Hello everyone, Ive finally purchased the chameleon Ive always wanted. I had a decent discussion with the man at the pet store who sold him to me but Id like to hear any and all advice I can about safely raising Treecko. Ive had him for a little over a day so far but he doesnt seem to be eating or drinking much at all. I have 10 or so live crickets in the cage with him and I thoroughly mist the cage with room temp water 4-5 times a day. The cage itself is 1.5’x1.5’x2’ of screen so I mist more often to try and fix humidity. There are two lights on the cage during the day, a swirly ubv white tinted light and a yellow-y heat light that looks like a plain household light. At night I replace the lights with a 50 W night heat lamp. I plan to get a dripper thermometer and the humidity testing thing tomorrow and I leave a towel on one side of the cage and the wall on another to try to keep the heat in. The room is roughly 70 degrees and Im not certain how old he is or what gender he is but he is very bright green almost all day and roughly 4-5 inches head to tail. It seemed like moving stressed him so I have avoided handling him at all besides putting him in his home. On the move from the pest store he was in a small box on a paper towel with a slight hole and took no more than 15 min. Then I him on the paper towel in the cage and let him move at his pace overnight. The extent of his movement since then was climbing roughly a foot up a branch and sliding under another overhanging branch close to the heat lamp. He hasn’t gone the bathroom today but in the store the one poop looked relatively normal. I dont have any supplements yet because I wanted to be confident I was getting the right product. I havent contacted any vets since the purchase. When I mist I use a spray bottle on full mist and I lightly spray the leaves from above until they are all covered with drips but I havent witnessed any eating or drinking. The brand for all the equipment etc is exo terra, I am from Massachusetts, and the cage is like 3ft off the ground and a little over 3 from the ceiling, vents or anything not many people either relatively quiet. The plants and branches in the kit were fake and the leaves are slightly waxy. The attached images are of him in the cage today and the moment he arrived on the paper towel. Thank you for reading all this lol.
New Owner looking for advice
- Thread starter Squill_4
- Start date
VeiledMathis
Member
No heat lamp is needed at night, a drop in temperature is actually a good thing, you need way more plants in your set up so it can hide and not be stressed, which he/she is going to out grow quickly. You need to look at the care sheet for Veiled chamelons! The care sheet will tell you what supplements you need. If the gentleman at the pet store told you this is a good set up...He doesn't know what he's talking about, just my two cents.
devynnogood
Member
I'm afraid your cage is a bit too small for he/she. I would plan on upgrading in the next couple weeks or months. You also do not have a proper UV light. You NEED a 5.0 UV bulb. The bulb is even more important than getting a larger cage. As long as temps aren't dropping below 55 at night, you don't need a night time heat light. Chameleons are use to night time temp drops at night. I recommend you research everything about chameleons. A really good source of information is Bill Strands chameleon podcast, he's really good at explaining everything you need to know about chameleons. Episode 1 is intros to chameleons. I would also recommend some real plants for the cage to help keep in your humidity. My cham likes umbrella plants. Plastic wrap or plastic shower curtains wrapped around 2-3 sides of your cage will also help with humidity. No eating or drinking is common the first few days in a new home. He may be drinking when you aren't looking. Give him some time to acclimate to his new home. I wouldn't handle for at least 2 weeks unless your chameleon really doesn't seem to mind.
devynnogood
Member
Don't buy a full glass, they are susceptible to respiratory infections, you need ventilation. Part glass and part screen is good.
Exo Terra glass cages with the air vents in the front below the doors and a screen lid would be fine.
You have to make sure you don't leave water laying stagnant in the bottom of the cage though if you are going to mist a lot.
To tell the sex of a veiled look at the heels for a spur. Males have spurs..females don't.
Do you know about proper supplementing and feeding/gutloading?
Do you know that females can lay eggs without having mated once sexually mature?
You have to make sure you don't leave water laying stagnant in the bottom of the cage though if you are going to mist a lot.
To tell the sex of a veiled look at the heels for a spur. Males have spurs..females don't.
Do you know about proper supplementing and feeding/gutloading?
Do you know that females can lay eggs without having mated once sexually mature?
Wow I didnt know about the eggs actually, is my chameleon not old enough to show signs of the spurrs or is it a girl? And is there a special precaution for if they need to lay eggs? How would I be able to tell? And I didnt know about the supplementing until I read the first reply so I have to look for a sheet of what I need.
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
If you buy juvenile crickets you won't hear chirping.
