Need help with new baby veiled cham "DOOM" W/ PHOTOS

[SAYWIZARD]

hello all, i am new to this forum and over all the chameleon world.

i am proud to say i own a new baby veiled cham named "Doom".
he was purchased from Flchams and his father is "NEWTON" (so i hope lol)

i am two weeks in and he is doing excellent. he is eating like a beast
and growing very fast. he was eating from the first min i took him out the delivery box. i have no real trouble but i was just wondering how often should i be dusting his crickets with vitamins and powdered calcium. i have purchased a product called "Repti Calcium" (with D3)

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Reptile-Calcium-Vitamin/dp/B000UJSUO4/ref=pd_sim_sbs_petsupplies_10

and also "Exo Terra MULTI VITAMIN POWDER SUPPLEMENT".

http://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Amp...?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1332561827&sr=1-2


i have just been mixing one tiny scoup of each together into a feeding rock (half/half) and shaking the crickets daily. am i over doing it? i have read to do this daily for him until he is an adult, than only about 2-3 times a week.

really my main concern is not over doing it. i was reading somewhere that too much calcium is just as bad as not enough and i know that the reptisun 5.0 provides D3 as well. how does this work? i seen the same calcium powder without D3. i dont know if he gets enough D3 from the Reptisun 5.0 UVB.

i am also worried that the vitamin i give him isn't whats recommended by
the pro chameleon owners.

i honestly am willing to spend what ever i need to get my boy DOOM the best of the best so if i can please have someone tell me what is the best route to go i will toss these bottles away quick and get the right stuff if need be.

whether it is a 2 in 1 powder or a few different ones i need to buy please let me know whats the best for DOOM.



FYI i gutload his crickets with

carrots, peaches

these green cubes
http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Zone-Cricket-Total-Gutload/dp/B00061URJ2

&

flukers yellow quencher
http://www.amazon.com/Flukers-16-Ou...d/dp/B0002DHPDA/ref=pd_bxgy_petsupplies_img_b


i am certainly open to advice on the best gutload methods too.

i see there is a lot of great people on this forum and im glad to be a part of the family... i soon hope to be able to help someone with my knowledge as i know the best way to learn is through experience itself, so what better place to come to?

here are some HD photos of 2 month old doom. i got some great photos of him shedding (today) for the first time since i got him. he is growing up fast!


FIRST WEEK
http://s1117.photobucket.com/albums/k600/MURDOC7D/DOOM THE CHAMELEON/DOOM - March 2012/

FIRST SHED
http://s1117.photobucket.com/albums/k600/MURDOC7D/DOOM THE CHAMELEON/DOOM SHEDDING 3 23 12/

i have awesome 1080p footage i want to share of his setup and him hunting down crickets like a champ. coming soon.

hope the help comes swarming in

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!

Here's some information I hope will help you with supplementing, etc.....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.) Also, its recommended that the vitamin powder not be mixed with the calcium supplements.

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

 

[Hoj]

welcom to the forums and chams!!! looks like you got some good help here, just wanted to say welcome

 

[EvilLost]

Seems like you are well taken care of already.


I just wanted to say Thanks for being a responsible new owner

 

[MagicEngineer]

My son has one of Dooms brothers. Since he got it last week, I would guess they are from the same clutch. I hope you enjoy yours as much as he enjoys his.

 

[SAYWIZARD]

thanks a lot for the feedback and information. it really helped as your answer was very detailed. do you think u can give me the exact name and brand of the vitamin product you use.

i found this herptivite (blue bottle)
http://www.amazon.com/HERPTIVITE-Mu...HT3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332685666&sr=8-1

is that the one i should order? i seen a pink one as well. just want to be sure then i will order asap.

as far as the calcium i found this link (pink bottle)
http://www.amazon.com/Rep-Cal-Calci...HTQA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332685936&sr=8-2

is this the one? or do u think i can keep using the repti calcium w/ d3 by zoo med i already own. it states on the back phosphorus-free calcium. i just want whats the best for DOOM, of course

so i also read from you not to mix the calcium and vitamin. so that means one day i should just do the calcium alone and next day the vitamin separately im assuming?


also i have read elsewhere that when they are growing and this young they require more supplement dosages than adults do. your recommending i only dust twice a month? just wanted to confirm that cause i have read dust daily when they are growing up.

i will definitely start giving the crickets a more nutritious and a wider variety of foods. i purchased the flukers calcium cricket feed yesterday and was suprised to see how much they loved it. there was a swarm surrounding the bowl.

i really need to create a schedule and ritual to follow, then i know it will be smooth sailing from there cause DOOM is super active n healthy. i need to keep him that way

yesterday i moved his cage about 2 feet and positioned him directly in front of a window that gets direct sunlight as the sun rises every morning. he gets about 3 hours of direct sunlight and he seems to LOVE IT! i am sure there isn't a better source of light than the sun

 

[SAYWIZARD]

My son has one of Dooms brothers. Since he got it last week, I would guess they are from the same clutch. I hope you enjoy yours as much as he enjoys his.

wow really? cool. yes i love him. i just really hope he is from the batch (NEWTON) they claimed because i found it to be a lil awkward that DOOM came from PA (i purchased from flchams.com). i was just expecting him to come from FLA which is where i reside. i seen they had a "good amount" of unrelated veiled chams for sale right above the link where i ordered doom for half the price. at the end of the day i guess there really isnt anyway to confirm his bloodline is of NEWTON but regardless i love DOOM.

 

[SAYWIZARD]

welcom to the forums and chams!!! looks like you got some good help here, just wanted to say welcome

THANKS for taking the time to reply n welcome me