chicksxdigxmike
New Member
Could you put a baby chameleon in a 10 gallon tank with a screen lid for about 6 months?? Or would that be to small?
Could You?
- Thread starter chicksxdigxmike
- Start date
dodolah
Retired Moderator
glass tank with top screen is good only to 2.5 months old (IMHO)
After that, all screen side
with that being said, just get the screen cage and put him there right away. the screen cage is cheaper than glass enclosure anyway.
Last edited:
Justin Carl
Avid Member
no 6 months is a big no no. id say tops is about 2-3 months. after that all screen
chicksxdigxmike
New Member
Thanks..
Thanks you guys... I'm probably going to get a baby veiled soon, so I'm going to be asking a lot of questions(if you all dont mind). I'm going to get a male because I've heard they're better than females starting out?Do you all know of any care-sheets for baby chameleons??Or are they no different then the adults???
Thanks..
Thanks you guys... I'm probably going to get a baby veiled soon, so I'm going to be asking a lot of questions(if you all dont mind). I'm going to get a male because I've heard they're better than females starting out?Do you all know of any care-sheets for baby chameleons??Or are they no different then the adults???
Thanks..
Justin Carl
Avid Member
yea hold on ill get one for you.
Justin Carl
Avid Member
Temperature
Veiled chameleons, coming from Saudi Arabia and Yemen, need hot temperatures during the day. The basking area should be around 90ºF to 95ºF. At the opposite end to the basking spot the temperature should be at least 10ºF lower than the basking spot. With a mesh door it's relatively easy to achieve this. Standard 40 /60 watt light bulbs can be used to create a basking spot. Vary the wattage to get the basking spot the right temperature. Alternatively attach the bulb to a dimmer thermostat with the heat sensitive probe situated near the basking spot. As Chameleons climb on anything its better not to cover the heat source with a wire cage otherwise they tend to climb on the cage and burn their underside. Its better to situate the heat source far enough away from the nearest branch that they can't touch it at all.
The basking spot light should be on for 12 hours a day.
Baby Chameleons should be kept a bit cooler than adults during the day.
Lighting
Lighting is very important for Veileds as it is for all chameleons. Veileds should be provided with a UVA/UVB producing light source and a basking light. UVA and UVB exposure allows chameleons to synthesize vitamin D3 into their skin. The synthesis of vitamin D3 allows the absorption of calcium which is critical for all chameleons.
The recommended lights to provide sufficient UVB/UVA exposure are ZooMed's ReptiSun 5.0
No tungsten light produces UV light (even so called full spectrum or Reptile basking lights). They are perfect however for basking lamps.
The light should be on for 12-14 hours a day.All Chameleons love natural sunlight. On hot summer days take your Chameleon outside and put it on a bush to bask. No artificial light can really duplicate the full effects of the suns rays on a sun loving reptile like the Veiled Chameleon. Obviously make sure your Chameleon can't escape or the local cat or bird of prey does not fancy a quick meal first! An outside aviary with a dripper system is Chameleon heaven on a summer day if you have the space. Always make sure the Chameleon can get out of the sun if it wants to though.
Water
With Veiled Chameleons you should mist twice a day and have a drip system going for about 10 minutes at a time at least once a day. If no drip system is used increase the spraying to several times a day. After a while you may find the Chameleon will drink directly from drips from the water spray.
Some Veileds rarely drink water however that does not mean it should not be available regularly.
Chameleons like clean warm drinking water. Pre boiled semi-cooled water or mineral water (warmed up with boiling water) is best. If using tap water leave it to stand for a while to allow chlorine etc to disburse.
Water temperature drops dramatically when sprayed. To get the right temperature, spray your hand from 12 inches away. If it feels warm then it's the right temperature (you will find you have to use fairly hot water in the spray bottle to get a warm spray at 12 inches). Be careful if your Chameleon drinks directly from the nozzle of the spray bottle as the water for spraying could be too hot if coming out in drops.
