Heres fona's new cage

[pedro92]

heres fona's new cage if anyone sees something good or bad plz let me know. she is a veiled cham i think about 2-3 months old. she is kinda grey with some green right now whats that mean. and theres a dotted pattern kind of dark green dots? ill get some pics of her soon. i was trying to get her on my hand but she hissed so i backed off. i am new at having a cham for a pet. any tips would be great. and i was wondering about feeding her vegetables and fruit? thanx for any tips and help.

 

[booshified]

veg a fruit will not be for a while most likely. other then that it looks nice. what are the dimensions of the cage?

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."heres fona's new cage if anyone sees something good or bad plz let me know"..being that she is a veiled, she might try to chew on the artificial plants when she's a little older. It wouldn't be good if she ingested any.

Also, being that its a female, when she is a couple of months older it would be a wise idea to have a suitable place for her to dig in case she has to lay eggs. Veileds can lay eggs without being mated....and having no place to lay them will likely lead to eggbinding and eventually death.

You said..."she is kinda grey with some green right now whats that mean"....its likely her normal resting/calm colors.

You said..."theres a dotted pattern kind of dark green dots?"...that's showing excitement/nervousness.

You said..."i was trying to get her on my hand but she hissed so i backed off"...that's normal veiled behavior. Some will tolerate handling and others won't.
You said..."i am new at having a cham for a pet"...we were all new at it at one time...here are some sites with some good information that you might like to read...
http://adcham.com/
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/skintests.htm
http://www.chameleonnews.com/
This one should lead to the chameleonjournals archives...but the original chameleonjournals site has been taken over by someone else....so click on this one at your own risk....(Moderators and others concerned...when I list sites like this, I actually go to the sites on my computer and cut and paste the address at the top of the page...so I don't understand how it could lead to another page other than the one I am seeing when I do it.)
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...rnals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html

You said..."i was wondering about feeding her vegetables and fruit?"...they usually don't start to eat anything but insects until they are about 5 months old. The can be fed greens (dandelion, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (slivers of carrot, sweet potato, squash, sweet red peppers, zucchini, etc.) and a bit of fruit (wedges of apple, pear, pieces of melon, berries, etc.).

When the husbandry isn't right for veiled chameleons, one of the main things that they seem to develop is MBD. Appropriate temperatures, UVB light, supplements, insect care, hydration are all important.

Appropriate basking temperature allows the chameleon to digest its food properly....thus helps with nutrient absorption.

Calcium, phosphorous, vitamin D3 and vitamin A are the main players in bone health (and play other roles in the body too)....and its important for them to be in balance.

Most of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous...so dusting the insects before feeding them to the chameleon with a phosphorous-free calcium powder helps to make up for this.

I dust with vitamins with a beta carotene source of vitamin A twice a month. Beta carotene won't build up in the system like preformed vitamin A will...however, there is controversy about whether all chameleons can convert the beta carotene...so some people give one with a preformed source of vitamin A once in a while. Excess preformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD.

Exposure to UVB light either from direct sunlight or UVB tube lights allows the chameleon to produce vitamin D3 which allows it to use the calcium in its diet. The UVB light from either source shouldn't pass through glass or plastic.

Since my chameleons usually only get light from UVB tube lights, I dust with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month. Keep in mind that D3 from SUPPLEMENTS can build up in the system so don't overdo it. Excess D3 can lead to problems too.

Its also important to gutload/feed your insects a nutritious diet. I use the same greens and veggies that I listed to feed to the chameleon.

When balancing things, its important to look at the supplements and what you feed the insects to get the whole picture.

One more thing...overfeeding adult veiled females has been said to lead to egglaying problems and a shorter life.

Sorry this is long...hope it helps!
Good luck! Hope you enjoy her!