Calling Veiled Owners (another newbie thread)

[ryno202]

hello all,

i am hoping to get a veiled chameleon in the near future. i have been reading so much information that i feel like i could even answer questions that other new owners have asked, and can correct things that i have seen of peoeple's enclosures on youTube. i still have a few questions though

the local reptile only pet store was telling me that veileds dont need a lot of misting, if any. they said just give them some dripping water and call it good.
i was wondering how much you owners mist your veileds, if at all? seems like panthers and other breeds need much more humidity.

also, i have read about how people secure vines and branches to their screen enclosures...with bread "twist-ties", push pins, and so on...but to me that just doesnt seem very strong.
are chameleons that light? i would hate to have a perch fall, or tear the screen.
are those options strong enough?
how could i secure something like a pothos vine plant to the side near the top so the vines could grow down? or would a pothos be fine near the bottom and grow up the sticks and vines i put in the cage?

i am a night owl, and if he is in my room with me, with my overhead light on,
would that screw him up at night time when his lights go out? or
would he be okay to know to go to sleep? could i cover part of his cage with something? or
should i just not have my light on and go somewhere else when it is his bedtime?

also trying to convince my mom to let me get this. any tips? she is mostly concerned about me spending the money? i have a job, go to college, and have a car and such. she treats me like a baby sometimes, but under her roof, i respect her rules.

 

[Jakama]

You can usually tell when your chameleon wants to go to sleep- mine has a particular part of this one ficus that she always heads to at around 8 PM. When your chameleon heads to this location, hang towels on the sides of the enclosure so light can't get in. I mist my veiled twice a day until all the leaves are wet.

 

[ryno202]

You can usually tell when your chameleon wants to go to sleep- mine has a particular part of this one ficus that she always heads to at around 8 PM. When your chameleon heads to this location, hang towels on the sides of the enclosure so light can't get in. I mist my veiled twice a day until all the leaves are wet.

thanks Jakama, does your chameleon mind the misting? i know not to spray right on them but i have read that some dont like it and try and hide. how does yours react?

 

[Jakama]

Well, frankly, I am not entirely sure on that. I spray in my chameleon's direction, and some mist will accumulate on her. She does not seem to like this, and she will generally seek shelter when I do this. I am not sure if I should stop, because it seems like any stress it would cause would be outweighed by the fact that it gives her water. If any more experienced owners have anything to say about this, I am sure we would both appreciate it.

 

[Olimpia]

i was wondering how much you owners mist your veileds, if at all? It's true that veileds need less humidity than other species, but misting is beneficial to all chameleons. They benefit from being able to flush out their eyes and get their skin wet. I give my veiled the same misting schedule as my other chameleons only because the system is all connected, but hers doesn't spray the entire cage so she has the option of not getting wet (I do notice she likes the water less than my boys) but she still likes it. I personally recommend giving them access to at least one longish shower (maybe 5-10 minutes) and a couple shorter ones to maintain humidity and give the option to drink.

also, i have read about how people secure vines and branches to their screen enclosures...with bread "twist-ties", push pins, and so on...but to me that just doesnt seem very strong.
are chameleons that light? They are! You would be surprised. Many don't weigh more than 200g, and this is close to nothing.
are those options strong enough? I've found that they work for me just fine. However, I tend to use long branches in my cages that I find outside or something and stand them in the cage, so I don't usually need to support anything horizontally. You can always experiment with different techniques and see which works best for the look you want for your cage.
how could i secure something like a pothos vine plant to the side near the top so the vines could grow down? You can get a wooden dowel across the top of the cage (making sure it rests on the hard frame of the cage) and thread string fishing line through the screen and tie it to the plant. I've never tried it with the really heavy pothos but it's worked great for the slightly smaller ones.

i am a night owl, and if he is in my room with me, with my overhead light on,
would that screw him up at night time when his lights go out? or
would he be okay to know to go to sleep? could i cover part of his cage with something? or
should i just not have my light on, or go somewhere else when it is his bedtime?They do like the dark to sleep, so if you don't mind throwing a blanket or something over their cage at night that would be best. Mine do ok with a little light, they get used to it, but they do appreciate the dark.

I hope that helps!

Edit - My veiled is not too fond of being sprayed, but will tolerate it at least once a day. Which is why I give a 15-20 minute misting first thing in the morning, so she can really get a lot of water in her first thing in the morning, when I hope she's her thirstiest. A good trick seems to be to use warm water - hot water will usually come out luke warm and for mine it seems to make the difference. Not all like misting, but again, it's good for their eyes and skin to be able to get some water ON them, not just in them.

 

[ryno202]

Olimpia that response ruled. thank you for taking the time to do all of that! helped tremendously.

 

[Jakama]

I second that, very helpful indeed.

 

[Olimpia]

You're welcome!
I missed the whole part about your mom. Although this is an expensive hobby at first (it will cost you a couple hundred to set everything up properly), after that it's really not all that horrible, especially for one chameleon. My monthly expenses (without including what small part of my electrical/water bill belongs to chameleon care) really only include insects, which is perhaps $60 a month to feed all 6, and the gutloading food. And of course light bulb changes every 6-9 months. I spend a lot more on my dog's food than on all six chameleons a month lol

My mom and grandmother hate reptiles with a passion, but chameleons are SO cool that even they were won over Now my grandmother scans the internet finding things on "gheckos" that she can send me because she thinks that they're pretty neat now. So, I think she might warm up to the idea once you have one. However, be very careful with your insects because nothing kills the "cool" like your mom screetching because there are crickets loose in her shower.

