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HueTheChameleon
Member
Yes, the prep is as important as selecting the chameleon. Most people get veiled or panthers. Veiled are a little easier on the pocketbook so you don't feel as bad spoiling them with tons of extra treats. There are great kits online that can make your life a lot easier. Do you need/want recommendations?
HueTheChameleon
Member
Are you ready to take care of hundreds and hundreds of crickets? I bought 3 cricket keepers plus a 20 gallon tank. I highly recommend getting a high walled 20 gallon tank to put on the bottom of your enclosure, so you can put the crickets in it and prevent them from escaping. This way he gets to hunt for his food and the food doesn't run away into your house. I order them by the 1000 and it lasts about a month. I put about 50-100 in the 20 gallon tank on the bottom of his cage and then 200-300 in each of the kricket keepers. If the numbers don't add up, it's because the people that sell the crickets are huge liars and probably sent about 75% of crickets they are supposed to and then another 10% to 20% die during the time you'll have them because they are the dumbest animals of all time. They will drown in water, so you have to keep gelatinous food/water cubes for them or give them squash, pumpkin, papaya, etc so they can eat/drink.
The vines are my guy's favorite part. Getting a live plant to stick in there to help regulate humidity and also for the veiled to snack on is a great first step.
The big things are the uv bulbs and if you want, a red one at night. My chameleon loves the red one at night. I have the two uv bulbs go on at 8 am and go off at 10 PM. It seems to be enough for him. I use the big dripper to drip water on a column of plants leaves that drip down into my live plant. He knows where the water is and is able to find it. They dislike change, so being able to have everything set up before he arrives would be a plus. I have an open concept top part of my cage. There is one branch that goes out side of the cage with a bowl hanging on that branch. I put wax worms and other special treats in there. He makes the decision if it's worth the treat and be handled or not. Generally veileds don't like to be handled. I found that giving Hue a treat to come out of his cage works for making him feel comfortable leaving his cage. He still isn't cuddly, but he'll climb on my arms then climb to the top of my head (or my father in law's head as is shown in my picture). Then, I'll put him back on the one branch that goes out of the cage and he'll climb back in his cage. It's a good system.
As for vitamins, I dust with calcium every other day, and multivitamin that includes d3 once a month. I've only had Hue 2 months but he's already shed 4 times.
As for # of crickets, I usually put about 20 a day and he eats all of them. That's on top of the waxworms I offer as a treat for climbing on the branch that goes outside of his cage!
The vines are my guy's favorite part. Getting a live plant to stick in there to help regulate humidity and also for the veiled to snack on is a great first step.
The big things are the uv bulbs and if you want, a red one at night. My chameleon loves the red one at night. I have the two uv bulbs go on at 8 am and go off at 10 PM. It seems to be enough for him. I use the big dripper to drip water on a column of plants leaves that drip down into my live plant. He knows where the water is and is able to find it. They dislike change, so being able to have everything set up before he arrives would be a plus. I have an open concept top part of my cage. There is one branch that goes out side of the cage with a bowl hanging on that branch. I put wax worms and other special treats in there. He makes the decision if it's worth the treat and be handled or not. Generally veileds don't like to be handled. I found that giving Hue a treat to come out of his cage works for making him feel comfortable leaving his cage. He still isn't cuddly, but he'll climb on my arms then climb to the top of my head (or my father in law's head as is shown in my picture). Then, I'll put him back on the one branch that goes out of the cage and he'll climb back in his cage. It's a good system.
As for vitamins, I dust with calcium every other day, and multivitamin that includes d3 once a month. I've only had Hue 2 months but he's already shed 4 times.
As for # of crickets, I usually put about 20 a day and he eats all of them. That's on top of the waxworms I offer as a treat for climbing on the branch that goes outside of his cage!
HueTheChameleon
Member
Also think of drainage under your system, I have an elevated system with a bucket underneath to collect all the water that's dripping from the big dripper. It help control the humidity and also with prevent lung issues from mold, etc
Lathis
Chameleon Enthusiast
No light at night. None at all. This is a common misconception.
Darkness at night is needed - chameleons have a special type of scale called a "parietal eye" that senses light and can see red light. It will keep them up at night and disturb their sleeping patterns. Unless your house drops into the lower 50s F, you don't need any heat at night, so no ceramic heater needed either, so I would say return it and save your money.
Check out the caresheets here on the forum. There is a lot of conflicting advise on the internet, but the information here was assembled by experienced keepers and breeders so the information here is trustworthy and consistent.
General Information: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/
Veiled Caresheet: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
Pay close attention to lighting requirements, temperatures, feeding/gutloading, and supplement schedules.
Good luck!
Darkness at night is needed - chameleons have a special type of scale called a "parietal eye" that senses light and can see red light. It will keep them up at night and disturb their sleeping patterns. Unless your house drops into the lower 50s F, you don't need any heat at night, so no ceramic heater needed either, so I would say return it and save your money.
Check out the caresheets here on the forum. There is a lot of conflicting advise on the internet, but the information here was assembled by experienced keepers and breeders so the information here is trustworthy and consistent.
General Information: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/
Veiled Caresheet: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
Pay close attention to lighting requirements, temperatures, feeding/gutloading, and supplement schedules.
Good luck!
HueTheChameleon
Member
I would recommend experimenting with the red light and see what your chameleon likes. If you have enough leafy foliage, he could sleep completely shielded from the red light. If your chameleon is like mine, he will literally climb the vines on the corner of the tank and sleep as close as he can to the red light at night. This is also how they regulate their temperatures during the day.
LindsayG
Avid Member
Your cham doesn't like the red light because he is scared of the dark. He is most likely up there because of the warmth it emits. Any light at all, even from a tv, can prevent a cham from sleeping, trust me I know. It looks like they're sleeping but mine had one eye partly open searching. They need complete darkness. Also, If he's "completely shielded from the light" why have it at all? It's best not to have it and be the "parent" and force your "kid" to go to bed. (Put the book down, it's time for bed! Lights out already! - my dad's favorite words growing up
S0M3TH1NGC00L
New Member
I have a commercial baking sheet under the cage that I hammered a channel and drilled a drain into. Few Jenga blocks to raise it up and a bucket underneath for the runoff
I prefer a creative and... economically friendly approach
Beppo
Chameleon Enthusiast
Red lights are not good for them at all. Not arguing but it will stress your chameleon out. Please don’t use one. They do not need any light at night, if you struggle to keep the temps where they need to be you can use a ceramic heat emitter that produces no light. But being dark is essential at night and they do like a temp drop just not below 50
Beppo
Chameleon Enthusiast
Lol 2015
@S0M3TH1NGC00L welcome to the forum!
The OP in this thread and most of the others haven’t been on the forum for years….but if you have questions about chameleons, please post a new thread! We’re always glad to discuss chameleons and their husbandry, etc here!
The OP in this thread and most of the others haven’t been on the forum for years….but if you have questions about chameleons, please post a new thread! We’re always glad to discuss chameleons and their husbandry, etc here!
S0M3TH1NGC00L
New Member
Great, thanks for the welcome cookies!
