New Veild Chameleon Owner

krikinit said:
Keep the cage you bought as a back up. She can stay in there when you have to deep clean. The rest is no good. I had a reptile shop tell me a female panther cham couldnt survive without a male. Thats when I found the forum to find out how deep it was getting! He was so full of it, chest waders couldn't keep me dry! Dont know if it been mentioned but the Chameleon breeder podcast is full of great info. Im not on facebook but i hear there is a cham group that offers mentorship. I served a 2 year apprenticeship for falconry and i made a lifelong friend. Maybe something to look into. Im not big on FB, the cham fams got my back here and i dont see as many pitchforks here!
Click to expand...
Yeah it sounds like the lady took me for a ride... That's why im absolutely soooo happy to have come across this forum! Everyone is sooo knowledgeable and gives me feedback within a short amount of time! Its a warm feeling knowing there are so many other people with experience on here that can help me and give me the right information!
 
krikinit said:
Keep the cage you bought as a back up. She can stay in there when you have to deep clean. The rest is no good. I had a reptile shop tell me a female panther cham couldnt survive without a male. Thats when I found the forum to find out how deep it was getting! He was so full of it, chest waders couldn't keep me dry! Dont know if it been mentioned but the Chameleon breeder podcast is full of great info. Im not on facebook but i hear there is a cham group that offers mentorship. I served a 2 year apprenticeship for falconry and i made a lifelong friend. Maybe something to look into. Im not big on FB, the cham fams got my back here and i dont see as many pitchforks here!
Click to expand...
Yeah I dont have a facebook either! I dont like seeing all the negative crap on there and all the political stuff. I just want to ensure that I become the best keeper I can be and that im taking advice from people that know what they're talking about... Unlike the lady at the pet shop smh
 
Charliefoxtrot98 said:
I just filled out the forum now! Im going to get right on it and start fixing things! Which cage would you suggest? Thank yo so much for your help!
Click to expand...
Ok I am going to make notes in your form so look for red... lol

Your chameleon: Veiled Chameleon, Female, age not sure. Been in my care for 4 days ( keep in mind if you see little spurs on her hind legs she is not a female and is a male.
Handling: Only handled when I absolutely have to
Feeding: 12-15 small crickets in the morning or wax worms The amount of feeders is good for her right now. Looks to be somewhere around the 3-4 month mark. Ok so wax worms are only treats. 1 a day no more. They are essentially all fat. So it would be like you living off of cake.. No real nutritional value. Morning feeding is perfect. You can add in other feeders as well. I like Black soldier fly larvae or BSFL> They are a great feeder to work in. I will post a graphic that will help with this. make sure you are gutloading your feeders.
Supplements: Rep Cal Calcium with D3 every 2 weeks, Repti Calcium without D3 every feeding and Multivitamin will soon be bought Perfect the multi will be 2 times a month as well. Do it on the opposite week of the calcium with D3. Lightly coating the feeders not a powdered donut effect.
Watering: Spray down the cage every 1 1/12 - 2 hours. Mist down the cage for about 2 min every time. Once in a while I will see her drinking I would spray every 4 hours. you need the cage to dry out in between. The branches do not want to remain wet or you can end up dealing with bacteria growth and issues with her feet being on a moist surface all the time. Add a little dripper to the top of the cage. Put it on a slow drip and the tube through the top of the screen to drip on plants. This is where adding live plants is helpful as well. A pothos plants and a dwarf umbrella plant are great options not only to raise humidity but they like to munch on their plants. And it gives a place for the dripper to drip into.
Fecal Description: Solid dark brown. Has not been tested for parasites I would get a fecal done just to ensure she does not have any parasites. Call around and find a reptile vet. Ask if you can just bring in a fecal to be tested that she is not unhealthy you are just wanting to double check. Get a fresh stool in a plastic baggy and take it in to the vet.
History: Was bought from Petco

Cage Info:

