Hello All!

[GronsDad]

Hi! My name is David. For Christmas, my wife wanted a chameleon. She has never had any reptiles for pets, (I have) so I took on the task of the habitat and everything else. All she has to do is feed it. Lucky her... Anyways, we got our little guy last weekend from a local reptile show. He is about 3 months old, captive bred and seems healthy. It took him a few days to get used to his surroundings before he would eat, and he is still somewhat skittish of people, although he doesnt mind being held and readily walks onto your hand if you put it by him. I have pics of him (I learned he hates cameras) and his enclosure. Heres his info

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Male Veiled, 3 months. I have had him one week today.

• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? About every other day, for only a few minutes.

• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? He feeds on 1/4-3/8" Crickets. I put in about 15-20 each day and he hunts them down fairly quickly. There are usually about 5 that end up dead and uneaten. The are gut loaded on Zoo-Med Natural Cricket Care gut load.

• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I am using Sandfire Chameleon Dust daily. This has D3, but in a very small amount ( I did some research, because D3 daily is bad, and I was worried about it, but the concentration in this product is 4000 IU/Kilo, compared to 200,000 IU/Kilo in most D3 products) It also contains 16% daily calcium Is this enough?

• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I have a rain system set up that runs twice a day for 30 mins each time, in addition to a soft trickle waterfall that runs 24 hours. He drinksfrom the rain system, and a few times I have seen him drinking from his waterfall.


• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? He has not been tested. Fecal matter is brownish, with a white/yellow end. Looks a bit like a sausage


• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. None

Cage Info:
• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Gron lives in a chameleon mansion according to my wife. I will attach pics, the cage is 3 sides screen, with a plexi rear panel.

• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Lighting is on from 8AM to 8:30 PM. There is an 18" Reptisun 5.0 at the top of the cage and a 100 watt basking bulb coming in from the left side. The nearest branch to the top bulb is about 10" below, and the basking bulb is about 18" away from his basking spot. The bulb sounds overkill, but I started with a 40 watt bulb and worked up to this one to find one that could maintain a constant temp of 85. I have the lamp moved a bit back to lower the current temp to 80. Once hes older, I will move it up a bit


• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? The temps range from 70 at the lowest point to currently 80 at his basking spot ( since hes a baby still) I measure the temps with a indoor/outdoor weather station that has a wired probe. The probe is attached to the bottom of his basking vine and gives me accurate readings of both temp and humidity at this spot. The main unit sits at the base of his cage (away from any possible "rain" or poop) and reads the same info for its location.


• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Humidity levels stay constant at 70%. This is maintained through the rain system, a large volume of plants, the waterfall and the fish tank below. See previous answer for how.


• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Lots of lucky bamboo and Pothos, with three shefflera plants growing as well


• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? The cage is in my office, away from almost any foot traffic. The top of the cage is less than a foot from my ceiling, so about 8ft high.


• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Columbus, OH

Current Problem - None yet!

Gron on his waterfall vine. Hi Dad!




Gron hanging out



Gron's house

 

[laurie]

Hello David and wife, welcome to the forum. Looks like you have a sweet little guy all set up and ready to go. There are two things you might want to consider, first the waterfall is a breeding place for bacteria. Your boy can poop in it, crickets can die in it, and worst of all your baby can drown in the waterfall. It takes very, very little water for one that size to drown. The only other thing I can offer is that most of us gutload our feeders with fresh veggies and fruits. I use cantaloupe, mustard greens, squash, carrots, and what other veggies and fruit are available. It will provide more nutrition for your cham.

 

[dom1959]

all i have to say is WOW!
rad habitat!

 

[GronsDad]

Thanks for the suggestions! I would like to start gutloading with fresh veggies, but we are still trying to get situated with a cricket house. For now they are in a tiny plastic thing. It will be easier once we get them in a bigger container. What do you use to store yours? The waterfall actually has a very shallow top that Gron cant get to (by virtue of design) so theres no risk of drowning in that part. The bottom (where the fish are) is much deeper, but it is also heavily planted with the bamboo, so there are plenty of escape routes should he wander in the water. I did a TON of research on Chams and water before I made this, as I wanted it to be a safe environment for him most importantly. He stays to his vines and branches well enough, and one time he wandered down (hunting crickets) to the ground part and tried walking on water. Obviously it didnt work, but he grabbed a bamboo and climbed on out. No problem. He seems to navigate the vines and plants well enough that the water doesnt concern him now. My goal is that the Pothos and Draceana (Lucky Bamboo) will grow from the tank up into the screened enclosure, providing him a TON of natural plant life/climbing spaces. Also, there is more ground than water surface below him, I made a "cliff" for the water, to maximize both his surface area and the fish water area below. I can take a pic if anyone is interested.

 

[GronsDad]

Thanks Dom! Also, to the concern of bacteria, There is a filter that the water runs through to make sure its all clean I do lose a few crickets to suicide in the water though. The fish take care of that!!

