New Veiled Chameleon Owner

[Randamae11]

Hello!

Meet Nelson Apollo!

I recently purchased my first chameleon and I have had him about a week. I was just wondering if everything was okay with my routine and his set up. I have been doing research for about 6 months before purchasing, and I had a huge variety of answers about setup and care. So experienced owners, is this okay?

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Male Veiled Chameleon approximately 5 months. (I'm estimating on his size, but I really don't know. Any thoughts?)
• Handling - I have only picked him up once to put him in the cage.
• Feeding - I feed him meal worms and/or small crickets three times a day. He eats about 10 crickets and 15 worms a day. I also leave collard greens in his cage.
  • Morning (about 7:30-8): 5 Crickets & 5 Worms
  • Afternoon (about 4): 5 Worms
  • Night (about 7): 5 crickets & 5 worms

I gut load crickets with Fluker's Orange Cubes and Fluker's High-Calcium.​

• Supplements - I have been giving him ReptiCalcium without D3 every other day with the morning mealworms. He gets a National Geographic Brand Reptile Multivitamin and ReptiCalcium with D3 every other week.
• Watering - I mist his cage 4-5 times a day for about 30 seconds. The humidity stays about 60%. I also read that putting ice cubes on the top and letting them melt was good. thoughts on this?
• Fecal Description - He had white urine and black stools. The first two days he did not go, but now does everyday.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - I have a 18"x18"x30" ReptiBreeze Open Air Terrarium.
• Lighting - I have three lights for his terrarium. I turn them on about 8 and usually out at 9.
  • DayLight Blue 60w Bulb
  • 1 ReptiSun Mini Compact 5.0 (13w) Fluorescent Bulb
  • 1 ReptiBacking Spot Lamp 50w
• Temperature - His basking spots are 85 and 90 Degrees, Lowest point in the cadge is 75. At night it gets about 65-70. I have a thermometer with a probe I can move around and monitor the temperatures.
• Humidity - Humidity stays about 60%-70%
• Plants - I have two pothos plants and four fake hanging plants. The pothos plants are not very big yet, so I got some fake ones to fill the enclosure until they get bigger. I got organic plants and washed them for about 20 minutes, and replaced the soil with organic fine-grade soil.
• Placement – I put him in the corner of my room on the table. It is away from fans and air vents. The top of the cage is probably 5 and a half feet of the ground.
• Location – South Carolina

Current Problem – If my routine is okay. Photos Below

So far, he seems to be very active. He chases the crickets all over the cage. Yesterday, He hung upside down by his tail to catch one. It was pretty cool. He is always exploring and eating. He stays a blue-green color for the most part. He gets dark stripes when I open the cage though. He does not like me to get anywhere near him and hides if I open the door. I'm assuming it is just going to take a few weeks for him to get use to me?

Thanks!

 

[Kristen99]

He's beautiful you should add more plants to the top of his cage this is where they spend the majority of their time he will feel more comfortable and will have places to hide when he wants to here is a picture of my set up for my 4 month old vailed i would also consider upgrading his home in the near future to at least a 24x24x48 males need the extra room.

 

[Randamae11]

He's beautiful you should add more plants to the top of his cage this is where they spend the majority of their time he will feel more comfortable and will have places to hide when he wants to here is a picture of my set up for my 4 month old vailed i would also consider upgrading his home in the near future to at least a 24x24x48 males need the extra room.

Thanks! I have an extra vine with plants I will add up there! I was going to get the bigger cage, and then I read that is was better to get the smaller one until they are 9-10 months. Would it be better to go ahead and upgrade?

 

[Kristen99]

I would my little dude is small and does just fine in his big cage he hunts his food just fine and scouts out all around it as soon as I put him in he was all over it checking everything out. It worked out well for me. I'm happy to hear you did research before getting him I'm sure he will be a happy and healthy little dude.

 

[DarinD]

Good looking little guy. For changes, I would get swap the mealworms out for superworms. Superworms are easier to digest and are more nutritious. Also add in some variety like dubia roaches, silkworms, hornworms, black soldier fly larvae, etc. That Fluker’s gutload stuff is garbage. Toss it and gutload with fruits and veggies. There’s a list on this site of what most folks use to gutload their feeders. I’d look into buying an auto mister like a MistKing in the future. Longer mistings help with sheds, allow the animal to clean their eyes, and stimulate drinking. I’d also consider upgrading to a linear UVB source. LightYourReptiles is a site sponsor and makes good gear. I’m sure I missed a few things, as I’m typing on my phone, and other members will chime in.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

