My husbandry

Rucalee

New Member
I got my veiled Cham 2 weeks ago from a petco. He is about 2 inches long from nose to base of tail. I'm not sure of his age. I say "his" because I believe he's a male. I haven't noticed Spurs but he is colorful. Being that he is new to my home I don't handle him much. I want him to feel comfortable before I force myself on him. I have started feeding him by tweezers.
He eats about 3 to 4 medium crickets a day. I dust them with zoo med calcium with D3 3-4 days a week . About every other day. I game him a multivitamin dust when I first got him with the set I bought, not sure of the brand. I have a feeder cup but either he hasn't figured it out yer or he doesn't like the super worms that I put in there.
I use a dropper as a water source that I run thru my Brita. We are also misting him 4 times a day for about a minute each time.
He's poop has been dark and pellet like. I have also noticed some white liquid poo.
His cage is 16/16/30. It's all screen. I've put vines and plastic plants in there for now. I want to add more but I didn't want to stress him too much in a new home. I also use a water dish to collect water from the dropper. I have the dish covered with screen to keep him and the crickets out of it. I use Eco carpet in the bottom.
For lighting I use a zoo med daylight blue 60w uva bulb, a reptisun 5.0 uvb 14 watt bulb and a heat bulb off to the side of the top to keep the heat up. Not sure of the wattage or the brand of the heat bulb. I lost the box. His temps are as follows. Basking:95 top:88 middle:80 bottom:73. the humidity is 80% after misting and holds around 70%. I use a normal wall sticky humidity meter and a zoo med digital thermometer,
I don't have any real plants in there yet. Being that it's winter most of the normal places to get real plants either don't have what I need or are closed.
I keep him in a spare bedroom. With no traffic. He is away from vents and their are no fans in the room. The cage sits on a cabinet about 3 feet off the ground.
I live in southern ohio. Pretty much all the stores I have to buy supplies from only have very generic reptile supplies. I've had snakes iguanas geckos but this guy seems like more of a challenge. Any and all input would be appreciated as I am new to chams. I have found a vet and will be taking him Monday.
 

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Okay on his supplementation schedule he should get calcium with d3 twice a month, multivitamin twice a month, and calcium without d3 every other feeding.
His basking temps sound high to me at his age it should be around 85 degrease. I think you need to get rid of the blue daylight, or the basking light because they both through off heat.
He might be a little young for super worms just yet unless you can find some young ones. The cricket quencher you have will be fine to hydrate your crickets, but you need to gut load your insects as well with turnip greens, mustard greens, butternut squash, dandelion greens, bee pollen, and various fruits.
After he becomes an adult at around 8 months you really should get him a larger cage of 2' by 2' by 4' minimum.
make sure you have a drying out period in between misting's. your humidity should be around 40-50% with it jumping up to around 75-80% right after misting.
I personally would get rid of the carpet it's a bacteria magnet. if you have trouble with water standing you'll have to fashion a drainage system.
As soon as it become feasible I would get some real plants in there it helps to regulate the humidity, and in my opinion it helps with the overall well being of your cham.
Like I said before if he will eat more let him he should be eating 10-13 small crickets a day at his age.
That's about all the tweaks I can see for now I'm sure others will chime in to help also. You make these tweaks, and get that sore looked at you should be good to go. If you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask.
 
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I'm sorry I meant without D3. Is the basking spot the only one that's too warm or is every level too warm?
 

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Most use nothing, just make a drainage system to get rid of the water. Right now I think your whole enclosure is a little hot.
 
Ok it's tough to know exactly all the right temps and humidity with so many conflicting articles on the net. I appreciate all the help. Besides the spots of skin that look terrible, he's happy. I'll let you all know what the vet says about those spots on Monday.
 
Here's a question for you as far as climbing branches go, is bamboo the safest to use? I see a lot of people using it in their setups.
 
Yah I don't see why that wouldn't be fine. Any branches that are clean, disinfected, and have the loose bark removed will work.
 
I'm not a huge fan of bamboo because it is so hard and slick, but a lot of people do use it without any issues. Ditto for wood dowels and those curly willow branches - really hard and slick.

I would mix it in with other types of branches to be sure to offer a variety of branches with different sizes and textures. It's good for foot health and naturally wearing down the nails in the long run.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of conflicting info on the internet. Some of it right, some ridiciously wrong. You can trust the information in the care sheets here - they were developed by people with years/decades of successful keeping and breeding. Don't be shy about asking questions either!

Welcome!
 
I turned off one of my lights and got his basking spot down to 85 middle top is about 79 middle is 72 and bottom is 70. Humidity is holding at 50. I still have two lights on, Thanks again for all your help guys!
 
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