Max's husbandry

[Steve A]

Hello!

I am a new veiled chameleon owner and I am just curious how her husbandry looks to everyone. I've been told I'm wrong for getting her a reptisun T5 HO 5.0 bulb and that I should only use a 10.0 bulb. I noticed today she was sitting up really close to the light, so I've moved those branches/shrubbery down some so she won't be getting too close (that I can tell. I can not afford a UVB meter). These pictures were taken before I moved everything down a few inches. Please keep in mind the fake shrubbery will be gone soon, as once her live plants (pothos and ficus) grow enough to give her good cover, I will remove them. I tried to remove them already, and she really seemed unhappy about that as she likes to hide behind them. She also has not shown any signs of attempting to eat that shrubbery so I feel it is okay to leave it for now (please let me know if you think otherwise). I just mainly want to know if this looks okay, and if this lighting is truly good enough for her, given the situation. Otherwise, she seems to be totally fine but I want to make sure I won't be putting her at risk of MBD or anything.

Cage: 16"×16"×30"
Reptisun T5 HO 5.0 UVB terrarium Hood 24" w/ reptisun 5.0 bulb
Flukers repta clamp 5.5" w/ rough service shop 75w bulb dimmed about 50% because Temps rise into the mid to high 90s if we leave it at full blast.
We have an automatic misting system that goes off for 55 seconds every 12 hours, plus we spray with a bottle sometimes.

Plants are golden pathos attached to the sides of the cage and a ficus Benjamina on the floor in the middle.

Dusting crickets with calcium and bee pollen every morning. She also gets about 10 small Black Solider Fly Larvae each morning.

Temps are in the mid-high 80s (sometimes into the low 90s) near her basking area, with humidity in the high 40s during the day.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the chameleon forum and the world of chameleons!
Cute young veiled chameleon you have there.

There is nothing wrong with the Reptisun 5.0 long linear tube UVB light.

Is it phos free calcium with no D3 dusted lightly on the insects? You need to add a vitamin powder twice a month that contains a source of D3 and a prEformed vitamin A source. Be careful of the bee pollen…don’t overdo it.

80F is warm enough for a female veiled. Are you aware that they can lay eggs without having mated? To prevent them from having reproductive issues, it’s important to put them on a “diet” as they approach sexual maturity and control the temperatures. It can help prevent large clutches that predispose her to dystopia and follicular stasis or even stop her egg laying altogether.

I’m sure others will chime in with more information.

 

[Steve A]

Welcome to the chameleon forum and the world of chameleons!
Cute young veiled chameleon you have there.

There is nothing wrong with the Reptisun 5.0 long linear tube UVB light.

Is it phos free calcium with no D3 dusted lightly on the insects? You need to add a vitamin powder twice a month that contains a source of D3 and a prEformed vitamin A source. Be careful of the bee pollen…don’t overdo it.

80F is warm enough for a female veiled. Are you aware that they can lay eggs without having mated? To prevent them from having reproductive issues, it’s important to put them on a “diet” as they approach sexual maturity and control the temperatures. It can help prevent large clutches that predispose her to dystopia and follicular stasis or even stop her egg laying altogether.

I’m sure others will chime in with more information.

Hello and thank you! I am dusting the crickets with phos free (no D3) calcium every morning and I've been adding bee pollen every morning with that. How often do you think I should do the Bee pollen? I have not had the chameleon for a month but do have the vitamins ready. I plan to begin giving her the vitamin on the 15th so I know exactly which day I gave it to her. I'm aware about the eggs but that is something I need to learn more of. My initial focus so far has been overall/initial care to make sure she's happy and healthy. Thank you for the information about the eggs. I didn[t know about the diet to prevent them from having repro issues. I'm going to look more into that now! And now what you say has me wondering if I should turn her basking light down even more since her cage temps are so high. hmm

 

[Flick boy]

Hi and welcome, how are you measuring temps and humidity, how long have you had your girl, the lights are a bit to close to your girl, it would probably be less of a pain to prop lights up a bit you would want around 7 8 inches between your girl and your uv or move branches down. You will need a bigger enclosure minimum 2x2x4

 

[Steve A]

Hi and welcome, how are you measuring temps and humidity, how long have you had your girl, the lights are a bit to close to your girl, it would probably be less of a pain to prop lights up a bit you would want around 7 8 inches between your girl and your uv or move branches down. You will need a bigger enclosure minimum 2x2x4

Yeah I fell victim to buying the darn starter set, but I plan on getting her a bigger enclosure in the future once she grows some. I have a thermometer attached to the inside of one of the panels that also reads humidity. Then I have a probe thermometer that I place in her basking area to check temps. With that being said, both thermometers have been VERY close to each other, constantly. So I am at least fairly confident these temps are pretty accurate. I've had her for almost 3 weeks now. Tomorrow I plan on moving her branches down just a little more, so that she's not getting burnt.

