New Chameleon Owner Needs Help!

[WannabeBreeder]

Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear she is a female!
I've read that female care is slightly different including a slightly cooler basking spot (hers hovers between 82-85.
I'll have to go check Jannbs Baby Veiled post and read more into Female care. Do you have any good posts for how to make a Lay bin? Ive read before for mating Chameleons that a 5 gallon bucket with some special sand works.

Also, can I co habitat my female with a male, even when shes not mating? Or will I need to cage seperately

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear she is a female!
I've read that female care is slightly different including a slightly cooler basking spot (hers hovers between 82-85.
I'll have to go check Jannbs Baby Veiled post and read more into Female care. Do you have any good posts for how to make a Lay bin? Ive read before for mating Chameleons that a 5 gallon bucket with some special sand works.

Also, can I co habitat my female with a male, even when shes not mating? Or will I need to cage seperately

@jannb has one she had given it to me . @Peachypink i believe can give it to you and @Nursemaia for sure as well . YouTube there's a video if you need a Visual . Basking is right on . I find my girl does well 82 or 83 ,85 is to hot for her but maybe just fine for yours .

 

[WannabeBreeder]

First I would say, read through the care sheet for veiled. You have a girl. there is no tarsal spur that I can see. You will need to read up on a lay bin. She will need one as females will lay eggs without being mated.

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

There is also a section in the resources tab that has nutrition, in that there is a list of foods that can be used for gut loading.

Please read through the care sheet and follow it to the letter. You mention a heat bulb but what about UVB?

At night, they do stay in the same spot. NO heart light at night. The drop in temps is good for them and the light will disrupt their sleep pattern. She should not be sleeping during the day at all.

Read through the care sheets and then come back with any more questions you might have.

Just a couple questions at the moment I will space them out , sorry for being so curious I just want to make sure I know everything!

For gutloading if i am using the "Best" and "Good" Options, is it still okay to give my crickets the thirst Quenchers?
as for food ill probably be feeding my crickets the Collared Greens, Mustard Greens, Carrots, Apples, and Green beans.

Can I co Habitate my Female with a male for breeding purposes? (even when shes not in heat)

The egg laying bin it says should be 16" by 16" by 16" , is a smaller one fine for now while shes a baby (incase she does a clutch and im not aware since im a novice) Ill make sure its deep enough for tunneling!

I am currently using an Exo Terra Tropical UVB bulb. Is this a good enough one? it is a 13 watt but I dont need heat as the room the chameleon stays in is 75 and the light brings the basking spot up to a crisp 80-84

and just to clarify I turn off her light at night and usually the room stays at 75 can sometimes get colder

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Just a couple questions at the moment I will space them out , sorry for being so curious I just want to make sure I know everything!

For gutloading if i am using the "Best" and "Good" Options, is it still okay to give my crickets the thirst Quenchers?
as for food ill probably be feeding my crickets the Collared Greens, Mustard Greens, Carrots, Apples, and Green beans.

Can I co Habitate my Female with a male for breeding purposes? (even when shes not in heat)

The egg laying bin it says should be 16" by 16" by 16" , is a smaller one fine for now while shes a baby (incase she does a clutch and im not aware since im a novice) Ill make sure its deep enough for tunneling!

I am currently using an Exo Terra Tropical UVB bulb. Is this a good enough one? it is a 13 watt but I dont need heat as the room the chameleon stays in is 75 and the light brings the basking spot up to a crisp 80-84

and just to clarify I turn off her light at night and usually the room stays at 75 can sometimes get colder

You need to separate your chameleon. She's much to young to breed she won't except him anyhow unless she's ready she would likely just try and bite him . You want correct size lay bin that's the smallest you want to go . Most use a 5 gallon bucket with at least 12 inches of sand/organic dirt .

 

[WannabeBreeder]

You need to separate your chameleon. She's much to young to bread , she won't except him anyhow unless she's ready she would likely just try and bite him . You want correct size lay bin that's the smallest you want to go . Most use a 5 gallon bucket with at least 12 inches of sand/organic dirt .

