Need cham help!

[Etunes]

Hello, My name is Ian and i have quite a bit of experience with reptiles. I have alot of friends that know i am a reptile fanatic and that i have experience rehabilitating many animals such as uromastyx, leapord gecko, bearded dragons, many types of turtles. But my latest rescue is from a man who ignored his adult veiled chameleon after the usual shiny affect dulls out after he had it for a while. So this is a adult chameleon, i didnt have time to measure but he has to be a 1' to a 1' 1/2". But i have cared for adult chams before and this thing is a freakin twig. i can count ever digit in his tail, i can see the nodges in the skull, everything. So i need a quick crash corse. Fortunately i have a spare mist king running. But i need to know how to altar the cage (i think its a 2x2x4 zoo med) so i can hang some proper horizontal branches, cause i cant think of a way to get them to hang and support him. Right now its a fake ficus thats in there. I will post pics tomorrow. I know how to care for his basics when it comes for feeding, watering (through dripping on leaves) bit what i am asking is

what should i keep the temps at?
how do i hang the horizontal branches?
What plants/ bushes are safe that can support a chameleon?
And this guy is real skinny, is there any meaty foods to help him along?
Also it looks like he has a shed he just went through and its a bad shed, for chameleons is soaking the best way to handle this? or is spraying the cham better?

 

[VigilantSpearIII]

Sup man,

Temps: 65-75 Ambient... 85-95 Basking Spot
Humidity: Use your MistKing 5 times a day for 30 secs depending on your location, 50-70 Humidity is good. (Use a dripper to keep a constant flow of water on leaves.)
Feeding: Use Hornworms and Waxworms or Silkworms for fattening him up quick. Superworms are good as well. Give him several Crickets and Roaches as a staple diet. It depends on size and health but anywhere from 15 to as much as 30 staple food portions can be consumed daily.
Shedding: Dont soak, misting and overall humidity will take care of his shed issues.
Branches: Horizontal and at slight angles is fine, rule of thumb is to use branches that are the gauge of the chams grip. Safe plants lists are available and many cham-masters suggest using Ficus, I do not. I suggest Hibiscus, Crotos, Pothos, and Faux plants. I dislike Ficus because it is known to cause eye irritation. Plants are used for water accumulation and cover, use dry "Dead" branches for climbing and arboreal activity.

**Avoid handling and stressing him for the first few days if he has been moved because that may stop the cham from eating.

Good luck dude.

 

[Simon1986]

Cable ties are good for hanging braches (is it a repti breeze mesh cage. As said above silk worms and horned worms are amazing but if your in the uk you can't get horned worms, silk worms have I think 5-6x the nutritional value as crickets and a massive source of fluid and calcium so they'd probably be a good place to start.

Has he been supplemented right?

Plant wise I'm using ficuses and umbrella plants but make sure you wash the leaves thoroughly to ensure they're clean and pesticide free.

Gentle misting with warm water alway helps mine and its not such a shock as it is cold water.

Let us know how you get on

 

[Etunes]

No, i literally got him not long ago. I went and picked him up around 10 at night and set the cage up as fast as i could to get him in it and reduce stress. So i figured i need to start somewhere. So tomorrow i am gonna start with hanging branches. Because he has almost no were to climb right now. My big question is how in the world do you get them to stay on the side of the cage propped up all nice were it can support him? with it only being a wire caage and all. Also can i juust go outside and get branches of a oak tree of some sort and peel the bark off? Does it matter the kind of wood the branches are?

And fyi i am in the U.S. Florida to be specific.

 

[Julija]

Humidity: Use your MistKing 5 times a day for 30 secs depending on your location, 50-70 Humidity is good. (Use a dripper to keep a constant flow of water on leaves.)

I would suggest 3-4 misting sessions of 2-3 min, 30 sec might be too short to trigger the drinking reflex, it takes about a minute usually, and not all chams will react to dripper from my experience.

 

[Simon1986]

No not all branches are safe, evergreen trees such as pine cedar etc secreat sap which can be irritating and toxic, heat can also bring out fumes. Oak is safe I have oak and beech tree but I made sure they're dead and dry

I soaked them in bleach for 3 hours then in water overnight. Dried it overnight then popped it in the tank.

As its wire you could clip holes small holes into it which match the vine size, garden wire etc you could just fill it with live plants to help retain water droplets.

 

[szpond]

Here is a great, to-the-point resource that this site offers on veiled chameleons.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

This will answer many of your questions, if there are any left.

We'd love to see pictures.

