NEW OWNER Cage Evaluation? other questions as well

[BigBach42]

hello i am a new owner and new to this site. i would love for some one to first evaluate my set up and tell me any advice they would like to share
i also have some other questions as well!
i am wondering how old my female veiled chameleon is.
And how healthy my chameleon looks as well. i will post pictures in comments.

Set Up
Zilla 10 Gallon Terrarium (plan on upgrading to 24 X 24X 48 screened cage soon)
exo terra repti glo 5.0 Uvb bulb
zilla day blue light, 75 watt
zilla humidity and temp gauge
fake hanging plants and vines from pet store.

ABOUT MY CHAMELEON
her name is kameil, she is a female veiled (Yemen) cham. i have been taking care of her for a little over 20 days. i hand feed her 7 crickets around 2:30 pm and 4-5 crickets around 7:30p.m. i do gut load cricktes with fluckers cricket quencher. i also have reptocal calcium with d3 powder i give her once a month. but i have yet to get regular calcium powder w/o d3. she is aprox. 4" (not includeing tail) i mist her, and i try to keep cage at 70% humdity.

 

[drcrossfire]

hello i am a new owner and a new to this site. i would love for some one to first evalute my set up and tell me any advice they would like to share i also have some other questions as well! i am wondering how old my female veiled chameleon is. And how healthy my chameleon looks as well. i will post pictures in comments.
Set Up
Zilla 10 Gallon Terrarium
exo terra repti glo 5.0 Uvb bulb
zilla day blue light, 75 watt
zilla humidity and temp gauge
fake hanging plants and vines from pet store.

ABOUT MY CHAMELEON
her name is kameil, she is a female veiled (Yemen) cham. i have been taking care of her for a little over 20 days. i hand feed her 7 crickets around 2:30 pm and 4-5 crickets around 7:30p.m. i do gut load cricktes with fluckers cricket quencher. i also have reptocal calcium with d3 powder i give her 1 a month. but i have yet to get regular calcium powder w/o d3. she is aprox. 4" (not includeing tail) i mist her, and i try to keep cage at 70% humdity.

for that size tank a 75 watt bulb might be overkill. Also.. you should be getting a bigger terrarium/screen cage soon

As far as I know, fluckers cricket quencher is not an adequate source for gutloading. Try offering some alternative things to your crickets such as:

Mustard Greens, Turnip Greens, Butternut Squash, Papaya, Kale, Collards, Carrots, Apple, Lime, Bee Pollen, Kelp, Hybiscus flower, spirulina

 

[BigBach42]

sleeping in my hands

 

[Ashleigh]

hello i am a new owner and a new to this site. i would love for some one to first evalute my set up and tell me any advice they would like to share i also have some other questions as well! i am wondering how old my female veiled chameleon is. And how healthy my chameleon looks as well. i will post pictures in comments.
Set Up
Zilla 10 Gallon Terrarium
exo terra repti glo 5.0 Uvb bulb
zilla day blue light, 75 watt
zilla humidity and temp gauge
fake hanging plants and vines from pet store.

ABOUT MY CHAMELEON
her name is kameil, she is a female veiled (Yemen) cham. i have been taking care of her for a little over 20 days. i hand feed her 7 crickets around 2:30 pm and 4-5 crickets around 7:30p.m. i do gut load cricktes with fluckers cricket quencher. i also have reptocal calcium with d3 powder i give her 1 a month. but i have yet to get regular calcium powder w/o d3. she is aprox. 4" (not includeing tail) i mist her, and i try to keep cage at 70% humdity.

What is your lighting schedual? It sounds like you are feeding her pretty late...my panther's lights go off at 6 and I feed him in the morning or afternoon and that way his body has time to digest before he goes to bed. I also wouldn't gut load with the cricket quencher, there's more nutritious options that are just as easy like "bug burger" and "cricket crack". These have more nutritious value than that flukers stuff. Some people also gut load with homemade recipes that you can find on these forums. Make sure you are also measuring the temp on your basking spot to make sure it's not too hot, because I believe this makes the females produce larger clutches of eggs...I'm sure others can be more specific on this as I have not owned a female before and they require different care than the males. I also recommend a "big dripper" bottle to help her have a spot to come and drink, mine uses his all the time to get hydrated, but everyone is a little different. hope this helps!

 

[BigBach42]

What is your lighting schedual? It sounds like you are feeding her pretty late...my panther's lights go off at 6 and I feed him in the morning or afternoon and that way his body has time to digest before he goes to bed. I also wouldn't gut load with the cricket quencher, there's more nutritious options that are just as easy like "bug burger" and "cricket crack". These have more nutritious value than that flukers stuff. Some people also gut load with homemade recipes that you can find on these forums. Make sure you are also measuring the temp on your basking spot to make sure it's not too hot, because I believe this makes the females produce larger clutches of eggs...I'm sure others can be more specific on this as I have not owned a female before and they require different care than the males. I also recommend a "big dripper" bottle to help her have a spot to come and drink, mine uses his all the time to get hydrated, but everyone is a little different. hope this helps!

i turn on the lights 7 am and turn them off at 7:30 8 pm

 

[BigBach42]

i forgot to put i have a make-shift water dripper thing at top of cage. took pic at night thats why theres no heat lamps.

 

[mcbdz]

Hello and welcome to the forums. You have come to the best place to learn more about your little friend and how to best care for her. There are a few things I would recommend to change as soon a possible and will link you to some good info to read. The calcium with out D3 is the most important supplement IMHO. The others can be added with good gutloading but you need to get the plain powder for her ASAP. It is at most pet shops and it's online. It is even more important in females to help with egg production and laying just to save their lives.
It is best to feed your Chameleon early so she'll have 4-6 hours of basking to help digest her food. She may not be getting all her nutrients from what you feed her if she doesn't have time ti digest properly.
It would be best to get her in a screened enclosure and one that is taller then wide. They are tree dwelling animals and like to climb up. An aquarium does not allow for good enough air circulation for a chameleon and can lead to all kinds of health problems. Most common I believe is upper respiratory infection. It is also hard for her to regulate her body temp.
I am going to post a few good link for you to read so maybe it will explain care better and give you a jump start on research. You have most definitely come to the right place. Hope to see lots of post from you.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/general-care-true-chameleons-5943/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

 

[CLP]

Yes, you need to work on your supplementation and gutloading. She need calcium without D3 every day and a multi vitamin twice a month. You also need to provide a variety of insects. Crickets alone is not sufficient.

Also, be careful with your temperatures. I would think that 75 watt bulb might be making the tank too hot. I would also add more plants and branches for her to walk on. The plants (especially live ones) will help keep the humidity up and also make her feel more secure.

As for the humidity, 70% for a veiled is about as high as you want it to get, and it should fluctuate - hit 70% or higher when you first mist, but then drop down even as low as 40% until you mist again. Too much humidity can be as bad as not enough and can cause a respiratory infection which you'll have to be especially careful of in a glass aquarium. Chameleons need good airflow which is hard to maintain in an aquarium. The exo terra tanks are much better for this with the vents at the bottom, but most people on here use a screen enclosure. What you have is OK for now, but you'll need to look at upgrading to something with better airflow and larger sooner than later. Also, you might want to consider having a small fan to increase airflow. Don't point it into the tank, but just have it blowing across the top of the screen.

Do as much reading on here as you can. There is a TON of great information. I've been a member for about 6 months, have been reading like crazy, and am still learning! Good luck with her, and if you have any questions/concerns, this is the place to post them!