Feeding
Veiled chameleons will eat a bit of vegetable matter, along with their diet of live insects. You may find that the plants in the enclosure gradually get eaten by the Chameleon (although some never eat vegetation at all). Try watercress, grated carrot (or sweet potato) and chopped spring greens. Dandelion leaves are an excellent replacement for spring greens and watercress. Just make sure you pick them from areas that don't use pesticides and wash them first.
All captive chameleons require calcium and vitamin supplementation. The specific reason for this is beyond the scope of this document. But in short, chameleons need vitamin D3 in order to metabolise calcium for growth and proper nerve functions. Many 'basking' reptiles naturally produce vitamin D3 in their skin when they bask in the sun and are exposed to UV radiation. Since the UV output of most human-made full-spectrum lights do not provide the same UV exposure as the sun, additional supplementation is ESSENTIAL.
Feed your chameleon(s) daily by placing live insects with the fresh vegetables into a plastic container which is large enough to prevent the insects from escaping (a 2 litre ice cream tub is perfect). Vitamin &/or mineral supplementation when required can then be sprinkled on the insects and vegetables. Shake the container to evenly coat the vegetables and insects with the supplement. Alternatively use a plastic cup and suspend the container under the chameleons favourite perch. Do this in such a way that it is easy for the chameleon to reach the food in the bottom of the container. The insects will eat some of the vegetables so keeping them gut loaded and alive hence the chameleons will benefit even if they do not directly eat much of the vegetable matter themselves. For very young hatchlings, a baby food jar makes a nice food dish. The same vegetable mixture that is fed to your chameleons should also be fed to the insects you will feed to your chameleons. This will ensure the insects are healthy and nutritious by the time your chameleons eat them. Following is a list of the different insects you can use to feed your chameleon:
Adult Crickets - Brown Crickets are safer (Blacks can bite Chameleons at night when they are sleeping). When fed small slices of sweet potato (or carrot) and fresh greens they are nutritious and can comprise up to 80% of your chameleons total diet. Crickets however have a low Calcium/phosphorus ratio so additional calcium supplementation should be included with most cricket meals. Supplement lightly with pure calcium powder, not one with vitamins.
2 - 3 Week Old Crickets- Like adult crickets, but are small enough to be fed to juvenile chameleons.
Tip: Crickets should be gut loaded (fed) for at least a day prior to being used as food. Put a slice of carrot and a dandelion leaf (washed, or spring green/cabbage) into the cricket tub. Leave them for 24 hours if possible before feeding to the Chameleon.
Mealworms - Mealworms are inexpensive and, like crickets, easy to load with valuable nutrition by feeding them a quality diet of fruits and vegetables. Commercial gut loading such as bug grub is also available and is excellent. Only feed occasionally as the hard chitin shell of the mealworm is not digestible and can cause blockage of the gut when overfed.
Superworms or Zoophobias- Superworms look very much like mealworms, but much bigger and are a slightly different colour. These should only be fed to your chameleon when your chameleon is large enough to eat them. Like crickets and mealworms they should be fed a diet of fresh fruits and vegetables (or commercial gut load) prior to using. These are much better than normal mealworm as there is more body compared to hard shell. Best fed when they have just shed their hard shell (when they are white in colour).
Waxworms- Waxworms are sometime called grubs. They are nutritious, full of moisture, and easy to store. Chameleons LOVE them. They can be made more nutritious by feeding them Bee Pollen Granules from a Health Food Shop. Unfortunately, some Chameleoms love them so much they seem to get addicted and won't take anything else. To avoid this, they should only take up a small proportion of your Chameleons diet. They are the best food to get chameleons used to feeding from your hand.
Wild-caught Insects- Many chameleon owners set up insect traps during the summer to catch their own insects (not bees or wasps or hairy caterpillars). Grasshoppers, flies, crickets, and spiders will all be devoured by your chameleons. This also helps offer a diverse diet necessary for the health of your chameleon. It is important, however, that the insects be collected from areas where insecticides are not used. Moths can be collected at night and stored until the morning for feeding.
