New Chameleon Owner seeking some advice :)

[toyochris]

Hello,

A few days ago I bought Rango, a male Veiled Cham around 4 months old.

As I live in the UK and upon the pet shop owners advice I went with a large wooden Vivarium with glass doors (Hopefully pics should show below)

At the moment all the plants are fake, however I'm thinking about either a Pothos or a Ficus to go in the enclosure. After cleaning and potting the shop bought plants- Should I cover the soil with something to stop accidental ingestion by Rango?

Also, I'm waiting for a dripper to arrive, and am currently misting 2-3 times a day. Humidity sits between 60% and 80% (Shortly after misting) I feed him small crickets and mealworms at the moment. Would a live plant raise the humidity too much in an enclosed vivarium? I've heard above 80% is not good!

Any other helpful tips or anything I can do to make it better for Rango would be greatly appreciated!

Look forward to hearing from you all..

-Chris


P.S. The picture of Rango he is a little darker than normal-- Had to take him out of his home to securely fix the fake plants as the suction cups were useless on the wood!

 

[Remkon]

In a wooden (or glass) enclosure Humidity is easy to keep high but ventilation starts to be an issue. You also want the enclosure to dry out between misting and without sufficient airflow this will be hard to achieve and will cause molding and bacteria growth which eventually will lead to stuff like respiratory issues on your chameleon.
I'm kinda worried your enclosure doesn't have sufficient ventilation.
Is there any ventilation in the bottom?

Lights on the enclosure would also be better than in but you don't have a screen top which is is a shame. At least make sure he can't reach the lamp or the wiring around it since they will not notice a surface is to hot until it's to late and you want to prevent it even if it's unlikely it will happen.
Replacing the current top for a screen top would be a great solution for your lighting and an increase of ventilation.

As plants I would take at least some life plants even if it's not required to keep up humidity. A veiled may like to take a bite out of a plant so it's nice to have it available to him.
Personally I have ficus and they grow great but lose a lot of leaves.
I have an umbrella plant too, it doesn't grow to fast but it doesn't lose leaves either and gives a nice dense bushy look.

 

[Decadancin]

Welcome to the forums! Live plants will definitely help with humidity levels, but will likely maintain them for longer periods rather than raise them much higher. Pothos and Ficus would both work for this. As for covering the soil, there is no one perfect answer, but I would probably do it. You can use some rocks that are too large to be ingested and this will prevent your new boy from deciding to eat the soil.
Here are some Veiled Chameleon basics...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Best of luck with your new boy!

 

[werecat]

If the sides of the viv are made of wood I would think you could easily drill some holes along the top and bottom for extra ventilation. If you are concerned about this then you can probably modify your enclosure in this way.

Welcome and best of luck!

 

[Decadancin]

I see vents at the top in the back panel, are there any down low?

 

[toyochris]

Thanks for the response!

There are 2 vents top and 1 bottom at the back of the enclosure.

There are vents on the glass door holders top and bottom. I think they call it a "easy vent" system or something like that!

The pet shop assured me the ceramic bulb and guard was safe for him to climb on as i was a little concerned at first.. he does sometimes climb on it but usually just sits on his basking perch next to it.

Ive just got a 5 foot fake ficus for outside the enclosure so i can get him used to human contact slowly and also as a familar place for him to sit when i clean his enclosure.. gunna try see if he will use it on his own accord tomorrow!

Cheers,
Chris

 

[FinePoint]

Hi Chris!
That sounds a lot like the exo terra glass vivarium a that have front vents to help with airflow. I wouldn't worry as long as they are clear from debris. My advice would be to be careful with the dropper! In my enclosure (also glass) water will build up if the dropper is on for more than one day. I position it to drip into the plants soil, thus watering the plant and keeping the enclosure dry.

Also veiled's can be "funny" and not stand still when you take them out so I'd keep a very close eye on him when he comes out.

Best of luck!

 

[Andee]

I wouldnt put a ficus in with a veiled honestly. Though they are on the safe plant list, many of the more experienced members will tell you the same thing, they aren't really safe for ingestion. Technically umbrella trees and pothos plants can be toxic in large doses too, but ficus have a type of sap that can cause diarrhea and vomiting. If they get enough of it and it doesn't take much, they can get really sick really fast. They also have irritants in the saphris that if it touches their eyes it can cause pain.

 

[toyochris]

Thanks for all the advice!

Think ill go to the garden center today and get a pothos and umbrella and position the dropper to water them- sounds like a great idea!

I did go for the little dripper so hopefully i can fill it up ans it wont flood the enclosure but ill test it as soon as it arrives!

