Just looking for advice!!

[amaris22]

There isn’t anything wrong with Leo just filled out the husbandry form and looking to see if there’s anything I can improve on. Advice is appreciated!!

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Leo is a 4 month old male veiled chameleon and has been with me for 3 months.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I only handle him when I clean his cage so once a week.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Leo eats crickets and meal worms. They are gut loaded with veggies and gut loading blocks. He eats as many as he wants until he walks away and daily.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I’m using the zoomed repticalcium without D3 and dust the feeders before he eats them.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I mist multiple times a day for at least 3 minutes each time and use a driver for 10-15 minutes every other day (to prevent leaks). I see Leo drinking a few times everyday.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? He hasn’t been tested for parasites but his poop looks healthy and his pee is white. The best way to describe both is moist and soft/firm.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

• Cage Info:
• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Leo lives in a glass screen combo that’s 22Lx11Wx25H.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? I use a UVB and heat light (double dome zoomed). I turn the light on at 7 am and they get turned off as soon as it gets dark out. Then I turn my room lights off so he can fall asleep.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Cage floor is low to mid 70s and basking is mid to high 80s. I use two zoomed thermometers. Lowest overnight temp stays in the 60s
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? The humidity levels stays at around 60% a majority of the but fluctuates a bit depending on the day (I never let it get below 50%)
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? There is a live pothos (golden/devils ivy) in his enclosure that reaches throughout just the entire things
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? Leo’s cage is located on top of a desk. Fans are on only on the lowest setting to help with circulation. Top of the cage is 5 ft from floor.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? located in california

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. I'll happily look over your husbandry and put my feedback in red.

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Leo is a 4 month old male veiled chameleon and has been with me for 3 months. Oh my! You got him when he was very tiny.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I only handle him when I clean his cage so once a week.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Leo eats crickets and meal worms. Meal worms aren't very good feeders. They are gut loaded with veggies and gut loading blocks. Do you mean the orange or blue Fluker’s cricket cubes? Those aren’t good for much. Attaching gutloading and feeder sheets for you. Variety is best for feeders and many of those listed are readily available from site sponsors. He eats as many as he wants until he walks away and daily. He should be getting between 12-15 feeders daily. Around 5-6 months you’ll want to start cutting back.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I’m using the zoomed repticalcium without D3 and dust the feeders before he eats them. Ok, but he’ll need a calcium with D3 and a multivitamin too. Perhaps the easiest regimen is to use Reptivite with D3 one feeding every 2 weeks and continue using the calcium without D3 at every feeding except for those two.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I mist multiple times a day for at least 3 minutes each time and use a driver for 10-15 minutes every other day (to prevent leaks). I see Leo drinking a few times everyday. You should be misting/spraying 2 times a day...early in the morning and later in the evening. Then use the dripper mid day. At night you can use a cool mist humidifier for naturalistic hydration.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? He hasn’t been tested for parasites but his poop looks healthy and his pee is white. The best way to describe both is moist and soft/firm. I tell everyone that it’s always good to have a fecal done to check for parasites.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

• Cage Info:
• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Leo lives in a glass screen combo that’s 22Lx11Wx25H. He’s small now and you can get away with this size, but very soon, he’ll be needing much larger. 2x2x4’ or equivalent is the minimum size for an adult.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? I use a UVB and heat light (double dome zoomed). I turn the light on at 7 am and they get turned off as soon as it gets dark out. Then I turn my room lights off so he can fall asleep. The screw in UVB bulbs are unable to provide adequate levels of UVB. You need a T5HO fixture with either a 5.0 or Arcadia brand 6% uvb bulb. It needs to be long enough to span the width of your enclosure.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Cage floor is low to mid 70s and basking is mid to high 80s. I use two zoomed thermometers. Lowest overnight temp stays in the 60s Basking temp needs to be lower...no higher than 80* right now. When he’s grown, can be 85*. Other temps are great.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? The humidity levels stays at around 60% a majority of the but fluctuates a bit depending on the day (I never let it get below 50%) Too high. Daytime humidity needs to be between 30-50%. At night when it’s cool, it can spike to 100%.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? There is a live pothos (golden/devils ivy) in his enclosure that reaches throughout just the entire things My favorite! You could add a couple of more just to keep it interesting and provide more shade. He will nibble the leaves so make sure the plants are safe. There’s a great list here. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? Leo’s cage is located on top of a desk. Fans are on only on the lowest setting to help with circulation. Top of the cage is 5 ft from floor. When you get his larger enclosure, make sure it is high. Chams feel safest when we are lower than them.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? located in california
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• Could you post some pics of Leo and his current enclosure? Often both offer much more info.
  Great places to learn more are https://chameleonacademy.com/. The podcasts are full of info. Also, check out Neptune the chameleon on YouTube. Of course, feel free to ask as many questions needed here at the forum. We all love making the world a happier place for chams and their keepers.
  
  
  

 

[amaris22]

Thank you so much!!! I really appreciate your feed back

 

[Hydra_cosplay]

Also your 100% sure leo is a male correct? Do you have pictures of his back feet? There should be tarsal spurs on his heels. If not you have a female, in which case you will eventually need a laying bin added to your enclosure as well for the females eggs. Even non fertile females will lay eggs.