 

[szpond]

No, i literally got him not long ago. I went and picked him up around 10 at night and set the cage up as fast as i could to get him in it and reduce stress. So i figured i need to start somewhere. So tomorrow i am gonna start with hanging branches. Because he has almost no were to climb right now. My big question is how in the world do you get them to stay on the side of the cage propped up all nice were it can support him? with it only being a wire caage and all. Also can i juust go outside and get branches of a oak tree of some sort and peel the bark off? Does it matter the kind of wood the branches are?

And fyi i am in the U.S. Florida to be specific.

I use zip-ties. I will thread them through the screen and have them secured on the outside. Seems to work pretty well. Using branches you could put a small hole on either side of the branch and use a couple ties.

In my enclosure, I have an XL grapewood that is the centerpiece. I hang everything off of that and use zipties for my fake pothos around the cage. Seems to work well.

 

[Etunes]

There he is. He is a good eater. He is fine eating from my hand. I hand him like 5 and released another 6 or so in his tank. Should this guy be getting any sort of greens?

Also can someone explain the way to introduce oak branches into my tank? out of all the branches form any tree oak branches are the easiest. They are everywhere. But can i just boil the branches and strip the bark and i am good? I am still knocking my brains the best way to get them in my tank. will supporting them in the screen work? with a large cham?

 

[Kibu]

He doesn't look 2 good

 

[Etunes]

He doesn't look 2 good

I know, why i am asking for some help

 

[Kibu]

Maybe he has mbd from his previous owners. That may be y he is like laying down.

 

[Kibu]

Hibiscus is really good and the temps should be kept at 72-80 and basking temps at like 85-90 i use dowel rods and punch them thought the screen and then hang fake vines and branches around them.

 

[Kibu]

Waxworms are very fatty but have little nutritious value. So dont use them as a staple meal just to fatten him up.

 

[Etunes]

Maybe he has mbd from his previous owners. That may be y he is like laying down.

Well he isnt very active. But he isnt lying down. That was him holding on for dear life after a bumpy car ride.

 

[DanSB]

The picture isn't flattering but looking closely at the eye and joints and from everything else you said he sounds like some fattening up is all he really needs and doesn't even look super skinny from the picture.

Ia he staying alert, eyes open all day?

If yes I would say just follow the care sheet on this site and focus on good nutrition.

I would also get a vet check asap specifically to check for parasites. If you have a vet that will just do a fecal without having to bring him in before he gets settled even better.

Good luck with him!

 

[Etunes]

The picture isn't flattering but looking closely at the eye and joints and from everything else you said he sounds like some fattening up is all he really needs and doesn't even look super skinny from the picture.

Ia he staying alert, eyes open all day?

If yes I would say just follow the care sheet on this site and focus on good nutrition.

I would also get a vet check asap specifically to check for parasites. If you have a vet that will just do a fecal without having to bring him in before he gets settled even better.

Good luck with him!

Thanks, just found out he has been without a heatlamp for about 2-3 weeks now. Just about to go out and get stuff for him.

 

[Simon1986]

Agreed he doesn't look to happy, he's very dark, is this his normal tone or does he brighten up? I find that I don't need to put in greens, I used to but they seemed more interested in the live plants.

Just ensure his food is properly gut loaded with fresh fruit and veg to ensure he's getting the vitamins he needs.

Have you noticed a change since you had him?

 

[Etunes]

Agreed he doesn't look to happy, he's very dark, is this his normal tone or does he brighten up? I find that I don't need to put in greens, I used to but they seemed more interested in the live plants.

Just ensure his food is properly gut loaded with fresh fruit and veg to ensure he's getting the vitamins he needs.

Have you noticed a change since you had him?

not very much as i have only had him for one day and most of my changes arent in place yet. I got him real late thursday night and friday i worked all day. But after worked i picked up a pothos with a couple of dowel rods to get some branches started that are safe to put in and that he can actually use. plan on putting all that in the tank today. I got a bulb for a new basking spot but we just put it in and it dosent work so we are gonna be going to get a new one right now. With no heat lamp he pretty much is always that dark and i dont think he will lightin up tell i get one in there. He turns into a real pretty neon green when he sleeps but he pretty much is always that dark. Again remember that the picture there was takin when he just got here which was after he was yanked out of his cage int he middle of the night, and drove in a car on a bumpy ride in the mniddle of the night so he isnt the happiest guy in the world in that picture.

 

[DanSB]

For a heat lamp any old lamp or shoplight with a 40 to 75 watt bulb will do fine. No need for a specialized bulb and lamp house there. Save your money for a good uvb bulb, that is more important.

Weather permitting get him outside in the real unfiltered sun if you want to see him perk up.