HUSBANDRY REVIEW

[Riiiiivera]

I’m about a month into keeping my 1st chameleon and I just wanna see if I’m doing this right so lmk

Chameleon Info:

Veiled chameleon , Male, 4 months old, ive had him for 1 month


Handling - I take him out at least 4 times a week to get about 30 mins of natural sunlight I leave him on some sticks or a nearby plant. He’s in my actual hand for about 5 mins or however long it takes me to bring him out his cage and to the outside.

Feeding - I feed him mainly dubia roaches and some crickets here and there mostly duibas tho. He will eat a maximum of 12-14 bugs and a minimum of at least 6 all depends on size and amount eaten the day before. I feed him everyday around 6 or 7 o’clock pm. I gut load the roaches with apple and carrot slices

Supplements - I have been using repti calcium without d3. I use this every time I feed and I dust the bugs right before I give them to my Cham. I also have the zoo meds reptivite that I have yet to open and use because I don’t know what that is.

Watering - I am using a spray bottle to mist. I mist his cage two times a day once in the morning and again at night about an hour or 30 mins before I turn his lights off. I mist for 2 mins straight or until I see his plants and screen walls have sufficient droplets (I never let his cage walls get runny with water) I’ve only seen him drink water once or twice when I had just gotten him but I don’t see him drink often. I also run the homemade dripper cup 2 or 3 times a week.

Fecal Description - he be taking good poops I know that forsure. Also worth noting that some clear liquid comes out when he urates (am using that right? Peeing??)

History - I got him from pet co and he recently shed his skin for the first time in my keeping about 3-4 weeks ago.


Cage Info:
(All of my current equipment came from the chameleon kit)

Cage Type - I have a 16x16x30 screen cage

Lighting - Zoo med dual dome housing with the reptisin compact 5.0 uvb 13 w bulb and daylight blue reptile bulb 60 w. Lights are on from 8am to 8pm

Temperature - basking spot is at 72-76°. Lowest over night temp is 55°. I use the digital thermometer that came with the chameleon kit

Humidity - I don’t know my humidity levels or have no way of measuring them yet.

Plants - Just today I re potted and cleaned my first live plants for my chameleon I have a money tree and a devils ivy. I didn’t realize how big these plants were in relation to my cage so I was only able to put in the money tree. I was thinking of just leaving the devils ivy on the cage floor along side the money tree and run it’s vines up along the other branches I have or walls of the cage. Any tips on how I should go about planting this thing will be appreciated

Placement - my cage is next to my bed along side a window that I open to let some natural sunlight in as well for him.

(His cage is scooted up here to allow a little more sun light but it’s usually flush against the wall)

Some pictures of the crazy guy lol

Location - USA CA
LA area

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome! Give me a few and I’ll have your husbandry review.

 

[MissSkittles]

Putting my feedback in red.
Chameleon Info:

Veiled chameleon , Male, 4 months old, ive had him for 1 month


Handling - I take him out at least 4 times a week to get about 30 mins of natural sunlight I leave him on some sticks or a nearby plant. He’s in my actual hand for about 5 mins or however long it takes me to bring him out his cage and to the outside.

Feeding - I feed him mainly dubia roaches and some crickets here and there mostly duibas tho. He will eat a maximum of 12-14 bugs and a minimum of at least 6 all depends on size and amount eaten the day before. I feed him everyday around 6 or 7 o’clock pm. It’s better to feed early in the day so he has time to bask and digest. I gut load the roaches with apple and carrot slices Need to improve this. Attaching gutloading sheet.

Supplements - I have been using repti calcium without d3. I use this every time I feed and I dust the bugs right before I give them to my Cham. Very good! I also have the zoo meds reptivite that I have yet to open and use because I don’t know what that is. Does it have vitamin D3 in it or not? If it does, you’ll use this to dust your feeders once every other week. If it does not have D3, you’ll need to get a calcium with D3 and use that additionally one feeding every other week. Usually alternate between the multivitamin and D3 weekly so they aren’t given together.

Watering - I am using a spray bottle to mist. I mist his cage two times a day once in the morning and again at night about an hour or 30 mins before I turn his lights off. I mist for 2 mins straight or until I see his plants and screen walls have sufficient droplets (I never let his cage walls get runny with water) I’ve only seen him drink water once or twice when I had just gotten him but I don’t see him drink often. I also run the homemade dripper cup 2 or 3 times a week. Sounds perfect!

