Orangejuiceman
Member
First off. Hello and thank you all for making this exist. • Your Chameleon - Veiled, male, 11 months, Miami Florida
• Handling - daily to every other day, he runs to my hand when I open the cage and loves hanging around the house on our trees
• Feeding - Crickets and occasional hornworms. Dubai’s are not allowed to be shipped to Florida. Gut loaded with repashy, leafy greens, fruit, bell peppers. Every other day 5 crickets
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? ZOOMED Calcium no d3 every feeding, REPASHY Calcium plus LOD on the 1st & 15th, no extra vitamins (need advice) *I have two other supplants to use just in case one is better preferred (ZOOMED REPTIVITE w/d3 & REPASHY Calcium plus) not sure which of these is best but I have them all
• Watering - i use Berkey filtered water, I mist according to ChamAcademy suggestions. 6am, 9pm, 2am with a dripper intermittently during the day. Rarely see him drinking.
• Fecal Description - normal poops, no parasites shown in previous vet visit.
• History - had an eye issue as a baby, cleared up, seems like it is a slight issue beginning again, but seems perfect when placed outdoors.
Cage Info:
• Cage Type - 2x2x4 screen cage in front of east facing window for morning sun
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Arcadia t5 HO 6% FOREST. 12 hour schedule that begins at seasonal sunrise (window light wakes him up first)
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Floor is at 65-70 full shade, midway is 70-75 with light filtering through foliage, basking is max 85 right now +/- 2 degrees, lowest overnight 65-70 ambient. I have analog in the lower regions and one digital in basking region (wondering which is best)
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Miami is pretty humid all year, high humidity at night during misting and lower during day with sunlight and bask lamp
• Plants - If so, what kind? All live plants, pothos, philodendrons only
• Placement - Cage is in spare room, usually empty, east facing and top of cage is at 6’6”, no vents or fans hitting cage
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Sunny Miami
I have an 11 month old Veiled and the main concern here for me is lighting, hydration and behavior. I know there are subs where these topics are touched on but there is so much conflicting advice and arguments I am going crazy trying to decide my own chameleon morals.
First, I’m torn on the 6% vs 12% uvb options. I began with 12% because of Cham Academy and the fact that my cage is densely planted and the light gradient fades very quickly towards the bottom. After a few months I noticed he was always dark while in his cage and when I would take him out in the sun he was immediately vibrant bright green. My personal assumption was that the uvb was too high and he was trying to shield himself or was taking in too much uvb. I switched back to a 6% two months ago and now I’m noticing that he seems less active (in cage). He stays under his basking lamp for a majority of the day and seems kind of lazy aside from when it’s time to eat, and his colors are slightly muted (in cage). However, when I take him outside for daily sunbath he is crazy active, beautiful green colors and just seems overall more alert. He seems happy and more alert and active outdoors and bored in his own cage. At times I’ll even find him with his eyes slightly closed under his basking light but fully alert and watching everything when he’s in the sun. Obviously nature provides better than tech but this has me in a conundrum especially since I think I’m following all the rules.
His basking light is a 75watt Arcadia halogen on a dimmer so I can control the temperature, but since it’s a clear light and not frosted light incandescent, I’m wondering maybe if the halogen light beam may be too much for him even though the temperature is spot on.
In his cage, he occasionally seems to have an eye issue recently. He had an issue as a baby and he got eye drops and it cleared up 100%. He will keep his right one slightly closed and is always rolling it around in its socket. But if he is outside in the sun, it looks like a brand new perfect eyeball with zero issues, never closed, and totally normal. I’m clearly messing up somewhere but can’t identify where. He has a vet visit tomorrow with his usual exotic vet, this will be his second checkup.
Hydration. I mist and drip, reddit tells me I’m an absolute idiot because I should be offering water from a glass in his cage. Bill from Cham Academy says it’s less natural and misting and fogging and dripping are best. His poops are very normal and he’s big and juicy and doesn’t show hydration issues, but what is the ideal option here. Reddit trolls say misting can cause problems or over humidifying or this and that and I have way too much incoming information to be able to decide for myself. The tree he lives on is completely and easily removable from his cage, it’s one big piece with plants growing on the actually branches, so I can easily clean everything thoroughly weekly.
He just seems bored and sleepy in his cage and highly alert and excited outside, like little kid excited all over the place on every single tree. I am currently building him a cage outdoors in my backyard. I have lots of sun but also lots of shade that changes as the day goes. I live in Miami where the weather is perfect, there are tons of chameleons down south in the Everglades just enjoying life and the rain and weather. I’m building his outdoor cage and my idea is to have him outdoors most of the day, and bring him inside towards the evening or in heavy rain, or extra hot days, I want to provide the most natural habitat for him, nobody wants to be indoors all day if outdoor is an option.
Don’t hate me for the novel, I’m sorry, I’m just really invested but I think I’m taking in too much information from too many different sources. They all seem to work but maybe my mixture of them all is the problem.