Cage Type: Screen enclosure measuring 16x16x30 I would eventually upgrade. I really like dragon strand cages myself.
Lighting: ZooMed double bulb fixture. 75W regular house bulb and UVB bulb that came with the ZooMed multibreez setup. 12 hours of UVB and basking light and shut everything off when I go to sleep. You already know what you need to do here. But I love this for raising my heat lamp up. I just drilled holes in the mounting plate to screw it directly into the frame. It is good because it allows you to control the heat level without buying multiple bulbs. Also if she screen climbs it lowers the burn risk because the heat is not directly on the screen. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007D1BUJY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Temperature: The cage stays at about 80 degrees out of the basking spot and around 86 in the basking spot. Overnight can get to about 72 degrees
Ok so I would get a temp gun this way you can get exact temps. You will want a horizontal branch below her new uvb fixture about 8 inches down. She should not be any closer to uvb or heat. You want the bottom of the cage to be cooler about 70ish. The basking level to be no hotter then 83. So point the heat gun at the branch and if it is 80-81 your good. If it is higher then it is too hot. Because it gets hotter the closer you get to the bulb. Females really should stay at about 82-83 degrees. High enough for digestion but as they mature. We control their clutch size with their heat level and the amount of feeders. They get a lower heat and less feeders to ensure a smaller amount of eggs laid.
Humidity: This is something that I have been struggling with. I recently learned about covering the sides and will give it a try. Humidity is really low currently I am wondering if your gauge is working. I would expect a higher level of humidity due to you living in Florida. I would get a new gauge. You want daytime humidity to be between 30-50% and night time to be high. I use this one. It is very accurate. Just make sure that it is not where it is getting sprayed in the cage. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H1R0K68/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Plants: No live plants Pothos and dwarf umbrella would be great choices. Pothos vine and they love them. cover the top of the dirt in the pot with 1 inch river rock to ensure she does not eat the dirt.
Placement: In my bedroom where the is a ceiling fan and my air vent is located 7 feet away from the cage. The top of the cage is about 5/12 feet from the floor
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida



Current Problems:
Keeping a stable humidity and making sure her temperature levels are accurately kept. I also now worry after reading everything that I have done the setup absolutely wrong and feel absolutely awful about it.

Don't ever feel bad. You are here and learning what to do right. Almost all of us have been in your position. It sucks to be told the wrong info but you found people that can help you correct everything. Continue learning and asking questions. Here are some other resources for you.

www.dragonstrand.com amazing cages.
www.lightyourreptiles.com fixtures and Arcadia brand bulbs. I prefer Arcadia. their 12% uvb is comparative to the 10.0 zoo med.
www.chameleonbreeder.com amazing podcasts full of fantastic info.

Gutloading 101.jpeg
Basic Feeder pic.jpeg
 
Beman said:
Ok I am going to make notes in your form so look for red... lol

Your chameleon: Veiled Chameleon, Female, age not sure. Been in my care for 4 days ( keep in mind if you see little spurs on her hind legs she is not a female and is a male.
Handling: Only handled when I absolutely have to
Feeding: 12-15 small crickets in the morning or wax worms The amount of feeders is good for her right now. Looks to be somewhere around the 3-4 month mark. Ok so wax worms are only treats. 1 a day no more. They are essentially all fat. So it would be like you living off of cake.. No real nutritional value. Morning feeding is perfect. You can add in other feeders as well. I like Black soldier fly larvae or BSFL> They are a great feeder to work in. I will post a graphic that will help with this. make sure you are gutloading your feeders.
Supplements: Rep Cal Calcium with D3 every 2 weeks, Repti Calcium without D3 every feeding and Multivitamin will soon be bought Perfect the multi will be 2 times a month as well. Do it on the opposite week of the calcium with D3. Lightly coating the feeders not a powdered donut effect.
Watering: Spray down the cage every 1 1/12 - 2 hours. Mist down the cage for about 2 min every time. Once in a while I will see her drinking I would spray every 4 hours. you need the cage to dry out in between. The branches do not want to remain wet or you can end up dealing with bacteria growth and issues with her feet being on a moist surface all the time. Add a little dripper to the top of the cage. Put it on a slow drip and the tube through the top of the screen to drip on plants. This is where adding live plants is helpful as well. A pothos plants and a dwarf umbrella plant are great options not only to raise humidity but they like to munch on their plants. And it gives a place for the dripper to drip into.
Fecal Description: Solid dark brown. Has not been tested for parasites I would get a fecal done just to ensure she does not have any parasites. Call around and find a reptile vet. Ask if you can just bring in a fecal to be tested that she is not unhealthy you are just wanting to double check. Get a fresh stool in a plastic baggy and take it in to the vet.
History: Was bought from Petco

Cage Info:

