My New and First Veiled baby chameleon

[TheSeymoursDOTcom]

My New and First Veiled baby chameleon i got from petsmart on sale for $69

heres pics how does he/she??? look. thanks guys.

it is currently in a reptibreeze 16x16x20 mesh.

it is hand feeding eating out of cup(gutloaded crickets from petsmart for now) but lady at petsmart told me this lil guy drank from his bowl fine.. i will setup a drip system soon. so far i've had him for 2 days now.

anyways here are the pics of my new baby. hopefully looking healthy.

let me know what you guys think and all input thanks!

 

[millerman6401]

remove the bowl, they like to poop in water and it will breed bacteria. for now just use a hand sprayer from the dollar store

 

[camimom]

I think you have a boy. can you pst a better pic of the back of the back feet? boys have tarsal spurs, pimple looking bumps.

 

[TheSeymoursDOTcom]

heres one of him hanging upside down. so just misting a lot and i dont have to worry?? im really only concerned about his hydration.

will get bowl out asap. thanks for the tip i already have a small exo terra hand mister.

uva.uvb bulbs red light for at night he has been sleeing with eyes closed. etc.

so new and exciting trying to i added a new fake plant for him to crawl around i dont know why he got upside down of his mesh habitat.

if those pics dont help i can go grab a picture of his feet better. just let me know if this one dont work. thanks a bunch guys!

 

[camimom]

heres one of him hanging upside down. so just misting a lot and i dont have to worry?? im really only concerned about his hydration.

will get bowl out asap. thanks for the tip i already have a small exo terra hand mister.

uva.uvb bulbs red light for at night he has been sleeing with eyes closed. etc.

so new and exciting trying to i added a new fake plant for him to crawl around i dont know why he got upside down of his mesh habitat.

No night bulbs. they need darkness to sleep. they like to hang upside down.

 

[TheSeymoursDOTcom]

im only using the night bulb that the care guide said? its made for nocturnal viewing? .

i dont leave his uvb uva lights on at night. they're seperate. repti 5.0 etc.

heres the bulb and his current setup. can you tell his sex? i will have to get a better picture tomorrow he's hiding behind leaves and ready for bed lol.

heres his habitat. hes so small they didnt tell me how old he was or knew.. but he is verrry small.

 

[krknieriem]

Congratulations on your new cham and welcome to the forum

One of the things you are going to want to do is take the substrate out of his enclosure, it gets wet and will start to breed bacteria that will be bad for your cham
You also may want to put a live plant in the enclosure, it keeps the humidity level up.

There have been so many stories here of people findind chameleons in horrible conditions in these chain pet stores you should feel lucky, I am no veiled expert but yours actually looks healthy

Do you know about which supplements to use for your dusting schedule for your feeders?

 

[TheSeymoursDOTcom]

thanks on the grats.

no not yet really. today is just day 3 and like i said so far i guess he should be getting his VitD from his bulbs?? 14 hours a day or so i dont have a timer. he moves around a lot. i only read calcium once a month to dust it on their food? so no i havent had time to research that. am i close or way off?

Also before i remove the substrate? what should i replace it with then?? sadly at petsmart he was in the same substrate so i assumed that'd be fine. i planned to change it once/twice a month. but what else is there then?

im actually scared to handle.. him... not affraid but for his safety.. for some reason in the pet store he got on my finger fine. when i got home with him he about gave me a heart attack... the little guy got onto my hand and slid or jumped 4 feet to the wooden floor. I am a guy and almost cried i was afraid to look down for like two seconds i though the little guy was so dead. but i bent down to look and he was lo and behold fine.. i picked him up and set him on the vine. I was so stressed out i have never seen any dive bomb like that in all the handling videos i've watched. (i have the video of him falling). After googling it i read they actually do this to escape predators etc. saftey device.

So now im really afraid to even take the little guy out... i want to hold him so bad. sigh.

ive been too busy watching him the first two days like a hawk to make sure he was ok from the fall.

i try to keep my rebel t2i on when i can to monitor him but i haven't caught him drinking.

 

[camimom]

thanks on the grats.

no not yet really. today is just day 3 and like i said so far i guess he should be getting his VitD from his bulbs?? 14 hours a day or so i dont have a timer. he moves around a lot. i only read calcium once a month to dust it on their food? so no i havent had time to research that. am i close or way off?

Also before i remove the substrate? what should i replace it with then?? sadly at petsmart he was in the same substrate so i assumed that'd be fine. i planned to change it once/twice a month. but what else is there then?

im actually scared to handle.. him... not affraid but for his safety.. for some reason in the pet store he got on my finger fine. when i got home with him he about gave me a heart attack... the little guy got onto my hand and slid or jumped 4 feet to the wooden floor. I am a guy and almost cried i was afraid to look down for like two seconds i though the little guy was so dead. but i bent down to look and he was lo and behold fine.. i picked him up and set him on the vine. I was so stressed out i have never seen any dive bomb like that in all the handling videos i've watched. (i have the video of him falling). After googling it i read they actually do this to escape predators etc. saftey device.

So now im really afraid to even take the little guy out... i want to hold him so bad. sigh.

ive been too busy watching him the first two days like a hawk to make sure he was ok from the fall.

i try to keep my rebel t2i on when i can to monitor him but i haven't caught him drinking.

first you have a boy. COngrats!
Now, dusting schedule shoul dbe as follows- calcium without d3 every feeding, calcium with d3 twice a month, multivitamin twice a month.
NO NIGHT LIGHTS! I dont care waht the care sheet from petsmart or wherever said, you dont need it chams need dark to sleep.
No substrate. dont need to replace it, if you want something for ease of cleaning, put down papertowels. or i use reptile carpet.
you prob wont see him drinking, many of us never do. just watch his poops. if the urates are white, you are good, if they are yellow or orange, he needs more water.

