New Guy, Teach me the ways....

[turtleman]

Hey everybody. I (well my wife) recently got a chameleon from a reptile expo in the Chicago area. It is a baby veiled chameleon. Right now we have him setup in a 10 gallon tank with some sticks and a few fake plants. We also spray the cage a few times daily as well as have a dripper going throughout the day. I am not new to reptile as I have 6 turtles this is my first chameleon and I am interested in learning everything I need to know (and more) about them. Right now we are feeding him small crickets gut loaded with greens and a powder supplement. I have been reading up a lot and think I might have to find a calcium specific powder is this true?? Here are some pics of the little guy and his cage. Well thanks, Blake aka Turtleman

I already think I have to add alot more plants and branches. Is it ok to keep them in a glass tank?? Our plans were to move him into a large 65 gallon Octagon tank (possibly with a female mate).

 

[mc9423]

Glass tanks generally aren't recommended for US keepers. A screen enclosure would be much better. You also need a ReptiSun 5.0 UVB bulb - that should be the next thing you get, and you need it within a few days at the most. Take out the water bowl, they're useless to chams. You'll need a Calcium powder, Calcium w/D3, and a Multivitamin. What's the basking temperature?

 

[turtleman]

Glass tanks generally aren't recommended for US keepers. A screen enclosure would be much better. You also need a ReptiSun 5.0 UVB bulb - that should be the next thing you get, and you need it within a few days at the most. Take out the water bowl, they're useless to chams. You'll need a Calcium powder, Calcium w/D3, and a Multivitamin. What's the basking temperature?

I have a repto bulb (a few actually, for the turts) I will set him up with one, I thought a UVB bulb in the lamp was enough. The water bowl catches the dripper drips, should I take it out and let the water fall to the ground??? Basking temp in the upper 80s (86-88 day 81-83 night) and the other side is in the 70's. I have some multivitamin powder, where can I get calcium powder, the pet store I went to today didn't have it (well it at least wasn't clearly labels only calcium) I will get a cage tank, I knew I should have picked up that 40 gallon screen tank at the chow for $30. Thanks for the help, should I add live plants or are fake ones OK?

 

[mc9423]

A 40 gallon won't last you long - you'll need a 2'x2'x4'H cage by the time he's an adult, which I think is equivalent to about 290 gallons? I may be completely wrong though.

If you mean a compact UVB bulb, then those may still have problems. Your safest bet is a single ReptiSun 5.0 linear flourescent. Your basking bulb and UVB bulb aren't the same, though - basking bulbs only provide UVA. And you definitely don't want any type of light on at night. Unless your house gets extrmely cold at night, you won't need any extra heating either. Room temperature is fine for the night time.

LLLReptile sells RepCal Calcium w/D3. For regular calcium, I bought a 5lb bag from premiumcrickets.com for about $20.

You definitely need a live plant in there. They help with humidity and veileds are known to eat plant matter - don't want them eating the fake stuff! Pothos, Schefflera, Hibiscus and Ficus are all great plants.

I'd cover the water bowl up so he doesn't fall into it (with some fine screen or something), but as long as its emptied every day and isn't his primary water source it should be fine.

 

[bridgofaith]

As mentioned, get him out of the tank and into a screen cage. Right now you could use a cage about 16x16x30in.. When he is about 6/8 months old you will want to move him to his permanent enclosure of 2x2x4ft. Males and females should be kept seperate. The problem with that water bowl is that the baby can fall in and drown. Something like screen secured over the top to prevent that is needed, or take it out. LOTS of live plants for humidity and cover are recommended.

For a baby veiled I would recommend the following supplements: Calcium with NO D3 everyday, Calcium with D3 1x per month and a vitamin 1-2x per month.

The most recommended UVB bulb is the ReptiSun linear (long tube style) 5.0. Coil UV bulbs have been known to cause eye damage, even blindness. Some have been reformulated to be safe, but I would stick with the safest and get the ReptiSun linear 5.0.

