First Chameleon

[Nova0127]

I have bought a new veiled chameleon about three days ago. I'm not sure what her age is when I asked the pet store people they told me that they weren't sure maybe 2 months. She's about 2.5" from the tip of her nose to wear her tail begins.
She has a cage that is 18x18x36. I'm a little worried about her. She sticks to the toppest part of the cage near her basking area and she has yet to venture down into the lower part of the cage to hunt the small crickets and mealworms that i have left there. Also I put the mealworms in a small bowl and I want to make sure if she'll still eat out of it. I haven't noticed her eating so I'm a bit worried. I have seen her drink though.
The bottom of the cage is a jungle soil substrate and I scattered a few peices of moss around the cage some of the vines i placed in there aren't covered with plants. All of the plants in the enclosure are fake.
I use a 5.0 reptisun UVB bulb, 60 watt red nightlight bulb, and a 60 watt daylight bulb. The temperature of the cage stays at about 85 degrees.
I use an automatic misting system that mists four times a day for 30 secounds. I also mist the cage frequently with a mist bottle.
When I feed her every day I dust the crickets and mealworms with reptivite vitamins with D3 and calcium supplement without D3. I gut load the crickets with a calcium supplement. I feed her about a dozen mealworms a day and I put about 6 small crickets in her cage a day.

So here are my questions:

-I've noticed that she hasn't left the top of the cage and venture down to the lower parts, is the cage too big?

-When I dust the food should I use both the vitamins with D3 and calcium supplement withouth D3 or should I use one or the other?

-How many crickets and mealworms should I feed her daily?

-Should I be dusting her food every day or every other day?

-Will fake plants be all right in her enclosure?

- I don't feed her leafy greens. Should I begin doing that and if so what greens should I give her?

-What is the correct temperature for her enclosure?

Any critiques about the cage is welcome.

Thank You!

 

[cbeal1]

why dont you try using a cup to feed from. put the cup up towards the top of the cage, and see how that works.

 

[Nova0127]

Well I actually did that today but I don't think she really noticed it. I used a plastic cup and cut out the bottom and covered it with aluminum foil and poked holes in the foil ( so that any water in there can drain and won't drown the crickets) and stuck some crickets in there but she hasn't gone anywhere near the cup.

 

[cbeal1]

whats your basking temp? dust with calcium without D3 every feeding, with D3 a couple times a month, and a multivitamin a couple times a month. i would also get rid of the substrate in the bottom of the cage. try using a butter container size cup. poke some holes in the bottom so it can drain out. it has to be below his basking spot so he can see the crickets moving inside the cup. temps should be cooler at night also. around 65-70.

 

[MK1]

First get rid of the substrate, bacteria can grow there.
2nd. dont use a night heat light. Chams can see the full light spectrum and it wll effect his sleep.
3rd try to cut back on the meal worms and give her 10-15 crickets a day. Dusted EVERY day with calcium Without D3. D3 should only be added 1-2 times a month.
4th. Fake plants are fine. Real plants hold in humidity better tho.
5th. U will need to feed your crickets better. Start with simple household things carrots, oranges and apples search for gut loading on this forums there is tons of info.
6th. temps should be 70-80 in the cage. over 90 is to hot.

 

[Julirs]

Make the changes MK1 mentioned ASAP. If you have only had her for 3 days I would not worry too much. It takes them a few days to adjust. Do you have some pictures of the chameleon and the set up? You don't need to worry about feeding your cham leafy greens-some eat them and some don't. Feed the leafy greens to your crickets. Your supplement schedule should look something like this:
5-6X weekly dust lightly with calcium with no D3
2X monthly dust lightly with the multivite
1-2X monthly dust lightly with the calcium with D3

 

[SageZA]

Hi

Try use a feeder cup what is a little has move width that a cup and is a little deeper.

Look at the container in the cage i used below this was a cage i used for my 2 month old it was a bit big but worked he is 6 months old now. Also Position it so that she can look down into it and see whats happening.

Also please post a pic of your current setup thanks..

 

[Nova0127]

Thank you all sooo much! I actually woke up this morning and saw that she had eaten all the crickets in the cup so that makes me very happy!

-When its at night what should I do for lighting? I turned off the nightlight and I'm just using the basking bulb. Is there some other light that I need to use or will that do fine?

And I'll post some pics later to show you what the cage looks like.

Again Thank you!!

 

[Lindsey]

There should be no lights on at all at night time. Chams need pretty much complete darkness to be able to fall asleep. If you are worried about the temperature, regular room temperature is okay at night. It can drop to the mid 60's F and she should be okay. :-D

also, welcome to the site! Lets see some pictures of the little gal!