Impulse buy...

jocyburns

New Member
I did an impulse buy at the expo yesterday. I used to build vivariums a few years back and i want to start up again. I bought a 3 week old chameleon and now im afraid i made a mistake...He's in a 5 gal. tall glass tank. I know glass is no good for these guys, but its all i have and can afford at this time. Hes at 85 degrees, just ate 2 sm crickets dusted with cal d3, uvb, no lid, and im trying to decide what to cover the sides with.......i hope hes not doomed
 
What type of chameleon is he or she first because different breeds need different temps I think?
 
He is fine in a glass tank (Reflection issue in glass is a myth) as long as he has plenty of room and ventilation. You may want to look into a Glass Vivarium (Like the Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium or Exo Terra Glass Terrarium) for the not to distant future (since they grow pretty fast), or if your room stays warm and humid you could go wire-mesh.
 
You can take care of him in a glass/plastic tank you just have to be more aware and do more things like first off clean it more often because with the humidity bacteria will grow then always be aware of the temps in glass or plastic tanks the heat can be higher than a mesh cage because it keeps heat in so just monitor its heat and clean it every day and you should be good its heat should be good. Also baby veils don't know how to regulate their heat as good as adults so if it starts gaping which means opening its mouth put it in the cool end of the tank. 78-81 is the ideal temps around there if its 75 or 80 not to much of a difference and wont hurt it just don't let it drop below 75 or over 83 during the day at night it can drop 10 degrees.
 
cal with d3 only twice or once a month i believe and calcium with no d3 and phos every 5-7 days a week. A multivitamin like herpeative twice a month. You can gut load crickets for added vitamins. Like you can a combination of plants and dry food is best for feeder gut load sandrachameleon has a list of helpful foods and their nutrition content on this forum just look for the blog section and click sandrachameleon also not all veggies is safe so do your homework before hand to not poison it. For dry food chad sells a pre prepared dry-food on his site you can get a hold of him or go to his site tiki tiki reptiles or look for other sites just shop around do what you like best but chads gutload comes highly recommended.

This link is a supplementation guide

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/supplements.html
 
He is fine in a glass tank (Reflection issue in glass is a myth)

Um, I beg to differ. My first male veiled stressed and displayed to the glass a lot of the time. But, it didn't start happening until he was several months old. Once I switched to a screen cage he stopped the displaying.
 
Um, I beg to differ. My first male veiled stressed and displayed to the glass a lot of the time. But, it didn't start happening until he was several months old. Once I switched to a screen cage he stopped the displaying.

yea that's right since he is a male he may be aggressive towards his reflection since veilds are very territorial id say for more help ask some UK or European members for help some of them have more experience than me in keeping chams in glass than I do GoodLuck with him.
 
Congrats on your baby! He is seriously very tiny/young, I'm actually a little shocked that someone thought he was old enough to sell to someone. He's going to be a little more fragile than your average 3 month old, but we'll do our best to help.

I recommend reading this blog: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html along with others already linked.

Also search for info on very small baby veileds because there are great threads on the details of raising them properly. I don't have first-hand experience so I don't want to give you incorrect info, but it's all out there. Hopefully someone else will fill you in on any details and questions you need :) Good luck!
 
Congrats on your baby! He is seriously very tiny/young, I'm actually a little shocked that someone thought he was old enough to sell to someone. He's going to be a little more fragile than your average 3 month old, but we'll do our best to help.

I recommend reading this blog: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html along with others already linked.

Also search for info on very small baby veileds because there are great threads on the details of raising them properly. I don't have first-hand experience so I don't want to give you incorrect info, but it's all out there. Hopefully someone else will fill you in on any details and questions you need :) Good luck!

I agree that its surprising that someone would sell one so young. i got mine at an expo and it was 2 months old and people were still surprised haha hope your little guy does well :D
 
He is fine in a glass tank (Reflection issue in glass is a myth)

Sorry I have to strongly disagree with this.
Far away to be a myth, as chameleons have personalities the issue can be noticed more or less but define it "a myth" I think is unrealistic.
 
Um, I beg to differ. My first male veiled stressed and displayed to the glass a lot of the time. But, it didn't start happening until he was several months old. Once I switched to a screen cage he stopped the displaying.

im with ya here, my guy sees himself in any glass window or mirror and he dont like that other cham ;)
 
As soon as you can buy a screen cage please do. Until then, you would be better to keep him in a nice large plastic tub (no top) and put your plants and vines in it. It will not only stay cooler then the glass, but he won't see a reflection and will be happier to roam around. Be sure to keep a thermometer inside the big bin so you can make sure it doesn't get too hot. I would suggest you try to keep it 80 in its basking spot with 70's in the bottom. Babies can't tolerate temperature extremes like the adults.
 
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