Cage/tank

[Beman]

Wow man, thank you sir!!! Most thorough. That's what I needed. I'm so glad I found these forums. And you! I feel a bit more confidant about fixing this little guy up. He's going to be king of the jungle when I'm all through. Everyone on here seems very friendly and knowledgeable. I can't thank you enough. If there's anything else you can think of that I'll need just let me know. I copied and pasted the list you left me and I took screen shots of the pics you posted. I hate being a pest but I do have a few more questions. I'm sorry to bother. I don't want to take advantage of your helpfulness. I just want to do this right and give this guy as long and as happy a life as I can. You wrote that I need a T5HO fixture with 5.0 or 6% bulb. Is that a heating or sunlight bulb, and doesn't he need both? Heat and then a light for the uvb? Or is it a 2 in 1 kind of thing? Also, as far as a screen cage, I'm just nervous that the humidity won't be able to rise in a screened enclosure. He'll get his heat from the basking bulb, I get that, and I was told to use a ceramic bulb for the night, but how will he get his humidity? Should I use a hybrid? Glass on the back and sides with a screen on the top and front? I don't want to use glass because of the reflection problem. Will he be okay in a 24x24x48 screen cage?

Please see @MissSkittles feedback above as well.
So T5HO fixture and bulb this is UVB only. I saw you had the double dome on the current cage which you can use for regular incandescent bulb for heat. Later you can always upgrade this fixture to a standard dome fixture. But right now you do not need to spend the money.
So T5HO fixture and either a 5.0 or 6% bulb. set on the top of the cage with a branch/vine parallel to the fixture 8-9inches below. This is important because at that distance where the cham rises off the vine he will be in the correct UVI level to keep him healthy and not have to worry about MBD. This is your sunlight bulb essentially. Go into petsmart and see if they have the Arcadia ProT5 with 6% bulb. Its about $75. This is an awesome fixture. If they do not look for the Reptisun T5HO with the 5.0 bulb. Make sure you buy a 24 inch fixture.

No heat (ceramic bulb) at night unless your temps drop below 50 F. in the room.

For humidity get a govee gauge. These work with an app on your phone. Do not spray them directly though. Use a tiny zip tie to hook them in. put off to the side of the cage out of mist. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R586J3...1_5&amp=&crid=7YY9SCLPZC9K&amp=&sprefix=govee

Cheap way to retain humidity... Hook to the outside of the cage on the back and 1 side at first. Test humidity levels. Looking for 40-50% max daytime. Can be as low as 30%. https://www.amazon.com/Duck-3-Windo...ifQ==&sprefix=duct+window+film,aps,134&sr=8-2


And yeah I am a girl. Beman is my 4 year old male Veiled. Honest mistake, you were not the first and will not be the last.

 

[Tkrd69]

Beman's the man when it comes to veiled I meant the woman. Can teach you a lot

 

[bklynmyke]

LOL. I'm sorry I've been missing the last few days. To be honest I want to keep talking about chams because I like talking to you guys. LOL. Is that pathetic? I thought I'd come on here and just get answers to questions (hopefully) and that'd be it. I had no idea I'd find people who were knowledgeable and funny. I swear I have friends! I just like talking to you guys. Your fault for being kind and funny. So on to the cham. I've named him Count Fascatini Palatatte Why is he an Italian Count? I don't know. I've been busy trying to set up the cage I got. I finally got him into a 24x24x48 screen cage. As I said, money is tight so right now he just has the plastic vegetation I had from the smaller tank. And the double dome lighting. I bought some floral wire and attached the branches I had horizontally and diagonally instead of vertically like in the smaller tank. I only have two branches right now but I was able to give a spot to bask in the heat and he has a much better hiding spot than he did in the smaller tank. He's wandering around checking out his new pad and seems pretty happy. I have a temperature and hydrometer and the temp under the basking lamp is about 81-85 degrees. The temperature in the room is about 70-75 degrees. The humidity right now (12:45 central time) is at 43.
Today I'd like to get him some more plants. I'm going to a nursery by me to see if they have any of the plants Beman (thanks lady!) suggested. I also wanted to ask what the difference between a 5.0, 10.0, and a 6% bulb is. I've been hearing different things. I think Beman (thanks girl!) suggested a 5.0 or a 6% bulb. Also, I was wondering what to put on the bottom of the cage. I've heard some put nothing, some just put down paper towels, some just cover it with plants (which I think would look the nicest). Sorry again for all the questions, but like I said, I want to do this right. Want to keep him for as long as I can and as healthy as I can. Thanks for all your help. (and I'm sorry about writing in parenthesis so much).

