Inherited chameleon yemon veiled basking

[twinkle2s]

Good morning

New chameleon mum, yesterday I inserted a chameleon from a friend. I've been researching to make sure I can be the best mum possible, new bigger terrarium ordered, better food, ceramic, uva and b ect... all due this week.

So today she's basking and has a dark colour marks I'm reading conflicting things online one saying she's not happy and one saying it's because she's basking. Most of the time she's a light green colour.

Also Any advice would be helpful

Thank you

 

[twinkle2s]

Please note I did not insert anything... I ment inherited.... thank you lol .

 

[Gloriawood]

So I could be wrong, but I believe she is gravid. @MissSkittles would know for sure.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi! She may be gravid, or she is just showing her big girl colors and patterns. Best to err on the side of caution and provide a lay bin for her as a permanent part of her enclosure. That not only saves you from the anxiety of trying to figure out when she may need one, but also saves her from the stress of not having one when needed and having something new put in her enclosure. How to set up a lay bin and more is all here in my blog. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/ Do ask as many questions as needed. If you would like to ensure that you have her husbandry as perfect as possible, just say the word. It’s too often a huge challenge to know what is correct and what isn’t with so very much misinformation out there. I just want you and your little beauty to have the best lives together.

 

[twinkle2s]

Hi! She may be gravid, or she is just showing her big girl colors and patterns. Best to err on the side of caution and provide a lay bin for her as a permanent part of her enclosure. That not only saves you from the anxiety of trying to figure out when she may need one, but also saves her from the stress of not having one when needed and having something new put in her enclosure. How to set up a lay bin and more is all here in my blog. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/ Do ask as many questions as needed. If you would like to ensure that you have her husbandry as perfect as possible, just say the word. It’s too often a huge challenge to know what is correct and what isn’t with so very much misinformation out there. I just want you and your little beauty to have the best lives together.

Thank you so much, I didnt even know that she could lay eggs or what gravid ment so the link I've just read through was extremely helpful. She hasn't had the best set up or start I don't think, she was quite thin being feed on just mealworms. We are so in love with her and want to be knowledgeable to be able to provide the best care but as you said it gets really confusing with the conflicting information. I've got her some locus and dusted them, I've read she needs 3 every 3 days she's just over a year old is this correct? Thank you for taking time to replay

 

[Gloriawood]

If you’d like, I can provide you with the husbandry review form so you can make sure you have everything just perfect for her. It’s a lot to take in and learn at once and there is a lot of conflicting information on the internet. We are a very welcoming and non judgmental bunch around here and we love to help.

 

[twinkle2s]

Thank you @Gloriawood, sorry for the late replay. Luna is currently in a 35x35x60 tank, she has one uva+uvb bulb. No thermostat. And bark type subtract. She does have a little water fountain. (I'll attach picture)

We have coming this week from swell (uk based)

Exo terra paludarium 90x45x90

Dimming thermostat
Pulse thermostat
Uv lighting kit
New humidity system
Ceramic lamp
Coco brick
Hydro rocks
Hydro matting
A new thermometer so I can read basking temp. Her other one only tell ambient from what I gather

I've ordered some wax worms (do I need to crush the heads?)

I've ordered some extra plants and vines

I have some drops for her water aswel we do have quite good water here in wales but just incase.

Is there anything else you recommend? Or set up advice. I now know I need to have a laybox avaliable for her that's to miss skittles.

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and warmest welcome to you and your beautiful veiled!

Can you share more photos of her limbs? It might just be the angle but I feel like I can see some bowing in her arm and leg in that photo. What UVB light does she currently have? How long ago was it switched out and what kind of supplements was she getting?

I agree with @MissSkittles, your darling girl will need a lay bin. I'll attach that information for you as well. She will need this in her enclosure ASAP.

Just for reference I'm going to attach some great resources for you for her. There is a lot of conflicting/bad information out there on chameleons and its a little overwhelming.

Chameleon Academy website - YouTube - Podcast
Neptune the Chameleon website - YouTube

Veiled chameleon care sheet

 

[twinkle2s]

Thank you @elizaann2

I will print off that fact sheet it's really helpful. I've manged to get a picture of 1 side il try and upload another when she moves.

Attached is a picture of the bulb that's come with the home she came in. It won't be the one she will stay with we have ordered a completely new set up for her should be delivered by the end of the week.

We have a laybox set up for her as suggested.

Thank you all for being so helpful

 

[elizaann2]

Me again . I'll happily answer your questions. See below in bold:

Thank you @Gloriawood, sorry for the late replay. Luna is currently in a 35x35x60 tank, she has one uva+uvb bulb. No thermostat. And bark type subtract. She does have a little water fountain. (I'll attach picture). I would remove the bark and water fountain. Its better to have nothing on the bottom of her enclosure. Bark is going to cause impaction issues if she eats it. The water fountain tends to harbor bacteria no matter how often it is cleaned out. It will be better for your girl to get hydration from the dew on leaves and fogging if you can manage night temps of 20 C or lower. You'll need to hand mist her enclosure daily unless you get an automatic misting system. Mist her enclosure for a few minutes before lights come on so she wakes up with opportunities to drink. You can install a dripper on the top of her enclosure for the middle of the day or simply place some ice cubes on the top of her enclosure to melt and drip on leaves. Spray again at the end of the night just before lights turn off.

