Hello ! :D new cham fan, need some info

ammomani

ammomani

New Member
Heya guys, I'm Aleks I've just gotten my first chamy a week ago and joined the community to get in touch with others. I've always wanted one since I saw one on the Animal planet when I was a child but never was actually able to be mature enough to take care of one ! So now I finally set aside some money and went on shopping. After reading all there is to read about chammies I started to shop. I got me a 3 month old Veiled chameleon (Marky).
http://imageshack.com/a/img839/9716/w1es.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img546/7467/sa5q.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img543/4212/3mnx.jpg
So I kept him in a pretty small aquarium/type thing with a fake plant and all the light needed (UVB and all) but I decided that he'd feel a lot better in a proper terarium.
I bought a 76/42/76 cage (all net, nylon), put in a devils ivy a ton of sticks and highways for him to play on, a good sized UVB light and a big basking light.
Keeping the moisture high is easy with a big plant in the cage.(around 50%) + a basking temp of about 35 C and all around 25 - 20 C in other spots. I will be putting in a small electric waterfall (will poop-proof it). My chammy is really well tempered, Doesn't get stressed from anything I actually do to him or changes in habitat. I try to interact with him every day, not taking him but letting him climb up on my hand and around me. I feed him half his food by hand and the rest he has to catch himself. From what I've seen so far he is happy. Here are some pics of what the setup looks like, I would love some opinions and tips.
http://imageshack.com/a/img543/631/tlu8.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img59/2860/nuv8.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img138/9823/q37r.jpg
 
Just a few things I noticed. Red lights ( from what I hear don't know the science behind it) are bad for thier eyes. Most people use regular household bulbs (incondesent) for extra heat. Or you can use a ceramic heat emitter if you don't want more light. Second, the lights should not be in the cage they should be mounted outside the cage or if they must be inside they need a screen around them or your chameleon might get some bad burns
 
Well I don't know about that, it's a HeatGlo from Exoterra, Infrared heat lamp. The guy at the store convinced me that its not even in the chams visible spectre and that he can sleep with it on. Been with it for a day or two and hes snooring away at night.
I currently have no other place to put the UBV light + it doesn't really get hot.
But the basking one I keep in a certain spot with the branches arranged so that he cannot reach it + we had a little incident with the first day he came home with me and climbed out of the cage and kinda tried to touch the lamp. He didn't get seriously burnt but did definitely
feel the burn, and keeps a safe distance from the heat-sources.
 
Feel free to do a search on the use of red lights. They should not be used and should not be used at night for sure. You only need a heat source at night if your temps drop below 68f. Once again do what you want but you need to make sure there is no place in the cage where your temps can get hot enough to burn. I am sure your chameleon can use the sides of his cage to get at the light and you'll feel pretty bad when he gets burned :(
 
ammomani said:
Well I don't know about that, it's a HeatGlo from Exoterra, Infrared heat lamp. The guy at the store convinced me that its not even in the chams visible spectre and that he can sleep with it on. Been with it for a day or two and hes snooring away at night.
I currently have no other place to put the UBV light + it doesn't really get hot.
But the basking one I keep in a certain spot with the branches arranged so that he cannot reach it + we had a little incident with the first day he came home with me and climbed out of the cage and kinda tried to touch the lamp. He didn't get seriously burnt but did definitely
feel the burn, and keeps a safe distance from the heat-sources.
Click to expand...

Not true, chams can see red just fine, probably even better then us!
 
Hello!

As others have said, you should take your UVB out of the cage asap. Just because it doesn't get too hot doesn't mean it can't harm your Cham. You can set it on top of the enclosure just fine. No lights at night. Chameleons can go much lower than 68 degrees at night, they need a temp drop of approx 10 degrees and can handle temps as low as the low 50s. Please post a picture of your enclosure, from the sound of things you may need to make some immediate changes in your husbandry.
 
Sorry about the bad temp info (kinda pulled that one out my *** lol). I knew it was low but not sure how low. One more thing to the OP, first welcome to the forum your little guy is very cute:) (was in a rush with the first post sorry for being rude), you mentioned a water fall too which is frowned upon. Don't know how you would poop proff one but curious to find out. You would be better off with a mister or a drip system. If done right there is no chance of them drinking dirty water and is more suited to how they drink in the wild.
 
I am thinking I read somewhere devils Ivy is not safe. Let me go back and check.



philodendron is toxic but pothos is safe- I'd make sure you have a pothos. Just to be safe considering veileds will definitely snack on a live plant :D looks like a pothos to me, but one can never be too safe with chams. Who are notorious for not showing signs of ill health until it's too late.
 
Last edited:
Ok so ! I removed the red bulb, put in a normal one and put it outside of the cage aprox 10 cm form the top of the cage with some branches underneath it. As for the plant, it is 100% the one I need, spent about 2 days searching for it. Thank you for the info guys, I'm just trying to build up the best terrarium for him I can.
Here are some updated pics. ANY FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED ! mowryrd no offense taken ! no worries ! I just wanna make sure my buddie Mark is happy.

http://imageshack.com/a/img856/1563/q0x2.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img829/1699/89qd.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img801/1824/xypt.jpg

Edit :
as for the fountain, I'm closely watching if he starts drinking from it, the water is covered by a case and the "stream" is really narrow.
and for now I keep misting and will continue in order to keep the moisture levels up.
He hasn't really had a chance to really relax in his new habitat since I keep adding and changing stuff, but he is calm and eating/drinking regularly + hopping around from branch to branch(really active). I will be letting him get comfy from now on.
 
So a little update, I put in a couple of horizontal branches on which he can grab on to and go about on different levels in the cage. He poops in the opposite side of the cage from where the fountain is. I'm a bit concerned about his behavior for the last couple of hours after I added the horizontal sticks. At first he started going about all around the cage, as if to check it out. and now he is just basking under the light with a darker color with spots on him. I've seen him darken up to get more light and heat, but the spots to me mean he is threatened or stressed from something. Or maybe it's just me over reacting. Anyways here are some pics :
http://imageshack.com/a/img836/8273/7r3k.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img834/9623/2x27.jpg
 
The cage looks much better, nice job! Your little guy might be getting stressed, try giving him some time (days or a week) with no changes and little to no handling. The way he is laying side ways means he's trying to hide (mine does it when be see a cat) or just getting more sun
 
I think it's the lamp kuzz I moved it a bit not stable and he actually turned his body towards the lamp. I'm just kinda scared that he wouldn't be getting enough heat, don't know if I should be. The termomether at the bottom shows 22 C.
 
You need a thermometer probe or temp gun to check the temp under the basking light. That is important so he does not burn himself. The fact that he went to the basking bulb and turned dark is a good sign, he was prob cold. I don't see your UVB light, only the basking bulb.
 
OK should I be worried about this ?
When I take him out of the cage he becomes the color I've always seen him in :
http://imageshack.com/a/img854/9576/tyam.jpg

After I put him back in the cage, he becomes this :
http://imageshack.com/a/img163/502/3o6z.jpg

Yet I cannot see him behaving any differently, he's active, eating and going about in his cage. Though he prefers his basking spot where I keep a temp of about 35 C and the bottom of the cage its a stable 20-22 C. Should I be worried ? at night the temp fall to about 18-20 C. Could someone please advice ? Humidity is around 50%
 
I would just let him be. Those colors look fine to me, I would just limit the amount you take him out. Leave him alone as much as possible for the next couple weeks
 
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