Fecal Description - he be taking good poops I know that forsure. Also worth noting that some clear liquid comes out when he urates (am using that right? Peeing??) Yup

History - I got him from pet co and he recently shed his skin for the first time in my keeping about 3-4 weeks ago.


Cage Info:
(All of my current equipment came from the chameleon kit)

Cage Type - I have a 16x16x30 screen cage As he gets older, he’ll be needing an upgrade to a minimum of a 2x2x4’ or equivalent.

Lighting - Zoo med dual dome housing with the reptisin compact 5.0 uvb 13 w bulb and daylight blue reptile bulb 60 w. Lights are on from 8am to 8pm Biggest upgrade you need to make ASAP. The screw in uvb bulbs provide adequate levels only within a very narrow window just 2-3” away. You need a linear T5 ho fixture with either a ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% uvb bulb. Basking area needs to be about 8” down from lights. Thankfully you do take him outside so he is getting good uvb, but he still needs correct lighting.

Temperature - basking spot is at 72-76°. Lowest over night temp is 55°. I use the digital thermometer that came with the chameleon kit Wow! Most people tend to bake their chams. You actually can increase your temps a bit so basking is at 80. Night time temp drop is great.

Humidity - I don’t know my humidity levels or have no way of measuring them yet. Really important to know your humidity. Ideal range is between 30-50%, which is actually pretty dry. At night when cool it can reach 100% by using a humidifier for naturalistic hydration.

Plants - Just today I re potted and cleaned my first live plants for my chameleon I have a money tree and a devils ivy. I didn’t realize how big these plants were in relation to my cage so I was only able to put in the money tree. I was thinking of just leaving the devils ivy on the cage floor along side the money tree and run it’s vines up along the other branches I have or walls of the cage. Any tips on how I should go about planting this thing will be appreciated That sounds ok for now. Or you could place something like a piece of wood along the top and secure the pothos hanging from it with florist wire or heavy duty fishing line. Once you upgrade to the larger enclosure, you’ll be having no problem and be needing more love plants. Fake plants aren’t good for veileds as they have been known to eat a fake leaf and get impacted. Remove those and hang on the outside for more privacy.
A great resource for all things chameleon is https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/
Make sure to explore all the sight offers, including the podcasts. Another great resource is Neptune the chameleon on YouTube.

 

[ERKleRose]

I hate to break it to you, but Zoo Med chameleon kits are horrible for chameleons! I’m going to link resource and care links and images at the end of my post. My feedback will be in red.
I’m about a month into keeping my 1st chameleon and I just wanna see if I’m doing this right so lmk

Chameleon Info:

Veiled chameleon , Male, 4 months old, ive had him for 1 month


Handling - I take him out at least 4 times a week to get about 30 mins of natural sunlight I leave him on some sticks or a nearby plant. He’s in my actual hand for about 5 mins or however long it takes me to bring him out his cage and to the outside.

Feeding - I feed him mainly dubia roaches and some crickets here and there mostly duibas tho. He will eat a maximum of 12-14 bugs and a minimum of at least 6 all depends on size and amount eaten the day before. I feed him everyday around 6 or 7 o’clock pm. I gut load the roaches with apple and carrot slices Chameleons need to fed in the morning, around 30 minutes after their lights turn on. I’ll let someone with baby and juvenile veiled experience comment if at his age, should he be fed multiple times a day. Your gutload isn’t sufficient, and I’d be careful about how much apple you feed.

Supplements - I have been using repti calcium without d3. I use this every time I feed and I dust the bugs right before I give them to my Cham. I also have the zoo meds reptivite that I have yet to open and use because I don’t know what that is. Does your Reptivite contain D3 in it? Use your Zoo Med Repti-Calcium without D3 every feeding, except for every two weeks, in which you’ll use the Zoo Med Reptivite with D3.

Watering - I am using a spray bottle to mist. I mist his cage two times a day once in the morning and again at night about an hour or 30 mins before I turn his lights off. I mist for 2 mins straight or until I see his plants and screen walls have sufficient droplets (I never let his cage walls get runny with water) I’ve only seen him drink water once or twice when I had just gotten him but I don’t see him drink often. I also run the homemade dripper cup 2 or 3 times a week. You can use your dripper 24/7, just make sure the droplets hit leaves instead of falling straight to the bottom of his enclosure. I’d look at buying an automated mister and possibly a fogger, too.

