Form for chameleon

[Byron18]

• Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, about 5 months not sure. Sex unsure. Had it for about 2 weeks.
• Handling - Every couple of days for a few minutes.
• Feeding - small crickets and wax worms. Monday Wednesday Friday Saturday crickets and rest are worms. Monday and Friday are Calcium and vitamins Monday every 2 weeks.
• Supplements - Nutribal and calidust
• Watering - a plant mister for about 30 seconds every few hours.
• Fecal Description - Sometimes brown and has a small white part with orange parts on it
• History - in

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - exo terra small extra tall.
• Lighting - Exo terra day and night reflector with pro rep 60w bulb. Exo terra small canopy2x uvb bulbs 5.0
• Temperature - 30°c near the top
• Humidity - not sure
• Plants - Devils ivy on a thatch like pole and some twisted willow.
• Placement - on top of my draws away from window. 2 metres is the top.
• Location - south east United Kingdom.

Current Problem - Chewing something in corner of cage. Black spot on nose. If someone could tell gender please. Only young tough.

 

[Syreptyon]

It sounds like your supplement schedule needs adjusting. You should be dusting all your feeders with a phosphorous-free calcium powder without vitamin D3 at every single feeding, a phosphorous-free calcium powder WITH vitamin D3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month as well.

Also be aware that you are going to need to upgrade your enclosure before long. 18x18x36 is too small for a grown veiled, so be prepared to upgrade to a 24x24x48 enclosure in the not so distant future. I would also personally recommend you switch from glass to screen, as chameleons are prone to respiratory infections and this is much more common in exoterra cages, which do not allow air flow as well as something like a reptibreeze.

Are you offering water any other way than misting? 30 seconds is a very short amount of time and I would worry your chameleon is not being properly stimulated to drink and may be at risk of dehydration.

Your wording was unclear, but are you using a night bulb? In case you are, definitely take that out ASAP, chameleons need 12 hours of total darkness and can withstand temperature drops overnight perfectly fine. You ought to purchase a hygrometer, too, because humidity is very important to chameleons.

As for the sex of your chameleon, you have to send pictures of the back of the hind legs or we cannot tell.

 

[Byron18]

It sounds like your supplement schedule needs adjusting. You should be dusting all your feeders with a phosphorous-free calcium powder without vitamin D3 at every single feeding, a phosphorous-free calcium powder WITH vitamin D3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month as well.

Also be aware that you are going to need to upgrade your enclosure before long. 18x18x36 is too small for a grown veiled, so be prepared to upgrade to a 24x24x48 enclosure in the not so distant future. I would also personally recommend you switch from glass to screen, as chameleons are prone to respiratory infections and this is much more common in exoterra cages, which do not allow air flow as well as something like a reptibreeze.

Are you offering water any other way than misting? 30 seconds is a very short amount of time and I would worry your chameleon is not being properly stimulated to drink and may be at risk of dehydration.

Your wording was unclear, but are you using a night bulb? In case you are, definitely take that out ASAP, chameleons need 12 hours of total darkness and can withstand temperature drops overnight perfectly fine. You ought to purchase a hygrometer, too, because humidity is very important to chameleons.

As for the sex of your chameleon, you have to send pictures of the back of the hind legs or we cannot tell.

There is no night bulb and all that calcium sounds like a lot for every feeding. Also I feed it about 5 worms and crickets for what day it is. Also if I just put something like a background or a plastic mesh would that work? I did have a dripper but I can’t fill it all the way because the screen on top might break. It runs out very quickly and it only drank from it once from what I saw. I have pictures of its poo and back leg. Thanks.

 

[jamest0o0]

Just told you female. As mentioned, dust phosphorus free, d3 free calcium at every feeding. LIGHTLY, dont make them look like ghosts. The point is to change the calcium phosphorus ratio of the feeders. Without calcium, most feeders have a higher phosphorus to calcium ratio. Dusting fixes that.

 

[Syreptyon]

Just because it "sounds like a lot," does not mean it is. I am telling you this because what I described is the most reliable way to keep your chameleon healthy regarding supplements. It is well tested and proven effective. What you are doing is not enough. Don't make assumptions when it comes to your chameleon's husbandry - assumptions can do a whole lot of damage.