He is so handsome! I bet you two will have some fun together. You may want to expand your gutloading, though. The pre-mixed and gel gutloads are notorious for not providing enough nutrients. They are somewhat of a filler, and the gel is more for hydration.
I would suggest using some more vegetables and greens in the gutload.
90 degrees F is a little bit too hot. I would say you want it to be 85 in its hottest place. You do not want any kind of thermal burn. I agree with @Kristen99 about the plants, it could use a little more foliage near the top. Just make sure none of it is close enough for him to burn himself. It seems like your nightly temperatures are fine.
Now that he is getting older, you may want to start easing up on the food. The mealworms are usually only used for variety in the diet, as they can cause internal issues. I have heard of cases when they don't die, and eventually kill the chameleon because it continued living inside of its stomach. Gross, but true. At around 8 months old, they are an adult, and you can start feeding them every other day. I would suggest upgrading to something like dubia roaches, like @DarinD mentioned. They are somewhat easier to take care of than crickets, provide more nutrients, do not escape as easily, and definitely do not die off as easily.
The ice cubes might be too cold for your cham. I know that if they drink too much or water that is too cold, they will vomit it back up. It has happened to one of mine before, when I was syringe watering her because she was dehydrated. Also, if you want to step up the supplements, look for the brands that do not add phosphorus into their mix. Rep-Cal is good, as they sell good calcium without phosphorus, and you can buy it with or without D3.
Hope some of this helped, and good luck with your little guy.

 

[kinyonga]

You said...."I gut load crickets with Fluker's Orange Cubes and Fluker's High-Calcium."...for many years I have fed/gutloaded crickets, superworms, etc with dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, escarole, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, carrots, etc and a little bit of apple, pear, melon, berries.
You said..."Supplements- I have been giving him ReptiCalcium without D3 every other day with the morning mealworms. He gets a National Geographic Brand Reptile Multivitamin and ReptiCalcium with D3 every other week." ...you should also use a vitamin powder twice a month. As was suggested I'd drop the mealworms and use superworms instead. You can use silkworms, roaches, locusts, mantids, hornworms, etc as well.

You said..."watering - I mist his cage 4-5 times a day for about 30 seconds"...I would also add a dripper that runs for a good part if the day. It can be a tall deli cup with a tiny hole in the bottom so it drips at the rate of one or two drips per second.

Are the crickets an appropriate size?

 

[Randamae11]

You said...."I gut load crickets with Fluker's Orange Cubes and Fluker's High-Calcium."...for many years I have fed/gutloaded crickets, superworms, etc with dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, escarole, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, carrots, etc and a little bit of apple, pear, melon, berries.
You said..."Supplements- I have been giving him ReptiCalcium without D3 every other day with the morning mealworms. He gets a National Geographic Brand Reptile Multivitamin and ReptiCalcium with D3 every other week." ...you should also use a vitamin powder twice a month. As was suggested I'd drop the mealworms and use superworms instead. You can use silkworms, roaches, locusts, mantids, hornworms, etc as well.

You said..."watering - I mist his cage 4-5 times a day for about 30 seconds"...I would also add a dripper that runs for a good part if the day. It can be a tall deli cup with a tiny hole in the bottom so it drips at the rate of one or two drips per second.

Are the crickets an appropriate size?

Thanks for the help! I just put some sweet potatoe, pineapple, and collard greens in with the crickets and will feed him those in the moring. The multivitium I have is a powdered vitimin, is that what you mean? I used a solo cup and poked a hole in the bottom with a straight pin. Will this work?

The largest crickets are about half the size of his head.

Thanks!

 

[Randamae11]

Good looking little guy. For changes, I would get swap the mealworms out for superworms. Superworms are easier to digest and are more nutritious. Also add in some variety like dubia roaches, silkworms, hornworms, black soldier fly larvae, etc. That Fluker’s gutload stuff is garbage. Toss it and gutload with fruits and veggies. There’s a list on this site of what most folks use to gutload their feeders. I’d look into buying an auto mister like a MistKing in the future. Longer mistings help with sheds, allow the animal to clean their eyes, and stimulate drinking. I’d also consider upgrading to a linear UVB source. LightYourReptiles is a site sponsor and makes good gear. I’m sure I missed a few things, as I’m typing on my phone, and other members will chime in.

Thanks for the help! I just added some sweet potatoes, pineapple, and collard greens to the crickets. I will check my local store and get the other food ordered tomorrow. I have a linear UVB light that I used for corals in my saltwater tank, would something like that work?

Thanks Again!

