Brand new male Veiled. How can I help him de-stress?

[Charms]

So yeah you have to replace the red bulb. It is very bad on their eyes. All you want is an incandescent white bulb about a 60 watt for the distance you have. This can be a regular household bulb as long as it is not the LED type. If you want a reptile one you can buy these. I use these and they burn out pretty rarely.


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If I buy this, should I also get rid of the T5 HO? Or should I use them both at the same time?

 

[MissSkittles]

If I buy this, should I also get rid of the T5 HO? Or should I use them both at the same time?
Will this 60w bulb you're recommending provide enough heat for a cage of my size? I see there are also 75w and 100w versions of this bulb. My cage is 3 feet tall.

The T5 is your uvb and the other is the basking light, so yes, you need both. I would say to start with the 60w basking bulb and see what temps that gives you. You only need it to be about 80F at the basking branch. You want a nice gradient of different temps so cutie can cool off or warm up and bask. You could also have the 75w bulb on hand just in case it’s needed.
Btw, so glad with the changes you’ve made. No idea why Charms should be digging. Even if cutie is a girl, there would be much time to go before laying eggs. My only idea about it is the stress of the improvements and cutie is trying to escape. I have isopod hunters and they just lay in wait to ambush the poor unsuspecting isopod.

 

[Charms]

So yeah you have to replace the red bulb. It is very bad on their eyes. All you want is an incandescent white bulb about a 60 watt for the distance you have. This can be a regular household bulb as long as it is not the LED type. If you want a reptile one you can buy these. I use these and they burn out pretty rarely.


View attachment 360581

Can I stick this bulb into the lamp the red bulb is currently in, or do I need to buy a new lamp as well?
Sorry, I'm quite new at this!

 

[ERKleRose]

Damn, those are some gorgeous chameleons. Thanks for the photos.

Big update!
We completely reassembled Charms' enclosure per the recommendations in this forum. We removed the hammock, all fake plants but one (which he likes to hide in), and most of the bamboo. We also put a huge dracaena marginata in there to give him more cover near the top of the enclosure, along with more pothos plants and more branches near the top for basking:
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Charms is no longer super dark and pissed off in his enclosure. He's been wandering around a lot, drinking, and nailing medium-sized crickets. He's comfortable enough now that he's eating right in front of me!
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His color seems a lot more relaxed most of the time too.

One thing that is strange is I noticed him digging a lot on the first day that we reassembled the enclosure:
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I know everyone will ask, "are you sure that's a male?" but I cannot really tell because we haven't held him much yet. The next time we take him out to clean the enclosure, I'll do a spur check. But the breeder was 100% confident it was a male (I asked him three times to be sure). So Charms might have been digging up a bug he saw burrowing in the soil (isopods, earthworms, and a few wayward crickets are in here with him), or maybe he was just checking the place out? Looking for an escape, maybe?

My next question is, folks keep telling me to replace the red heat bulb. What do you recommend? If someone could post an amazon link I'd appreciate it.

Awesome job! I’d still add more branches in the middle and bottom of the cage, you want him to have pathways throughout the entire enclosure! I’d also take out the fake plant and replace it because you never know. A bushy pothos would work great there! Most pet stores carry that bulb, so that’s a quicker option to get it. If there’s none near you, just google search ”Exo Terra day time heat lamp”! One more thing to add, and I know I’ve already mentioned it (but it is important), is that you want a uvb fixture that spans the entire length of the enclosure. When you purchase a new fixture, go with the Arcadia ProT5 kit and 6% bulb, they’re the best on the market! You want the fixture to be at least as long as his biggest enclosure will be (I have no idea what the current size of your enclosure is). The absolute bare minimum is 2’x2’x4’ tall, but the recommended size for an adult is 4’x2’x4’ tall or bigger. Go as big as you can! I can’t wait to see what his cage will look like when finished!

Can I stick this bulb into the lamp the red bulb is currently in, or do I need to buy a new lamp as well?
Sorry, I'm quite new at this!

Yes you can!