Introducing myself and Nom Nom, my baby veiled

msandman

msandman

New Member
WARNING PIC INTENSIVE- Introducing myself and Nom Nom, my baby veiled

Hello all. My name is Michael and I would like to introduce myself and my female veiled, Nom Nom. I am new to the chameleon world but I did quite a bit of research before diving in. I feel that I have the basics down but I know there is quite of bit of more tweaking to my enclosure set-up. I have listed my information below and any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Female veiled, approximately a month old. She has been with me for 1 week
* Handling - Once a day for a couple of minutes at a time.
* Feeding - Small crickets and an occasional meal worm for variety.
* Supplements - Sandfire Super Foods Chameleon Dust by T-Rex. I dust with every feeding as per the instructions.
* Watering - I mist at least twice a day with a spray bottle for about 2-3 minutes, more or less, depending on how many times my time allows me to mist. I do see her drink.
* Fecal Description - I saw her defecate once, the first part of it was white and then was mostly dark brown when if finally dropped. I have not seen any other droppings so far, as I just removed the substrate from the enclosure today and replaced it with paper towels.
* History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - A homemade wooden and screen enclosure, 18x18x36 inches.
* Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 and a 100w red heat lamp, both in dome fixtures. I will be replacing the UVB with a long hood lamp in the near future.
* Temperature -The top of the enclosure hovers around 90-100. I have not taken accurate measurements of the lower half of the enclosure as I am still in the phases of buying more thermometers for a more accurate reading. Night time temperatures are approximately 65 degrees, but I am not 100% sure as I am going off the thermostat temperature of my house.
* Humidity - I do not have an accurate way of measure humidity yet, but I will be purchasing more equipment this weeknd.
* Plants - I have one ficus as my live plant. Deadwood and artificial vines and plants are also in the cage.
* Placement -The cage is located in my bedroom, in a corner near my doorway. During daytime hours, traffic is very low as I am at work most of the time she is awake. Only during early morning and evening is there any significant traffic, but she does not seem be bothered by it. The cage is over 2 1/2 feet above the floor.
* Location - Los Angeles County, Southern California.

And now the pics!

Nom Nom's mansion
IMG_0550.jpg


Bright green ferocity!
IMG_0548.jpg


Stalking her food cup
IMG_0541.jpg


Basking in the red light
IMG_0521.jpg
 
Hi
You're a step ahead of me. I still haven't got my chameleon but I joined the forum to research and get to know more about them.
Nom Nom looks very cute. :)
 
Hello Michael and welcome to the forum. I have to say both Nom Nom and her cage look good. I do agree that the temp is high and I would lose the red light but it does sound like you are getting it all under control. Nom Nom is just sweet, enjoy her while she is little as she will grow up in no time.:)
 
Welcome! I am also in the UK! Baby chams (and adult females) should be kept in the low 80's at the hottest. Also a plain bulb rather than a red bulb for basking will be better - the plain bulb will simulate the sun.
 
Miss Lily said:
Welcome! I am also in the UK! Baby chams (and adult females) should be kept in the low 80's at the hottest. Also a plain bulb rather than a red bulb for basking will be better - the plain bulb will simulate the sun.
Click to expand...

He is from California!!
 
The 100w bulb was advised by the reptile guy at the pet store. He was concerned that the enclosure might have been a bit big for a 60w bulb to sufficiently heat so he recommended the 100w. I'll be changing that this weekend. After reading up, i actually made sure that the basking spots were quite a bit lower from the top of the enclosure so that it she would not be able to get too hot. The only thermometer I have is a little strip one and it reads 90+ but it is also right under the lamp so I feel that I have the temperature that is suitable for where she can actually get to.

As for the dust, yes it needs to be washed out! I did over pour a little bit so I've been just adding bugs and shaking just so I can get use of most of what I over did.
 
Hate to tell you this, but more often than not the pet stores are uneducated when it comes to the care of chameleons. It is very sad but true. We see stories on here all the time of people just like you who are given the wrong information. Be glad that you came on here and will be able to get your set up corrected. Others have not been as fortunate as you and their chameleons sometimes suffer irreversible damage.
 
I found him to be pretty knowledgeable about most things and he actually would not even sell me this little girl at first because it seemed that they had neglected her and her 2 bones were showing on her forearms. He made sure that she fattened up a bit and was healthy before he would sell her to me. A couple of weeks later, she looked very well nourished and was ready to go home with me.

Anyways, another pic of her on her mini free range, aka the ficus sitting on my drawer next to the window.

IMG_0552.jpg
 
Not saying all petstores are bad but the majority from we have found on here. Good luck with your new little gal and don't hesitate to ask questions! That is how we all learn!! so...Welcome to the forums!!!
 
carol5208 said:
Not saying all petstores are bad but the majority from we have found on here.
Click to expand...

Totally understand this. I actually went to quite a few just to see how knowledgeable they were, including a highly reputable reptile store in my area and none were really helpful at all. The place I actually bought her from and the guy that helped me out mostly knew what he was talking about. He actually keeps many reptiles though I forget if he had a chameleon so for the most part I went with much of what he recommended.
 
Hey, you did what the man told you to do. Its just sometimes, it is wrong. He probably is just is not experienced or informed with chams and especially babies who need extra special care. He was just off on the lighting issue, although that is a very critical part of your set up. Sounds like you are a responsible person and want to do the best for your pet. ;)
 
carol5208 said:
Hate to tell you this, but more often than not the pet stores are uneducated when it comes to the care of chameleons. It is very sad but true. We see stories on here all the time of people just like you who are given the wrong information. Be glad that you came on here and will be able to get your set up corrected. Others have not been as fortunate as you and their chameleons sometimes suffer irreversible damage.
Click to expand...

Care of ANYTHING i think - me and my flatmate (another avid reptile keeper!) were "asked to leave" our local pet place the other day for ranting about how they should keep tortoises on sand, shouldnt feed them cucumber and tomato etc - it was "recommended" that if we came back we "keep our opinions to ourselves" - wont be going back! lol
 
msandman said:
The 100w bulb was advised by the reptile guy at the pet store. He was concerned that the enclosure might have been a bit big for a 60w bulb to sufficiently heat so he recommended the 100w. I'll be changing that this weekend. After reading up, i actually made sure that the basking spots were quite a bit lower from the top of the enclosure so that it she would not be able to get too hot. The only thermometer I have is a little strip one and it reads 90+ but it is also right under the lamp so I feel that I have the temperature that is suitable for where she can actually get to.

As for the dust, yes it needs to be washed out! I did over pour a little bit so I've been just adding bugs and shaking just so I can get use of most of what I over did.
Click to expand...

Hey carol...the seller might actaully been right about the light if the cage was way too big, though 100 watt would stiill be a little to high, unless you have Nom NOm in a 2x2x4 cage:p.....

But hey man, nom Nom looks amazing you shhould b proud.. i hope you know about the egg laying proccess in the near future
 
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