i am new to all this but i would love to own a yemen chameleon so any help advice

lloydz

lloydz

New Member
first of all i would like to to a very big hello to you all ,

i would love to own my very own yemen chameleon, but not sure where to start i have read up so many thing s but as they all do diffrent with there and there are so many storys about them i am abit confused lol .....

first i have a rough idea of what should be in my set up , about a warm side and a cooler side and that they need plenty of plants , but do i need a heat mat or a heat rock and what kind of lighting and heating do you all recommened me using .
any help in this matter would be very useful thanks kelly:)
 
I am a new owner, have only had a chameleon for about a month or so- female veiled, about 6 months old. One of the biggest pieces of advice I can give you is to make sure that you start with a male! I love my female, but she is currently going through her first infertile clutch, and it is a pain in the arse. Besides that, a few key points on veiled chameleons:
Keep basking temps at around 80, ambient temps at around 70, nighttime temps at around 60, make sure she sleeps in total darkness. Don't use substrate. 24"x24"x48" is a good cage size for a veiled. Never use heat pads (they can result in very nasty burns), mist twice a day. Dust food with calcium without d3 just about every day, dust food with calcium with d3 twice a monht, and dust food with vitamins twice a month. Mist her cage with hot water (comes out lukewarm) two or more times a day, until all the leaves are wet. You should also provide a secondary watering technique- most people use eyedroppers or a dripping system (I use a cup with a hole poked in the bottom). Never water her with standing water, chameleons don't recognize water unless it is shiny and beaded. It is good to get a designated staple food and a designated treat food. Staple foods like crickets or cockroaches provide nutrients, and treat foods like waxworms are good as garnishes, special supplement vectors, and are useful if your chameleon needs a bit of fattening up.
Chameleons are a much bigger commitment than most reptiles, but very fulfilling. Veiled chameleons are the easiest to take care of, but it may not be the perfect type for you, depending on what you want from your chameleon. Panther chameleons are much more vivid and varied, and from what I have read, are generally more friendly than other chameleons. I haven't ever owned one, though, so I may not be correct.
One of the most important things about purchasing a chameleon is that you really have to disregard the majority of pet stores' advice. You did the right thing by joining this forum before buying. The majority of new owners, myself included, end up buying things their chameleon doesn't need, or even things that harm the chameleon, like high-wattage bulbs or substrate. Best of luck when you purchase!
 
hello thank you for the link you sent me. i have just read on the lighting and the heating for the chameleon and it was e great help thanks :)
 
It is wonderful that you are actually doing your research before purchasing one of these beautiful reptiles
 
Welcome to the world of chameleons!

Here's some information to get you started.......I didn't talk about cage set up or misting, etc....but that information is not hard to find on this forum.

Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
 
kinyonga said:
Welcome to the world of chameleons!

Here's some information to get you started...

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
Click to expand...

Brilliant advice and good links, some of the links don't work now, the web.archive can't be accessed.

Here is a link I found through reading the links above. It is a good article that discusses in detail UV lighting:

http://www.testudo.cc/

Thanks for the advice and links.
 
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