Cage Type: Screen enclosure measuring 16x16x30 I would eventually upgrade. I really like dragon strand cages myself.
Lighting: ZooMed double bulb fixture. 75W regular house bulb and UVB bulb that came with the ZooMed multibreez setup. 12 hours of UVB and basking light and shut everything off when I go to sleep. You already know what you need to do here. But I love this for raising my heat lamp up. I just drilled holes in the mounting plate to screw it directly into the frame. It is good because it allows you to control the heat level without buying multiple bulbs. Also if she screen climbs it lowers the burn risk because the heat is not directly on the screen. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007D1BUJY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Temperature: The cage stays at about 80 degrees out of the basking spot and around 86 in the basking spot. Overnight can get to about 72 degrees
Ok so I would get a temp gun this way you can get exact temps. You will want a horizontal branch below her new uvb fixture about 8 inches down. She should not be any closer to uvb or heat. You want the bottom of the cage to be cooler about 70ish. The basking level to be no hotter then 83. So point the heat gun at the branch and if it is 80-81 your good. If it is higher then it is too hot. Because it gets hotter the closer you get to the bulb. Females really should stay at about 82-83 degrees. High enough for digestion but as they mature. We control their clutch size with their heat level and the amount of feeders. They get a lower heat and less feeders to ensure a smaller amount of eggs laid.
Humidity: This is something that I have been struggling with. I recently learned about covering the sides and will give it a try. Humidity is really low currently I am wondering if your gauge is working. I would expect a higher level of humidity due to you living in Florida. I would get a new gauge. You want daytime humidity to be between 30-50% and night time to be high. I use this one. It is very accurate. Just make sure that it is not where it is getting sprayed in the cage. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H1R0K68/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Plants: No live plants Pothos and dwarf umbrella would be great choices. Pothos vine and they love them. cover the top of the dirt in the pot with 1 inch river rock to ensure she does not eat the dirt.
Placement: In my bedroom where the is a ceiling fan and my air vent is located 7 feet away from the cage. The top of the cage is about 5/12 feet from the floor
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida



Current Problems:
Keeping a stable humidity and making sure her temperature levels are accurately kept. I also now worry after reading everything that I have done the setup absolutely wrong and feel absolutely awful about it.

Don't ever feel bad. You are here and learning what to do right. Almost all of us have been in your position. It sucks to be told the wrong info but you found people that can help you correct everything. Continue learning and asking questions. Here are some other resources for you.

www.dragonstrand.com amazing cages.
www.lightyourreptiles.com fixtures and Arcadia brand bulbs. I prefer Arcadia. their 12% uvb is comparative to the 10.0 zoo med.
www.chameleonbreeder.com amazing podcasts full of fantastic info.

View attachment 231787View attachment 231788
Click to expand...
I love the red notes! Keeps all the information and corrections together. Less confusing. @Charliefoxtrot98 I would suggest that you follow @Beman and read up on their blog and posts. Knowledgable and an active member throwing bricks of truth at faces! POW!
 
krikinit said:
I love the red notes! Keeps all the information and corrections together. Less confusing. @Charliefoxtrot98 I would suggest that you follow @Beman and read up on their blog and posts. Knowledgable and an active member throwing bricks of truth at faces! POW!
Click to expand...
LOL this is the only way I can pull my thoughts together or I get lost in the help form. Then it seems to help other members see what I have pointed out to add to it easier as well. I saw @CamoChameleonsHuman doing this I believe so I was like duh that is the way to give feedback. lol While I am knowledgeable about all the basic husbandry I am still learning as well and still consider myself to be a newbie. Just learning something new everyday with all of yall. :)
 
Beman said:
Ok I am going to make notes in your form so look for red... lol

Your chameleon: Veiled Chameleon, Female, age not sure. Been in my care for 4 days ( keep in mind if you see little spurs on her hind legs she is not a female and is a male.
Handling: Only handled when I absolutely have to
Feeding: 12-15 small crickets in the morning or wax worms The amount of feeders is good for her right now. Looks to be somewhere around the 3-4 month mark. Ok so wax worms are only treats. 1 a day no more. They are essentially all fat. So it would be like you living off of cake.. No real nutritional value. Morning feeding is perfect. You can add in other feeders as well. I like Black soldier fly larvae or BSFL> They are a great feeder to work in. I will post a graphic that will help with this. make sure you are gutloading your feeders.
Supplements: Rep Cal Calcium with D3 every 2 weeks, Repti Calcium without D3 every feeding and Multivitamin will soon be bought Perfect the multi will be 2 times a month as well. Do it on the opposite week of the calcium with D3. Lightly coating the feeders not a powdered donut effect.
Watering: Spray down the cage every 1 1/12 - 2 hours. Mist down the cage for about 2 min every time. Once in a while I will see her drinking I would spray every 4 hours. you need the cage to dry out in between. The branches do not want to remain wet or you can end up dealing with bacteria growth and issues with her feet being on a moist surface all the time. Add a little dripper to the top of the cage. Put it on a slow drip and the tube through the top of the screen to drip on plants. This is where adding live plants is helpful as well. A pothos plants and a dwarf umbrella plant are great options not only to raise humidity but they like to munch on their plants. And it gives a place for the dripper to drip into.
Fecal Description: Solid dark brown. Has not been tested for parasites I would get a fecal done just to ensure she does not have any parasites. Call around and find a reptile vet. Ask if you can just bring in a fecal to be tested that she is not unhealthy you are just wanting to double check. Get a fresh stool in a plastic baggy and take it in to the vet.
History: Was bought from Petco