Okay so separate cages unless breeding, i dont plan on breeding for a year and longer so she will be ready by then. Can her lay bin be outside of her cage? One that size would NOT fit in her cage

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Okay so separate cages unless breeding, i dont plan on breeding for a year and longer so she will be ready by then. Can her lay bin be outside of her cage? One that size would NOT fit in her cage

Ideally her lay bin should be in her enclosure if you can do the 12"12"12" then do that . Have plan b ready in case she won't use the smaller bin .

 

[WannabeBreeder]

Ideally her lay bin should be in her enclosure if you can do the 12"12"12" then do that . Have plan b ready in case she won't use the smaller bin .

OKAY two last questioms for the moment thanks for all of this knowledge.
When will i know she is ready to lay eggs, the sheet said she will turn blue but is that all of her body or just her markings?

And also how long after she turns blue will she need to lay ?

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

OKAY two last questioms for the moment thanks for all of this knowledge.
When will i know she is ready to lay eggs, the sheet said she will turn blue but is that all of her body or just her markings?

And also how long after she turns blue will she need to lay ?

 

[Peachypink]

Just a couple questions at the moment I will space them out , sorry for being so curious I just want to make sure I know everything!

For gutloading if i am using the "Best" and "Good" Options, is it still okay to give my crickets the thirst Quenchers?
as for food ill probably be feeding my crickets the Collared Greens, Mustard Greens, Carrots, Apples, and Green beans.

Can I co Habitate my Female with a male for breeding purposes? (even when shes not in heat)

The egg laying bin it says should be 16" by 16" by 16" , is a smaller one fine for now while shes a baby (incase she does a clutch and im not aware since im a novice) Ill make sure its deep enough for tunneling!

I am currently using an Exo Terra Tropical UVB bulb. Is this a good enough one? it is a 13 watt but I dont need heat as the room the chameleon stays in is 75 and the light brings the basking spot up to a crisp 80-84

and just to clarify I turn off her light at night and usually the room stays at 75 can sometimes get colder

You can give them the quenchers I just wouldn't rely on that as their only source of food. What you are listing is good.

Definitely do not co habitate. Chams are solitary and putting them together will only cause stress and one would dominate the other and cause death of one or both. Even when mating they should only be together for the act. Read read read all you can on breeding before venturing into it. I don't recommend breading at all. There as so many veiled out there that are not getting good homes I just don't see the sense in adding to that. But if you are going to, read all you can first.

There are lots of options for lay bins, you can easily do a search on here for how other have done it but ideally she should have on in her cage and available to her at all times. You will eventually learn her signs that she is about to lay and you can do a large trash bin as a lay bin. JanB has a great blog and I believe it is attached to the bottom of the care sheet. She is definitely a great source of info.

As long as you are checking your temps and there is a gradient so she can get out of the heat, that should be fine for now. A linear bulb spreads the UVB better and I prefer them. They don't give off much heat so then you would need a separate heat bulb for a specific basking spot. Just make sure you are checking temps. Also keep in mind that UVB bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months as the UVB decreases over time and after 6 months they are just light and barely any UVB.

Yes, turn the light off at night. Chams can handle a drop as low as 55 or 50 and be just fine. The temp drop at night of 10 degrees is ideal and helps with digestion and metabolism.


Asking questions and following through with advise is what makes us better keepers so keep on asking!

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

View attachment 179400

This is a female with her big girl colors . I have read cases that there was no change in color . About a month to 6 weeks .

 

[Peachypink]

Just a couple questions at the moment I will space them out , sorry for being so curious I just want to make sure I know everything!

For gutloading if i am using the "Best" and "Good" Options, is it still okay to give my crickets the thirst Quenchers?
as for food ill probably be feeding my crickets the Collared Greens, Mustard Greens, Carrots, Apples, and Green beans.

Can I co Habitate my Female with a male for breeding purposes? (even when shes not in heat)

The egg laying bin it says should be 16" by 16" by 16" , is a smaller one fine for now while shes a baby (incase she does a clutch and im not aware since im a novice) Ill make sure its deep enough for tunneling!

I am currently using an Exo Terra Tropical UVB bulb. Is this a good enough one? it is a 13 watt but I dont need heat as the room the chameleon stays in is 75 and the light brings the basking spot up to a crisp 80-84

and just to clarify I turn off her light at night and usually the room stays at 75 can sometimes get colder

I also meant to mention that as well as just separating them you will need to have a barrier up so they can not even see each other. Having a line of sight to each other will cause stress. Stress will weaken the immune system and cause them to be more susceptible to sickness.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!

