New Cham Setup

[JTurner82]

Hi all!! I’m new to chameleon keeping (but not reptiles). Just received a baby veiled chameleon from Florida Chameleons yesterday and this is his setup. I’ve chosen to do a bioactive setup for him. I’ve got an umbrella plant and pothos vine planted. I bought some extra vine to cover the top of his cage in his basking area. This is the 24”x24”x48” Reptibreeze.

He’s already been eating, pooping, and he’s currently completely white with a shed that he’s working so hard to remove

Question though, do they typically turn a gray color when they’re shedding, or is he just pissed at me for making some changes in his decor today?

Also, the UVB light will be changed tomorrow when my T5HO hood and linear tube light arrive from Amazon. I guess the lighting could also be the reason he’s not super happy right now!

Thanks for reading!

Joanna

 

[timw1]

How's his basking temp?

 

[JTurner82]

Around 86-90, but with lots of leaves for him to get away if needed.

 

[timw1]

Being a baby he will not have much color. Being new to his environment he most likely will show not happy color for a few weeks.

 

[JTurner82]

Thank you so much!! It’s reassuring that he’s eating and pooping at least

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

Keep his basking temp closer to 85 than 90. And yes please do change out the lighting ASAP. It sounds like you know what you're doing. What are his humidity levels at? I know my baby veiled isn't happy with anything under 40%

 

[JTurner82]

Keep his basking temp closer to 85 than 90. And yes please do change out the lighting ASAP. It sounds like you know what you're doing. What are his humidity levels at? I know my baby veiled isn't happy with anything under 40%

I can keep humidity around 50% pretty consistently, can spike it up to 60-70% with a misting.

 

[Thehippie]

humidity levels are good do you have loose substrate on the bottom??

 

[SmithSe]

I know you said you bought some extra vines to put towards the top of the enclosure, but I would be sure to provide lots of horizontally placed branches up and down the cage. Utilize as much of that area as you can, it will definitely be to the benefit if your Cham!

 

[JTurner82]

humidity levels are good do you have loose substrate on the bottom??

It is soil, coconut fiber, and leaves.

 

[Char333p]

Looks great. 6500k strip of LEDS will help with plant growth and light up the enclosure more. I see you have an unbrella plant... another hardy one is pohthos vine.. easy to grow doesnt neeed much light.... an recommend a couple bendy vines to add around to all unreachable spots. Since chams prefer being higher up

 

[Thehippie]

make sure he cant eat the soil or fiber, veiled's are known for doing that

 

[jamest0o0]

make sure he cant eat the soil or fiber, veiled's are known for doing that

It looks like he has it set up bioactively. As long as there's no large chunks to be choked on he should be fine.

 

[Thehippie]

It looks like he has it set up bioactively. As long as there's no large chunks to be choked on he should be fine.

yes but soil and cocofiber cant be good for any animal to eat. it'll lead to impaction, if I'm wrong correct me but even with bioactive setups I think people use leaf litters and rocks to make sure the chams cant get to the substrate. this is all my fault if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that's what veiled bioactive keepers do.

 

[GoodKarma19]

yes but soil and cocofiber cant be good for any animal to eat. it'll lead to impaction, if I'm wrong correct me but even with bioactive setups I think people use leaf litters and rocks to make sure the chams cant get to the substrate. this is all my fault if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that's what veiled bioactive keepers do.

There's definitely leaf litter on top of the coco fiber/soil in that picture.

Personally, I think all this worry about impaction due to loose substrate is a little overblown. Incidental ingestion does happen, but a little soil is highly unlikely to harm a healthy animal in small amounts as long as it's chemical free/animal safe, and assuming that the critter isn't consuming large amounts/the particle size is small enough. I've seen maybe one impaction case in the last three years of working semi-regularly with various reptiles in a medical setting, and the animal had other underlying issues to begin with. With correct husbandry loose/natural substrates aren't anywhere near as dangerous as people like to portray, though the individual animal definitely plays a part in whether loose substrates can be used effectively! I wouldn't go so far as to recommend that everyone use it, but done right it works as well as anything.

My two cents on the matter, for what it's worth. I'm planning on going bioactive for my veiled boy's next enclosure(s)!

~Amanda

 

[jamest0o0]

yes but soil and cocofiber cant be good for any animal to eat. it'll lead to impaction, if I'm wrong correct me but even with bioactive setups I think people use leaf litters and rocks to make sure the chams cant get to the substrate. this is all my fault if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that's what veiled bioactive keepers do.

Yeah it's kind of a myth that substrate causes impaction. As mentioned above, most cases in the past seemed to be other health conditions that lead to impaction, but people not knowing any better blamed it on the soil. I don't keep veileds, but I have seen my Panthers and Parsons get some dirt or leaves in the past without problem. I've had my chameleons with substrate for a couple years, no problems. Tbh, I'd think eating a random leaf would be harder to digest then the soil itself.

 

[JTurner82]

Thank you all so much for your knowledgeable input

 

[Char333p]

Not even that... personally my chameleon never even goes under the bottom 1/4 of his enclosure.

 

[Beman]

Congrats on your little guy! If you are having issues with overspray coming out of your cage you can wrap the back and sides with vinyl. Or attach the clear acrylic sheets. I got those for my first cage and I liked that they did not flex. It also helps stabilize your humidity levels as well. You might prefer the acrylic because of your substrate then it would not fall out the sides either. As said lots of horizontal vines. I like the exo terra ones. I loved the look of the flukers but they cracked really bad on me
I will attach some really wonderful images for you as well.

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

My Veiled actually didn't like his substrate. Tried it for a week to keep in humidity. Took it out when I saw him start trying to eat it. He use to walk on it all the time too. After I took it out I haven't seen him on the bottom walking and he seems more ALIVE and happy since removing it. It also sucked at keeping in humidity too haha