 

[OrionMyChameleon]

You sould dust with plain calcium at every feeding, calcium with D3 twice a month, and miltivitamins twice a month. It is not nessacary to have a substate, it is actually bad for them.

 

[OrionMyChameleon]

first you have a boy. COngrats!
Now, dusting schedule shoul dbe as follows- calcium without d3 every feeding, calcium with d3 twice a month, multivitamin twice a month.
NO NIGHT LIGHTS! I dont care waht the care sheet from petsmart or wherever said, you dont need it chams need dark to sleep.
No substrate. dont need to replace it, if you want something for ease of cleaning, put down papertowels. or i use reptile carpet.
you prob wont see him drinking, many of us never do. just watch his poops. if the urates are white, you are good, if they are yellow or orange, he needs more water.

Aww you beat me. Haha

 

[AESara]

You do not need any heat source at night unless your house gets to under 60 degrees F, and you don't want anything that puts off light. Especially the red lights not only keep them awake, but have been known to hurt their eyes, possibly even blinding them.

You can go without substrate if you wish or you could do what I did and use paper towel. It soaks up excess moisture, still helps with humidity, and is far less likely to be ingested. Just remove it whenever you can tell it's wet/nightly.

Edit: Too slow...

 

[OrionMyChameleon]

I think you have a female...just maybe.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello, and welcome to the forum, your Chameleon looks good, almost certain it's a male - just a couple of pointers, no light is needed at night at all, he will sleep better without it (I know there is a picture of a chameleon on the box but if there is any night time activity from a cham except sleeping then you have a problem). No extra heat is needed at night unless your temperatures get low, 60F is fine for a baby Veiled.
The substrate can become a problem because it will get so damp, but I personally think that people on the forum are a bit too paranoid about it tbh (I use soil and compost mixed with sand and gravel, never had a problem). Chams spend most time in the branches anyway so you don't need any substrate and that's what most people on the forum recommend. You could get some plastic grass substitute if you want it to look nicer.......
As for hydration, I have a shallow bowl in with each of my chams, and I know my male drinks from it on occasion (strangely have never seen him drink from the leaves though). I have never seen my female drink properly though (just licking her lips during misting). You can tell if he is dehydrated because his poop should have a brown section and a white section. The white urate section turns yellowy if the cham is getting dehydrated, orange and you have a seriously dehydrated animal.
Some more branches and foliage will help him settle in quickly, because he needs to be able to hide so he feels comfortable.
This is a great caresheet that has all the info you need on it -
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html

 

[TheSeymoursDOTcom]

wow thanks a bunch guys. since he's a boy. I might have him a name already thanks for clearing that up!

Also thanks for the quick info on the light i will bring it back then.

Also thanks paper towels sound awesome and like a breeze compared to substrate.

Also wow thanks for the nutri TIPS i will be picking this up asap when i bring the bulb back.


Now my last concern is the hand misting(I dont want to annoy the little guy) I hope i'm not doing it to close or getting it on him or does anyone happen to know a good video for hand misting exampe/tips. I keep the hygro at between 50ish upto 80% but falls to about 47% on the meter. How can i improve this.

When i can afford i will buy a self/timer mister? or should i just stick to the hand mister(mister newb lol)


Now onto the Handling part since im gonna have to maybe take him out so i dont bump him while im getting the substrate out what about handling the little guy. I can't watch him take another fall! EEK reaked me out. I have to handle him eventually any tips?

Last but not least MEGA THANKS to all the support and info/help.

I will post a youtube video of my lil guy eating soon as it is done uploaded to youtube(thanks cableone you crummy ISP lol).

keep the knowledge flowing my friends!

 

[Gotti]

I'm in the same boat I got my baby veiled yesterday and I've been watching him constantly and on these forums non-stop making sure everything is perfect.

My guy looks about the same size as yours and they told me he was three months, but who knows if they knew what they were talking about, I had to tell them how to tell if it was male or female.-_-

 

[OrionMyChameleon]

Hand misting is fine, if it is stressing him out try to do it a little further, or when hes not paying attention.

 

[OrionMyChameleon]

Try hand feeding him, and he will think that your arn't a threat to him.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Now my last concern is the hand misting(I dont want to annoy the little guy) I hope i'm not doing it to close or getting it on him or does anyone happen to know a good video for hand misting exampe/tips. I keep the hygro at between 50ish upto 80% but falls to about 47% on the meter. How can i improve this.

When i can afford i will buy a self/timer mister? or should i just stick to the hand mister(mister newb lol)

The best way to mist is with a pressure pump mister, so you have a constant fine mist. The hydration levels don't need to be constantly high, and it needs to dry out between misting anyway, to prevent bacteria build up or mould. Since you asked, here is a link to my youtube channel, which has a couple of misting vids on it - http://www.youtube.com/user/davebuchan81?feature=mhee#p/u/32/ti4vqDfSDPg


http://www.youtube.com/user/davebuchan81?feature=mhee

 

[TheSeymoursDOTcom]

thanks a bunch guys! thanks dave for the videos! will watch asap.

Here is a video of my little guy munching down is this considered hand feeding?
I havent been able to grab a cricket and literal. hold it for him to eat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-QUqrGdUMg


i'm not quite sure how to embed video on this forum. Or if i even can. So there is the link of him eating. that video was made this morning good couple hours ago... he's so little i haven't noticed any droppings yet.???