Introducing our new little man :-)

[vossenstaart]

Hello everybody!

We have expanded our little Belgian family with a new member last Friday (new count: 1 couple of humans, 2 gerbils, 2 crested gekko's, a nano-aquarium, one veiled chameleon).

We have no previous experience with chameleons. We have read as much as possible about their needs (and keep on reading), in order to take care of our new little friend in a good way.

I would therefore very much appreciate any feedback on our current set-up so we can improve where necessary. I have used the info in the 'health clinic' section as a basis to describe our enclosure and supplies.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - A veiled male chameleon; +/- 5 months old; in our care since Friday 10 February
• Feeding - Currently crickets (nr. 7) and grasshoppers (medium I think); around 5-10 a day, depending on how much he eats
• Supplements - Zoomed Repti Calcium with D3 (once every two weeks); Zoomed Repti Calcium without D3 (everyday)
• Watering - We spray with a pressurized spray bottle twice a day and there is a dripper (Little Dripper 2L) that is on during the day

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - A screen cage, Reptibreeze XL (24'' x 24'' x 48'' or 61 cm x 61 cm x 122 cm)
• Lighting - The heat and UV-light are separated; the heat bulb is 100 Watt (Zoomed Repti Basking Spot) but we have a dimmer so we can regulate the temperature (then we can higher the temperature when he is growing older); the UV-bulb is a Zoomed Reptisun 5.0 lamp of 26 Watt. The lamps are on for 12 hours (8 am - 8 pm).
• Temperature - Below the heat lamp, we have a temperature around 29.5 °C (85.1 F). This is measured digitally.
• Humidity - During the 'dry' periods it is around 35% (below the basking spot) and around 60-65% (below the basking spot) when we spray. The humidity is also measured digitally.
• Plants - One live plant (money tree plant or Pachira aquatica), the others are plastic (two ranks of 2 m and two plants of 50 cm).

I have attached a picture of our little man and of our cage, the bottom is covered with paper.
For the vitamins, I am a little lost. Would Reptivite without D3 (Zoomed) be good? Or should we better look for another one?

Thank you in advance for any feedback!

 

[Nursemaia]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum. Good job on researching 1st and you're off to a great start. I'd add more climbing branches and coverage in his setup. It should look like a jungle and he should be hard to find in there. They feel safe that way. I'd also invest in an automatic mister, either a mistking or climist. Chronic dehydration is a killer and an automatic mister is really the only way to make sure they get the water they need. Hand misting just isn't the same. Reptivite is fine for your multivitamin

 

[Twitchet]

Congratulations on getting your new veiled- he looks lovely- I got my first veiled a month ago and am head over heels in love with him, so I'm sure you are going to love having your little man around, does he have a name yet?
Welcome to the forum, it's a brilliant place and welcome little man.

 

[Rapunzel's Pascal]

Welcome to the forum and this is a excellent place to get all the education you need to help your little friend live a long healthy life.

 

[vossenstaart]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum. Good job on researching 1st and you're off to a great start. I'd add more climbing branches and coverage in his setup. It should look like a jungle and he should be hard to find in there. They feel safe that way. I'd also invest in an automatic mister, either a mistking or climist. Chronic dehydration is a killer and an automatic mister is really the only way to make sure they get the water they need. Hand misting just isn't the same. Reptivite is fine for your multivitamin

Thank you for your feedback! I have re-arranged the fake plants on the left a little bit to give him more cover in the middle. I will look for some additional plants today and post a picture afterwards!

 

[vossenstaart]

This is what his cage looks like now

 

[jannb]

Congrats on your new baby!

The enclosure looks much better now.

 

[broderp]

Very nicely done. Are you worried the plants so close to the heat lamp may be a problem?

 

[Angelwolf]

Very nice! And welcome! I would recommend getting a big pothos too. They are great ivy pants with leaves that are great for them to drink from and hide in. Pothos are very easy and hardy. They grow like crazy and veileds can't seem to get enough of them, which helps provide vitamins and hydration.

 

[ChamLB]

We use sticky tongue farms miner-all for the multi vitamin. I'm sure there are a lot of good choices.