Newbie

[beerg]

Hello everyone,
I'm a long time viewer/ reader, and finally became a member today.
I have a juvenile Veiled Cham and I've had it since January.
I just thought I'd share the story of our little girl and how she came about.

I found her on craigslist.. some guy had the chameleon in a 22 gallon long (not tall) glass tank (first image). He said it was a 11 month old male.
He was practically giving him away.
Me and my boyfriend showed up to meet him. Mind you it's January and up in New England we have very cold winters. the guy first brings out the chameleon for us to meet. We checked inside his mouth. We knew whether or not he was healthy we would adopt him, simply to give him a better home. The owner stood outside with the chameleon in below freezing weather while we kept asking to put him into the car where the heat was just running. After about 10 minutes we started our way back home. We never laughed so hard in our lives. He was so excited and warm, and moving across my boyfriends hands faster than he could keep up.

After about a week of having him and after giving him a name, we realized he was actually a she. So I began to question whether or not the previous owner lied to us because he thought we wouldn't take a female. Reason being they're a bit more of a challenge around nesting time, or if he simply had no idea about chameleons. He said he got a full time job and couldn't give it enough attention and that's why he was selling it. Her horizontal tank was also full of silk plants and hardly anything for her to climb on. So we added sticks and that's what the picture has in it. I didn't want to remove all the silk plants because I wanted her to feel like she could hide..

I bought her a new enclosure and its the 28 x 28 x 40; She has been bright green and happy since I put her in there and only now does she give me a hard time when I try to handle her (second image)

She has never had any drinking/ eating complications.
The only thing I would say I'm having trouble with is feeding her veggies.
she bit into a spinach leave for me once, and never again even though I've tried the same method.

And the last image is my sleepy girl now

 

[Kmw]

She's very cute.

Her cage could probably use more sticks and vines going across, it looks like you have most of them the bottom resting against the side?
Also, she doesn't HAVE to eat veggies - so it's not awful if she won't.

 

[AllFallDown]

Hello everyone,
I'm a long time viewer/ reader, and finally became a member today.
I have a juvenile Veiled Cham and I've had it since January.
I just thought I'd share the story of our little girl and how she came about.

I found her on craigslist.. some guy had the chameleon in a 22 gallon long (not tall) glass tank (first image). He said it was a 11 month old male.
He was practically giving him away.
Me and my boyfriend showed up to meet him. Mind you it's January and up in New England we have very cold winters. the guy first brings out the chameleon for us to meet. We checked inside his mouth. We knew whether or not he was healthy we would adopt him, simply to give him a better home. The owner stood outside with the chameleon in below freezing weather while we kept asking to put him into the car where the heat was just running. After about 10 minutes we started our way back home. We never laughed so hard in our lives. He was so excited and warm, and moving across my boyfriends hands faster than he could keep up.

After about a week of having him and after giving him a name, we realized he was actually a she. So I began to question whether or not the previous owner lied to us because he thought we wouldn't take a female. Reason being they're a bit more of a challenge around nesting time, or if he simply had no idea about chameleons. He said he got a full time job and couldn't give it enough attention and that's why he was selling it. Her horizontal tank was also full of silk plants and hardly anything for her to climb on. So we added sticks and that's what the picture has in it. I didn't want to remove all the silk plants because I wanted her to feel like she could hide..

I bought her a new enclosure and its the 28 x 28 x 40; She has been bright green and happy since I put her in there and only now does she give me a hard time when I try to handle her (second image)

She has never had any drinking/ eating complications.
The only thing I would say I'm having trouble with is feeding her veggies.
she bit into a spinach leave for me once, and never again even though I've tried the same method.

And the last image is my sleepy girl now

I have tried giving mine plant food and he never seems interested. I do see him occasionally munching on his ficus. I sm currently trying to get him interested in hibiscus. We'll see how that goes....

 

[Willnevins]

Yea don't worry about getting her to eat the veggies directly, just make sure your feeders are eating them and he will get the nutrients that way . Also, do you have a UVB light? I can't tell from your picture but if you don't I recommend the reptisun 5.0 tube, I have witnessed the magic powers it has and will never use anything else personally.

Also try to add more variety of vertical and horizontal branches or vines. Lots of us hang pothos plants from the top of the cage, it looks really nice with the vines hanging down that just get longer and longer. It also gives them cover to hide and be less stressed. You know you have enough foliage in your cage when it take you 5+ minutes of searching to find her

 

[carol5208]

hi and welcome! Glad you got her out of that situation and into a loving home. I agree with the others the cage needs to be filled out quite a bit more with plants and branches and vines. Also, you said she is sleeping in the last pic...with the lights blarinig like that? Was it night time? If not, and she is sleeping during the day, you probably have read by now that is not a good sign. If it is night time and she is sleeping I would shut her lights off! Her eyes are open though, maybe she is just resting you mean??

 

[justjumpit621]

Hey Brandi! Glad you found me She looks much better! try adding a schefflera or ficus tree or a hanging pothos for more tall climbing areas. Also you should put a laying bin in the cage with her at all times just in case, they become egg bound real easily and you wouldn't even know it. Females should also have a basking temp of 85 max and only be fed 5 feeders every other day, this will keep her from producing a large clutch of eggs, if any at all.

