First Chameleon Thoughts

Stone32 said:
After months of research and lots of help from the forums, finally got Luna the chameleon. Super healthy as she looks, trying to feed her more than the pet store because she is quite slim and she eats like a pig.

Yes I know not a great idea on the mossy stick, she has tried to nip pieces of but ends up spitting them out, I put Kale on recently and that fixed the issue.

Just one question for now, how long do the chams normally bask for and do they normally need help finding their food when so young? Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
Im looking at the pics on my phone. It looks like you have a vine that has some kind of hairy looking grren stuff. Im not too comfortable w that stuff...idk, i would be concerned she would get it in her mouth and wouldnt get it all spit out. Idk how much of a problem that would be.
When my guys are young i get a short plastic cup, sprinkle some calcium (I keep my calcium in a salt shaker), put my hand over the top and shake it. Then, i open the cage door and very quickly slap the top of the cup against the screen. That throws the little crickets on the cage. When u take the cup away they all crawl on the screen. My chams stand on a close branch and always pick them off like fish in a barrel. Its fun to watch plus i know what they are eating. I also hand feed them sometimes when the crickets get too far away. If Im feeding worms also,, I hand feed or cup feed. When i cup feed, i hold the cup and wait as they eat so i know what they get. Its only 10 or 15 minutes and its good bonding time
 
Chachi said:
Im looking at the pics on my phone. It looks like you have a vine that has some kind of hairy looking grren stuff. Im not too comfortable w that stuff...idk, i would be concerned she would get it in her mouth and wouldnt get it all spit out. Idk how much of a problem that would be.
When my guys are young i get a short plastic cup, sprinkle some calcium (I keep my calcium in a salt shaker), put my hand over the top and shake it. Then, i open the cage door and very quickly slap the top of the cup against the screen. That throws the little crickets on the cage. When u take the cup away they all crawl on the screen. My chams stand on a close branch and always pick them off like fish in a barrel. Its fun to watch plus i know what they are eating. I also hand feed them sometimes when the crickets get too far away. If Im feeding worms also,, I hand feed or cup feed. When i cup feed, i hold the cup and wait as they eat so i know what they get. Its only 10 or 15 minutes and its good bonding time
Click to expand...

Yeah the green stuff is mossy sticks, she rarely goes at it cause I have kale sitting on the cage (that also may be what you see). I feed her with a milk carton cut so the crickets can't get out, she loves it. Unfortunately my cage isn't fully sealed because the wood morphed and bent so there are holes the crickets can get out of.
 
I think you have a CLF. CLF bulbs are the ones that are curly and screw into a light fixture. The regular florescent are the ones that are tube shape. The long tube florescent UVB lights are much better then the CLF. The tube ones cover much more area.
 
Virgil1972 said:
I think you have a CLF. CLF bulbs are the ones that are curly and screw into a light fixture. The regular florescent are the ones that are tube shape. The long tube florescent UVB lights are much better then the CLF. The tube ones cover much more area.
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Huh, the box, and online says UVB bulb, here's a picture of it.
 

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Stone32 said:
Ahh alright, so once this one is ready to replace I should invest in the tube UVB?
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Ya you should get the tube type. They have much better output. Lightyourreptiles.com has many different options and the owner is a forum member and would be happy to help you get the light that is best for you.
 
Female veiled will lay as early as 6 months and keep laying every 4-6 months thereafter. Keeping them slightly cooler and reduce their feeding will slow down on their laying and reduce their clutch size. Laying is extremely hard on them so calcium and proper UVB is extremely important
 
Laying large clutches all the time also reduces their lifespan and each clutch can get harder and harder to lay and increases the chance of getting egg bound.
 
So what I should do is feed her normally for about another month, then slow her down to about 8-10 crickets every other day? Also cool her basking which will slow her metabolism resulting in smaller clutches or none at all?
 
Stone32 said:
Will do, I appreciate all the help, and I thought it looks a little bare. Here's a full size cage, reason why I have moss on the bottom was trouble with humidity but I'm removing it soon. Dimensions are 24x24x48 because I didn't want to constantly rebuild and get a larger cage.
Click to expand...
Your enclosure is so beautiful
 
Stone32 said:
After months of research and lots of help from the forums, finally got Luna the chameleon. Super healthy as she looks, trying to feed her more than the pet store because she is quite slim and she eats like a pig.

Yes I know not a great idea on the mossy stick, she has tried to nip pieces of but ends up spitting them out, I put Kale on recently and that fixed the issue.

Just one question for now, how long do the chams normally bask for and do they normally need help finding their food when so young? Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
 
Virgil1972 said:
I think you have a CLF. CLF bulbs are the ones that are curly and screw into a light fixture. The regular florescent are the ones that are tube shape. The long tube florescent UVB lights are much better then the CLF. The tube ones cover much more area.
Click to expand...

No biggie, maybe a typo, but it is "CFL" not CLF... :p Thought you might like to know is all...
 
Stone32 said:
After months of research and lots of help from the forums, finally got Luna the chameleon. Super healthy as she looks, trying to feed her more than the pet store because she is quite slim and she eats like a pig.

Yes I know not a great idea on the mossy stick, she has tried to nip pieces of but ends up spitting them out, I put Kale on recently and that fixed the issue.

Just one question for now, how long do the chams normally bask for and do they normally need help finding their food when so young? Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
Ok, i am feeding my guys and just did something that i had to learn the hard way. I thought i would tell you a couple of things. First my chams have pretty sticky tongies, the 2 female panthers anyway. I hand feed them a lot or I hand feed them but w a cup and i hold it. Their tongues stick to my fingers really good. It looks like it hurts when it happens. To prevent it i keep a small jar of water (refill it a lot) in the cham room. I wet my fingertips before i hold up the cricket (or whatever) when they hit it it doesnt stick. I wet the edge of the cup just in case. It works grsat.
Also, dont forget to close the cage. Mine have gotten out and i have looked for hours. Once, she got stuck behind her cage and i bruised her head looking for her.
Test them by a window w a screen before you run outside w one. Some of mine freak out. Ill think of other stuff but most important dont ever let free range outside w no supervision. Ever. Not for a minute. Birds are their natural enemy.
 
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