 

[ryno202]

yup. my best friend and i (he has a leopard gecko and soon a crested) came up with an idea to make a presentation for my mom about the cost and general info about chameleons.
i feel like she is mis-informed and sees it as a fast creepy crawly lizard like a water dragon or anole or something that will try and get out and run all over the place.

i think if she gets warmed up, the crickets will then destroy that. i think that will be the second hurdle. i plan on cup feeding if i do get one, so i will explain that and show her that crickets wont even be running around the big cage.

thanks again.

 

[Elizadolots]

also trying to convince my mom to let me get this. any tips? she is mostly concerned about me spending the money? i have a job, go to college, and have a car and such. she treats me like a baby sometimes, but under her roof, i respect her rules.

You'll always be her baby....you should probably figure out a way to deal with that. However, as a MOM I'll offer some advice:

The money you will need to spend on your chameleon is money you will not be throwing away on booze, drugs, gambling and other such fun youthful things.

Because your chameleon will have pretty intense care requirements, you cannot be a chameleon owner while also being a wild party dog.

Having to break off a date with "I have to put my chameleon to bed" is pretty much a guarantee that you won't be left on her doorstep in a shopping cart passed out drunk.

 

[Jakama]

I don't know if this would be good or bad, but you might want to try breeding crickets. To do that, you just spent ten bucks or so to get a starter batch of crickets, and then have them be self-sustaining, continuously replenishing their own ranks. I have just started doing this, and if it works, it will take a huge financial burden off of me (just in time, too, off to college next year). If you do decide to do this, you would need an enclosure to store crickets in, some paper towel bedding (so poop is easier to clean), a tray with moist soil for laying, a tray with a damp sponge (make sure it hasn't been used for washing dishes, wouldn't want chemicals getting into your chameleon) for water, a tray with some cricket diet, and a few egg cartons for housing. Also would need another crate to store the younguns with similar provisions. You would think this would be noisy to have so many together, but in fact they are virtually silent.

 

[ryno202]

You'll always be her baby....you should probably figure out a way to deal with that. However, as a MOM I'll offer some advice:
The money you will need to spend on your chameleon is money you will not be throwing away on booze, drugs, gambling and other such fun youthful things.
Because your chameleon will have pretty intense care requirements, you cannot be a chameleon owner while also being a wild party dog.
Having to break off a date with "I have to put my chameleon to bed" is pretty much a guarantee that you won't be left on her doorstep in a shopping cart passed out drunk.

hahaha, thank you for the laugh and quality advice.
i dont drink or do drugs or "party" like most of my generation does at a sickening young age. my mom knows that, knows im a good kid and of course wants what is best for me which is not "blowing" my money...in her eyes.

we'll see!

 

[ryno202]

I don't know if this would be good or bad, but you might want to try breeding crickets....

while that may be a good idea financially, i couldnt imagine mom liking a colony of crickets going on. im worried she will freak over a few dozen

 

[obama6493]

thanks Jakama, does your chameleon mind the misting? i know not to spray right on them but i have read that some dont like it and try and hide. how does yours react?

Well, frankly, I am not entirely sure on that. I spray in my chameleon's direction, and some mist will accumulate on her. She does not seem to like this, and she will generally seek shelter when I do this. I am not sure if I should stop, because it seems like any stress it would cause would be outweighed by the fact that it gives her water. If any more experienced owners have anything to say about this, I am sure we would both appreciate it.
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[azula]

My female veiled loves her mistings. I have one of those bug sprayers that you can buy at lowes and i fill it with hott water so when it mists out its warm. I angle the water so it acts like rain and she loves it. I think it really just depends on the cham. I mist my cham four to five times a day depending on how warm or cold it is.

 

[Itwas]

i would advise on getting silent crickets too , black ones are very loud.

 

[lindseymeder16]

My boy hates misting unless the water is warm, he tolerates it then. I warm up water in a cup about the size of a water bottle for 1min and 50sec in the microwave and then i pour it into my mister with room temp water, that way its not too hot for him. He likes it alot more and doesn't freak out. I mist him 3-4 times a day.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. My guys love their nice warm mitings. I'm attaching my blog for new keepers below.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[jojackson]

The money you will need to spend on your chameleon is money you will not be throwing away on booze, drugs, gambling and other such fun youthful things....

Best excuse I ever heard for keeping Reptiles! I like it!

 

[ryno202]

Welcome to the forums. My guys love their nice warm mitings. I'm attaching my blog for new keepers below.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

Jann i found your blog and it has actually been open in another tab on my browser for a few days. thanks.

thanks others for the input of the warm misting. went into the local shop again and talked to the owner for quite a while. he said he still didnt really mist them a whole lot, just made sure they had water dripping down on some plants. he also recommended and uses the compact fluorescent bulbs for the UVB instead of the tubes. Said he likes the directionality of them shining down better.

thoughts on linear tube UVB lights versus the compacts?