Hey!

[stephiiberrybean]

Just thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Stephii, I'm 20 and from the UK.

I don't currently own any Chameleons and I have never owned one but I'm working on getting one and have wanted one since I was a little kid. So hopefully somewhere in the near future there should be a little Chameleon in my life! So for now I thought I'd join and learn as much as I can about them.

I do have a little collection of animals.
2 horses (Jimbo (bean) and Berry), 1 dog (Pudding), 2 cats (Pixie and Mia), 1 leopard tortoise (Squirt).
Than I share 2 horses with my auntie (Rhia and Sophie) and my mum has a dog (Millie).

I've always had animals since I was little and love most animals and creatures.
Reptiles aren't really my thing but when I was little I was in a paper (which was all over the UK) with my mum, brother and a, what seemed massive at the time, bearded dragon! Then a few little photos with lots of other animals.
So I like them I just wouldn't choose to own them! Chameleons have been something i've wanted since I was little though!

I currently volunteer at a place that does horse therapy for autistic kids. I work with the horses and often end up cuddling bunnies!
I'm also working through some Think Like A Pony levels and am hoping to train as an instructor for that. (I also have many other horse qualifications, plus a diploma in performing arts)
I also love photography and I do a lot of photo and video editing
(my youtube is www.youtube.com/Jimbobaloopa Take a look if you would like!)

I've rambled enough,
how about some photos?
(Mods feel free to change these to links. I didn't know if we are allowed to post them like this or have to stick to links?!)

Jimbo

Berry

Rhia (front) and Sophie (back)

Pudding

Millie (Before she got fat and had to go on a diet!!)

Squirt

 

[lumbasammler]

Hello and welcome to the forums
Nice pictures. I like the fact that you work with disabled kids, i currently work with kids with different disabilities in a school for mentally and physically handicapped children.
Also my girlfriend also loves horses and works with them, so i guess we have something in common in a way
Do you already have a particular chameleon-species you prefer?

 

[stephiiberrybean]

Thats great
I love being there. I currently go 2 days a week but am hoping to start 3 days a week soon.
Does your girlfriend have any horses or just work with them?

I've been looking at getting veiled as I've heard they are probably the best for such a newb! Hehe!

 

[lumbasammler]

Thats great
I love being there. I currently go 2 days a week but am hoping to start 3 days a week soon.
Does your girlfriend have any horses or just work with them?

I've been looking at getting veiled as I've heard they are probably the best for such a newb! Hehe!

Glas to hear that, disabled people rule!
My GF doesn´t actually own a horse but she works and rides on a local "farm" (they only have horses) sice she was 9 (or so ), so she already does that for about 10 years+.
Veileds are great chams for beginners as there are a lot of informations about them and they are easy to care for compared to other species.
You´ll probably need to adapt your keeping to the european way.
People in the US do things differently, which is partly because they use different products which you will most probably not have access to.
If you want me to i could give you an overview on how we in Germany use to keep our veileds.

 

[stephiiberrybean]

They certainly do
That would be great thank you, i would really appreciate that

I know tortoise keeping is very much the same. Theres lots of things in america they use that it's just not possible to do over here. I'm managing quite well with Squirt though and am already planning on getting some more leopards and having a little group of them
I must be crazy. Horses, Tortoises and now a Chameleon! I certainly don't for the cheap or easy to keep animals! hehe.

 

[lumbasammler]

Okay so here i go:
I assume you want to get a male so your cage should be about 160cm high, 100cm wide and 70cm deep, bigger is always better
The cage should be made from wood with 2/3 of one side+the top completely mesh.
You need to make the cage waterproof with e.g. epoxide resin, but you have to make sure it´s suited for the use with animals and have it dry out completely which takes about one week.
You may either use substrate or not, nearly everybody around here in Germany uses substrate as this brings lots of advantages, the americans think differnetly of this as you will probably notice soon.
As substrate i reccomend a 1:1:1:1 mix of undunged flowersoil, sand that is usually used for children to play in, soil from a broad-leaved forest, and white peat.
The forest-soil has the very positive effect that the organisms living in there feed on the poo of your cham and all other kinds of unwanted things.
Also you should have a drainage, which means you need an about 5 cm high layer of swelling clay at the bottom of the cage on which you fill the actual substrate.
Between those two you need to place one layer of fleece which is usually used in the garden to seperate the "dirt" from the drainage.
It´s useful to have some springtails and Trichorhina tomentosa (Google).
You won´t notice them at all and they also feed on poo and e.g. mold.
Lighting:
this a very good set with everything you need:
http://shop.pardalisberlin.de/product_info.php?products_id=212
The inly thing you might want to get in addition is a Osram Vitalux which will absolutely make sure you cham gets all the UVB it needs.
I don´t know whether the shop ships to the UK though so here´s a list of the lamps you need:
1.: 1 Solar Raptor or BrightSun 70W with a fitting electronic for UVB.
Those two are the best UVB-bulbs on the market at the moment but the actual UVB-output varies due to manufacturing reasons so it´s best to have an additional Osram Vitalux