Here is some extra reading that you will find helpful:
FAQ: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/syn/226-frequently-asked-questions.html
Gutloading: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
Supplements: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html
Raising Veileds: http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
Safe Plants: http://www.flchams.com/safe_plant_list.asp

Good Luck!

 

[jannb]

I have veiled babies right now and below is the info that I give to everyone that's getting one of my babies. Welcome to the forums and I hope this info will help you to keep your little guy healthy and happy.

Below are items that you will need and name brands of what I use.

You will need a starter cage to began with. Get a screen cage no bigger than 30 high at the max to start with. Too big he will not be able to find his food. Even a little smaller would be good. lllreptiles has about the best cages for the money and get something small enough that it will fit in your car so you can use it for travel......vet visits and so forth when he moves up to a big boy cage (48 inches high) or a free range tree. http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/reptile-cages-glass-and-screen/

You need a Reptisun 5.0 tube light. You can see a pic of it here: It's the best UV bulb to use for chameleons.
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...por-bulbs/-/zoo-med-24-repti-sun-50-uvb-bulb/

You probably will not need a basking light right at first. He'll be so young he'll only need to bask at about 80 to 82 until 4 or 5 months old. My adult male bask at 88 or 89.....once in awhile it gets to 90. You can use a household bulb you'll have to keep testing the temps. (25 to 40 watt or so)

Your lights need to be across the top of the cage and you need allot of vines and branches 8 inches or so down from the top.....under the lights. Veileds love to bask and you don't want him rubbing his veiled on the screen or he'll wear the top off and get burned under the light.

You can make a homemade dripper. Take a plastic cup or bowl and poke a couple of very small holes in the bottom. As adults you can use a plastic milk jug. Fill it with warm water and make sure it drips very slow over a vine with leaves so your little guy can drink from the leaves. Also mist for a pretty long time. It takes awhile for them to start drinking. I would mist 3 or 4 times a day for 3 minutes or so at first. Just make sure the cage dries out real good between each misting. As adults I mist twice a day for about 5 minutes. You will need drainage for your cage. Maybe some holes in the bottom with a bucket or pan sitting under it to catch the water.

Branches from outside are ok from most trees. Clean them well and some member bake them in the oven. Cut the branch the size you need and thumb tacks can be use on each end to hold the branches up.

You really need the 5.0 UVB bulb like the one in the link above. It has to be the tube style. A must to keep you guy from having eye problems or MBD. If it's fairly warm in your house at 2 to 3 months old you will not need a basking bulb, when older or if your house is cold you will need one. Measuring the heat is very important. I have a temp. gun. Chameleons can fry in a very short time in the heat. At night he needs to be dark, no light, and cool so he can rest. He should be 10 degrees cooler at night than in the daytime but not below 65........70 as a baby.

The feeders have to be "lightly" dusted with 3 kinds of supplements. Plain calcium (no d3) at just about every feeding...... if you skip one or two days a month that's ok. Calcium with d3 twice a month and a multi. vit. once a month. VERY IMPORTANT so he will not get MBD. In this link I use the 1st, 3rd and 5th one. http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/vitamins-medicines-and-cage-cleaners/

You need to gut load the feeders with collard greens they are excellent. You can also use kale, carrots, butternut squash apple and orange. You can also buy a premixed gut load. My vet makes one that I use and one of the Forums members sales dry gutload here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/dry-gutload-sale-37717/

The Raising Kitty link on keeping veileds is excellent. I still refer to it from time to time. http://raisingkittytheveiledchamele...-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=11

 

[turtleman]

The new repto 5.0 is in, 3 new live Hosta are in. The calcium with (and without) D3 are on the way and should be here next week. Now to find a cage. Anyone have any link on building your own cage?? How big of one should I be looking for now 18x18x24 is this big enough for a few months.

 

[kinyonga]

You have a dish of water in the cage...assuming its to catch the water from the dripper...you need to ensure that the water never gets deep enough that the chameleon can drown in it....and keep it clean/germ-free. Putting a piece of screen over it might be a solution?