Chameleon noob help

[MrCake]

Hi, i went to Petco few days ago to get dog food for my pug, and came out with a 3 month veiled chameleon. It was too cute, i had to get it. However, i've never owned any type of exotic pet before


The "reptile expert" at Petco, sold me all these things to get started, (in pics)

So i put everything together, got 2 jungle vines in there, Bark background tingie, coconut substrate,a dryed branch, a hanging tiki ting, 2 fake plants, a real vinny plant (Epipremnum aureum), a thermometer, and a humidity gauge.

Some questions i have,

1. The first day i had him he only ate 1 cricket. THe second day he ate 4 mealworms. i have no idea what the correct amt of food he needs.

2. today he started peeling. first at his face, and now all over his body. don't know if its dehydration. i did the dripping cup ting ontop of the leaves, and saw him lick a few leaves. However, im having trouble keeping the humidyt at 60%. i have to spray like every 20 min to keep it around there.

i think i have some sort of idea of what im doing, but im not really sure. if anyone could guide me in the direction, i'd greatly appreciate it. XD

thankyou!

 

[Henry66]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/ Read up

 

[Rodcham]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your cham! The only advice I can offer you for now is research and learn. Thus forum is fantastic. Don't stress about your cham shedding it is normal. Allow the enclosure to dry out between misting, the humidity spikes are normal. It may take your cham time to settle in and it may not eat normally now. Upload some pics, the most important is for you to enjoy your new friend. Look after him the best you can and you will have hours and years of happiness with your cham

 

[brownie64]

Real plants will help you maintain humidity. Try a nice Golden Pothos, or an umbrella plant, or Ficus. Just make sure what ever plant you get is safe, and wash it clean of any pesticides before putting it in your enclosure. Here is a link to where you can get a list of safe plants. http://www.flchams.com/safe_plant_list.asp

P.S. you don't need that water dish it will just sit around and collect bacteria. That is just a store thing, and forget everything they told you about raising chams and research this site.

 

[sharp229]

Can you copy and paste the form in the link below and provide answers?

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

This will help people validate that everything is correct. I would remove the substrate from the bottom of your cage since your cham may ingest it accidentally or intentionally.

Personally I would also remove the chains and the tiki thing, since he could get caught on the chains and it is possible the hanging object could scare him.

Humidity does not need to be constantly 60%. It is fine if it goes up and down as long as you mist at least a few times a day. An automatic mister like a MistKing can really help with this, especially if you are not always home.

You should dust with PLAIN calcium (NO D3) every feeding, calcium with D3 twice a month, and multivitamin twice a month. At that age you should let him eat as much as he wants, although mealworms should only be used as a treat. Crickets and dubia roaches are the healthiest, and you can also use hornworms, silkworms, butterworms, etc.

He should have no light at night and you only need to heat at night if your temps drop below 50F.

Take a look at the following care sheet for all the details on keeping veiled chameleons. Petco/Petsmart usually do not give very good advice. In many cases they will tell you the opposite of what is best.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[waynek]

if you can keep him outside in a sunny spot , but where he can still access shade , the natural sunlight will help him grow and help his overall health .

 

[JC Cham]

Try to creat a natural nature environmet with live plants, dripping water, so your cham would feel like he is outside even thoug he is indoors. Make sure you have screen mesh terrarium instead of glass, so no reflection, easy ventilation and air flow. Sun is very important, it helps absorb calcium that is so necessary for cham growth and health but make sure it's nice and worm outside. One hour in the sun is equal to whole day under UV light. Shedding means growing. Don't stick to same feeders, chams get bored easily with the same food and can go on hunger strike. So variety is very important. Try to give silkworms-very nutritious and high in calcium. Silkworm moths once your cham gets biger (they don't fly). Hornworms-perfect for dehydration, also nutritious. Try blue bottle flies, wax worm moths, chams love anything that flies. Other feeders: butterworms, dubia roach, hisser roaches, green banana roach, isopads, stick bug, leaf bug, praying mantis, some try snails. Make sure all feeders are well gutloaded. Also try tiny peaces of veggies ( no tomatoe and spinach) greens and fruits. Chameleon Forums has many great posts on beneficial, safe foods and gutloading. Read them all! Remember what your feeder eats your cham eats. Have fun with your new friend