just a few begginer questions..

AndyLassu · Oct 9, 2012

Hey im pretty new to the chameleons and i was wondering if you could help answer me a few questions?

i have a 2 month (maybe almost 3 month) old female veild cham and i was wondering what the temperature her cage should be? is there a set temp what it should be or?
i checked the temp and it was around 89 - 90 if it needs to be lower is there any gadget that i could buy to be able to adjust the temperature of my bulb? or would i just need a lower watt bulb?

thank you in advance

AngieL · Oct 9, 2012

Hi! A young female would like it no hotter than 80 and you can keep it that way when she grows up too whereas a male grown up would like it at 90. A lower watt house bulb is probably your best bet. You could buy a dimming thermostat but they can be a bit iffy! Fiddle with wattage bulbs and distance from the basking spot to get your perfect temps.

Here's a link to a care sheet you may find helpful https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

When your girl gets to about 5 months you will want to add a laying bin to her enclosure. She can make eggs all by herself although there won't be any babies in them. You can help control the egg laying side of things by leaving her a bit cooler and not feeding too much. Here's a link to an awesome blog about egg laying https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

nightanole · Oct 9, 2012

Ick. baby femal veiled should be 85 tops, and happier around 80. If you get a rheostat(light dimmer) from a hardware store you can tune the light. babies shouldnt have a basking light until at least 6 months. I would just stick with the florescent uv bulb for now unless the cage doesnt get above 80 during the day without a basking bulb.

AndyLassu · Oct 9, 2012

Thankyou very much

just what i needed

justjumpit621 · Oct 9, 2012

Here are some blogs by my good friend, she has some beautiful chameleons.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

AndyLassu · Oct 10, 2012

I have a few more questions if you could help me with them?

when misting the cage, do i only mist the cage? or do i mist Lola? (my cham)

i was also wondering why she has been some pretty dull colors? usually she is a bright green but now she seems to be dark green almost grey quite a lot?

Also do chameleons eat any veg/fruit? if so could you recommend some types that they enjoy a lot?

Thank you again

AngieL · Oct 10, 2012

Initially you should must the enclosure but my girl does enjoy a warm misting in the morning. You can spray above her a little bit and let the fine mist fall on her. She might like it or might not.

As for the change in colour, is it possible she's shedding? A change in colour usually means a change in temps/moods but the do get quite dull just before a shed.

Most veiled chameleons do enjoy some fruit and veg. You need to be careful that these don't contain too much oxalic acids because that inhibits calcium absorption. My girl will do anything for fruit or veg and enjoys rocket, strawberries for treats, bell peppers and steamed yams. Here's a great blog by Sandrachameleon, if you flick through her veggie info you will find some safe foods for your girl https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/

fluxlizard · Oct 10, 2012

A young female would like it no hotter than 80

I'm going to disagree with this.

People here on the forums tend to keep them under these restrictions thinking they are playing it safe somehow and to extend the lifespan of females by shutting down or slowing down their reproductive system function as they grow.

But even baby veileds prefer warmer basking temperatures if they are given the choice.

I know because I give mine the choice and they use adult temperatures- and by "normal" adult temperatures I mean opportunities of basking into the upper 90s. Like they would have in nature.

Healthy babies are just as capable of thermoregulation as adults are. Thermoregulation is part of being a chameleon and surviving.

I'm not telling the OP what to do- I've got a great track record with my temps and letting the chameleons choose by providing lots of thermoregulatory options within an enclosure so they aren't forced to be warm or cool. Nature certainly does- they aren't basking at temperatures no higher than 80 in Yemen during the summer or in south Florida. They probably can't even find shade that cool much of the time.

At the same time there are plenty here on the forums that use the cooler temps successfully too. So go that way if you feel better about it.

I'm just saying that identifying the cooler temperatures as something the lizard "likes" is clearly not true as they will prefer much/most of their awake time at warmer temps given free choice. And that holds true for babies as well as adults.

AndyLassu · Oct 10, 2012

hmmm thank you for that AngieL. i will try her with some mist above her the next misting

. and for the colors im not sure.. i know she's shed pretty recently... unless babys shed more often? i have no idea? but she seems to go a much brighter green once i get her out of her cage and have a little play with her. im really not too sure though.

also thank you fluxlizard ill have a little play around with heats

DavidBuchan · Oct 10, 2012

Hello, welcome to the forum Andy and Lola

Babies do shed more often. Perhaps she needs more time to get used to her new house, maybe she would like more foliage to hide in, or maybe she isn't warm enough (maybe she doesn't want to be warm.....). There are lots of reasons for being a little darker/browner.