 

[kinyonga]

I have never used bee pollen…I’m old school…so I’m going to leave it to someone else who does to tell you. I do know that some problems have arisen with some chameleons that seems to be from using too much of it.

Does your vitamin powder have prEformed vitamin A in it?

 

[Steve A]

I have never used bee pollen…I’m old school…so I’m going to leave it to someone else who does to tell you. I do know that some problems have arisen with some chameleons that seems to be from using too much of it.

Does your vitamin powder have prEformed vitamin A in it?

Interesting. I'm going to stop the bee pollen because it doesn't seem necessary. I looked it as an extra thing. thank you for that information. I didn't know that! Thankfully I've only been using it almost a week now. The vitamin I am using (well will be using for the first time on the 15th) is Reptivite with D3. I'm not sure about preformed vitamin A but it has vitamin A.

 

[Flick boy]

Yeah I fell victim to buying the darn starter set, but I plan on getting her a bigger enclosure in the future once she grows some. I have a thermometer attached to the inside of one of the panels that also reads humidity. Then I have a probe thermometer that I place in her basking area to check temps. With that being said, both thermometers have been VERY close to each other, constantly. So I am at least fairly confident these temps are pretty accurate. I've had her for almost 3 weeks now. Tomorrow I plan on moving her branches down just a little more, so that she's not getting burnt.

Hi so I would place one probe as you have at basking) and the second one in a different place so let's say on the opposite side and lower down to see how much of a thermal gradient there is in the enclosure. With bee pollen I have never dusted my feeders with it but the uk group I am a member of only recommends twice a month, I do however feed my feeders bee pollen , what are you using for gutload

 

[Steve A]

Hi so I would place one probe as you have at basking) and the second one in a different place so let's say on the opposite side and lower down to see how much of a thermal gradient there is in the enclosure. With bee pollen I have never dusted my feeders with it but the uk group I am a member of only recommends twice a month, I do however feed my feeders bee pollen , what are you using for gutload

That's a good idea. More thermometers/hygrometers on the way! I'm going to stop all bee pollen usage. As I think it really isn't necessary considering everything else I am doing. I am gutloading crickets with Flukers high calcium cricket diet. She eats those crickets daily, and I also feed her about 10 small Black Soldier Fly larvae (only not gutloaded/dusted....just kept alive in the container + whatever the dirt is that they come with) every morning as well.

 

[Flick boy]

You should gutload your bsfl they are great food waste demolition experts , I'm not familiar with flukers , I use arcadia insect fuel which contains bee pollen, but I mostly provide fresh fruits and vegetables, including collard greens ,dandelion greens etc , sometimes I just cut up fresh , but also given what has been going on in the world and the uk last few years , I combine my fresh gutload, and blend, put it into ice cube trays , once frozen, put it into dated labeled bags

 

[Steve A]

You should gutload your bsfl they are great food waste demolition experts , I'm not familiar with flukers , I use arcadia insect fuel which contains bee pollen, but I mostly provide fresh fruits and vegetables, in

Do you have any resources on how to do this/what to gutload them with? I buy mine from Joshes Frogs. I have just been storing them in my fridge in their container, and then putting them in a cup for her every morning. Once they warm up and start moving around she usually goes to town on them. This is the first I've heard of gutloading the BSFL! But I'm interesting and would like to try that.

 

[Flick boy]

Didn't know where this was on here ,so hence the screen shot, some also use repashy bug burger

 

[kinyonga]

Interesting. I'm going to stop the bee pollen because it doesn't seem necessary. I looked it as an extra thing. thank you for that information. I didn't know that! Thankfully I've only been using it almost a week now. The vitamin I am using (well will be using for the first time on the 15th) is Reptivite with D3. I'm not sure about preformed vitamin A but it has vitamin A.

If you’ve only been using bespoken for a week, it shouldn’t be part of the problem. In the wild, apparently they eat a lot of bees and would get quite a bit of pollen…but every area has different pollen due to what grows in that area.

I think the reptivite would have the right vitamin A in it. If you post a photo of the ingredients we can check it out.

 

[Steve A]

If you’ve only been using bespoken for a week, it shouldn’t be part of the problem. In the wild, apparently they eat a lot of bees and would get quite a bit of pollen…but every area has different pollen due to what grows in that area.

I think the reptivite would have the right vitamin A in it. If you post a photo of the ingredients we can check it out.

Oops that would have helped to begin with lol I guess I figured you'd know what it is XD