I'm a newbie with a few questions (:

[Chamelea]

Hello everyone! I just joined today

After a lot of thinking and researching, I have decided to buy a juvenile Veiled Chameleon But before I do, I have a few questions first to help me prepare 100%

1: The enclosure
I already have an enclosure ready, but have yet to decorate it. Would it be alright if I used artificial plants/vines, or is it strongly recommended that I use live ones? And if I do have fake ones in there, the chameleon wouldn't try to eat it, would it? And how thick should the branches be?

2: Humidity
What are your opinions on keeping a fogger in the terrarium? (in addition to misting several times a day with a spray bottle). I was a bit concerned that he would accidentally fall into the water where the fogger is, and drown. But it would also help keep the humidity. Also, should I use a water conditioner/stress coat in the water that I use to mist the cage with? And would it be okay to use that in the water for the fogger too?

3: Heat Lamp
What is the best kind of heat lamp to use? Should I use a bulb or a tube? (I plan on using a tube for the UVA/UVB) and does the heat lamp need to be replaced every 6 months as well, or does it last for however long the light does? What is the recommended wattage, considering the cage is 12 inches tall and so there won't be that much space to keep it the proper distance from the basking spot (I plan to upgrade to a bigger cage when the Chameleon gets bigger).

4: Diet
What is your opinion on feeding him a staple diet of silkworms and superworms? How long/thick should the worms be for a juvenile chameleon, and how many should he eat a day? Once he is 6 months old, then how many should he eat a day? Do you gutload worms the same way you do with crickets? Or do they eat differently? What in your experience do you think is a good and yummy treat to give your chameleon on a special occassion? Do they care for veggies at all? And if so, what is the healthiest to feed them? What is bad to feed them? Would it disturb their digestive system to give them a treat like that? Or should I just stick with the silkworms and superworms?

5: Suppliments
How often should their food be supplimented with calcium if it contains vitamin B3? How often should it be supplimented with other vitamins? And what is the recommended suppliment to use for vitamins? Which vitamins should I be cautious of?


Sorry to overload you guys with all these newbie questions xD I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read and answer them!
Any additional advice for a first-time owner is very welcomed!

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

What size enclosure do you have? Veileds get big and will need a 2x2x4 screen enclosure. If your cage is smaller, you can use it while your cham is small but will need to upgrade.

Live plants are strongly encouraged, they look nice and keep the humidity up. Veileds especially have been known to eat plants, so if you get fake (which I dont recommend) you will have to watch him closely to make sure he is not snacking on them.

Do not put the fogger in the terrarium. If you are having problems with keeping your humidity up, try wrapping three sides with plastic or a shower curtain or getting a cool mist humidifier. You can then connect a tube to the humidifier and have that running into the terrarium. It is beat to keep al standing water out of the cage because chameleons can drown very easily in shallow water.

The best type of heat bulb is a regular house light bulb, I like the white over the clear glass because it disperses the heat a little better. The wattage will depend on the temperature of the room you keep your cage in. I live in southern california and my rooms are warm, so I usually keep a 40 watt bulb for my females and montane species and then a 60-75 watt for my male panthers and veileds. Yes, a tube UVA/UVB is the way to go. get a reptisun 5.0

Silkworms and hornworms are great but a wide variety of feeders is best. I recommend a staple diet of crickets and roaches, with flies and worms worked in. With feeding just make sure you are gutloading with fruits and veggies (VERY IMPORTANT). As a baby, chams can eat up to 25 feeders a day. That will slow down but not at first. At that age provide as much food as they will eat. As they get older they will want less and less food until you can feed them every other day when they reach around a year old.

vitamins are easy: Calcium without D3 daily, calcium w/ D3 twice a month, multivitamin twice a month.

 

[ChamEden]

1: The enclosure
For the enclosure you are going to need a minimum 18x18x36 (large) repitibreeze screen cage. That is the bare minimum, you are going to need to upgrade to a an even bigger one soon. A 24x24x48 should do the trick, although I have a custom 24x48x72 for mine. a 12in tall cage just is not going to do it and will stress your chameleon to the blazes. You must use both fake and real vines/plants. Live plants make it MUCH easier to maintain humidity within the encolosure. And to be quite honest a veiled chameleon is smart enough to not eat the fake plants.. You can also use the jungle vines from the pet store to use as branches. they work well for all size chameleons.

