Chameleon help form

[Myklynn]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled chameleon, female , I’m guessing 3 months old. Been in my care 2 weeks.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I’ve handled him 4 times since I got him
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?i have fed my chameleon crickets, some meal worms and super worms!
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Reptivite && reptile calcium I dust them before I feed them to her.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I have a big dripper and I mist 3 times a day for 10 minutes.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Petco claim their animals are ever checked but I have no clue, her poop is brownish blackish goop with white urrate
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Screen medium repti-breeze cage. Probably 32” tall
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? The ambient temp is 78 I need to buy another thermometer to figure out what regular basking temp is. Lowest overnight temp 73
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? My cage is located in my walk in closet in my room, it is at least 5” tall with what it is standing on.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Kansas City MISOURRI

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

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Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[bloftis1]

There's a couple things I can help with changes in this. First, no more mealworms, they are have no nutritional value to them and can be hard to digest for your cham. Also the supplements schedule, the reptivite should be used only twice a month, the calcium without D3 you can use everyday, I use it 6 times a week. Also, you will need calcium w/D3 twice a month as well. For the enclosure, I'd definitely add some more branches for climbing, and more little plants around the cage if she wants to hide or anything. Also what is at the bottom, like the substrate?
Oh! Also wanted to add in the future get her a laying bin

 

[Graves923]

You need to get a basking light fixture on the top of the cage along with a linear fixture for a UVB tube bulb. Chameleons spend the majority of their time in the top quarter of the cage so the UVB light at the botton left of the cage is literally doing nothing. UVB light is only useful within 5-10 inches of the bulb depending on the UVB rating. Id recommend using a 5.0 or 6.0 UVB tube. The coiled or compact UVB bulbs can cause eye irritation and focus the UVB rays in one spot so the chameleon has to be directly under it to have any benefit from the UVB. Linear bulbs spread the rays throughout the cage so its not as important for the cham to sit in one spot to get the UVB it needs.

You need to get some type of thermometer to measure temps. Hardware stores usually have laser temp readers under $20 which work well and more accurate than probes. Ive found the zoo-med thermometers to be wildly inaccurate.

Aim for a basking temp of 82-84*F at the basking branch. Make sure the branch is no less than 6 inches from the basking bulb to prevent thermal burns.

Also, add more foliage to the cage. This will give the chameleon more places to go to get away from heat, UVB, and to hide if it feels the need. This will help make its transition to its new home easier.

 

[jamest0o0]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled chameleon, female , I’m guessing 3 months old. Been in my care 2 weeks.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I’ve handled him 4 times since I got him
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?i have fed my chameleon crickets, some meal worms and super worms! Limit mealworms to rarely ever/none at all, otherwise you want a large variety of feeders (crickets, roaches, silkworms, hornworms, blacksoldierfly larvae/flies, bottleflies, wax moths, the list goes on... gutload with organic vegetables, fruit, seeds. Lists can be found on here. Variety is also important with gutload.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Reptivite && reptile calcium I dust them before I feed them to her. Reptivite should only be used 2x a month every other week, calc with d3 2x a month alternating with reptivite, calc with no d3 at every feeding. Lightly dust, should not look like ghosts.

• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I have a big dripper and I mist 3 times a day for 10 minutes. Early morning heavy mistings of 5-10+ minutes tend to be the most beneficial, mist kings are awesome for misting. A nice misting an hour or 2 before lights out is also very helpful.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Petco claim their animals are ever checked but I have no clue, her poop is brownish blackish goop with white urrate goop? Could you tell us more about that? Runny poop is a sign of parasites in many cases.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Screen medium repti-breeze cage. Probably 32” tall cage will eventually need to be at least 24x24x48(XL reptibreeze)
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Any info for us? You need a linear uvb, reptisun 5.0 is a good start.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? The ambient temp is 78 I need to buy another thermometer to figure out what regular basking temp is. Lowest overnight temp 73 We need to know the basking spot. This is very important. Too low and digestion is compromised, too high and you get severe burns. Should be mid to high 80s max.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Should be ~40-60%
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Veileds should have live plants, pothos, ficus, and schefflera tend to be hardy
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? My cage is located in my walk in closet in my room, it is at least 5” tall with what it is standing on.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Kansas City MISOURRI

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

Answers in red above

 

[Myklynn]

Updated

 

[Myklynn]

Added basking light more branches

 

[Darthroastcoffee]

You 100% need a uvb light setup. Without uvb your chameleon won’t absorb any calcium into its bones, its very important!!...

 

[Myklynn]

You 100% need a uvb light setup. Without uvb your chameleon won’t absorb any calcium into its bones, its very important!!...

I have uvb light

 

[jamest0o0]

That light you have is not suitable uvb. It's doing next to nothing and MBD is not a fun way for an animal to die.

 

[jamest0o0]

Also bark chips should be removed

 

[Graves923]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/lighting/