Orange Juice and I really appreciate you guys here and this community. This is my first reptile and I’m obsessed and enjoy this more than my cats and dogs so I just want to make sure I’m doing it all properly
• Handling - daily to every other day, he runs to my hand when I open the cage and loves hanging around the house on our trees
• Feeding - Crickets and occasional hornworms. Dubai’s are not allowed to be shipped to Florida. Gut loaded with repashy, leafy greens, fruit, bell peppers. Every other day 5 crickets
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? ZOOMED Calcium no d3 every feeding, REPASHY Calcium plus LOD on the 1st & 15th, no extra vitamins (need advice) *I have two other supplants to use just in case one is better preferred (ZOOMED REPTIVITE w/d3 & REPASHY Calcium plus) not sure which of these is best but I have them all
• Watering - i use Berkey filtered water, I mist according to ChamAcademy suggestions. 6am, 9pm, 2am with a dripper intermittently during the day. Rarely see him drinking.
• Fecal Description - normal poops, no parasites shown in previous vet visit.
• History - had an eye issue as a baby, cleared up, seems like it is a slight issue beginning again, but seems perfect when placed outdoors.
Cage Info:
• Cage Type - 2x2x4 screen cage in front of east facing window for morning sun
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Arcadia t5 HO 6% FOREST. 12 hour schedule that begins at seasonal sunrise (window light wakes him up first)
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Floor is at 65-70 full shade, midway is 70-75 with light filtering through foliage, basking is max 85 right now +/- 2 degrees, lowest overnight 65-70 ambient. I have analog in the lower regions and one digital in basking region (wondering which is best)
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Miami is pretty humid all year, high humidity at night during misting and lower during day with sunlight and bask lamp
• Plants - If so, what kind? All live plants, pothos, philodendrons only
• Placement - Cage is in spare room, usually empty, east facing and top of cage is at 6’6”, no vents or fans hitting cage
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Sunny Miami
I have an 11 month old Veiled and the main concern here for me is lighting, hydration and behavior. I know there are subs where these topics are touched on but there is so much conflicting advice and arguments I am going crazy trying to decide my own chameleon morals.
First, I’m torn on the 6% vs 12% uvb options. I began with 12% because of Cham Academy and the fact that my cage is densely planted and the light gradient fades very quickly towards the bottom. After a few months I noticed he was always dark while in his cage and when I would take him out in the sun he was immediately vibrant bright green. My personal assumption was that the uvb was too high and he was trying to shield himself or was taking in too much uvb. I switched back to a 6% two months ago and now I’m noticing that he seems less active (in cage). He stays under his basking lamp for a majority of the day and seems kind of lazy aside from when it’s time to eat, and his colors are slightly muted (in cage). However, when I take him outside for daily sunbath he is crazy active, beautiful green colors and just seems overall more alert. He seems happy and more alert and active outdoors and bored in his own cage. At times I’ll even find him with his eyes slightly closed under his basking light but fully alert and watching everything when he’s in the sun. Obviously nature provides better than tech but this has me in a conundrum especially since I think I’m following all the rules.
His basking light is a 75watt Arcadia halogen on a dimmer so I can control the temperature, but since it’s a clear light and not frosted light incandescent, I’m wondering maybe if the halogen light beam may be too much for him even though the temperature is spot on.
In his cage, he occasionally seems to have an eye issue recently. He had an issue as a baby and he got eye drops and it cleared up 100%. He will keep his right one slightly closed and is always rolling it around in its socket. But if he is outside in the sun, it looks like a brand new perfect eyeball with zero issues, never closed, and totally normal. I’m clearly messing up somewhere but can’t identify where. He has a vet visit tomorrow with his usual exotic vet, this will be his second checkup.
Hydration. I mist and drip, reddit tells me I’m an absolute idiot because I should be offering water from a glass in his cage. Bill from Cham Academy says it’s less natural and misting and fogging and dripping are best. His poops are very normal and he’s big and juicy and doesn’t show hydration issues, but what is the ideal option here. Reddit trolls say misting can cause problems or over humidifying or this and that and I have way too much incoming information to be able to decide for myself. The tree he lives on is completely and easily removable from his cage, it’s one big piece with plants growing on the actually branches, so I can easily clean everything thoroughly weekly.
He just seems bored and sleepy in his cage and highly alert and excited outside, like little kid excited all over the place on every single tree. I am currently building him a cage outdoors in my backyard. I have lots of sun but also lots of shade that changes as the day goes. I live in Miami where the weather is perfect, there are tons of chameleons down south in the Everglades just enjoying life and the rain and weather. I’m building his outdoor cage and my idea is to have him outdoors most of the day, and bring him inside towards the evening or in heavy rain, or extra hot days, I want to provide the most natural habitat for him, nobody wants to be indoors all day if outdoor is an option.
Don’t hate me for the novel, I’m sorry, I’m just really invested but I think I’m taking in too much information from too many different sources. They all seem to work but maybe my mixture of them all is the problem.
Orange Juice and I really appreciate you guys here and this community. This is my first reptile and I’m obsessed and enjoy this more than my cats and dogs so I just want to make sure I’m doing it all properly
