New owner of a Veiled chameleon...

[Bigskny1]

yeah sorry that was my bad with the pictures. how can I change the post topic to add text to it?

 

[DavidBuchan]

Sorry David, but I always read through the entire thread to see if you have given this link yet . Now GET BACK TO WORK!!!

Lol, I've seen you post it up before so I'll let you off.......

yeah sorry that was my bad with the pictures. how can I change the post topic to add text to it?

You'll need to ask a mod I think. Try Hoj or Trace or Laurie......there are a few mods about but it dependes who's online at the time you ask........
Also I have been reminded that I didn't welcome you so....... Hello there, welcome to the best chameleon forum in the world

 

[Bigskny1]

Thanks. You are right about that the forum very nice and informational.

 

[mattj]

Congrats and nice cage, I am just surprised no one has suggested removing the substrate from the bottom of the cage. I know thats normally frowned upon in a chameleon cage.

I know I have seen more than one cham eat dirt from a planter until I covered it with rocks.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Congrats and nice cage, I am just surprised no one has suggested removing the substrate from the bottom of the cage. I know thats normally frowned upon in a chameleon cage.

I know I have seen more than one cham eat dirt from a planter until I covered it with rocks.

This is a good point. Eating substrate can happen, even accidentally. The substrates most frowned upon are the reptibark type things though, which can cause constipation(impaction) if ingested.
I have soil and sand in with mine (only kept 3 Veileds) and have never seen deliberate eating. If I did I would remove it, though a little organic soil should do no harm if the cham is healthy. Don't forget we put laying bins in with females and trust they won't eat it..............
Having substrate should mean keeping an even closer watch on your cham, especially at feeding time

 

[Bigskny1]

I have read that.
I am using eco earth coconut fiber substrate. Also the ficus tree is planted in 100% organic soil. It is more like a soil than a bark. Is this better or about the same as the bark?

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

hey big just like i told seb you wanna wash that plant off as well as you can. when you buy plants from stores they are sprayed with pesticides and can harm your cham. alos welcome to the site my friend ! this is one of the best things you can possible sign up for there are a lot of helpful people on here ! as far as cleaning the plants go use a spray bottle and water and dish soap soak the plant down a few times and then use normal water. and you want to replant it in normal top soil again some companies use miracle grow and other additives to the soil. just a little heads up !

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

i just saw the pictures you posted ! as far as substrate goes i would do paper towels or a plastic square. some chams when trying to catch the crickets tend to pick up some of the substrate with the cricket and that could cause impaction. and your little one can die from that. but its up to you and what you like. as for my little guy i just used the plastic square that comes with the cage set up i have. I have nothing on the bottom of the screen besides a little turd or two which i actually have to clean up ! haha i hope this help you out !

 

[Bigskny1]

didn't realize that i needed to clean the plant off, we got it from tiki tiki retiles so I thought they wouldn't put that stuff on it or in the soil because it was from a reptile shop. As for the substrate I kind of have to talk to my wife about that one, she really likes the look of it. but maybe she will change her mind if she knows that it can be dangerous for the little guy.

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

i dunno how tiki does it with the plants........maybe shoot them an email but most plant shops and stores do pesticides and have chemicals in the dirt. but yea the substrate looks nice and all but it sucks when they get very sick from it if eaten.....

 

[Bigskny1]

My wife got the tree and I just checked out the site. It says that they use zero pesticides and 100% organic soil. The big thing I have to do now is just clean the huge dumps off of the leaves. wow suprised me when I first saw it

 

[Bigskny1]

I am now thinking about a dripper but not sure if I need it. He drinks pretty good off of the leaves when the mister goes off every three hours. I am misting 4 times a day, paco is on a 12 on 12 off schedule already. I caught him dosing off like fifteen mins before the lights went off.

 

[LitldevlblueBar]

man my little guy is a lazy bastard he passed out like 2 hours before his lights went out haha. he is also on a 12 - 12 cycle. and thats good new that they use no pesticides and 100% organic soil. I will be looking into them for plants myself ! maybe try adding some rocks on the top of the dirt to make sure no crickets get in there and he picks the dirt up as well. as far as a dripper goes I to have a auto mister and it goes off every 2 hours for one min. and I still use a dripper and I see him gulping the drops from the dripper. its up to you but why not have a little extra water around for him just in case,.

 

[Bigskny1]

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I know they love to drink water but he is not use to the auto mister yet still hides a little when it is spraying.