am i ready for my veiled chameleon?

[chameleons707]

ok so im finally coming to an end . to start off with i made a custom made screen wooden enclosure( 2x,2x,4x). inside i will be adding 100% real life safe plants right now i just have a ficus tree and an asparagus fern. im going to make it very tropical looking so you can get an idea.for lighting a 75 watt basking bulb and a 10.0 UVB i will be trading for a 5.0 if possible. can i use the 10.0? ok thats all for the enclosure. temps are going to be 90-95 degress in basking area and 75-80 degress on cool side. for diet it will consist of mostly dubia roaches and for a little variety crickets and superworms. so 70% dubia roaches, 10% crickets, 10% superworms, and 10% wax worms,hornworms,stuff like that. is this a good feeding? for suplements 2 times a week dust with pure calcium and every 2 weeks calcium with D3. for water i will be misting 4-5 times a day keeping the enclosure moist. and thats basically it. the thing im not sure about is the UVB light can i use a 10.0? because thats the only one i have and i dont want to waste money for one that doesnt reallly have to be used. thanx! and btw i will be getting a 7-9 inch male chameleon from lllreptile!! corrcte if anything is wrong or i missed something

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. I keep veileds and the are awesome chameleons. They have so much personality. The 10.0 should be ok if you provide plenty of shade for him to get out of the UV when he doesn't want it. IMHO 90 to 95 is too hot for your basking spot. I keep my adult males basking spot at 88 to 89.

Will you chameleon be getting any outside time? If not you might need to lightly dust 3 times a week with calcium without d3. He will also need a multi vitamin twice a month.

You will need to gut load his feeders with fresh fruits and veggies along with a good dry gut load. A larger variety of feeders would be much better. Also some chameleons do not like dubia.

I'm attaching my blog for new keepers. It will tell you everything you need for your new chameleon and a link to a picture of the item and where you can buy it.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[Decadancin]

Welcome to the forums! As for the 10.0 (Assuming tube type) bulb, it should be fine. If you are concerned that it may be too much, and when you have a brand new bulb (first month or so) you can always add an extra piece of screen between it and your enclosure to lessen the intensity a bit. As Jann stated, if your chameleon can find plenty of shade to take a break you should have no issues with the 10.0. With the basking bulb, you may want to experiment with different wattages to find the temp you are looking for, or have an adjustable light fixture (dimmer or varied height from basking spot).
I find it difficult to get varied feeders having only one chameleon. Most of them die off because I cant feed them off quickly. If you know anyone close by that you can "share" feeders with you may be able to vary your feeders even more successfully. Best of luck with your soon-to-be new friend and we cant wait to meet him!

 

[chameleons707]

Thanx for the help guys lots and lots! Of shade. Wow the chameleon could sense how much UVB it takes in? and sadly there is really no one close to share with so what I will be doing is breed dubia roaches in one tub,mealworms in a other,crickets I will be purchasing (way to hard and waste of time to breed) and other insects I will just purchase in a little tub and hopefully breed aswell. And really? well i told the store if i can feed them roaches and sounded like they feed them that to. But first I'm going to buy 2-3 baby roaches from my petstore and feed it to it and if he eats them quickly i wipp be purchasing 200 baby roaches lol. Can you guys help me with supplement

 

[chameleons707]

Oh and how can I do the feeding can you give me a list of insects I could feed? Do chameleons really eat alot? I was watching a lllreptile video and said 2 large dubia roaches equal around 20 crickets is that true?

 

[jannb]

I never feed large roaches. It's best to feed medium so that want damage your chameleons mouth. Here's how I recommend supplements. I took this right from my blog linked above.