Thanks again all

Chris

 

[Twitchet]

I'm in the U.k and have mine in a vivexotic like yours, I have live plants in a plastic garden tray that covers the floor to stop rot from watering etc, I wasnt sure the vents fitted would of been enough so I bought some large vents from ebay - my viv is 4ft long so I had to add four of these- 2 either side, 1 top 1 bottom , the vents are 5x7" or so and for bathrooms/ caravans etc- and humidity- either too much or too little has never been a problem.

 

[vtcowgirl]

I built screen cages so didn't need to worry about vents but this sounds like a great idea!

 

[Twitchet]

Certainly here- I couldn't maintain humidity or temperature well enough- This house is very cold in the winter and draughty so that's why I went for wooden, for me it keeps much warmer and I've been very happy with it.

 

[Link]

Thanks for all the advice!

Think ill go to the garden center today and get a pothos and umbrella and position the dropper to water them- sounds like a great idea!

I did go for the little dripper so hopefully i can fill it up ans it wont flood the enclosure but ill test it as soon as it arrives!

Thanks again all

Chris

Welcome Chris. And also welcome to the disease there's no cure for . you'll have more of them before you know it enjoy it

 

[toyochris]

So My little dripper came- I set it up to the top of the enclosure. It flooded the bottom within 20 minutes so I cleaned that up and went to the garden centre!

They did have a Ficus however it did have the white sap which I wasn't comfortable for Rango to eat (Accidentally or not)! The only thing on the safe plant list was a "Chloropythum White Han" which the plant-guy said was a spider plant.

I washed the leaves and put some big rocks over the soil- once he has forgiven me for the intrusion of putting it in his enclosure I hope to see him go check it out...

And Link-- I've always wanted a Jacksons Cham....

 

[Twitchet]

I found lots of garden plastic trays on eBay, mine fits the bottom of the viv , it has no drainage holes and holds water and the big dripper is on for 30 - 60 mins at a time and by the time it's finished the plants has soaked most of the water up, I put a small towel in for 10 mins and soak up the last of the excess water sometimes. It would be a disaster if I let the water drip onto the wooden floor, water everywhere and although the wooden is laminated with plastic and sealed along seams - water would still get in a rot quickly. A tray works really well and as long as the dripper drips in the middle you don't get hardly any water loss , maybe just splashes here and there.

 

[Link]

View attachment 166723

So My little dripper came- I set it up to the top of the enclosure. It flooded the bottom within 20 minutes so I cleaned that up and went to the garden centre!

They did have a Ficus however it did have the white sap which I wasn't comfortable for Rango to eat (Accidentally or not)! The only thing on the safe plant list was a "Chloropythum White Han" which the plant-guy said was a spider plant.

I washed the leaves and put some big rocks over the soil- once he has forgiven me for the intrusion of putting it in his enclosure I hope to see him go check it out...

And Link-- I've always wanted a Jacksons Cham....

 

[Link]

I also always wanted Jackson's. Had a few when I was younger.

 

[nick barta]

Welcome to the Forum!

If you want to get more air circulation without venting more, you could but a small fan and have it blow in your bottom vent. This will create a greater airflow, and is a lot easier than venting. If the fan is not enough then you can cut more vents.

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[toyochris]

so.. Update!

I've tweaked the enclosure. Tried to build the enclosure up high some more and added a big branch. I've also put in a Ficus, Philedendrum and Spider plant which he nibbles on occasionally. I mounted the UVB light to the front so he is less likely to decide to climb on it (Which he liked doing when it was at the back, behind the ceramic heat bulb)

I mist 2-3 times daily, humidity generally sits around 50-60% with the humidity sensor sitting just behind that big branch. No sign of dehydration in his urate or poop. I tried the little dripper but he ignored it completely so I've taken it out)

He eats very well, with a staple of crickets and cockroaches, and mealworms and morio as treats. He is getting much tamer as I am hand feeding him a cockroack/morio/mealworm every day and now he'll (slowly) make his way onto my hand to eat one (But then retreats off once he's eaten it!) I supplement with Nutrobal calcium balancer and multivitamin every other day (This is what the pet shop gave me- I have read it's better to use Calcium -D3, Calcium +3 and multivit independently.. Would you guys recommend this or continue what i'm doing?)

Anyway enclosure + Rango pic below, any improvement ideas very gladly received as I'm still learning!

 

[Decadancin]

As a basic "rule" I would use Calcium w/o D3 every feeding and With D3 twice monthly as well as Multivitamin twice monthly for a veiled that does not have a bunch of time in natural sunlight. It is a good foundation to success for long term health. Enclosure is looking nice!