Veiled chameleons, when young, should be fed as much as they will eat. As they get older they should be given a more stationary diet (large crickets, large mealworms or superworms, waxworms, earthworms etc.). It is important that you limit the amount of food you feed an adult chameleon. Allowing a chameleon to gorge itself, will result in a very obese and unhealthy chameleon. When they are young they will devour anywhere from 6 to 20 small cricket sized insects daily. When they grow up to adults, they will eat about 5-15 full grown medium to large sized insects.
Supplementation
The following supplement schedule is recommended for your adult chameleons:
Calcium- i use flukers D3 and Rep Cal not D3 and rotate everyother week.(everyone has their own scheduel and Tricks)2x per week at least
Multivitamins: Rec Cal herptiveit 2X per week
Miner-all 2x
Veiled chameleons, coming from Saudi Arabia and Yemen, need hot temperatures during the day. The basking area should be around 90ºF to 95ºF. At the opposite end to the basking spot the temperature should be at least 10ºF lower than the basking spot. With a mesh door it's relatively easy to achieve this. Standard 40 /60 watt light bulbs can be used to create a basking spot. Vary the wattage to get the basking spot the right temperature. Alternatively attach the bulb to a dimmer thermostat with the heat sensitive probe situated near the basking spot. As Chameleons climb on anything its better not to cover the heat source with a wire cage otherwise they tend to climb on the cage and burn their underside. Its better to situate the heat source far enough away from the nearest branch that they can't touch it at all.
The basking spot light should be on for 12 hours a day.
Baby Chameleons should be kept a bit cooler than adults during the day.
Lighting
Lighting is very important for Veileds as it is for all chameleons. Veileds should be provided with a UVA/UVB producing light source and a basking light. UVA and UVB exposure allows chameleons to synthesize vitamin D3 into their skin. The synthesis of vitamin D3 allows the absorption of calcium which is critical for all chameleons.
The recommended lights to provide sufficient UVB/UVA exposure are ZooMed's ReptiSun 5.0
No tungsten light produces UV light (even so called full spectrum or Reptile basking lights). They are perfect however for basking lamps.
The light should be on for 12-14 hours a day.All Chameleons love natural sunlight. On hot summer days take your Chameleon outside and put it on a bush to bask. No artificial light can really duplicate the full effects of the suns rays on a sun loving reptile like the Veiled Chameleon. Obviously make sure your Chameleon can't escape or the local cat or bird of prey does not fancy a quick meal first! An outside aviary with a dripper system is Chameleon heaven on a summer day if you have the space. Always make sure the Chameleon can get out of the sun if it wants to though.
Water
With Veiled Chameleons you should mist twice a day and have a drip system going for about 10 minutes at a time at least once a day. If no drip system is used increase the spraying to several times a day. After a while you may find the Chameleon will drink directly from drips from the water spray.
Some Veileds rarely drink water however that does not mean it should not be available regularly.
Chameleons like clean warm drinking water. Pre boiled semi-cooled water or mineral water (warmed up with boiling water) is best. If using tap water leave it to stand for a while to allow chlorine etc to disburse.
Water temperature drops dramatically when sprayed. To get the right temperature, spray your hand from 12 inches away. If it feels warm then it's the right temperature (you will find you have to use fairly hot water in the spray bottle to get a warm spray at 12 inches). Be careful if your Chameleon drinks directly from the nozzle of the spray bottle as the water for spraying could be too hot if coming out in drops.
Feeding
Veiled chameleons will eat a bit of vegetable matter, along with their diet of live insects. You may find that the plants in the enclosure gradually get eaten by the Chameleon (although some never eat vegetation at all). Try watercress, grated carrot (or sweet potato) and chopped spring greens. Dandelion leaves are an excellent replacement for spring greens and watercress. Just make sure you pick them from areas that don't use pesticides and wash them first.
All captive chameleons require calcium and vitamin supplementation. The specific reason for this is beyond the scope of this document. But in short, chameleons need vitamin D3 in order to metabolise calcium for growth and proper nerve functions. Many 'basking' reptiles naturally produce vitamin D3 in their skin when they bask in the sun and are exposed to UV radiation. Since the UV output of most human-made full-spectrum lights do not provide the same UV exposure as the sun, additional supplementation is ESSENTIAL.
