Help! it's like my 3rd thread today

[Hzerbi]

Im a novice with chameleons and im really worried all the time for my little guy, i had severall animals in the past but i always wanted to raise a chameleon.
My doubts have increased since I started reeding about veiled chams before he arrived, and I have all the information mixed so I will try to summarize them, please help.

He has 7 weeks, I have him in a medium terrarium 25x25x45 cm, I have a living plant and some of adornment besides wooden sticks and a type of humid soil that maintains the humidity (I read it is bad for him).

I spray water 3 times a day when I see the plants dry, besides this, do i need a dripper? I have a mist humidifier from when i was sick can i use it? I live in Mexico City, the weather here doesn't go bellow 15C° 60F°, and its wet season.

I have a humidity thermometer, do you recomend a digital one?
I bought a supplement for crickets that includes calcium and vitamins D3 (a guy from petco recommended them and then reading the caresheets says that the D3 vitamins are bad for him) what should I do?
As for the lights I think am already complete, a UV 5.0 and 40w heating bulb
He eats 8-10 small crickets a day

Thanks!!

 

[Katacara]

Please fill out the how to ask for help form (https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/). Add as much detail as possible for all the questions, and pictures are always helpful as well. You can cut and paste the form. This will help us help you.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Welcome @Hzerbi
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/ . Here is our care sheet .

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/ . This is how to ask . Please be detailed . Theirs many fantastic keepers here that can help you .

 

[Hzerbi]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled cham, Male, he's a baby 7 week old and he has been with me since las week 7 days today.
• Handling - minimum once a day to clean the terrarium
• Feeding - Small crickets, I'm not sure the name but really small. he eats 8-9 crickets a day in the morning aprox. 9-10 am every day, i feed the crickets with papaya and letuce, An hour before feeding him i put the calcium+vitamin D3 to the crickets.
• Supplements - An hour before feeding him i put the calcium+vitamin D3 to the crickets. brand: Lomas
• Watering - I use mist three times a day and no yes i've seen him drinking
• Fecal Description - kind of watery but consistent and dark with a little white
• History - He comes from the best breeder in Mexico.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - glass with screen at the top and cross ventilation (bought it) 25x25x45 cm
• Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 and zoomed 40 Watt bubls, 12 and 12 hours of darkness
• Temperature -I dont have a thermometer, but i have a humidity one, i keep him in 65-85% and temp of 25-26 C° average.
• Plants - I have a living one, i dont really remember the name (file)
• 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? My cage is in my room, no fans, vents or A/C, on top of a 1 meter table.
• Location - Mexico City really tempretate climate high 30C°low 15C° all year long (86 F 60 F)

Current Problem -
I have a type of soil that keeps humidity, is this bad? Should Itake it off?
besides mist, do i need a dripper? I have a mist humidifier from when i was sick can i use it?
do you recomend a digital thermometer besides the humidity one?
I bought a supplement for crickets that includes calcium and vitamins D3 (a guy from petco recommended them and then reading the caresheets says that the D3 vitamins are bad for him) what should I do?

 

[Shawnschamelion]

I think you should invest in something a little bigger. Jmo

 

[Shawnschamelion]

D3 with calcium every two weeks. Vitamins once a month and reg calcium every day.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Hi @Hzerbi great start . Just a few changes to start . The substrate you have you want to take out ASAP . If you want to go with a substrate go with a bio active substrate . @jamest0o0 can help you out if you are interested . You absolutely need a thermometer at basking . Babies need real specific temperatures they dehydrate very quickly and have very thin skin . Supplementing -You need calcium W/out D3 every feeding right now that should be everyday . Calcium W/D3 2 times a month alternate weeks multivitamin . I have not heard of your brand calcium/multivitamin . If it's what your breeder recommended then it's only to be used twice a month .

 

[Angelwolf]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled cham, Male, he's a baby 7 week old and he has been with me since las week 7 days today.

He's cute, but remember, he is very fragile.

• Handling - minimum once a day to clean the terrarium

Too much! Only handle it when NEEDED. Handling is very stressful to chams, in general, and can even be dangerous to a neonate. When you clean the cage, work around him, quickly, then get out of the cage.

• Feeding - Small crickets, I'm not sure the name but really small. he eats 8-9 crickets a day in the morning aprox. 9-10 am every day, i feed the crickets with papaya and letuce, An hour before feeding him i put the calcium+vitamin D3 to the crickets.

Pinheads? You can also feed flightless fruitflies and extra small superworms. (NOT mealworms)

• Supplements - An hour before feeding him i pu
• t the calcium+vitamin D3 to the crickets. brand: Lomas

I am not sure on this one. Are you feeding the powder to the crickets? If so, that's not right. The powder is meant to be shaken onto the crickets' bodies so it is ingested by cham. Not the crickets.

As far as a "dusting schedule" goes, this is the most common : 6 days a week, you will be using just plain calcium powder. On the 7th day of the week (most people choose Sat, but whatever day works for you) you will alternate between a calciumD³ powder and a multi vitamin supplement. So every other week, you will be giving the calciumD³ and on the opposing weeks you will be giving the vitamins.

• Watering - I use mist three times a day and no yes i've seen him drinking

Is it yes, or no? I'm confused. What exactly do you see? Specific details are extremely important on this one. It can mean the difference between life and death. Does it lap up the droplets from the leaves? You say 3 times a day, which is good, but for how long a period of time? 3x 30sec & 3x 3min are worlds apart! This is also extremely important.

• Fecal Description - kind of watery but consistent and dark with a little white

Have a fecal check done by your vet. Watery is not normal. They should be solid and well formed. Worms are very common and can also be deadly to such a delicate baby.

