New Owner

amberlynn

amberlynn

New Member
I just bought my male veiled chameleon, Rango, about a week ago. He is my first chameleon so I want to be sure I am doing everything correctly. He is currently in a 55 gallon tank with the screen top, but will soon be in the full screened cage. Throughout the cage I have apple tree branches which he can climb on to get to the top of the cage. On the top I have a UVB light, which I keep on from 9am-9pm and a heating light that I keep on at all times. I spray his cage about 5 times a day with room temperature water spraying him, all the plants inside, and each side of the cage. In the cage I also have a bowl that has a filter and motor in it that keeps the water moving slowly. I feed him 7 crickets a day usually 3 in the morning and 4 at night which are coated with the repti calcium without vitamin d. He also recieves one mealworm a day which are about 2 inches long. I also give him various fruits trying to give him some about every other day. Am I missing anything or doing anything wrong? Please let me know, any advice would be great! Thank you!!!
 
Hiya, sounds pretty good! Just a few things struck me.
What strength is your UV bulb? It should be 5.0.
Also, the heat lamp should be switched off at night, any light at night will disturb them. Some people use ceramic heat emitters, if the temp drops too low at night.
Are you using any substrate? It's better to use paper towels or newspaper.
Also, lots of people supplement with a multivit including D3 once every 2 weeks.
Hope that helps!
What's his name? :)
 
It is 5.0! Woohoo! And I have a reptile carpet in there should I put some paper towels on top of it? And ok I will have to be sure to add the d3 every couple weeks and turn off both lights! His name is Rango :D Thank you for the response!
 
Lol sorry, I just realised you said his name in your original post. I'm not sure about the reptile carpet. I just use plain tissue paper- it's soooo easy to clean that way.
I think people will probably recommend you take out the water bowl because it can be a challenging keeping bacteria out of there, even if u clean it every day.
Oh, also, do you have a dripper for him to drink from? I bought 1, but they're really easy to make. :)
 
I used the reptile carpet for my cham, and it didn't give me any trouble, just make sure you clean it once every couple days, I vacuumed mine. :)
 
amberlynn said:
It is 5.0! Woohoo! And I have a reptile carpet in there should I put some paper towels on top of it? And ok I will have to be sure to add the d3 every couple weeks and turn off both lights! His name is Rango :D Thank you for the response!
Click to expand...

The carpet will be fine just make sure its not the one will little black pieces of rubber in it. If so take it out. Its harder to clean than paper towels though. That is up to you. The bowl I would take out for the reasons listed above. And also the best thing you can dust your feeders with is Repashy calcium plus. Its an all in one supplement. Its great and you don't have to worry about which days are which. Other than that it looks good :) could we see a picture?!
 
55 gallon tank? How much vertical height is that?

Please keep in mind that UVB does not transmit through glass, so it should be resting on top of the enclosure without anything but a screen between it, some plants, and your chameleon.

I recommend taking out the water bowl. Search for chameleon drowning if you need additional info on that.

Got any pics?
 
lausnordah said:
55 gallon tank? How much vertical height is that?

Please keep in mind that UVB does not transmit through glass, so it should be resting on top of the enclosure without anything but a screen between it, some plants, and your chameleon.

I recommend taking out the water bowl. Search for chameleon drowning if you need additional info on that.

Got any pics?
Click to expand...

yeah about the water thing they are usually arboreal lizards and don't drink out of a bowl try misting twice a day and also maybe use a dripper and a humidifier:)
 
Got it! the water bowl has been removed and a dripper has been ordered! As soon as the new cage comes in I will post pictures of happy Rango in his new home. Thank you for all your help!
 
hello and welcome! Your chameleon looks very young from the photos and therefore 7 crickets is not enough for him. He should be eating about 15-20 crickets a day. Unless he is eating an enormous amount of vegetation, then you could feed him less. Try mixing some other feeders such as silksworms, phoenix worma, butterworms etc. Those are a better feeder choice than the mealworms.
 
I bought large "superworms" today they are about two inches long and he ate one but is that to large for him to be eating? If not can I feed him some fruit, 15 crickets and two of these superworms a day? Will this be enough food?
 
If the chameleon in your avatar is still the same size then yes, those supers are too big.JMO I would not feed those to him until he gets bigger. Feed him the crickets and if he likes veggies, those are ok too. I highly recommend silkworms. They are a very nutritional feeder and aren't really fatty like alot of the worms. You can get them small, and if you cut back on the their chow, you can slow down their growth so they don't become too large to feed. You can order them online from Coastal Silkworms or Mulberry Farms. Also Ladysilkworm is another supplier.
 
One other thing I noticed, you're feeding crickets in the evening before his lights are turned off. If I remember correctly, this board recommends not feeding them less than 3 hours before bedtime. This is because they must have heat to digest. My chameleon once pooped out visible pieces of cricket when he ate some in the evening, and it looked very uncomfortable! I feed all his crickets in the morning.
 
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