2: Humidity
I would say to definitely NOT use a fogger. They dont do it for a chameleon. I recommend the mistking automatic mister. otherwise misting it several times a day, while might it be a hassle, will do the trick. Humidity must remain between 40-60% for a healthy cham. Otherwise they could develop a terrible disease and die. Stress coats arent really necessary but i dont see how it could do any harm.

3: Heat Lamp
For the lamp dont waste your time with the color bulbs. They are very cost ineffecient and they are known to cause problems with the chams vision. For your inclosure the UVB light itself would be just fine, however when you buy a new, larger one (hopefully soon) you could get away with the house light bulbs, or go ahead and buy yourself an intense basking bulb from the store. In my previous experience no other bulb has kept it hot enough besides that one.

4: Diet and supplements
Worms are known to cause impaction, and are generally unhealthy. They are like eating a piece of cake or a cupcake to humans, and worms should only be given as treats. You want to use a staple diet of crickets dusted with a calcium supplement (with no added d3). I recommend the exoterra calcium. You also want to gut load your crickets. Every night you take the next days feeders and put them in a seperate bin with nutritious fruits, veggies, or you can get the actual cricket food from the pet store. Either will work fine in providing nutritious feeders for your cham

On a side note, I noticed you had no questions of handling. Handling is quite controversial, and it truly depends all on where you purchased your chameleon. The more handlable chameleons come from the breeders who interact and handle them on a daily basis ever since they hatched. So like I said that depends where you bought it from. Id say most veileds will not tolerate much handing to none at all. This is because of their territorial and aggressive nature. But, again, it depends where you got your little guy from!

hope this helps

 

[chameleonlover101]

REAL or FAKE plants for the enclosure

I strongly recommend having real plants in the enclosure so the chameleon will feel more at home in a enclosure. Also you can have some fake plants. Although one of the best things that are fake are vines. Chameleon love to climb on them always and that's were they spend most of their life. Up in the trees.
KEEP LEARNING!

 

[Devokid]

My answers are in Blue. Some of these have been answered before, I am just adding validity.

Hello everyone! I just joined today

After a lot of thinking and researching, I have decided to buy a juvenile Veiled Chameleon But before I do, I have a few questions first to help me prepare 100%


1: The enclosure
I already have an enclosure ready, but have yet to decorate it. Would it be alright if I used artificial plants/vines, or is it strongly recommended that I use live ones? And if I do have fake ones in there, the chameleon wouldn't try to eat it, would it? And how thick should the branches be?

Depends on the size cage that you have, but most likely you will want to get him/her a bigger cage as an adult from the one that he starts in. As a minimum, 24"X24"X48", but personally I find mine are more active in my 36"x36"x72". It has been my experience that veiled's eat whatever plant like material they find. Live and non-toxic plants are the best way to go.

2: Humidity

Don't use a fogger. It depends on where you live, but most likely you do not have to worry about increasing the humidity. Veileds are not a rainforest species and it has been my experience that too much humidity is more harmful than not enough.

3: Heat Lamp
What is the best kind of heat lamp to use? Should I use a bulb or a tube? (I plan on using a tube for the UVA/UVB) and does the heat lamp need to be replaced every 6 months as well, or does it last for however long the light does? What is the recommended wattage, considering the cage is 12 inches tall This is too small, even for a baby. Regular house bulb for heat, doesn't have a time limit, but will burn out.

4: Diet
What is your opinion on feeding him a staple diet of silkworms and superworms? How long/thick should the worms be for a juvenile chameleon, and how many should he eat a day? Once he is 6 months old, then how many should he eat a day? Do you gutload worms the same way you do with crickets? Or do they eat differently? What in your experience do you think is a good and yummy treat to give your chameleon on a special occassion? Do they care for veggies at all? And if so, what is the healthiest to feed them? What is bad to feed them? Would it disturb their digestive system to give them a treat like that? Or should I just stick with the silkworms and super worms?

Worms are usually not the best staple, but Silks are great for them. Ideally you should not really have a "staple" but roll through 4 or more different kinds. I've found that Dubia roaches are very good as well as crickets and stick insects.

Sorry to overload you guys with all these newbie questions xD I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read and answer them!
Any additional advice for a first-time owner is very welcomed!

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. This is an awesome place to learn about chameleons and meet other chameleon keepers. I keep veileds along with a few other species as pets. All my Chams are friendly and my veileds have the best personalities. I'm attaching my blog for new keepers. I have had great success raising veileds and panthers with the methods in my blog.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html