2.:1 70W HQI bulb with fitting electronic ballast for light

3.: 1 80W Spotlight to create a place for your cham to warm up

4.: linear bulb daylight in fitting lenght

Here an example of a good cage where you can also see how to set your cage up:

http://terrafreunde.de/media/terra2.jpg

If you have any further questions just ask them

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello, welcome to the forum You really do have quite the collection of animals, don't you? I always post up this caresheet when someone is looking for info on keeping Veileds because it has all the basics you need......
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html
Part 2 has some info on gutloading insects and egg-laying, do you think you'd want a male or female?

 

[stephiiberrybean]

Thank you for all the great information. I'll have a research into it all. I already have an extra notepad ready to go for all notes and information to go in (I have one full of tortoise information already!)

I'm not sure whether I'll get a Male or Female.
I've had a few people tell me to get a male but than i've also had a few people say about males getting aggressive?
I've also read that veiled males can just stop eating at around a year old?
I don't know much about the differences between the males and females. It's something I need to really look into before deciding

 

[lumbasammler]

Thank you for all the great information. I'll have a research into it all. I already have an extra notepad ready to go for all notes and information to go in (I have one full of tortoise information already!)

I'm not sure whether I'll get a Male or Female.
I've had a few people tell me to get a male but than i've also had a few people say about males getting aggressive?
I've also read that veiled males can just stop eating at around a year old?
I don't know much about the differences between the males and females. It's something I need to really look into before deciding

Whether your cham becomes aggressive or not is kind of an individual thing, even if males are most likely to do so.
It´s also a matter of how you treat them, if you disturb them too often and handle them too much especially in the beginning, they often feel like they have to defend themselfs.
The problem with females is that they often get infertile eggs which can turn out to bring a lot of problems.

Addition to post above:
You´ll need to supplement your feeders.
The most popular and best products therefor used in Germany are Korvimin ZVT+Reptil in addition with Herpetal Mineral, but i don´t know if they are available in the UK.

 

[BeBoSON]

Hey, welcome to the forums.

Liking all the animals. Hopefully you'll get your cham soon.

 

[stephiiberrybean]

Thank you
I'll probably go for a male than. Less to have to worry about with eggs and what not! I'm not planning on breeding so no point getting a female to just have loads of egg problems to sort out!

Thank you BeBoSON. Am working on convincing my mum, and Dad.
Might have to wait till I've got the new horse first than go back to the whole "can i have a chameleon... pleaseeeeeeee" trick! haha!

 

[lumbasammler]

Ask for a giant spider first so they´ll be happy when you say a chameleon would do

 

[DavidBuchan]

Just show them a picture of a 2 month old Veiled and they'll want one too - https://www.chameleonforums.com/members/davidbuchan-albums-my-male-veiled-picture11668-day-one.html

 

[stephiiberrybean]

One of my biggest phobias is spiders. If i asked for a giant spider they'd know there was something seriously wrong!!
I might ask for another horse first and then go "but instead, i'll be happy with a chameleon" haha.

I showed her babies in the shop and she was like "It's a lizard." She's not easily won over by cute things anymore. Her time as a vet and working at the vet school hardened her up I feel.

 

[Roachman]

Hi Stephii. You beat me over here. Welcome from another new person.

 

[stephiiberrybean]

I certainly did

 

[DavidBuchan]

One of my biggest phobias is spiders. If i asked for a giant spider they'd know there was something seriously wrong!!
I might ask for another horse first and then go "but instead, i'll be happy with a chameleon" haha.

I showed her babies in the shop and she was like "It's a lizard." She's not easily won over by cute things anymore. Her time as a vet and working at the vet school hardened her up I feel.

Sounds like a plan But how could she say that about the most amazing lizards ever? All crazy eyes and tongue and colours..........what kind of vet is she?

 

[stephiiberrybean]

She isn't a vet anymore, she's a manager of a charity now!
She trained in animal science with animals, reptiles + Equine, she also did Molecular Biology and then when she went to the vet school she specialized in small animals. Although she couldn't do surgery so she switched and worked in the labs at the vet school instead. Apparently she can do cutting up dead things but not surgery!!

Her words were "Yea..ok, it's cute... but your not having one!"
When i've saved up some money for everything + Cham then i'll go and get one and bring it home. I think the only reason she's so anti-chameleon at the moment is that she does not like the thought of me having bugs in her house to feed to a reptile. I think after the maggots in the fridge incident she doesn't want a repeat (My dads a fisherman and put maggots in a box in the fridge, they escaped and got everywhere! She now makes him keep maggots outside!)