new to this site. just got my first veiled cham

[jck09]

i have had him for a couple days now and everything seems to be going good. hes eating like mad. i just have a few questions about my setup. i have a reptarium cage with a repti-glo 10.0 and repti-glo 2.0 bulbs. zoomed 100 watt heat light ( 100* under it) the ambient temp is about 75-78. i am having trouble keeping the humidity up though. my hygrometer does not read below 30. only time it is above that is right after misting for 30 second. it goes up to about 60. how can i get the humidity up. any suggestions or questions are appreciated. i want to learn as much as possible. i have done alot of research but personal experience is better. thanks in advance
-john

 

[Justin Carl]

Try this link

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/justin-carl/20-caresheet.html

 

[dodolah]

welcome.
Justin has provided you with an excellent care sheet.
Live plants will help you in adding the humidity.
30% humidity is quite allright. but optimally you want it to be around 40 to 50%.
Check whether your hygrometer is accurate.

My advice: read read read and research.
I congratulates you on your new journey of chameleon keeping.
Careful! it's addicting.

 

[spartybassoon]

Unless you paid at least 100 buck for your hygrometer, ditch it. Most of them are cheap, inaccurate, and useless. Unless you live somewhere REALLY dry, three daily mistings should be enough to keep the cage humid. You can add plants to aid in keeping the humidity up. But also be aware that many keepers advise letting the cage dry out completely before spraying again - so its okay for the humidity level to drop.

 

[Julirs]

How old is your chameleon and how big is your Reptarium?

 

[jck09]

not sure how old it is. he is about 3"-4" without the tail. i bought a gold capella schefflera today that is safe for me to put in the cage right? i am going to clean it very well and re plant it in new soil. can i use miracle grow potting mix? or should i use plain old potting soil? i couldnt find plain potting soil at lowes so i got the miracle grow. will it be alright?
thanks
-john

 

[DarkRapture]

not sure how old it is. he is about 3"-4" without the tail. i bought a gold capella schefflera today that is safe for me to put in the cage right? i am going to clean it very well and re plant it in new soil. can i use miracle grow potting mix? or should i use plain old potting soil? i couldnt find plain potting soil at lowes so i got the miracle grow. will it be alright?
thanks
-john

if the soil has fertilizers or vermiculite, you can cover it up with smooth river rocks that are too big for your cham to eat (maybe dollar sized and bigger - in canadian currency ) the reasoning for this is to prevent him from ingesting anything harmful or getting impaction from eating something too large. also, you could sift the top layer from vermiculite to be even more sure.

 

[jck09]

i have completely cleaned the old soil off of it and am washing it now. i will re plant it in new soil. i washed all of the leaves with soapy water twice and am letting the shower rinse it off for a little while. am i doing everything right with making this plant completely safe for him? thanks for all the help.
-john

 

[Dave Weldon]

...my hygrometer does not read below 30. only time it is above that is right after misting for 30 second. it goes up to about 60. how can i get the humidity up...

Howdy John,

I've been happy with this low-cost temp/humidity digital meter.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=21243-1308-00887GT&lpage=none
Although it doesn't have a remote sensor for humidity, just hang it on the outside of the enclosure and it'll give you an indication of the ambient levels after things have stabilized from a misting session. I use it to keep track of an entire closed room rather than just what is inside one enclosure.
For a well-hydrated Veiled or a Panther, 40%-50% room humidity is reasonable. If you are located in a chronically dry environment, try an evaporative room humidifier. I like the ones that you can set the desired humidity target value and let them turn on/off by themselves. You can get them as cheap as $35 that hold around a gallon of water.

 

[chris]

the live plant inside his cage will help a lot. they keep the humidity up well. the more plants you have in the cham's environment the better they usually feel more secure. it helps even with having plants outside the cage that he can see.