We have coming this week from swell (uk based)

Exo terra paludarium 90x45x90. Unfortunately this is still too small for your girl, she is going to need something more like a 2 ft x 2ft x 4ft or 60 c x 60 c x 122 c. I am not sure what is available to you in the UK, if you can get the ZooMed XL enclosure that is a good size for your girl.

Dimming thermostat. - good
Pulse thermostat - not sure what this is
Uv lighting kit - what kind did you get? what strength of UVB light is this?
New humidity system - what is this?
Ceramic lamp - depending on your temps during the day you may not need this, we warm up our babies with a heat lamp/bulb. I do believe your chameleon will need the light with the heat to bask properly, in nature they bask in the sunlight so removing the light bit may be confusing to her.
Coco brick - Coco tends to hold onto humidity better than other materials and you may experience issues with humidity levels being too high or even mold. I would suggest going fully bioactive with safe dirt, isopods and springtails if you need/have to have a substrate. You will need a way for the water to drain. But as I mentioned above a clear bottom is better, especially if you are newer to reptiles/chameleons.
Hydro rocks - would this be for a drainage layer?
Hydro matting - what is this?
A new thermometer so I can read basking temp. Her other one only tell ambient from what I gather. - Good, you will need a good hygrometer so you can monitor her temps and humidity levels. I have 2 hygrometers in each of my enclosures, one at the basking branch and another one in the middle of the enclosure so I know what gradients I have. I use the Govee hygrometers, I like that they have alarms so if temps/humitidy gets too high it sends an alert to my phone. I am hopeful you can get these or something similar in the UK. They are fantastic

I've ordered some wax worms (do I need to crush the heads?) - Wax worms are high in fat and should be used as a treat bug and fed sparingly. Great staple feeders are crickets, grasshoppers, bsfl, flies, silkworms. I'll attach a list of good feeders for you to use. You'll also need to gut load them to make sure they are healthy for your girl. Attaching a document of great gut load options for your bugs

I've ordered some extra plants and vines. - what plants did you order? Attaching a safe list for you. Veileds tend to eat the plants in their enclosure so you will want to make sure the plants you put in with her are safe. What kind of vines did you order? You can also get sticks from outside, wash them well with soap and hot water and let them dry out in the sun. Don't use any branches from sap producing trees or trees that have a strong smell to them (like eucalyptus). Plants you will want to set up in a way so you have a 'curtain' of coverage in the front of her enclosure so she can use it if she is feeling shy and wants to hide. Chameleons are very shy lizards and having a place for them to feel secure is a necessity.

I have some drops for her water aswel we do have quite good water here in wales but just incase. - You live in Wales? I love it there! Ok back to business, we all give either distilled or RO water to our chameleons. Is either an option for your veiled?

Is there anything else you recommend? Or set up advice. I now know I need to have a laybox avaliable for her that's to miss skittles.

You need supplements. She needs plain calcium powder w/o vitamin D dusted on each feeding and a multivitamin with D3 2x a month. I like the Repashy LoD for the D3/multivitamin supplement. If you can get that in Wales you'll give that to her on the 1st and 15th of each month. This is as essential as her UVB light so you'll need to order those today or pick them up from a pet store.

The other thing I would say is, learning to care for chameleons is much like drinking water from a firehose. We are all here willing to help and want you and your girl to be successful. Please ask us any questions and as many questions as you need.

 

[elizaann2]

Thank you @elizaann2

I will print off that fact sheet it's really helpful. I've manged to get a picture of 1 side il try and upload another when she moves.

Attached is a picture of the bulb that's come with the home she came in. It won't be the one she will stay with we have ordered a completely new set up for her should be delivered by the end of the week.

We have a laybox set up for her as suggested.

Thank you all for being so helpful

Thank you so much for sharing. Those photos of her limbs look much better, but I'll tag our 'Hawkeye' member who will be able to tell better if there are signs of MBD. @Beman - how is this beautiful girl looking? Any signs of MBD?

Her UVB light will need to be a T5HO Linear hood. The UV light needs to be an Arcadia 6% or a ReptiSun 5.0. Let me know if you need help with that, I found it very confusing and overwhelming

 

[Beman]

Hey there. I do see a bit of bowing to her front limbs indicating MBD. The UVB bulb is not correct and why she is having issues. Also want to make sure supplements are on point to help stop the progression and ensure she develops her eggs properly. Otherwise her body will pull calcium from her bones to compensate. I just want to add she is a little thick through her limbs and casque as well. This is an indication she is holding more weight then she should be. Issue here is she has been probably overfed or not fed the right food sources. So this and the temps are going to increase her clutch size to be much larger than ideal.

This blog will help you as well. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/


Additional female specific info.

She should be on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.


You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces. The hotter the temp the more their metabolism speeds up so we have to keep the temp lower since we are doing lower food intake.

A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/