Hello new friends!
I just bought a female veiled chameleon and I wanted to be sure I'm providing the best I can for her health and happiness. I am currently living on an island in the Mediterranean so resources are thin and can be pretty pricey. However I found a pet store just outside of my city that has lots of reptile supplies and a fairly well educated staff. I just got my new baby girl from there today and she seems to be getting acclimated well.
Here's what I currently have, the habitat will be temporary until she grows large enough for more of a free range type habitat. It is a 18x18x36 birdcage that I added mesh to so she will not go through the wires. The wires are plastic coated and the mesh isnt too close together so she shouldn't have any problem with her feet. I had unused bamboo sticks from the garden that I secured into the cage however I am thinking about replacing them with something less slippery. There is nothing at the bottom of the cage and it slides out so I can clean it easily and without disrupting her too much. I am about to place another live plant in the cage to give it much more foliage.
The lady at the store told me to come back in a month or so to get a basking light as it's too hot here for it to have both lights quite yet. Which I completely agree as it is about 85-90 degrees at all times in our apartment because we choose to leave the doors and windows open for breeze rather than paying for air conditioning at the moment. It is currently 86 degrees in her cage with 50% humidity.
I did get an Exo Terra UV Reflector Lamp with a 13 watt tropical light bulb. (I will attach a photo to be sure I communicated it properly.) It is located 6inches from her highest branch.
She already eaten 3 crickets today which I was super happy about because I read a lot of hunger strikes for newly purchased chameleons. They were cup fed to her and she seemed to enjoy climbing to get to them and was very used to being cup fed. The only brand of multivitamin that was available at the store was Reptivite which I have read a lot of mixed reviews about. Dusting and being sure I am giving her what she needs is the thing I am most nervous about as I am new to owning a chameleon (but have been researching and wanting one for about 4 years now.) I chose to go ahead and get her the one with D3 and ask the forum what other ones to get from here, that way I'm not over spending trying to hunt down the right ones here on the island. I have crickets and I am going to start gutloading them tonight with things other than the carrots the pet store was feeding them. I am open to any suggestions in terms of dusting schedule, and what to feed the crickets.
Last question- what are some warning signs of bad health that I can look out for in her droppings? How regularly do young female veiled chameleons poop?
Her eyes are a tad bit sunken, but I hope that will fade with more proper nutrition and regular mistings/hydration. She is very very young and I am so excited for my new sweet lady. My husband gets to name her so I will let you know her name very soon!
I just bought a female veiled chameleon and I wanted to be sure I'm providing the best I can for her health and happiness. I am currently living on an island in the Mediterranean so resources are thin and can be pretty pricey. However I found a pet store just outside of my city that has lots of reptile supplies and a fairly well educated staff. I just got my new baby girl from there today and she seems to be getting acclimated well.
Here's what I currently have, the habitat will be temporary until she grows large enough for more of a free range type habitat. It is a 18x18x36 birdcage that I added mesh to so she will not go through the wires. The wires are plastic coated and the mesh isnt too close together so she shouldn't have any problem with her feet. I had unused bamboo sticks from the garden that I secured into the cage however I am thinking about replacing them with something less slippery. There is nothing at the bottom of the cage and it slides out so I can clean it easily and without disrupting her too much. I am about to place another live plant in the cage to give it much more foliage.
The lady at the store told me to come back in a month or so to get a basking light as it's too hot here for it to have both lights quite yet. Which I completely agree as it is about 85-90 degrees at all times in our apartment because we choose to leave the doors and windows open for breeze rather than paying for air conditioning at the moment. It is currently 86 degrees in her cage with 50% humidity.
I did get an Exo Terra UV Reflector Lamp with a 13 watt tropical light bulb. (I will attach a photo to be sure I communicated it properly.) It is located 6inches from her highest branch.
She already eaten 3 crickets today which I was super happy about because I read a lot of hunger strikes for newly purchased chameleons. They were cup fed to her and she seemed to enjoy climbing to get to them and was very used to being cup fed. The only brand of multivitamin that was available at the store was Reptivite which I have read a lot of mixed reviews about. Dusting and being sure I am giving her what she needs is the thing I am most nervous about as I am new to owning a chameleon (but have been researching and wanting one for about 4 years now.) I chose to go ahead and get her the one with D3 and ask the forum what other ones to get from here, that way I'm not over spending trying to hunt down the right ones here on the island. I have crickets and I am going to start gutloading them tonight with things other than the carrots the pet store was feeding them. I am open to any suggestions in terms of dusting schedule, and what to feed the crickets.
Last question- what are some warning signs of bad health that I can look out for in her droppings? How regularly do young female veiled chameleons poop?
Her eyes are a tad bit sunken, but I hope that will fade with more proper nutrition and regular mistings/hydration. She is very very young and I am so excited for my new sweet lady. My husband gets to name her so I will let you know her name very soon!