Fecal Description - he be taking good poops I know that forsure. Also worth noting that some clear liquid comes out when he urates (am using that right? Peeing??) Has he ever had his fecal checked by a vet?

History - I got him from pet co and he recently shed his skin for the first time in my keeping about 3-4 weeks ago. Considering he’s from Petco, I’d take him to an experienced chameleon vet to do a general check-up, run bloodwork, check his fecal for parasites, do an x-ray, etc.


Cage Info:
(All of my current equipment came from the chameleon kit)

Cage Type - I have a 16x16x30 screen cage He‘s going to need a minimum cage size of 2’ x 2’ x 4’ tall, but bigger is always better

Lighting - Zoo med dual dome housing with the reptisin compact 5.0 uvb 13 w bulb and daylight blue reptile bulb 60 w. Lights are on from 8am to 8pm Neither of those are good for chameleons. Ditch both of those bulbs, and get a regular white incandescent heat bulb for his basking bulb and a linear fixture (either T8 or T5 High Output) and UVB bulb to replace the coil UVB. The strength of the UVB bulb depends on the power of the fixture and how far away the bulb will be from the basking branch (which should be the highest branch in his enclosure). The linear fixture will be over the middle of his cage and align with his basking branch. Do you use any lights at night?

Temperature - basking spot is at 72-76°. Lowest over night temp is 55°. I use the digital thermometer that came with the chameleon kit Your night temp. drop is good. I’ll let someone else comment on if your basking temp. is correct for his age.

Humidity - I don’t know my humidity levels or have no way of measuring them yet. Humidity is just as important to measure as temperature. During the day it should be between 30-50% and up to 100% at night. Use a digital hygrometer to measure this. You can use a humidifier to raise his humidity at night, just don’t use it during the day. It also needs to be cleaned often if you get one. Live plants and mistings help raise humidity.

Plants - Just today I re potted and cleaned my first live plants for my chameleon I have a money tree and a devils ivy. I didn’t realize how big these plants were in relation to my cage so I was only able to put in the money tree. I was thinking of just leaving the devils ivy on the cage floor along side the money tree and run it’s vines up along the other branches I have or walls of the cage. Any tips on how I should go about planting this thing will be appreciated All fake plants and fake vines with leaves on them need to come out immediately. Veileds try to eat them, and they can cause impactions. Veileds need live pants only, branches and vines, and fake vines without leaves on them. How did you clean off and prepare your plants and the pots before you put them in his cage? His cage interior needs a major rework.

View attachment 288251View attachment 288252View attachment 288253View attachment 288254



Placement - my cage is next to my bed along side a window that I open to let some natural sunlight in as well for him.
View attachment 288255
(His cage is scooted up here to allow a little more sun light but it’s usually flush against the wall)

Some pictures of the crazy guy lol
View attachment 288256View attachment 288257View attachment 288258



Location - USA CA
LA area
[/QUOTE]

 

[ERKleRose]

@MissSkittles beat me to it, but here are the other links I’d suggest

https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
https://chameleonacademy.com/setting-up-a-chameleon-cage/
http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2012/04/how-to-set-up-proper-chameleon.html

 

[MissSkittles]

@MissSkittles beat me to it, but here are the other links I’d suggest

https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
https://chameleonacademy.com/setting-up-a-chameleon-cage/
http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2012/04/how-to-set-up-proper-chameleon.html

Yes, but sometimes it’s good to have reinforcement.

 

[Gingero]

Dropping in some helpful, relevant videos:

 

[Riiiiivera]

Yes, but sometimes it’s good to have reinforcement.

Update I took out all the fake plants and added them to the back on the outside of his terrarium. I’m working on getting his light fixtures updated all my shops have been sold out thinking of ordering online. I got a humidity dial and have been keeping it at 60% as a result my misting has gone up by one or two more short misting sessions I’ll get it down as the other live plant settles in since you’ve said they assist with humidity.