• History - He comes from the best breeder in Mexico.

According to who? And with what proof? I highly doubt this

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - glass with screen at the top and cross ventilation (bought it) 25x25x45 cm

You will need to up-size sooner than later, but for now this is ok. Eventually you'll want to go with an XL Reptibreeze, or at least something comparable with the same dimensions or bigger.

• Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 and zoomed 40 Watt bubls, 12 and 12 hours of darkness

Glad to see you took the advice and changed this. How far away from the basking spot is the bulb? This is where a thermometer is needed. Chams, especially young ones can get burned easily.

• Temperature -I dont have a thermometer, but i have a humidity one, i keep him in 65-85% and temp of 25-26 C° average.

A hygrometer will tell you the humidity levels. A thermometer will tell you the temperature. It's not a bad idea to have 2 thermometers: 1 for basking temp, and 1 for ambient temperature.

• Plants - I have a living one, i dont really remember the name (file)

It appears that you actually have pretty good cover in the cage, so one-up for you! But live is MUCH better than fake. Veileds eat plants, so make sure you are very careful with them, and with where you get them from. Fertilizer and pesticides are also deadly.

• 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? My cage is in my room, no fans, vents or A/C, on top of a 1 meter table.

This is good.

• Location - Mexico City really tempretate climate high 30C°low 15C° all year long (86 F 60 F)

Still, monitor temps and keep the lighting the same. Your cham will move about the cage to regulate it's temperature.

Current Problem -
I have a type of soil that keeps humidity, is this bad? Should Itake it off?
Yes. Substrate harbors deadly bacteria, fungus, and parasites. Also, if they get a piece stuck to their tongue, they will ingest it or choke on it. In the wild, chams live high in the trees. Nowhere near any dirt. So it's not necessary, and poses more risk than benefit. Just a bare bottom or paper towels is best.
besides mist, do i need a dripper?
You should have one. The cham will learn that it can go there for water and that will help him stay hydrated.
I have a mist humidifier from when i was sick can i use it?
In a pinch, yes, but it will only slightly raise the ambient humidity around the cage. You can not put it into the cage, and it should never get wet. It also will not produce water droplets for drinking. And of course, they also harbor deadly bacteria/fungus. So live plants and hand misting or automated misting is the way to go.
do you recomend a digital thermometer besides the humidity one?
See above.
I bought a supplement for crickets that includes calcium and vitamins D3 (a guy from petco recommended them and then reading the caresheets says that the D3 vitamins are bad for him) what should I do?
Again. See above and follow the schedule.

I hope this helps. Take the advice of the experienced keepers here on the forums and you should be ok. You have a lot of learning to do, but you came to the right place for straight answers. Good luck!

 

[Angelwolf]

P.s. did you seriously pay that price for that supplement?! There better be gold dust in there for that price!

 

[Hzerbi]

@Angelwolf thanks for the patience!! The people in this forum are amazing! I just bought the thermometer and im about to make the dripper. Also I mist the terrrarium 3x20s is that okay?
And the price of the supplement is in pesos haha it's about $2.8 USD

 

[Graves923]

For future reference, never take a petco or petsmart employees advice without fact checking... I highly doubt they are experts in keeping chameleons. Listen to the members of this forum and read the caresheets on this forum. The caresheets, from what I have been told, where written by and approved by experienced members of this forum.

Everyone that has responded so far is spot on with their advice.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

@Angelwolf thanks for the patience!! The people in this forum are amazing! I just bought the thermometer and im about to make the dripper. Also I mist the terrrarium 3x20s is that okay?
And the price of the supplement is in pesos haha it's about $2.8 USD

20 min 3 times a day hand misting would feel like it was going to fall off . Put a timer on and make sure you are at least doing 4 to 8 min per misting .

Supplementing - what you have has D3 that can not be used daily . You need calcium w/out D3 for daily dusting .

 

[CharlieCharmingo]

Calcium without d3 is sometimes hard to find but amazon always got the goods. Also the amount of minutes you mist is important not only for drinking but to maintain humidity levels.

 

[Angelwolf]

20 min 3 times a day hand misting would feel like it was going to fall off . Put a timer on and make sure you are at least doing 4 to 8 min per misting .

Supplementing - what you have has D3 that can not be used daily . You need calcium w/out D3 for daily dusting .

I think he meant 20 seconds. Either way, 2-4 minutes is where you need to be, 3 times a day.

 

[Hzerbi]

I ordered the exoterra calcium, in the meantime I use the other one or nothing?

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

I ordered the exoterra calcium, in the meantime I use the other one or nothing?

Multivitamin /calcium with D3 only 2 times a month .

 

[Hzerbi]

@Kristen Wilkins I aready order the normal calcium, it says that it's shipping from the US so will be arriving next week, what do i do in the meantime?

 

[blazake68]

There's no pet store near you that you can go ask if they have it?

If not the only thing you can do is feed your feeders the highest possible calcium gutload you can find. Or feed high calcium feeders. That's all I would know.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

@Kristen Wilkins I aready order the normal calcium, it says that it's shipping from the US so will be arriving next week, what do i do in the meantime?

Maybe silkworms. Their balinced and they don't have to be dusted so they must have calcium . @Andee would know . Or if you have a vet near by see if you can buy from them .

 

[Angelwolf]

I would say a week isn't going to be that long to wait. If I were personally in your situation, I would still use it something like every other day, or maybe every 3 days. As a little baby, it still needs the calcium intake. Going cold turkey on that would be more detrimental than giving a little extra vitamins. And besides, you don't know exactly what kind of supplementation and nutrition he had before you got him. I would be willing to bet it wasn't much.