my very first chameleon hes a sub adult male veiled i got him 2 days ago

[maxK]

chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
he is a veiled sub adult so about 6-8 months old and I got him 2 days ago

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I have not handled him yet I wanted to let him settle in

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I feed him an hour after I turn on the lights and I sprinkle repti calcium on about 5 or 6 crickets and 6 mealworms and I plan on giving him a horned worm every 3 days

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? repticalcium on all the crickets I give him I don't have any other vitamins other than that... do you know of any good ones?

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I have a bottle that I mist water on the plants every morning and I mist the plants whenever it looks like it needs to be misted and I also made a dripper system with a water bottle and a small sprinkler part

Faecal Description - Briefly note colours and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? his first faecal was a little yellow but recent ones have been brown he has not been tested for parasites

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. I got him from fl chams he was CB (cage breed)


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? screen cage it's a repti breeze 18x18x30 and I now realize I'm gonna need a bigger cage...

Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? the lighting so there's a heat light a Tropical UVB & Heat Lighting Kit (a 60-watt blue heating light reptisun and a 5.0 mini compact florescent light) see picture) i keep the lights right on the cage the light is about 6 and a half inches away from the basking spot


Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? I have a humidifier monitor and a temp monitor the lowest temp at night is probably around 67 degrees and from cage floor to basking spot is about 70-85 degrees

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? I use a humidifier monitor that I got from home depot the humidity is around 72-80 % I have a lot of live plants an umbrella plant a hibiscus plant and a fern

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? ^^

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? well I wanted him to be at a highish location so he is about 65 inches from the ground I wanted him to feel secure

Location - Where are you geographically located? I live in Austin Texas


Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. well I don't know if it's too hot or he's just getting used to it and I wanted to know if or what vitamins I should give him and how I should spray off the plants so he can drink without getting the humidity too high

 

[Daesie11]

You have a beautiful cham and enclosure! I just skimmed your help sheet, because there are more experienced people who will go in depth with it for you (@Beman / @JoXie411 ) but I did notice your lighting needs to be adjusted. Based on the picture you have a double dome fixture which I assume means you have a coil UVB. You're going to need to swap that out with a linear bulb so that your boy gets enough UVB, which one specifically our experts will let you know! Your enclosure is beautiful though if not a bit small, but you seem to be aware that you're going to upgrade it sooner rather than later so you seem to be off to a good start

 

[maxK]

okay, thank you so much!!

 

[Beman]

Hi there thank you for posting a detailed help sheet. See all comments and feedback in red bold.


chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
he is a veiled sub adult so about 6-8 months old and I got him 2 days ago

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I have not handled him yet I wanted to let him settle in

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I feed him an hour after I turn on the lights and I sprinkle repti calcium on about 5 or 6 crickets and 6 mealworms and I plan on giving him a horned worm every 3 days
Toss the mealworms they are very low in nutritional value and pose an impaction risk. At this age you want to feed about 12 feeders each day... You will need to work him down to an every other day feeding by reducing by 2 feeders every other day each week until you get to feeding only every other day. Then he should be eating no more then about 7-9 feeders on the every other day schedule. This should be by the time he is about 9-10 months old. See image for feeder options. Diversity is key here.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? repticalcium on all the crickets I give him I don't have any other vitamins other than that... do you know of any good ones? Are you using the one with D3? You can either rotate between 3 supplements which would be calcium WITH d3 two times a month. Multivitamin 2 times a month. and calcium without D3 every feeding or. You can buy repashy calcium plus lo D and dust lightly at every feeding. this would be the only supplement used if you do this.

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I have a bottle that I mist water on the plants every morning and I mist the plants whenever it looks like it needs to be misted and I also made a dripper system with a water bottle and a small sprinkler part Ok good depending on your humidity levels you may need to reduce mistings. This is a great podcast. https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/

Faecal Description - Briefly note colours and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? his first faecal was a little yellow but recent ones have been brown he has not been tested for parasites So with the fecal the brown is the stool and the white/yellow/orange is the urate. The urate should be white. If it is mostly yellow or orange it is a sign of dehydration. I highly recommend taking a fecal into a vet to just ensure he does not have internal parasites that can cause issues.

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. I got him from fl chams he was CB (cage breed)


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? screen cage it's a repti breeze 18x18x30 and I now realize I'm gonna need a bigger cage... Great! Dragonstrand.com awesome cages... love their drip pans and the dragon ledges. These can also be purchased separately should you go with a different cage brand. He will need a 2x2x4 minimum cage size.

Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? the lighting so there's a heat light a Tropical UVB & Heat Lighting Kit (a 60-watt blue heating light reptisun and a 5.0 mini compact florescent light) see picture) i keep the lights right on the cage the light is about 6 and a half inches away from the basking spot Ok you will want to upgrade the UVB to a T5Ho fixture and a 10.0 or 12% arcadia uvb bulb. Get the length of fixture you will need for the final cage you will have for him. wwwlightyourreptiles.com is a great place to buy from. Basking would need to sit about 8 inches from the top with this fixture.


Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? I have a humidifier monitor and a temp monitor the lowest temp at night is probably around 67 degrees and from cage floor to basking spot is about 70-85 degrees These are perfect numbers. just make sure your temp gauge is wired in at the highest level he can get to.

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? I use a humidifier monitor that I got from home depot the humidity is around 72-80 % I have a lot of live plants an umbrella plant a hibiscus plant and a fern
So day time humidity needs to be about 30-50% during the day. At night we want it much higher. Listen to that podcast link I gave you. This is where adjusting when you mist comes in to play and where having an automated misting system like a mistking can be really helpful.

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? ^^

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? well I wanted him to be at a highish location so he is about 65 inches from the ground I wanted him to feel secure

Location - Where are you geographically located? I live in Austin Texas


Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. well I don't know if it's too hot or he's just getting used to it and I wanted to know if or what vitamins I should give him and how I should spray off the plants so he can drink without getting the humidity too high


Ok hun see all info let us know what questions you have.
Here are some additional images that will help.

 

[KobaOregonherper]

See much better advice . The t5 ho linear that Beman mentioned is a must. I really wish we could have the deep dome duals removed from the reptibreeze cam kits...

 

[Chameleomom]

The deep dome duals still can be used for a basking bulb and a grow light

 

[JoXie411]

You have a beautiful cham and enclosure! I just skimmed your help sheet, because there are more experienced people who will go in depth with it for you (@Beman / @JoXie411 ) but I did notice your lighting needs to be adjusted. Based on the picture you have a double dome fixture which I assume means you have a coil UVB. You're going to need to swap that out with a linear bulb so that your boy gets enough UVB, which one specifically our experts will let you know! Your enclosure is beautiful though if not a bit small, but you seem to be aware that you're going to upgrade it sooner rather than later so you seem to be off to a good start

I’m taking the weekend off after yesterday lol but I know Becca gots it

 

[Beman]

I’m taking the weekend off after yesterday lol but I know Becca gots it

Have a good weekend hun <3

 

[Ruthless]

See much better advice . The t5 ho linear that Beman mentioned is a must. I really wish we could have the deep dome duals removed from the reptibreeze cam kits...

I feel like those kits are a total waste.

 

[maxK]

okay, I listened to it!! that was honestly so helpful! one other thing so i read something that it streeses the chameleon when you open the cage and stuff so i left it open for alittle bit and then i noticed he was on the cage screen on the out side of the cage? is this bad? does he not like it?

 

[Beman]

okay, I listened to it!! that was honestly so helpful! one other thing so i read something that it streeses the chameleon when you open the cage and stuff so i left it open for alittle bit and then i noticed he was on the cage screen on the out side of the cage? is this bad? does he not like it?

They will wonder off and can get hurt if left unattended. They can get their feet and tail pinched in the door if the door moves while they are crawling out. And they are much faster then you would think. You have lots of hiding places for him he may be just wandering because he wants to or he may be looking for lighting since the uvb is incorrect right now.

 

[Ruthless]

Opening and closing the cage is fine for feeding and maintenance purposes. You will have plenty of time to handle him in the future so need to rush into it. Give him time to adjust to its new surroundings and he will be fine. So don’t leave your door open you don’t want him free roaming you need to give him to get use to his new cage and you too.

 

[maxK]

yeah i got him back in he just seems really nice but not use to me i got him on a stick and then i put him back in his cage he didnt hiss or anything he didnt even change colors like no black or anything so i think hes use to humans just not use to me

 

[maxK]

and I changed my shirt lol I thought "well hey if he's green when he's calm then I should wear green to show him that I'm calm" haha

 

[Beman]

yeah i got him back in he just seems really nice but not use to me i got him on a stick and then i put him back in his cage he didnt hiss or anything he didnt even change colors like no black or anything so i think hes use to humans just not use to me

Good. And he may be one of the odd male Veilds that actually does not mind human interaction. But right now it is best to learn about his care and he needs to settle in and get used to his home. Start making the changes to his husbandry that we noted in your help form. Keep listening to the podcasts they are really a wonderful way to learn quicker.

 

[maxK]

okay so i got the T5ho with the 10.0 bulb so now im wondering will i need any other light? or is this the only one i need.

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

okay so i got the T5ho with the 10.0 bulb so now im wondering will i need any other light? or is this the only one i need.

He needs a basking light as well.

 

[Beman]

Here is the link to all the care images. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/images/ While you are making all your upgrades that were commented on in your help form update your help form so you have it in a word doc. This is easier should you need it later.

 

[maxK]

okay, thank you! I looked at that beforehand..idk why I didn't think it applied to what I was wondering.. but thank you! it makes sense now!

 

[maxK]

okay, so I think I'm going to make my own chameleon cage. it's going to be 2x2x4 I was thinking a square or an octagon... I really like the idea of an octagon would that be bad? or no?