Feed your chameleon(s) daily by placing live insects with the fresh vegetables into a plastic container which is large enough to prevent the insects from escaping (a 2 litre ice cream tub is perfect). Vitamin &/or mineral supplementation when required can then be sprinkled on the insects and vegetables. Shake the container to evenly coat the vegetables and insects with the supplement. Alternatively use a plastic cup and suspend the container under the chameleons favourite perch. Do this in such a way that it is easy for the chameleon to reach the food in the bottom of the container. The insects will eat some of the vegetables so keeping them gut loaded and alive hence the chameleons will benefit even if they do not directly eat much of the vegetable matter themselves. For very young hatchlings, a baby food jar makes a nice food dish. The same vegetable mixture that is fed to your chameleons should also be fed to the insects you will feed to your chameleons. This will ensure the insects are healthy and nutritious by the time your chameleons eat them. Following is a list of the different insects you can use to feed your chameleon:
Adult Crickets - Brown Crickets are safer (Blacks can bite Chameleons at night when they are sleeping). When fed small slices of sweet potato (or carrot) and fresh greens they are nutritious and can comprise up to 80% of your chameleons total diet. Crickets however have a low Calcium/phosphorus ratio so additional calcium supplementation should be included with most cricket meals. Supplement lightly with pure calcium powder, not one with vitamins.
2 - 3 Week Old Crickets- Like adult crickets, but are small enough to be fed to juvenile chameleons.
Tip: Crickets should be gut loaded (fed) for at least a day prior to being used as food. Put a slice of carrot and a dandelion leaf (washed, or spring green/cabbage) into the cricket tub. Leave them for 24 hours if possible before feeding to the Chameleon.
Mealworms - Mealworms are inexpensive and, like crickets, easy to load with valuable nutrition by feeding them a quality diet of fruits and vegetables. Commercial gut loading such as bug grub is also available and is excellent. Only feed occasionally as the hard chitin shell of the mealworm is not digestible and can cause blockage of the gut when overfed.
Superworms or Zoophobias- Superworms look very much like mealworms, but much bigger and are a slightly different colour. These should only be fed to your chameleon when your chameleon is large enough to eat them. Like crickets and mealworms they should be fed a diet of fresh fruits and vegetables (or commercial gut load) prior to using. These are much better than normal mealworm as there is more body compared to hard shell. Best fed when they have just shed their hard shell (when they are white in colour).
Waxworms- Waxworms are sometime called grubs. They are nutritious, full of moisture, and easy to store. Chameleons LOVE them. They can be made more nutritious by feeding them Bee Pollen Granules from a Health Food Shop. Unfortunately, some Chameleoms love them so much they seem to get addicted and won't take anything else. To avoid this, they should only take up a small proportion of your Chameleons diet. They are the best food to get chameleons used to feeding from your hand.
Wild-caught Insects- Many chameleon owners set up insect traps during the summer to catch their own insects (not bees or wasps or hairy caterpillars). Grasshoppers, flies, crickets, and spiders will all be devoured by your chameleons. This also helps offer a diverse diet necessary for the health of your chameleon. It is important, however, that the insects be collected from areas where insecticides are not used. Moths can be collected at night and stored until the morning for feeding.
Veiled chameleons, when young, should be fed as much as they will eat. As they get older they should be given a more stationary diet (large crickets, large mealworms or superworms, waxworms, earthworms etc.). It is important that you limit the amount of food you feed an adult chameleon. Allowing a chameleon to gorge itself, will result in a very obese and unhealthy chameleon. When they are young they will devour anywhere from 6 to 20 small cricket sized insects daily. When they grow up to adults, they will eat about 5-15 full grown medium to large sized insects.
Supplementation
The following supplement schedule is recommended for your adult chameleons:
Calcium- i use flukers D3 and Rep Cal not D3 and rotate everyother week.(everyone has their own scheduel and Tricks)2x per week at least
Multivitamins: Rec Cal herptiveit 2X per week
Miner-all 2x
chicksxdigxmike
New Member
Hey thanks A LOT!
Justin Carl
Avid Member
yea no problem
