Am I missing anything?

[mgebbie]

Ok, so I've set up my future chameleons' cage! I believe I have it all, but I'd like some people to chime in if I'm missing something, or I'm doing it wrong! I hope to get a male veiled (2/3 months) from Chameleon's Finest (perhaps sired by Conehead).

Your Chameleon -Veiled, male, don't have him yet
Handling - hopefully once per week
Feeding - Cup fed at first, crickets, occasional meal worm after 6 months of age. Crickets will be gutloaded with collard greens, kale, etc. I'd like to look into raising hornworms or silk worms eventually.
Supplements - ReptiCal (zoomed) everyday, Rep-Cal herptivite every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month, and Rep-Cal phospho-free calcium with D3 every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month.
Watering - Mist morning and afternoon for 5 minutes each, and a dripper in place (drips every 3 seconds).
Fecal Description - n/a
History -n/a

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen (aluminum), 18x18x36
Lighting - Zoomed reptisun 5.0, and 60 watt basking (have dimmer so the wattage can be adjusted with age), 12 hours on, 12 hours off.
Temperature - Ambient is 74.5 F, Basking 80.1 F. Night time temp is about 70 F (may drop a bit more in the winter)
Humidity - I have a thermometer/hygrometer gauge, 55% humidity with AC on, and 70% without AC.
Plants - Umbrella plant in cage (conveniently named Elvis), and Corn tree outside cage for when we're home (named Presley).
Placement - Living room, medium traffic, but there will be a blanket available to put over him during the night if need be. Near an AC vent, but the vent is not directed at him.
Location - Maryland, USA

How does everything look?

 

[jman10350]

I dont know much about veiled chameleons but if i were you i would add a little bit more greenery.

 

[camimom]

everything seems pretty good. I would add some more foliage up at the top of the cage as new environments can stress them out and good hiding places can help ihim adjust.

I would also try to mist at least 1 or 2 more times a day if possible. if not, you should look into getting a mistking.

as for your gutloading, I would do a bit more resaerch on that. Kale is not ideal for gutloading with.

Find sandrachameleons blog on it. or just search gutload.

Good luck

 

[GregNY]

Looks awesome. I'd highly recommend the starter MistKing setup as I just put together a similar cage and it really simplifies the whole process of keeping hydration and humidity up.

Oh and I'd get a new SoCo bottle, the one you have is gettin low!

 

[mgebbie]

SoCo bottle?

 

[camimom]

SoCo bottle?

SOuthern comfort. you can see the bottle in the bottom right corner of the first picture. lol

 

[jessica]

I think your cage looks great! That tree will fill out in no time and soon you will be cutting it back You may want to adjust your basking spot to a little higher if you get a older guy (not a few months old).

If you can't mist him 3 times a day due to you scheduale I would give him a good heavy mist in the morning and get everything dripping then have the dripper set to drip for the whole day. You may want to figure out a way to drain the water without making a mess. LLL sells drain pans or you can set it on a stand drill holes in the bottom and have it drain into a bucket. There is so many ways to do it you will have to search the forums and find one that works for you.

Here are a few of my favorite links They have tons of great information

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

Post pictures after you get him

 

[bigcappa]

Everything looks pretty good to me, I'm glad to see you got prepared beforehand. Nice Job

 

[mgebbie]

We have a pan at the bottom to catch all excess water. I'll make sure to mist heavily morning and afternoon. The humidity in the apartment is naturally around 60%, so he shouldn't struggle there. The chameleon I plan on getting will be about 3 months old. As for the gut-loading I'm looking into better gut-load foods.

 

[Chamster]

if thats the heater sitting on the cage i would say lift it a little so its just dangling down not touching the cage. that cage might get hot and burn the cham... make sure its about 3-5 inches above the cage...if you have a baby veiled make sure its 5 inches above the cage.

 

[mgebbie]

The heat lamp is actually about 3 inches above the cage (it's hard to see from the angle I took the picture at). It's being held up to prevent the mesh from getting too hot.
Thanks!

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello, welcome to the forum. Great looking setup you have there, I'm sure he'll settle in fine. Only advice is like has already been said, a little extra cover while he basks, just so he's harder to see from the front and he'll probably be a lot more comfortable basking (making him hungrier too.....)