Female veiled talk

[Ethanwest]

i have a female veiled I've had her for about 2 months now she seems very healthy feeding her 3/4" crickets in rep cal non d3
She's housed in a reptibreeze 24/24/48
With hardware light as basking light with a 100w zoo med daylight blue bulb
And a 18" uvb 5.0
Cold air humidifier that comes on every few hours for a hr
Two live plants and lots of fake vines


Question she only stays at the top of her cage if I try putting her at the bottom she just shoots right back up that normal
And I just let the crickets loose in the cage should I leave them in a cup and let her eat them from there maybe put the cup at the bottom so she has to go down to eat

 

[Andee]

Why do you want her to go down? that's not really normal for chameleons, and most females only go down once they need to lay. Are you only doing calcium with no d3? You need d3 and a multivitamin otherwise. What are you temps reading at? I am pretty sure from the sounds of your light set up it will be too warm for a female. You also sound like you are feeding her too much.

 

[Ethanwest]

Basking spot is around 88 and I feed all the powders have rep cal multi vitamin, non d3 and d3 calcium I let About 15 crickets go in her cage a day she don't eat them all

 

[Ethanwest]

 

[Andee]

She looks... heavy, more than she should be. You shouldn't be feeding that much even every other day. Females should have 6-8 large sized cricket feeders every other day. 88 F is too hot for a female, veiled females shouldn't go above 84-85. All the reduced feedings and lower temps have to do with reducing number of clutches in a year and also number of eggs in a clutch hopefully. Do you have a lay bin set up for her already? She is at the age she will need regular access to one. She also may not be as active, not only because she has extra weight, but also because you don't have a ton of easy to climb branches that lead down.

 

[JaguarShark]

Firstly, yes that is totally normal
Secondly your setup looks good and she does look healthy.
Thirdly, she could do to lose a few pounds lol - I mean cut down on the food a bit, females are prone to getting a bit porky and she is taking advantage early. A slightly lower basking temp would be better too.
Lastly, since you have all the basics right it is time to make sure your gutloading is as good as you can manage, and get some variety of feeder items for her. Some phoenix worms, silk worms, or locusts would be a good start.

 

[Ethanwest]

I just moved my light about 2 inches from the top of the Cage was setting right ontop

 

[Andee]

Raising the light is usually the easiest way to do it XD so many people over look it. As far as helping her lose weight getting her out regularly on a free range tree is a great way to add some extra exercise into their life.

 

[Ethanwest]

I got the stuff to make her a laying bin today
And I got weed sprayer the other day to mist my cage a lot easier than spray bottle lol

 

[Andee]

So happy, you are taking such control so quickly. She will benefit for sure.

 

[Ethanwest]

Question after I make the laying bin do u need to mist it to keep it moist and so I need to put her in it so she knows where it is or just let her find it

 

[Andee]

Usually they find it, and depending on whether she is in it or not, you can usually just keep it moist by putting water in it and mixing it up. Usually if she is in it you mist and stuff. They find it because often when they are ready to lay the females will start going down below to the bottom to look for a good lay spot.