 

[MollyT]

First of all, welcome to the forums and that is a cute little guy you have there. I am also concerned about the waterfall. So, the pool for the waterfall is the fishtank.....is that correct? I always follow the 'better safe than sorry rule', personally, so I would advise against the fountain....I've heard of too many bad things happening in water....even a little tiny bit that gathered on a dish that was under a plant. Either way...you found the right place for information and sharing pictures and stories. Good luck with your new little guy!

 

[dom1959]

i "get" the concerns being voiced, but just the other day someone's cham got in a toilet and was found in time so with the thought given to this, maybe we have to wait and see.

 

[GronsDad]

Thanks for the welcome! Yes, Molly, you are correct. The tank serves as the reservoir for the waterfall. Thanks for the well wishes! The build and research was quite fun and now I hope to enjoy our little buddy for a good long while! This site was extremely helpful in my research on how to care for them, so I decided to join instead of being a lurker. Dom, that is kind of the path I took. I found that chams in the wild swim when necessary, so its not impossible to consider, but with the large amount of plant life growing out of the water, I figure if he were to make his way in, he would easily be able to get out. I saw this once when he was first exploring his habitat, and now he seems at ease with the water. If it appears there are concerns about the water as we go along, I can always add a bottom to his portion of the cage, separating him from the water.

 

[GronsDad]

How do you guys get such wonderful pictures of your chams? My lil guy is very camera shy. Heck, he is people shy!

 

[Barb]

That is a beautiful set up. How easy is it to maintain the aquarium part? I would love to see more pics. I love the whole thing.

 

[laurie]

There are so many different things on this forum that work for different people, so you never know. I amazed that the humidity is not way high for a veiled. With my luck my Cham would get a uri.

 

[GronsDad]

That is a beautiful set up. How easy is it to maintain the aquarium part? I would love to see more pics. I love the whole thing.

Barb, Thanks! I will include pics and a description in a bit

 

[GronsDad]

There are so many different things on this forum that work for different people, so you never know. I amazed that the humidity is not way high for a veiled. With my luck my Cham would get a uri.

Is 70% too high for veiled's? I read that between 50 and 80 was acceptable, but I never got a firm number. I welcome everyone's input, as I know these guys have very unique living requirements and this is my first effort with chams.

 

[Ashleigh]

Hi! My name is David. For Christmas, my wife wanted a chameleon. She has never had any reptiles for pets, (I have) so I took on the task of the habitat and everything else. All she has to do is feed it. Lucky her... Anyways, we got our little guy last weekend from a local reptile show. He is about 3 months old, captive bred and seems healthy. It took him a few days to get used to his surroundings before he would eat, and he is still somewhat skittish of people, although he doesnt mind being held and readily walks onto your hand if you put it by him. I have pics of him (I learned he hates cameras) and his enclosure. Heres his info

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Male Veiled, 3 months. I have had him one week today.

• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? About every other day, for only a few minutes.

• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? He feeds on 1/4-3/8" Crickets. I put in about 15-20 each day and he hunts them down fairly quickly. There are usually about 5 that end up dead and uneaten. The are gut loaded on Zoo-Med Natural Cricket Care gut load.

• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I am using Sandfire Chameleon Dust daily. This has D3, but in a very small amount ( I did some research, because D3 daily is bad, and I was worried about it, but the concentration in this product is 4000 IU/Kilo, compared to 200,000 IU/Kilo in most D3 products) It also contains 16% daily calcium Is this enough?

• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I have a rain system set up that runs twice a day for 30 mins each time, in addition to a soft trickle waterfall that runs 24 hours. He drinksfrom the rain system, and a few times I have seen him drinking from his waterfall.


• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? He has not been tested. Fecal matter is brownish, with a white/yellow end. Looks a bit like a sausage


• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. None

Cage Info:
• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Gron lives in a chameleon mansion according to my wife. I will attach pics, the cage is 3 sides screen, with a plexi rear panel.

• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Lighting is on from 8AM to 8:30 PM. There is an 18" Reptisun 5.0 at the top of the cage and a 100 watt basking bulb coming in from the left side. The nearest branch to the top bulb is about 10" below, and the basking bulb is about 18" away from his basking spot. The bulb sounds overkill, but I started with a 40 watt bulb and worked up to this one to find one that could maintain a constant temp of 85. I have the lamp moved a bit back to lower the current temp to 80. Once hes older, I will move it up a bit


• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? The temps range from 70 at the lowest point to currently 80 at his basking spot ( since hes a baby still) I measure the temps with a indoor/outdoor weather station that has a wired probe. The probe is attached to the bottom of his basking vine and gives me accurate readings of both temp and humidity at this spot. The main unit sits at the base of his cage (away from any possible "rain" or poop) and reads the same info for its location.


• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Humidity levels stay constant at 70%. This is maintained through the rain system, a large volume of plants, the waterfall and the fish tank below. See previous answer for how.


• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Lots of lucky bamboo and Pothos, with three shefflera plants growing as well


• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? The cage is in my office, away from almost any foot traffic. The top of the cage is less than a foot from my ceiling, so about 8ft high.


• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Columbus, OH

Current Problem - None yet!

Gron on his waterfall vine. Hi Dad!




Gron hanging out



Gron's house

What an awesome set up! As others have already voiced their concern for the waterfall, I understand because they are a breeding ground for bacteria. But if it's being filtered through the fish tank, it seem different than others I've seen, so it may be okay? I'm still not exactly sure how you have that part set up, so when you have time to post more pictures and description of the set up it would help I think it's a pretty cool concept! For gutloading, fresh fruits and veggies are best, but I don't really have time for that so I use bug burger for my crickets and it has all the nutrients they need and makes it easier. Also for dusting I just use Repashy's calcium plus because it's a multivitamin and a calcium powder in one and you just use it at every feeding and makes the dusting schedual so much easier in my oppinion. For misting, everyone seems to be a bit different with how they schedual it. I have my mistking with a basic nozzle and rain nozzle run 4 times a day for 5 min. each session and this works for me.

 

[GronsDad]

Ok, so I uploaded a ton of pics last night that show the build from start to finish. I started out with research to see if I could find if something like this had been done. At the Columbus Zoo, they have some amazing displays that seek to create the most natural environment possible for the creatures living there. That was my inspiration. As far as pet enclosures go, I could find nothing and came across many warnings of drowning. This led me to research the chameleons ability to swim (they can!) and their natural habitat, which are the river valleys of Saudi. To achieve the most natural environment, I needed lot of plants. There are a number of plants that are "cham-safe" and I chose three. The Dracaena, Schefflera and Pothos plants. While they are relatively small as of now, they should grow together nicely to fill Gron's new home, giving him natural climbing space as well as safe vegetative matter to eat. The tank part of the build is what is called the "Walstad Method". It is essentially a self-maintaining tank. Heavily planted, with constant water flow, this environment most closely resembles the natural river of the Middle East. It even contains species native to the area.

The waterfall/rain system is run off of a single pump, located below the waterfall. A hole is drilled through the tank to allow the tubing for the rain system. There are two biological filters located in the tank, these are mainly for the cleanliness of the water for Gron. One pre-pump, in the intake portion of the pump space, and one post pump, in the waterfall assembly. I found an automatic valve run from a timer on Amazon, and that is what controls the rain system. At two predetermined times, it rains for 15 minutes. I can make that more or less frequent as needed, but between the tank, the waterfall and the rain, the humidity stays constant and Gron has plenty of opportunities to drink.

There are 5 different fake vines in the enclosure, and these will be replaced with live-growing Pothos as it gets there. There are currently 6 Pothos vines, 10 "Lucky Bamboo" Dracaena, and 3 Shefflera trees growing in the enclosure. Since the Schefflera cant be grown directly in the water, as the other two can, they are planted in "pots" that I cut out from the "rock". They are watered during the rain fall. Gron seems to like these little trees, as he has slept there 3 times in the week we have had him.

The whole thing is made from stain-grade pine and coated with a semi-gloss (so its waterproof) stain/poly mixture. I started this project in Sept. and finished it the first week of Dec. I am still finding little things I could add or things I will do differently next time (Bigger and better!) If you guys have any questions or ideas, I would love to hear them. Hopefully I can inspire someone to build an awesome home for their little friend!

Ok, here come the pics!

 

[GronsDad]

This is the top enclosure.
The tank is a 75Gal tank. 4ft wide, 18" deep, 18"tall. I had to reseal it and buff out some scratches. It was a Craigslist find. Next tank will be nicer, thats for sure...



Here is the top with the bottom before the door was attached


With the door and hardware ( I added another latch later)

 

[GronsDad]

The next step was to make the inside of the tank. I got this idea from a website that makes custom aquascapes for aquariums. I figured if it was good enough to be submerged, why not partial? I measured the inside of the tank and cut the foam pieces to fit in those dimensions. After that, its just creative process to how you want the final piece to look.



First coat of cement. (painted on with a brush)



Second coat



Final

 

[GronsDad]

While I was making that part I started staining the wood. Next part was to get the tank planted, so that the plants would be well established by the time water and the cement piece were installed. The cement piece has to cure for 30 days before it is exposed to submersion, to allow the chemicals to diffuse from the cement.

Everything planted, with the exception of the schefflera and another dracaena, which I ended up not using.



Put in the pea gravel (after a 3 phase rinsing cycle)



Then comes the cement piece for a test fit

 

[GronsDad]

I didnt take any pics of the pump install or how I plumbed it, but can explain it if anyone is interested.

Everything in and some water added to adapt plants to full submersion



The set up, before the final cage assembly



Here is the waterfall running for the first time. You can see how the schefflera are planted now.

 

[GronsDad]

Added more water, spray painted the egg crate that the lights sit on and clamped the basking light on, just for fitment. The back panel is siliconed in place. It is just a light diffuser panel that you would see over any fluorescent light in a store.



Added the first set of vines



Siliconed the sensor probe to the basking vine



A look at the rain system/ 18" UVB bulb