Cage Info:

Cage Type: Screen enclosure measuring 16x16x30 I would eventually upgrade. I really like dragon strand cages myself.
Lighting: ZooMed double bulb fixture. 75W regular house bulb and UVB bulb that came with the ZooMed multibreez setup. 12 hours of UVB and basking light and shut everything off when I go to sleep. You already know what you need to do here. But I love this for raising my heat lamp up. I just drilled holes in the mounting plate to screw it directly into the frame. It is good because it allows you to control the heat level without buying multiple bulbs. Also if she screen climbs it lowers the burn risk because the heat is not directly on the screen. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007D1BUJY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Temperature: The cage stays at about 80 degrees out of the basking spot and around 86 in the basking spot. Overnight can get to about 72 degrees
Ok so I would get a temp gun this way you can get exact temps. You will want a horizontal branch below her new uvb fixture about 8 inches down. She should not be any closer to uvb or heat. You want the bottom of the cage to be cooler about 70ish. The basking level to be no hotter then 83. So point the heat gun at the branch and if it is 80-81 your good. If it is higher then it is too hot. Because it gets hotter the closer you get to the bulb. Females really should stay at about 82-83 degrees. High enough for digestion but as they mature. We control their clutch size with their heat level and the amount of feeders. They get a lower heat and less feeders to ensure a smaller amount of eggs laid.
Humidity: This is something that I have been struggling with. I recently learned about covering the sides and will give it a try. Humidity is really low currently I am wondering if your gauge is working. I would expect a higher level of humidity due to you living in Florida. I would get a new gauge. You want daytime humidity to be between 30-50% and night time to be high. I use this one. It is very accurate. Just make sure that it is not where it is getting sprayed in the cage. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H1R0K68/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Plants: No live plants Pothos and dwarf umbrella would be great choices. Pothos vine and they love them. cover the top of the dirt in the pot with 1 inch river rock to ensure she does not eat the dirt.
Placement: In my bedroom where the is a ceiling fan and my air vent is located 7 feet away from the cage. The top of the cage is about 5/12 feet from the floor
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida



Current Problems:
Keeping a stable humidity and making sure her temperature levels are accurately kept. I also now worry after reading everything that I have done the setup absolutely wrong and feel absolutely awful about it.

Don't ever feel bad. You are here and learning what to do right. Almost all of us have been in your position. It sucks to be told the wrong info but you found people that can help you correct everything. Continue learning and asking questions. Here are some other resources for you.

www.dragonstrand.com amazing cages.
www.lightyourreptiles.com fixtures and Arcadia brand bulbs. I prefer Arcadia. their 12% uvb is comparative to the 10.0 zoo med.
www.chameleonbreeder.com amazing podcasts full of fantastic info.

View attachment 231787View attachment 231788
Click to expand...
Wow you are absolutely a rock star! See this is the kind of help and expertise that I was expecting to get from this forum! I should go and make the lady from the pet store read all this LOL. Thank you sooo sooo much, you have no idea how at ease im beginning to feel knowing that I can buy the correct stuff this time around. AS far as cage setup, for now should I downgrade her into a smaller cage and throw some fresh live plants in there with her? Then when she gets older upgrade her into a DragonStrand? Im about to leave the house now and go pick her up a light fixture and hopefully I can find her the bulb she needs.

Im assuming also that when I get her a live plant, I need to scrub the hell out of it and make sure there inst any pesticides on it or anything that is going to irritate her skin or even worse possibly kill her?
 