 

[Randamae11]

He is so handsome! I bet you two will have some fun together. You may want to expand your gutloading, though. The pre-mixed and gel gutloads are notorious for not providing enough nutrients. They are somewhat of a filler, and the gel is more for hydration.
I would suggest using some more vegetables and greens in the gutload.
90 degrees F is a little bit too hot. I would say you want it to be 85 in its hottest place. You do not want any kind of thermal burn. I agree with @Kristen99 about the plants, it could use a little more foliage near the top. Just make sure none of it is close enough for him to burn himself. It seems like your nightly temperatures are fine.
Now that he is getting older, you may want to start easing up on the food. The mealworms are usually only used for variety in the diet, as they can cause internal issues. I have heard of cases when they don't die, and eventually kill the chameleon because it continued living inside of its stomach. Gross, but true. At around 8 months old, they are an adult, and you can start feeding them every other day. I would suggest upgrading to something like dubia roaches, like @DarinD mentioned. They are somewhat easier to take care of than crickets, provide more nutrients, do not escape as easily, and definitely do not die off as easily.
The ice cubes might be too cold for your cham. I know that if they drink too much or water that is too cold, they will vomit it back up. It has happened to one of mine before, when I was syringe watering her because she was dehydrated. Also, if you want to step up the supplements, look for the brands that do not add phosphorus into their mix. Rep-Cal is good, as they sell good calcium without phosphorus, and you can buy it with or without D3.
Hope some of this helped, and good luck with your little guy.

Thanks! I adjusted his basking spot and its at about 86 now. I adjusted his planst and added some more at the top, and he already looks happier and is laying across the plants under his light.

I will defininty look into some different food for him beside the meal worms. I was a little concerned with the ice cubes too, so I will stop doing that.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Tattersb]

@Randamae11 , welcome to the forums! I'm curious how you are feeding Nelson Apollo. Specifically, are you using a feeding cup or just letting them free-range? The reason I ask is your feeding schedule seems a little labor-intensive. Also, if he's skittish at all that means you are getting in "his space" a lot during the day and he is still in his settling-in phase. I only feed my guys once in the morning so they aren't disturbed too much. Also, they need a certain amount of time to bask and digest. I don't use a feeding cup because I prefer they hunt and stay active. It was suggested that you cut back on his feeding, so maybe just omitting his third feeding would check that box? Just something to think about. Enjoy your cham kid, he's a stunner!

 

[Randamae11]

The crickets I just put in the cage and let him catch them. The worms I have been putting in the cage and a small tupaware cup. He usually comes straight to the cup as soon as I shut the door.

I thought I was suppose to feed him as much as he would eat right now, but I can defiantly cut back on some of the feeding. I just wanted to make sure he was getting enough!

 

[Tattersb]

The crickets I just put in the cage and let him catch them. The worms I have been putting in the cage and a small tupaware cup. He usually comes straight to the cup as soon as I shut the door.

I thought I was suppose to feed him as much as he would eat right now, but I can defiantly cut back on some of the feeding. I just wanted to make sure he was getting enough!

Double-check the care sheets under the resource tab at the top of the page for the amount for a veiled his age. I think you'll find he needs 10-15 feeders/day (trying to do that from memory, so don't hold me to that number!), but I would definitely give him more crickets and fewer worms. It's been mentioned in several posts before so I won't beat a dead horse (worm), but I don't even feed meal worms, I only feed 1-2 supers every few days. I try to feed 1/2 and 1/2 roaches and crickets as staples and then 3-4 different types of feeders/wk. The more variety, the better!

 

[Randamae11]

Double-check the care sheets under the resource tab at the top of the page for the amount for a veiled his age. I think you'll find he needs 10-15 feeders/day (trying to do that from memory, so don't hold me to that number!), but I would definitely give him more crickets and fewer worms. It's been mentioned in several posts before so I won't beat a dead horse (worm), but I don't even feed meal worms, I only feed 1-2 supers every few days. I try to feed 1/2 and 1/2 roaches and crickets as staples and then 3-4 different types of feeders/wk. The more variety, the better!

Thanks this is very helpful! Checked out the sheet and I’ll work on him a new diet plan.

 

[kinyonga]

@Randamae11 said..."The multivitium I have is a powdered vitimin, is that what you mean? "...I do mean a powdered vitamin. What brand did you get?

You said..."I used a solo cup and poked a hole in the bottom with a straight pin. Will this work?"...perfect!

You said..."The largest crickets are about half the size of his head"...sounds good.

 

[Randamae11]

@Randamae11 said..."The multivitium I have is a powdered vitimin, is that what you mean? "...I do mean a powdered vitamin. What brand did you get?

You said..."I used a solo cup and poked a hole in the bottom with a straight pin. Will this work?"...perfect!

You said..."The largest crickets are about half the size of his head"...sounds good.

It's National Geographic Brand. Here is a photo of it.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."I havea linear UVB light that I used for corals in my saltwater tank, would something like that work?" It's not a black light is it??

You said..."I thought I was suppose to feed him as much as he would eat right now!"...I would drop the last feeding of the day by moving those insects to the morning feeding. I would exchange the mealworms for superworms or silkworms, BSFL, roaches, etc. Of course if those are a bit bigger you will want to feed him less. As long as he's not getting fat I don't think you need to cut back on the feeding yet....he should still be growing.

 

[kinyonga]

You said.."It's National Geographic Brand"...I haven't used that one but I think it's ok.