AngieL said:
Initially you should must the enclosure but my girl does enjoy a warm misting in the morning. You can spray above her a little bit and let the fine mist fall on her. She might like it or might not.

Good advice, I also recommend to use a pressure pump mister rather than the 'trigger' ones. Helps to keep a constant fine spray which Chams are much more comfortable with - http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=e...61&start=12&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:12,i:117
Here is another great caresheet I always recommend to new people with Veileds - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html

AndyLassu · Oct 10, 2012

Thank you for that David

and hmm maybe she could be due for another shed soon then... just have to see. and ill have a look around for a pressure pump instead then. but this one isn't bad.. does the job and its pretty fine mist. and thank you for the link, should be very helpful for me

iv also added a 2 pictured of Lola.. of course the bright green one is what she is usually like, and then the darker one is what she has been like recently. but it cant be anything bad i guess... she should be okay!

sandrachameleon · Oct 10, 2012

DavidBuchan · Oct 10, 2012

She's a little cutie!

. She looks very well, but judging by that tub of undusted mealworms you would do well to have a read of all that great feeder, supplementing and gutloading info. from sandrachameleon as well.

AndyLassu · Oct 11, 2012

Thank you

. and i will check them out, thanks

. and could you recommend some fruit or veg she would eat? do they have any favorites? would just help me that little bit more

DekuScrub · Oct 11, 2012

i agree with flux and disagree with those advocating the lower temperatures. i always provided basking spots of around 90 for all of my clutches. at that age at least.

neonates are the only ones that got more mild temperatures.

seems to me like you could even potentially stunt or slow growth by limiting their metabolic rate. sure they eat less when theyre cool but theyre going to grow more slowly. the only reason i see doing that, is as was mentioned, is to limit egg production in females pre-ovulation if you dont intend on breeding.

i do understand the concern with over heating or burns but honestly ive nver had a chameleon incapable of walking away from the light of its own accord, and the only reason i could see it being detrimental is if you arent hydrating your chameleons enough or if your temperature readings are inaccurate and actually way too high (100F+)

feels to me like a basking temperature of 80 is playing it a bit too safe for a growing girl. but at the same time i only have my own experience as a frame of reference on the matter and as there are others advocating and conducting the practice one could assume its a perfectly safe method.

as angie said she may or may not like the mist. sparying indirectly is the best approach. if she wants to she will probably walk into it to lap up the water droplets. youll find out whether or not she wants to be sprayed directly by how she reacts.

and i recommend the pressure sprayer dave was talking about. its not that trigger sprayers arent effective but people tend to get lazy and wont squirt a sufficient amount for a long enough. it will actually take some chams upwards of 10 min + to even get interested in the water. with the pressure sprayer youll have a hydrated cham and happy forearms. depending on the sparyer you get you can even just pump it up, position it, and lock it on. so you dont have to wait around. and that way youll be more prone to give her extra water on the fly.

as far as supplementing her diet with veggies its all up to her what she will eat. ive had them eat bananas grapes and oranges (even though citrus isnt a great idea) only ever had 3 chams that would do this (one of which i tricked) and never on a regular basis. and 3 is very few considering how many ive had over the years.

veileds in particular will eat the plants you have in your cage but not very often. hence why you need to check out safe plant lists.

you can try hand feeding greens but i dont see vegetation being appealing enough. pretty much anything on sandras wet gutload list is a good idea. whether or not she will want to eat it is a totally different story.

and as far as regulating the temperature is concerned all you have to do is raise or lower the basking spot accordingly. some people will say move the light becuase of the potential for burns if the cham were to climb the screen and hang from the ceiling under the light. this is an actual serious concern if you have a wall crawler but i still find the best approch is to furnish the cage heavily, if shes doing that, to dissuade her from crawling right up to the light. and even so they should be able to realize its way too hot right under the light. i saw this happen with a juvie panther once. walked under the light and immediately dropped from the ceiling. lol never saw him do that again.

anyways goodluck. youll find lots of contradictory perspectives on chameleons keeping. dosnt mean anyone is right or wrong (though sometimes people are very wrong) it just means theres more than one way to skin a cat. just do a lot of research and find a balance that works best for you. and experiment. if people dont experiment we dont learn anything as a community (but dont go microwaving your chameleon)

jaredg87 · Oct 11, 2012

my female veiled has a basking spot of 84.4 degrees on the spot. She loves it!

DekuScrub · Oct 11, 2012

nvm being mean. still right tho

just a few begginer questions..

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