 

[Beman]

LOL. I'm sorry I've been missing the last few days. To be honest I want to keep talking about chams because I like talking to you guys. LOL. Is that pathetic? I thought I'd come on here and just get answers to questions (hopefully) and that'd be it. I had no idea I'd find people who were knowledgeable and funny. I swear I have friends! I just like talking to you guys. Your fault for being kind and funny. So on to the cham. I've named him Count Fascatini Palatatte Why is he an Italian Count? I don't know. I've been busy trying to set up the cage I got. I finally got him into a 24x24x48 screen cage. As I said, money is tight so right now he just has the plastic vegetation I had from the smaller tank. And the double dome lighting. I bought some floral wire and attached the branches I had horizontally and diagonally instead of vertically like in the smaller tank. I only have two branches right now but I was able to give a spot to bask in the heat and he has a much better hiding spot than he did in the smaller tank. He's wandering around checking out his new pad and seems pretty happy. I have a temperature and hydrometer and the temp under the basking lamp is about 81-85 degrees. The temperature in the room is about 70-75 degrees. The humidity right now (12:45 central time) is at 43.
Today I'd like to get him some more plants. I'm going to a nursery by me to see if they have any of the plants Beman (thanks lady!) suggested. I also wanted to ask what the difference between a 5.0, 10.0, and a 6% bulb is. I've been hearing different things. I think Beman (thanks girl!) suggested a 5.0 or a 6% bulb. Also, I was wondering what to put on the bottom of the cage. I've heard some put nothing, some just put down paper towels, some just cover it with plants (which I think would look the nicest). Sorry again for all the questions, but like I said, I want to do this right. Want to keep him for as long as I can and as healthy as I can. Thanks for all your help. (and I'm sorry about writing in parenthesis so much).

Lol well your more then welcome to come on just to chat about chams.

So next big buy is the correct UVB. You want 5.0 or 6% T5HO bulbs and fixture. Stay away from the 10.0 bulb it is too high of a UVB output bulb for a cham. So get the other and then your basking branch with this UVB bulb would be 8-9 inches below the screen with the fixture sitting right on the screen. This one is a very important purchase. They need the correct UVI levels so they do not develop metabolic bone disease.

As for plants. I go to lowes or home depot to get mine. Typically the cheapest for indoor plants. Try to find a nice full tall umbrella tree or money tree.

 

[NukaMedia Exotics]

You do not need to keep your whole room hot and humid with a screen cage. They need their own heat bulb on top of the cage and a misting system which will provide the ideal conditions inside for them.

 

[bklynmyke]

It's been forever since I've written in here so if no replies I'll understand. Also, this is a feeding question not a habitat question so maybe I need to post on a different thread. I was wondering the best way to feed my cham crickets. I thought I'd put them into a deep plastic cup so they couldn't jump out but he keeps trying to go straight at them instead of going to the top of the cup and down into it. So he ends up just staring at the crickets all day. Some people I talk with say to just let them loose in the cage so he has to hunt and it would be exercise and more like a natural way for him to eat but them some people say the crickets will bite him during the night. How do you guys feed crickets to your chams?

 

[Tkrd69]

My veiled will not eat crickets in a cup either. I put 5-6 in the encloser and a slice of apple just in case he doesn't eat them all. I don't know if this will help you.

 

[MissSkittles]

I use these and they are wonderful. https://www.rainbowmealworms.net/shooting-gallery-chameleon-feeder-1/

 

[bklynmyke]

But with the shooting gallery there's a big opening in the front. How do they not escape?

 

[MissSkittles]

But with the shooting gallery there's a big opening in the front. How do they not escape?

They can and on the rare occasion, a cricket figures out it can leap to freedom, but for the most part they just climb the screen and become sitting ducks. The only feeder that I’ve had a problem containing in it is bsfl. They almost instantly escape out the bottom with their wriggling. Making sure to attach the tacks at the corners and middle of the top and bottom will help prevent small roaches from escaping.

 

[bklynmyke]

Don't make fun of me but... what is a bsfl?

 

[MissSkittles]

Don't make fun of me but... what is a bsfl?

Black fly soldier larvae. I can’t make fun as it took me a bit to figure it out when I was new too.

 

[MissSkittles]

Oops. Almost forgot - they are also known as calciworms or pheonix worms.

 

[bklynmyke]

I work crazy hours and it's hard for me to go to the pet store every day so I'd like to find a way to just leave crickets and worms in his cage so he can eat whenever he wants to. You really like the shooting gallery huh?

 

[MissSkittles]

I work crazy hours and it's hard for me to go to the pet store every day so I'd like to find a way to just leave crickets and worms in his cage so he can eat whenever he wants to. You really like the shooting gallery huh?

Yes, I do. It’s not at all hard to make your own. I made a mini version with a cat dish. Others have used take out containers to make one. Check out the dollar store for a colored plastic food container if you need. Get some push pins and pencil erasers. Cut out the hole and using either heat or sand paper, smooth all the cut edges so they are not sharp. If you have a hot glue gun, after a light sanding you could even run a bead along the edge for extra safety. Attach to the screen with the push pins, cover the sharp ends with pieces of eraser and voila!

 

[elizaann2]

I have a lunch log. They are fantastic!

 

[bklynmyke]

A lunch log??? Do explain further please.

 

[elizaann2]

https://www.sunsetchameleons.com/services

 

[bklynmyke]

This looks interesting. I think one of these 2 could work.