The feeders have to be "lightly" dusted with 2 kinds of supplements. When your chameleon is young you will use plain calcium (no d3) at just about every feeding...... if you skip one or two days a month that's ok. You will also need Reptivite with d3 twice a month. You can see pictures and buy these supplements here: http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/...-and-vitamins/

 

[chameleons707]

Yes I've owned lizard before so ik about the appropriate sizees and stuff and thanks for the supplement help. For now the diet will consist of crickets roaches and superworms.
Is this a good variation list?
roaches superworms
Roaches crickets
Crickets superworms
And i will just be switching it up every week and occacionally feed it wax worms,isopds, horn worms,silkworms,etc. Any website that sells them for cheap?Thanx so much guys for being helpful. Btw since idk how old it is right now,all i know is its a male 7-9 inch male can eat eat fruits and veggies at this age? Or wait alittle long till it grows older

 

[jannb]

Yes I've owned lizard before so ik about the appropriate sizees and stuff and thanks for the supplement help. For now the diet will consist of crickets roaches and superworms.
Is this a good variation list?
roaches superworms
Roaches crickets
Crickets superworms
And i will just be switching it up every week and occacionally feed it wax worms,isopds, horn worms,silkworms,etc. Any website that sells them for cheap?Thanx so much guys for being helpful. Btw since idk how old it is right now,all i know is its a male 7-9 inch male can eat eat fruits and veggies at this age? Or wait alittle long till it grows older

You can offer fruits and veggies. Mine love them.

You should check out lindasgonebuggie.com. She sales value packs with small amounts of 3 or 4 different feeders for like $20.00. It makes it easy to offer a variety when you only have one chameleon without having allot of feeders go bad before you use them.

 

[Scoobthenoob]

Never ready

Only prepared..

Only thing you can do is keep on researching....

You will then know when the time is right.....

Good luck

 

[chameleons707]

Thanx for the website! Any more?

 

[chameleons707]

and its all finished its 2x2x4x isnt it good? The chameleon will have lots of space

 

[brownie64]

My only suggestion would be to get it off the ground a little, especially if you have other animals around the house like cats or dogs. Enclosure looks nice.

 

[chameleons707]

Thanx! Lol and yess ima boost it up a little so it can feel alittle more secure and any recemendation for a center tree ? Lol

 

[chameleons707]

Oh and also. Since i wanna make it real natural like with dirt and rooted plants in the bottom can i use organic topsoil? Im getting it from a landscape place and its pure topsoil nothing added to it. If its safe to use should i just use it like that or should bake it first? Can i use dirt as substrate? And moss im adding moss to make it alittle more greener and more natural looking is it ok if ingested? This im buying from micheals (crafts store) it comes in a bag and is dried but il be adding water to revive it. I believe its spagnum moss and one other type is spanish moss is that ok?

 

[jannb]

You will want to keep the bottom bare. If you put dirt in there he could eat it, veileds eat everything, and become impacted. You will need to cover the dirt in the plants with LARGE river rocks....so large that they want fit in his mouth. I have a plant list in my blog for new keepers linked above.

 

[chameleons707]

ok nvm i will just use pots and cover with large rocks but should i bake the dirt or leave it like that?

 

[brownie64]

Oh and also. Since i wanna make it real natural like with dirt and rooted plants in the bottom can i use organic topsoil? Im getting it from a landscape place and its pure topsoil nothing added to it. If its safe to use should i just use it like that or should bake it first? Can i use dirt as substrate? And moss im adding moss to make it alittle more greener and more natural looking is it ok if ingested? This im buying from micheals (crafts store) it comes in a bag and is dried but il be adding water to revive it. I believe its spagnum moss and one other type is spanish moss is that ok?

It should be safe as long as there is no fertilizer, and you'll want to wash the plants well to make sure there are no pesticides. As far as the planted substrate you'll find that most on here unless they are from the UK advise against it. I myself have used one for over 16 years and have had no problems thus far. In fact it's just the opposite it helps greatly with the humidity. You just need to make sure you have good ventilation, and drainage so things don't get too wet and stagnant this can cause mold, and bacteria to form. You can use baby tears to plant over the soil to keep the cham from eating the dirt, or large river rocks as suggested. But if you do chose to use this form of substrate I must warn you it is harder to maintain and learn to regulate properly you just have to ask yourself is it worth the extra effort myself I do. But that is what works for me may not be for everyone.

 

[brownie64]

Thanx! Lol and yess ima boost it up a little so it can feel alittle more secure and any recemendation for a center tree ? Lol

A lot of folks like hibiscus, but you will need 6500k, and 3500k lighting if you want the flowers to bloom. I personally like Schefflera (umbrella plant), and Pothos.