Lighting and Dusting

[mBuxx]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled, M(supposed to be), 2.5 Months old (supposed to be) been in my care for a little over a week now.
• Handling - Not often, trying to let him get used to his new home. He doesnt seem to have an issue climbing out and up to me if I do put my hand near him though.
• Feeding - The smallest crickets the local pet stores have, currently only gut loading with carrots and kale right now. I do dust bug burger on them as well.
• Supplements - Miner-All Indoor with D3, herptivite. Dusting with calcium on mondays, wednesdays and fridays. Plan to give herptivite once a month.(?)
• Watering - Little dripper, mist twice a day for 5 minutes each time. Yes I see him drinking.
• Fecal Description - Feces look normal, have a nice white urate and nothing off looking about the stool.
• History - I was told this was a 3 month old veild from a pet store about 4 hours away, when it arrive in the mail it seemed very small. So I am not sure the actual age, I am also no sure when I should be able to see heel spurs to confirm its a male.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 24x24x48 Repti Breeze
• Lighting - Currently using Zoo med T5 5.0 HO, and a 150 watt basking bulb.
• Temperature - temps range from 69-84 bottom to basking. The lowest temp throughout the night would be 69.
• Humidity - Using two zoomed hygrometer/thermometer combo units. Ranges are 30-46%
• Plants - Ficus Benjamina
• Placement - Right now he is in the shop, very quiet and no work for the winter, is about 3 feet off the ground, with the top of his cage being around 7 feet.
• Location - Canada, Ontario

Current Problem - I hope I could provide enough information here. I will post pics of the enclosure from my phone shortly. My questions are, I currently have a T5 5.0 HO HO bulb in there. I also have an Arcadia T5 6% HO with a 6500k full spectrum bulb that I am wanting to switch out for the 5.0 HO for live plant purposes. However, I do notice that my chameleon sometimes seems to be squinting one of his eyes. Are these lights too powerful for a young chameleon? Right now I have the arcadia dual hood plugged in and just letting the light run by itself (not near the cage) hoping there is some kind of burn in period for these as they seem very bright. Mind you, there is lots of shade spots for him to get out of the direct light if he pleases. I was just told over on reddit the arcadia 6% could lead to blindness?

Other then that, he seems to be doing well, eating and drinking wise. I did have to do some special rigging of a feeder "cup" because he was so small. This way I can monitor what he is eating.

Anyhow, really just wanted to check in with the lights with some more experienced folks. I did own a chameleon about 15 years ago, and he lived a full life. But man theres a lot of different lights and what not now, and to be honest, my knowledge is quite rusty.

 

[JacksJill]

He should get plain calcium every day except when he gets the D3 or multi vitamins. Like this:
"Supplementation:
Calcium and other vitamins are very important to your chameleon's health. Feeder insects should be lightly dusted with powdered supplement before being fed to your chameleon. Many keepers successfully use calcium (without D3 or phosphorus) at nearly every feeding, multivitamin once every 2 weeks, and calcium with D3 once every 2 weeks."

 

[Thehippie]

when he gets bigger he will need a 10.0, for now he needs a hotter cage, 90 degree basking and 70 degree ambient. humidity should be at 50-60%. arcadia 6% is perfectly fine.

 

[JacksJill]

He's only a juvenile so his temps should be in the lower range for now and higher as an adult if he is a he.
"Temperature:
Baby/juvenile (<9 months): ambient 72-80F (22-26C), basking 85F (29C)
Adult males: ambient 75-80F (23-26C), basking 90-95F (32-35C)
Adult females: ambient 75-80F (23-26C), basking 85F (29C)"

 

[mBuxx]

Thank you very much for the responses. Can someone recommend a good calcium without d3/phos? All my local pet stores have is calc with d3. I would have to get online, in Canada preferably.

 

[JacksJill]

 

[ERKleRose]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled, M(supposed to be), 2.5 Months old (supposed to be) been in my care for a little over a week now.
• Handling - Not often, trying to let him get used to his new home. He doesnt seem to have an issue climbing out and up to me if I do put my hand near him though.
• Feeding - The smallest crickets the local pet stores have, currently only gut loading with carrots and kale right now. I do dust bug burger on them as well.
• Supplements - Miner-All Indoor with D3, herptivite. Dusting with calcium on mondays, wednesdays and fridays. Plan to give herptivite once a month.(?)
• Watering - Little dripper, mist twice a day for 5 minutes each time. Yes I see him drinking.
• Fecal Description - Feces look normal, have a nice white urate and nothing off looking about the stool.
• History - I was told this was a 3 month old veild from a pet store about 4 hours away, when it arrive in the mail it seemed very small. So I am not sure the actual age, I am also no sure when I should be able to see heel spurs to confirm its a male.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 24x24x48 Repti Breeze
• Lighting - Currently using Zoo med T5 5.0 HO, and a 150 watt basking bulb.
• Temperature - temps range from 69-84 bottom to basking. The lowest temp throughout the night would be 69.
• Humidity - Using two zoomed hygrometer/thermometer combo units. Ranges are 30-46%
• Plants - Ficus Benjamina
• Placement - Right now he is in the shop, very quiet and no work for the winter, is about 3 feet off the ground, with the top of his cage being around 7 feet.
• Location - Canada, Ontario

Current Problem - I hope I could provide enough information here. I will post pics of the enclosure from my phone shortly. My questions are, I currently have a T5 5.0 HO HO bulb in there. I also have an Arcadia T5 6% HO with a 6500k full spectrum bulb that I am wanting to switch out for the 5.0 HO for live plant purposes. However, I do notice that my chameleon sometimes seems to be squinting one of his eyes. Are these lights too powerful for a young chameleon? Right now I have the arcadia dual hood plugged in and just letting the light run by itself (not near the cage) hoping there is some kind of burn in period for these as they seem very bright. Mind you, there is lots of shade spots for him to get out of the direct light if he pleases. I was just told over on reddit the arcadia 6% could lead to blindness?

Other then that, he seems to be doing well, eating and drinking wise. I did have to do some special rigging of a feeder "cup" because he was so small. This way I can monitor what he is eating.

Anyhow, really just wanted to check in with the lights with some more experienced folks. I did own a chameleon about 15 years ago, and he lived a full life. But man theres a lot of different lights and what not now, and to be honest, my knowledge is quite rusty.

Make sure to feed as much as he’ll eat multiple times a day. Gutload the crickets with Bug Burger, don’t dust with it. Use Minerall Indoor every feeding and gutload feeders the night before or a few hours before feeding off with the wet version of Vitall only. If you do that, the only supplement you need is Minerall. Arcadia 6% doesn’t cause blindness, but with that size cage and him being a veiled, I’d upgrade to a Zoo Med 10.0 linear bulb soon. You can use the dual fixture with the light and uvb bulbs. Humidity should be between 40-70%, preferably on the lower end of that.

 

[mkeBob]

Just wanted to advise you. In the Cage Info section above you listed the plant as a Ficus benjamina.
However, the plant in the video and picture is a Schefflera. Both are good plants for chameleons.