CamiCham
Member
He's here, he's here! It was hard getting him out of the cloth bag and he is now all brown in his new home. We are leaving him alone to see if his stress level will reduce. He jumped in and pretty much landed in the pot of the fiddle leaf fig and sat there for awhile. He is now working his way up to the top so I'm happy to see that. So this is Gideon and we are so in love with him! Here are a couple photos and all the husbandry info. The 2nd photo is him immediately as we got him out of the box/cloth bag. Please chime in and let me know what we need to work on to make things perfect for him. As noted below, we know his setup isn't perfect and are working on converting an old armoire into a custom enclosure but hoping this will make him happy in the meantime. The first photo of the enclosure was from yesterday - we've taken the hygrometers out so he can maneuver around easier. Here is the husbandry info
Chameleon Info:
Cage Info:
Current Problem - First time setting up a vivarium - looking for feedback on things I can do better:
Do we have too much on the floor of the enclosure? (4 live plants and a cork log with flowers - it’s so dense I’m not sure about cleaning poop etc.).
The exo-terra “jungle vines” that came with the kit shed horribly - is this ok? Seems like it may be a problem for the health of the chameleon since it isn’t a natural product and veileds munch on plants and stuff in their enclosures. I’m afraid the shedding that falls on the leaves will be consumed.
Chameleon Info:
- Your Chameleon - Gideon - male veiled juvenile from FL Chams (Driskel bloodline) received today, August 22, 2023.
- Handling - just getting out of the cloth bag he was shipped in - otherwise leaving him alone
- Feeding - for today - we just went to the store and got some small crickets but I haven’t put them in yet. He is on a vine near the front of the enclosure and visibly stressed so I don’t want to open it or go near it at this moment. But the plan going forward is…as much as he wants - twice a day. BSFL gut loaded with carrots, sweet potatoes, watercress, mango… And banded crickets gut loaded at shipment time from Josh’s Frogs. We did buy some Repashy Bug Burger - haven’t read how to use it yet but we have it. Dubias and apparently Orange Head roaches are illegal here (per the order cancellation I just got this morning) and discoids have been sold out at multiple places I’ve looked so working with crickets mainly for now.
- Supplements - The kit came with Reptivite with D3 for 2x a month dusting as well as ReptiCalcium with D3…Noticed that and promptly ordered the ReptiCalcium without D3 for daily dusting.
- Watering - Hand misting with filtered, room temp water for 3 minutes 30 min before and 30 min after lights on/off. Afternoon water dripping (around 2:00pm) with medium deli cup filled up (6 seconds of water fill).
- Fecal Description - fecal sample test scheduled for Tues 29th. Vet is at Exotics Con veterinary conference this week so we have to wait. No poops seen yet.
- History - Purchased from FL Chams - no history known other than he is supposedly from the Driskel bloodline.
Cage Info:
- Cage Type - Medium complete kit (18x18x36 screened). We decided to get a “complete setup” to get the 30 day guarantee from FL Chams but we now know its too small. We are in process of converting an old armoire into a custom enclosure that will be 48h x 40w x 22d with living walls and screened front and will have appropriate lighting - as soon as I figure out what that would actually be for that size/width.
- Lighting - Lights on at 8:00am and off at 8pm. The kit came with the Reptisun T8 20” hood with 18” Reptisun 5.0 UVB bulb. We ended up using a 60w incandescent bulb in 5 1/2” clamp lamp (the 75w heat bulb that came with the kit had the temps over 106 degrees). Basking light is placed directly onto screen & basking branch is 8” below screen.
- Temperature - Basking temp is 83 degrees and lower part of enclosure is at 74 degrees. Lowest overnight temp I’ve seen is 67 degrees. Putting in fogger tonight to push temp down and increase humidity overnight. Measuring with digital hygrometer
- Humidity - Misting for 3 minutes 30 min before and 30 min after lights on/off. Daytime humidity at basking branch is usually around 43% - closer to the bottom is usually around 53%. Nighttime humidity has gotten up to 88% but that is brief…it goes back down to the high 50s/low 60s. As mentioned above, I am putting in fogger tonight for overnight use 30 min on/30 min off from 12-6am is what I’m planning on trying. Measuring with digital hygrometer.
- Plants - Kit came with hard plastic plants but we aren’t using them - we are using all live plants. The small plants at top need to grow down but should be good once they grow a bit. We have a boston fern, pothos, Tradescantia (wandering jew) and a polka dot plant at the top of the enclosure. A Creeping Jenny in the middle then a bromeliad, fiddle leaf fig, maidenhair fern, schefflera, sunpatiens (that is already suffering from overwatering) in a cork log on the enclosure floor. Plant grow light should be here within a week.
- Placement - corner of Living Room away from busiest rooms, top of cage is about 5 ft, sides and back are loosely covered to block view of our dogs etc. - no ceiling fans or direct A/C.
- Location - Tampa, FL
Current Problem - First time setting up a vivarium - looking for feedback on things I can do better:
Do we have too much on the floor of the enclosure? (4 live plants and a cork log with flowers - it’s so dense I’m not sure about cleaning poop etc.).
The exo-terra “jungle vines” that came with the kit shed horribly - is this ok? Seems like it may be a problem for the health of the chameleon since it isn’t a natural product and veileds munch on plants and stuff in their enclosures. I’m afraid the shedding that falls on the leaves will be consumed.
Congrats!
As 
I'm like a sneaky stalker...just sticking the corner of my phone around the corner in hopes to see him on my screen, lol.