 

[beerg]

Thank you everyone.

I'm definitely not done with her terrarium, I plan on continuing to fill it out more and more. I just had to get rid of the nasty silk plants.
I'll be sure to take higher quality pictures a bit later as well.

Another question:
I was wondering what i should do for the dirt on the bottom. When i put it in will it go through the screen sides?
I'm currently using the ecco earth coconut fiber substrate.

 

[beerg]

hi and welcome! Glad you got her out of that situation and into a loving home. I agree with the others the cage needs to be filled out quite a bit more with plants and branches and vines. Also, you said she is sleeping in the last pic...with the lights blarinig like that? Was it night time? If not, and she is sleeping during the day, you probably have read by now that is not a good sign. If it is night time and she is sleeping I would shut her lights off! Her eyes are open though, maybe she is just resting you mean??

Yes, I meant resting.
It was almost her bedtime but not quite

 

[justjumpit621]

You don't need anything on the bottom. It is recommended not to put anything because some chameleons will actually eat it and become impacted. You can use paper towels if you want something there. I had the same cage, and I went out and bought a washer base, it worked great at catching the water from misting. If you really would like to put a natural looking base, you can get a plastic liner for the bottom, use organic potting soil for the plants, and cover the top of the soil with a fine mesh so she can't eat it.

 

[justjumpit621]

OR... You can free range like a lot of us! This is what I do with Calais my panther chameleon https://www.chameleonforums.com/years-outdoor-free-range-83542/

 

[beerg]

I'm glad I found you too.

Hey Brandi! Glad you found me She looks much better! try adding a schefflera or ficus tree or a hanging pothos for more tall climbing areas. Also you should put a laying bin in the cage with her at all times just in case, they become egg bound real easily and you wouldn't even know it. Females should also have a basking temp of 85 max and only be fed 5 feeders every other day, this will keep her from producing a large clutch of eggs, if any at all.

I really appreciate it. She seems to be a lot more lively lately.
I've purchased a $20 4 foot tree online, and the plant nursery trimmed all the limbs off it. It looked like they mailed me a stick with roots.. A month later and it has tiny buds growing.. It wont have use for a while.
You live close by, would you mind sending me a message of where you've purchased your plants from?
Thank you so much

 

[beerg]

I really appreciate it. She seems to be a lot more lively lately.
I've purchased a $20 4 foot tree online, and the plant nursery trimmed all the limbs off it. It looked like they mailed me a stick with roots.. A month later and it has tiny buds growing.. It wont have use for a while.
You live close by, would you mind sending me a message of where you've purchased your plants from in the past?
Thank you so much

 

[justjumpit621]

just did

 

[justjumpit621]

Oh and is one of those lamps a UVB? did you buy the coil? and what brand is it? Just a heads up, if she seems to start having eye issues, and you have a coil UVB bulb and your supplementing is good, it could be the bulb. some coil UVB bulbs are just too bright, and a while back some actually caused blindness.

and just to cover bases do you know about the supplement schedule for veileds?:
-Plain calcium w/o phosphorus or D3 every feeding
-Calcium W/ D3 twice a month (once if you take her outside frequently for natural sun)
-Multivitamin once a month

 

[sandrachameleon]

You're getting some good advice so I wont repeat
I'll just say:
Welcome!

 

[beerg]

Oh and is one of those lamps a UVB? did you buy the coil? and what brand is it? Just a heads up, if she seems to start having eye issues, and you have a coil UVB bulb and your supplementing is good, it could be the bulb. some coil UVB bulbs are just too bright, and a while back some actually caused blindness.

and just to cover bases do you know about the supplement schedule for veileds?:
-Plain calcium w/o phosphorus or D3 every feeding
-Calcium W/ D3 twice a month (once if you take her outside frequently for natural sun)
-Multivitamin once a month

I do dust her crickets.

And the bulbs I have are basking uvb bulbs. Not coil. and they're 100W.
I might look into getting a light fixture with more coverage or maybe one with a day time/night time light together.

 

[justjumpit621]

I do dust her crickets.

And the bulbs I have are basking uvb bulbs. Not coil. and they're 100W.
I might look into getting a light fixture with more coverage or maybe one with a day time/night time light together.

Oh then they are not UVB but rather UVA, which is just for heat Sorry. You will need a linear fixture, you can get them at home depot http://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-F...splay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051, and get a reptisun 5.0 tube UVB bulb. This is essential for her health, without it she would die. They sell the reptisun's at Pet Supplies Plus in Hooksett for $17 which is an awesome price. Also, you do not need a heat source at night, and any form of light(even a black or red light) will keep them awake. They can take a temperature drop at night down to 50 degrees, it is actually good for them to have the temps go down at night.

oh and for future reference, if your basking light blows, don't go back to the pet store and buy another, they are a trick to take your money just go to the store and get a 75 watt house bulb, but not coil the regular old kind. Does just as well for a fraction of the price!

or if you are short on cash right now or need to save up, if possible you can just put her cage outside, on say a porch. The temperature is fine for her right now, my boy lives outside 24/7 right now, I just put a heat lamp out there for the less sunny days. Then you won't need to buy a UVB bulb until it gets too cold for her to stay outside any longer.

and when you get a light fixture, make sure you take the plastic off, because UVB can't travel through glass or plastic