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
CF bulbs tend to produce a narrow highly focused beam of UV light. It can be harsh for young cham's eyes. These bulbs also don't do as good a job illuminating a large area of the cage, which means your cham ends up sitting in a smaller area much of the time. Most of us prefer using "linear" UV bulbs (you know, tube lights, not coiled).
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
60-65 is fine. No night heat necessary.
You asked..."And dear god how do i stop the cricket chirping"...there are crickets that don't chirp but I don't know if you can find them. (BTW it's just the males that chirp in the species you would have.) Buying young crickets is a solution but your chameleon may be too big for them. Basically you will have to live with it! 
You said..." live plants? If so what type would be best? "...pothos, ficus, hibiscus, schefflera, etc. anything that is non toxic to them.
You said..."Wow I didnt know about the eggs actually" ..."And is there a special precaution for if they need to lay eggs? How would I be able to tell?".
You said..."is my chameleon not old enough to show signs of the spurrs or is it a girl?"...spurs are visible at birth...so no spurs at this age definitely means female.
You said..."Wow I didnt know about the eggs actually..."And is there a special precaution for if they need to lay eggs? How would I be able to tell?"...we recommend having a lay bin in the cage at all times once she's sexually mature. When shesmsexually mature she will develop mustard yellow splotches and bright blue dots.
You said..."I didnt know about the supplementing until I read the first reply so I have to look for a sheet of what I need"...its recommended that you dust the i sects just before you feed them to the chameleon at almost every feeding, with a phosphorous-free calcium powder to help make up for the poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects.
It's 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 and leaving it to produce the rest from its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to an overdose but D3 from the UVB light won't as long as the chameleon can move in and out if it 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 of vitamin A won't build up in the system like prEformed sources will so its safer to use but it means it's up to you to decide if/when your chameleon needs some prEformed.
Hope this helps!
You said..." live plants? If so what type would be best? "...pothos, ficus, hibiscus, schefflera, etc. anything that is non toxic to them.
You said..."Wow I didnt know about the eggs actually" ..."And is there a special precaution for if they need to lay eggs? How would I be able to tell?".
You said..."is my chameleon not old enough to show signs of the spurrs or is it a girl?"...spurs are visible at birth...so no spurs at this age definitely means female.
You said..."Wow I didnt know about the eggs actually..."And is there a special precaution for if they need to lay eggs? How would I be able to tell?"...we recommend having a lay bin in the cage at all times once she's sexually mature. When shesmsexually mature she will develop mustard yellow splotches and bright blue dots.
You said..."I didnt know about the supplementing until I read the first reply so I have to look for a sheet of what I need"...its recommended that you dust the i sects just before you feed them to the chameleon at almost every feeding, with a phosphorous-free calcium powder to help make up for the poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects.
It's 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 and leaving it to produce the rest from its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to an overdose but D3 from the UVB light won't as long as the chameleon can move in and out if it 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 of vitamin A won't build up in the system like prEformed sources will so its safer to use but it means it's up to you to decide if/when your chameleon needs some prEformed.
Hope this helps!
devynnogood
Member
I recently switched from a 5.0 linear bulb to 5.0 reptisun deep dome fixture. I've always heard go linear but then I started hearing from multiple breeders and doing research of my own to find out the normal dome UV ones give so much more light for them. I just switched UVs the other day and I've seen a HUGE difference in my 4 month old male Nosy Faly! I kept wondering why he wasn't producing his colors and then I starting doing research (He's also just a late bloomer). The light illuminates his whole cage, not just one area and I've noticed that before he would mainly be under his heat light, now he stays under the UV most of the time. I'm not here to say the linears are bad lights, cause I think they are good lights as well. I just wanted to share my experience with switching over. Ps. The reptisun lights are the best linear or not.
So I bought a digital thermometer that measures from a little rod on a wire. A 10ubv rod reptisun bulb, a humidity gage, a 50 count of super worm the the phosphate free calcium powder with d3 vitamin, and a little dripper, they didnt have the plants or the laying bed so Im going to go to lowes tomorrow and get the plants, then figure out the bed situation. Was there two different dusting powders on your description? I also dusted 5 of the worms and put them in a dish
devynnogood
Member
The 10uvb is too strong. That's for dessert animals, you needed to buy the 5.0
You can't use the Calcium with D3 everyday. You will over dose them. You have to use calcium with no D3 everyday and then the calcium with the D3 every 2 weeks.