I also don’t know if the reptivite has D3 here’s a photo of the back


Also what is wrong with the gut load just curious I thought any of the listed vegetables and fruits would be ok? I’ve also changed his feeding schedule

 

[Riiiiivera]

Update I took out all the fake plants and added them to the back on the outside of his terrarium. I’m working on getting his light fixtures updated all my shops have been sold out thinking of ordering online. I got a humidity dial and have been keeping it at 60% as a result my misting has gone up by one or two more short misting sessions I’ll get it down as the other live plant settles in since you’ve said they assist with humidity.
View attachment 288480View attachment 288481View attachment 288482View attachment 288483

I also don’t know if the reptivite has D3 here’s a photo of the back


Also what is wrong with the gut load just curious I thought any of the listed vegetables and fruits would be ok? I’ve also changed his feeding schedule

@ERKleRose

 

[ERKleRose]

Update I took out all the fake plants and added them to the back on the outside of his terrarium. I’m working on getting his light fixtures updated all my shops have been sold out thinking of ordering online. I got a humidity dial and have been keeping it at 60% as a result my misting has gone up by one or two more short misting sessions I’ll get it down as the other live plant settles in since you’ve said they assist with humidity.
View attachment 288480View attachment 288481View attachment 288482View attachment 288483

I also don’t know if the reptivite has D3 here’s a photo of the back


Also what is wrong with the gut load just curious I thought any of the listed vegetables and fruits would be ok? I’ve also changed his feeding schedule

Great job with the plants! Did you put rocks too big for your chameleon to eat over the soil in the pot? I think I forgot to mention that, sorry! What did you do to clean the plants? The fake plants behind the enclosure look really cool like that! Online stores are usually cheaper for light fixtures anyway. Is the humidity dial (called hygrometer) digital or analog? You’ll want the humidity between 30-50% during the day. So no extra misting sessions during the day, just your mistings at morning and night like before. That Reptivite has D3, so use that one once every 2 weeks!

 

[MissSkittles]

That Reptivite is D3-free!

It has D3...it is the cholecalciferol.

 

[ERKleRose]

It has D3...it is the cholecalciferol.

Oops, sorry and nice catch! Supplements usually have the ingredient with it’s vitamin in parentheses. Like cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3). Thanks again for the catch!

 

[ERKleRose]

It has D3...it is the cholecalciferol.

Post is now edited, thanks again! I had a brainfart

 

[MissSkittles]

Post is now edited, thanks again! I had a brainfart

The chameleon kits usually come with Reptivite with D3...one of the few actually useful parts of the kit.

 

[Riiiiivera]

Great job with the plants! Did you put rocks too big for your chameleon to eat over the soil in the pot? I think I forgot to mention that, sorry! What did you do to clean the plants? The fake plants behind the enclosure look really cool like that! Online stores are usually cheaper for light fixtures anyway. Is the humidity dial (called hygrometer) digital or analog? You’ll want the humidity between 30-50% during the day. So no extra misting sessions during the day, just your mistings at morning and night like before. That Reptivite has D3, so use that one once every 2 weeks!

Yeah I put some black rocks I got from home depot I cleaned them with soap and water and hand sanitizer and rinsed them throughly with water. Only used soap and water for the plants. There should be some pictures up in the thread of the pots. The hygrometer is analog. Having trouble keeping my humidity at a steady 50 or 30 I’ve been doing very small mistings to keep the humidity up. So for the D3 supplement I use it for one week straight every feeding? and then the supplement without D3 the following two weeks?

 

[ERKleRose]

Yeah I put some black rocks I got from home depot I cleaned them with soap and water and hand sanitizer and rinsed them throughly with water. Only used soap and water for the plants. There should be some pictures up in the thread of the pots. The hygrometer is analog. Having trouble keeping my humidity at a steady 50 or 30 I’ve been doing very small mistings to keep the humidity up. So for the D3 supplement I use it for one week straight every feeding? and then the supplement without D3 the following two weeks?

Rocks and plant cleaning sound good! Though make sure your plants are pest-free if you do that! Some pests are hardier than others and you‘ll need a stronger solution for those! You’ll want to get a digital hygrometer for better and more accurate readings. Adding more live plants and wrapping the sides and back of the cage with a shower curtain or plastic sheet panels will help raise humidity. For supplements, you will use calcium without D3 on every feeding. You will use the Reptivite with D3 once every two weeks. For example, use Reptivite with D3 for days 1 and 15 of a month and calcium without D3 days 2-14 and 16-30.