Daesie11 said:
Well, I cant be too upset about that considering I copied it off of someone else's thread that I saw on here! :LOL: it's worked wonderfully, and I think it's a much better alternative to the shower curtain! It's not even more expensive, unless you dont already own a hair dryer lol
Click to expand...
I saw some of these window covers at the dollar store(I love the dollar store. Great place to get supplies) but I don’t think it would work for me because the cham cages are next to each other and would be able to see each other
 
Soap and water. Some folks rinse them down for a week or two. I use Dawn dish soap and wipe the plant down thoroughly rinse and repot. I leave it out for a day or 2 and place in cage. As far as cage size- bigger is better. 2x2x4 is as small as I would go. Other will differ here greatly- some free range theirs and others use slightly smaller or a bit shorter but longer. Use what fits your house/ lifestyle.
 
Charliefoxtrot98 said:
Wow you are absolutely a rock star! See this is the kind of help and expertise that I was expecting to get from this forum! I should go and make the lady from the pet store read all this LOL. Thank you sooo sooo much, you have no idea how at ease im beginning to feel knowing that I can buy the correct stuff this time around. AS far as cage setup, for now should I downgrade her into a smaller cage and throw some fresh live plants in there with her? Then when she gets older upgrade her into a DragonStrand? Im about to leave the house now and go pick her up a light fixture and hopefully I can find her the bulb she needs.

Im assuming also that when I get her a live plant, I need to scrub the hell out of it and make sure there inst any pesticides on it or anything that is going to irritate her skin or even worse possibly kill her?
Click to expand...

Awwwww your welcome hun. I love it when we get people like you that actually want to learn and make the best enclosure possible for their chams. It is rare that this happens. We love being a source of info for people that are open to learning.
So I would leave her in the cage she has right now. And if you are looking at a dragon strand jump on that because he builds in a certain order so sometimes depending on what you want you may need to wait a few months for it to be built. Here is my thread on Bemans. https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...aka-bemans-mansion.167884/page-2#post-1459497
You will see that I too am still learning. But by the end of the thread I got everything sorted out. lol.
I would add in live plants look for the dwarf umbrella... That will give you height as well. The pothos are fantastic but really need to be higher in the cage to fully utilize their vines.
I use dawn dish soap and warm water to clean them. I strip them to the roots (as much dirt off as possible) then I put the root in plastic wrap to keep the soapy water off it. THen I dunk it really well pulling it out and letting it sit on a towel for 10 minutes. Repeat this a total of 3 times. Then I thoroughly rinse the plant. I get organic soil to replant it into and put 1inch or larger river rock on the top of the dirt to keep the cham out. Then done :)
 
Beman said:
Awwwww your welcome hun. I love it when we get people like you that actually want to learn and make the best enclosure possible for their chams. It is rare that this happens. We love being a source of info for people that are open to learning.
So I would leave her in the cage she has right now. And if you are looking at a dragon strand jump on that because he builds in a certain order so sometimes depending on what you want you may need to wait a few months for it to be built. Here is my thread on Bemans. https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...aka-bemans-mansion.167884/page-2#post-1459497
You will see that I too am still learning. But by the end of the thread I got everything sorted out. lol.
I would add in live plants look for the dwarf umbrella... That will give you height as well. The pothos are fantastic but really need to be higher in the cage to fully utilize their vines.
I use dawn dish soap and warm water to clean them. I strip them to the roots (as much dirt off as possible) then I put the root in plastic wrap to keep the soapy water off it. THen I dunk it really well pulling it out and letting it sit on a towel for 10 minutes. Repeat this a total of 3 times. Then I thoroughly rinse the plant. I get organic soil to replant it into and put 1inch or larger river rock on the top of the dirt to keep the cham out. Then done :)
Click to expand...
Thank you very much! Today I went and bought a dwarf umbrella plant! Washed it three separate times, rooted it and put fresh organic soil in the pot. When I get home from work im going to place it in the setup and bring some of the vines down because they are touching the top of the inclosure. Ill post updates later tonight!
 
Charliefoxtrot98 said:
Thank you very much! Today I went and bought a dwarf umbrella plant! Washed it three separate times, rooted it and put fresh organic soil in the pot. When I get home from work im going to place it in the setup and bring some of the vines down because they are touching the top of the inclosure. Ill post updates later tonight!
Click to expand...
Don't forget to put the 1 inch or larger rock on top of the soil to keep her from eating it. :) Sounds good!
 
So I came home from work and my Veiled is going through her first shed with me! I wont be rearranging her setup tonight because of it and decided to let her be and shed in peace. I did go online and find what I think are the right items.. Can anyone let me know if they are any good? Thanks a ton!
 

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