 

[Syreptyon]

Based upon the gaps in knowledge which are evident from some of the questions you are asking, I strongly encourage you to read through this: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Veiled chameleons are particularly easy to sex and there is all the info about supplements and more in this care sheet. You will need to be ready for her to lay eggs when she is older, so make sure to look into an egg laying bin as well

 

[Byron18]

Based upon the gaps in knowledge which are evident from some of the questions you are asking, I strongly encourage you to read through this: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Veiled chameleons are particularly easy to sex and there is all the info about supplements and more in this care sheet. You will need to be ready for her to lay eggs when she is older, so make sure to look into an egg laying bin as well

I have read up on this. It said they are omnivores so I gave it some lettuce and she ate it. Is lettuce ok?

 

[Syreptyon]

I think lettuce is fine for them to eat, but it offers next to no nutritional value whatsoever. What are you gutloading her crickets with?

 

[jamest0o0]

I'm pretty sure they get next to no nutritional value from any veggies. It's mainly just hydration. They still need insects.

 

[Lennoncham]

I'm pretty sure they get next to no nutritional value from any veggies. It's mainly just hydration. They still need insects.

How would they get no nutritional value from veggies? Isn't that why we gutload our feeders with veggies to pass on the nutrients to the Cham? Or does the bugs eating the veggies somehow convert it into usable nutrition for them? Just trying to understand.

 

[jamest0o0]

@Lennoncham I wondered about this awhile back and it turns out gutloading is done so that the bug breaks it down enough to be absorbed by the chameleon. I'm not 100% as I don't have a source to link atm, but I was reading about it somewhere and came across it being talked about here many times before.

 

[Lennoncham]

@Lennoncham I wondered about this awhile back and it turns out gutloading is done so that the bug breaks it down enough to be absorbed by the chameleon. I'm not 100% as I don't have a source to link atm, but I was reading about it somewhere and came across it being talked about here many times before.

Ok that makes sense since chams are insectivorous I guess they need the bugs to convert the nutrition for them. Now that I think about it I believe it may have been mentioned on the chameleon breeder podcast on one of the episodes with john courteney-smith. I think I will go re listen to those episodes and see.

 

[jamest0o0]

Yup I was thinking the same actually

 

[HannahGrace]

I definitely recommend reading the care sheets that they posted above as well as researching independently - especially being that you have a female. Also, I'm surprised no one else mentioned it (unless they did and I'm blind), but if you don't know the humidity you need to look into getting a humidity gauge asap. You can get them online, at most hardware stores, and I know pet stores that have a reptile section tend to carry them too. It's one of things that needs to be monitored. They say veileds have a better spectrum for what percent it needs to be at, but its something that you should also be aware of. ^^

 

[Goose502]

Nothing wrong with Exo Terra glass enclosures. A screen cage is absolutely not nessesary. The problem you have is the size of your cage. It is far too small, and to continue with an Exo Terra, you will pay a premium for the largest size (36x18x36). The largest commercially available screen enclosure is much less expensive, but poses a few issues if you are using automatic misters and bioactive soil(as you should be using). The black spot you are referring to sounds like nose rub, this is probably caused by lack of real estate in the enclosure, or she is trying to burrow (lay eggs).

 

[Byron18]

I think lettuce is fine for them to eat, but it offers next to no nutritional value whatsoever. What are you gutloading her crickets with?

Lettuce. What other vegetables/fruits do you suggest for once in a while

 

[jamest0o0]

Honestly, it's extremely simple to do a search on some of these things you're asking.

 

[Byron18]

Honestly, it's extremely simple to do a search on some of these things you're asking.

I do but this site comes up.

 

[Graves923]

I'll do the search for you.... This site has some of the best resources for chameleon care...

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/
"Suggested Gutloads (can also be fed to the chameleon):
Best - These gutloading ingredients are best because they are highest in calcium, low in phosphorus, oxalates and goitrogens. They should be the primary components of your gutload: mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion leaves, collard greens, escarole lettuce, papaya, watercress and alfalfa."

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/water/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Since you have a female I highly suggest reading through this as you will need to set up a laying bin soon:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/egg-laying-and-the-laying-bin.345/