

just wondering, why is a tube better than a coil? i dont really understand. more overall UVB coverage in the cage?
her tank is only 12"x12" and 36" tall so i really cant fit a laybox a foot tall in there lol. would it be possible to move her to a foot deep laybox outside her cage if i notice her trying to dig? the substrate is play sand and coconut husk fiber, not soil. shes still little (about 4inches excluding her tail) but when she gets bigger i have a slightly larger cage to move her into. i dont have a whole lot of space currently to build a huge cage although i would like to do that some day.

 

[jannb]

The coil light causes eye problems that lead to blindness.

You can put a small bin in the cage and when you see her starting to dig you can move her to a larger bin. Also, normally before they lay they will become restless and start roaming around and many of them stop eating. Below is a link to a large laying bin I had for my girl. She refuses to lay in a smalled bin.

It is not recommended to have any type of substrate in your cage for the safety of your chameleon.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/camilles-eggs-43-them-28568/

 

[whitespyder]

oh wow i didnt know that. my girl is always interested in food but if she seems disinterested then i guess ill start to suspect eggs! im taking her to the vet soon just incase for xrays and the like just to check up on how shes been doing. thanks for your help and congrats for your camille laying eggs safely

 

[kinyonga]

You asked..."am i giving too much or too little calcium?"...I would be more concerned about overdoing the D3. I only use D3 lightly twice a month. I dust with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings. I use Herptivite twice a month and Rep-cal/D3 twice a month lightly, as I said.

 

[whitespyder]

thank you. ill follow the same routine but i have reptivite vitamins which i hear has preformed vitamin A and i heard that it should be used less than herptivite.

 

[Chameleonboy]

Take the coil out NOW. She is way better off without it. They can cause severe eye problems. You can get a reptisun 5.0 that is what most all of us use.

-Clemonde

 

[whitespyder]

a reptisun 5.0 is being shipped to me as we speak. she'll have one set up in a few days

 

[Chameleonboy]

GOOD! lol She is going to really love you.

-Clemonde