Veiled sexing...
http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/care-sheet.html

It's not advised to put two veiled chameleons in the same cage past the age of 3 or 4 months because they will breed too early and stress each other out as well.IMHO in captivity it's best to wait until the female is full grown before mating her...at about a year is a good age IMHO.

Regarding feeding and gutloading...I use a wide assortment of greens and veggies such as dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, escarole, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, carrots, etc and a bit of fruit such as berries, melon, pear, apple.

It's important to provide appropriate temperatures for the female because it aids in digestion and nutrient absorption. For a female veiled...I keep the temperature in the low to mid 80's F.

You need a source of UVB light (direct sun or UVB long linear tube are the best sources) so the chameleon can produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system.

Water should be provided through the use of a dripper and a mister.

Since most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous it's important to dust the insects just before feeding them to the chameleon with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at almost every feeding to make up for it.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to the UVB will not as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB at will.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene prOformed source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources will not build up !like prEformed sources will so this leaves it up to you to decide if/when your chameleon needs prEformed vitamin A.

It's important to have an egglaying bin in her cage once she's sexually mature (gets the yellow to mustardy spots) so that she has a place to dig to show you that she's ready to lay eggs. (Once she is receptive she will also get bright blue dots.)having the bin in the cage means you won't have to worry as much about missing the signs that she's getting ready to lay....roaming the cage looking for a laying site, drinking more, maybe eating less, etc.

Hope this helps!

 

[WannabeBreeder]

It's important to have an egglaying bin in her cage once she's sexually mature (gets the yellow to mustardy spots) so that she has a place to dig to show you that she's ready to lay eggs. (Once she is receptive she will also get bright blue dots.)having the bin in the cage means you won't have to worry as much about missing the signs that she's getting ready to lay....roaming the cage looking for a laying site, drinking more, maybe eating less, etc.

Hope this helps!

Is it possible to have a smaller nesting box in place to show the initial signs of being ready to lay like when shes looking for a place? I currently use a live plant that takes up quite a bit of space and even the smallest size of a box (12 x 12 x 12, until shes older I am going to have a cage custom made with a lay bin area) would take up all the space So i planned on taking out the plant while she was laying eggs. Would this be possible?

Also is the sand for this available at most home stores or will I need to special order it?

 

[Graves923]

Play sand can be used after it has been thoroughly washed and dried. Its available at almost any home improvement store and its cheap. If i remember correctly, I paid less than $10 for a 20lb bag.

 

[kinyonga]

I use a brand of sand produced by Kings that comes in a white bag with red, yellow, blue sand toys on it but you should be able to by washed playsand (the kind you use for kiddies' sandboxes) at stores like home hardware.

An opaque container 12" x12" x12" should be OK to use for a place for her to dig to show you she's ready.

 

[WannabeBreeder]

I use a brand of sand produced by Kings that comes in a white bag with red, yellow, blue sand toys on it but you should be able to by washed playsand (the kind you use for kiddies' sandboxes) at stores like home hardware.

An opaque container 12" x12" x12" should be OK to use for a place for her to dig to show you she's ready.

My concern is that a 12 x 12 x 12 would literally take up the majority of her cage space and also make me have to remove the plant, I was wondering if having one that was even smaller was possible just to look for signs of digging.

 

[kinyonga]

If you make the space too small she may not dig and if she doesn't dig she can become eggbound.
Imho you need a bigger cage...12" x 12" x36 is small for a female veiled.

 

[WannabeBreeder]

If you make the space too small she may not dig and if she doesn't dig she can become eggbound.
Imho you need a bigger cage...12" x 12" x36 is small for a female veiled.

I plan on getting her a bigger one, shes just a baby yet and I didn't want her to get lost

I've been looking at the Dragonstrand cages or possibly having one custom made for me by a local craftsman. Have any good brands/wesbites to buy from?

 

[kinyonga]

If she's not sexually mature yet she won't lay yet.

 

[WannabeBreeder]

If she's not sexually mature yet she won't lay yet.

How can i tell whether or not she is sexually mature?