Sleeping under substrate

[Decadancin]

I recently adopted a baby male veiled chameleon. He is eating well, active, and is growing fast! I have him in a 29 gallon tank with sphagnum moss as a substrate. This, with a rain machine has kept the humidity between 65% and 80%. The temp is pretty consistent at around 79 to 80 degrees. I have two airlines running in the tank to ensure circulation. Two questions... First, he does eat kale and mustard greens often, but once in a while he will eat some of the sphagnum moss. It is difficult for him to pull a piece off, but he is persistent. Is this safe for him? Second, I came home today to find that he buried himself under the moss by the front of the tank and he was sleeping. There is no heat lamp, and I can't figure this one out. Is this normal??? He will patrol the bottom of the tank for food, but this was different.
Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

[cricketkilla]

The substrate can lead to an impact ion of the intestine and cause death. He also needs a basking light and a Reptisun 5.0 UVB tube light and fixture. Screen cages are recommended as well to allow proper airflow to avoid upper respiratory infections. What type of supplements are you using? Are you gutloading your feeders? What feeders are you using? Pm me if you have questions, welcome to the forum as well

 

[Meow Kitty]

also spagnum moss isn't a good thing becuase it also improves the risk of respritory infections among arboreal animals and should be avoided try air plants like spanish moss

 

[cricketkilla]

From what I've been told substrate of any kind should be avoided. Jmo

 

[Decadancin]

He is eating gut loaded crickets with fluker's orange cube cricket diet. I also give them some cricket quencher calcium fortified one or two times a week. He has a 25 UVB T8 strip light. I haven't started dusting the crickets yet. Any advice how often? What about coconut husk types of substrate? I know the substrate is more for me (the look) than him, but I am also trying to minimize reflections. Eventually I will have a different enclosure for him, but for now the 29 gallon is home.

 

[szpond]

Yep, go off what has been said already! Also upgrade to an all-screen enclosure. There is a large risk of respiratory infection with an all-glass enclosure. Use paper towel instead of substrate, much more healthy and a quicker clean-up!

 

[Decadancin]

Will the spanish moss have issues due to the rain maker? It doesn't get too wet, but I wouldn't want mold or mildew.

 

[carol5208]

I would remove the moss altogther. Fish tanks are no place for chameleons to live. They just do not ventilate properly and therefore the bottom of the tank is probably going to be the same temps as the top. They need fluctuation in temperatures throughout their enclosure. If your chameleon is sleeping during the day you have a problem. They do NOT sleep during the day unless they are ill, or there is something in your set up that is incorrect. We need to know your temps. A basking light should be provided but seeing you are using a fish tank, you might fry him. You need to feed your feeders with fresh fruits and veggies and ditch the flukers. You should be dusting your feeders everyday with a plain calcium with no d3 and a calcium with d3 and a multivitamin to use a couple of times a month. Chameleons usually do not dig, sleep and hide so something is very wrong here.

 

[cricketkilla]

He is eating gut loaded crickets with fluker's orange cube cricket diet. I also give them some cricket quencher calcium fortified one or two times a week. He has a 25 UVB T8 strip light. I haven't started dusting the crickets yet. Any advice how often? What about coconut husk types of substrate? I know the substrate is more for me (the look) than him, but I am also trying to minimize reflections. Eventually I will have a different enclosure for him, but for now the 29 gallon is home.

Any substrate is very dangerous, especially with Veileds they usually try to eat everything. He needs a basking light to digest his food properly. Flukes orange cubes don't gutload feeders, you need a better gutload, cricket crack from tiki tiki reptiles, or repashy bug burger, or Dino fuel are all good dry gutloads or you can look up a recipe online. For supplements you'll want to dust feeders with a phosphorus free calcium without d3 to use every other feeding, calcium w/ d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin like reptivite 2 times a month. You should also make a dripper for him, you can just poke a small hole in the bottom of a cup and let it drip on some foliage in his cage for him to drink. Can you also post some pictures of you setup? It will help me, to help you.

 

[Decadancin]

O.K., O.K., I hear you all! Thanks for the advice. So I am now shopping a little (lot) earlier than planned for a screen enclosure. Have any of you used cages from DIYCAGES? They seem to be well made and versatile, and a decent price compared to the others out there. I'm wondering about the screen mesh size and if this could cause injury to my little guy when climbing. There are no specs for this on the website. Also, I would be getting a 24 x 24 x 48 sized enclosure. Do I need a larger heat lamp to be effective? Oh, and I will be removing the moss from the tank today and just using a terrarium carpet until I get his new home ready. Thanks again for all the info!

 

[deadhd5]

Decadancin.. Sounds like you are well on your way to providing a great home for your chameleon! Kudos to you for reaching out for help, and more importantly, keeping an open mind and following the advice given.

You will want to create a basking spot for your little buddy around 90 degrees by using a heat lamp and a strategically placed series of perches that get further away from the light, giving him multiple temperature / basking options. 24x24x48 is a good size cage and DIY cages are a good brand.

 

[erik775]

O.K., O.K., I hear you all! Thanks for the advice. So I am now shopping a little (lot) earlier than planned for a screen enclosure. Have any of you used cages from DIYCAGES? They seem to be well made and versatile, and a decent price compared to the others out there. I'm wondering about the screen mesh size and if this could cause injury to my little guy when climbing. There are no specs for this on the website. Also, I would be getting a 24 x 24 x 48 sized enclosure. Do I need a larger heat lamp to be effective? Oh, and I will be removing the moss from the tank today and just using a terrarium carpet until I get his new home ready. Thanks again for all the info!

Wait how old is your cham?if he is still under i think its 4 or 5 months you need to get a smaller cage cause it will be hard for him to catch his food in a biggrr cage...so you gotta start off small .at 4 months i believe you can put him in a 24x24x48...

 

[Elizadolots]

Wait how old is your cham?if he is still under i think its 4 or 5 months you need to get a smaller cage cause it will be hard for him to catch his food in a biggrr cage...so you gotta start off small .at 4 months i believe you can put him in a 24x24x48...

That problem can be solved a couple of ways. One would simply be cup feeding. Another would be to raise the bottom of the enclosure for now, do it as a 24x24x24 until he gets a bit bigger.

 

[Decadancin]

Although I have only had him one month today, and I would guess he was maybe a month old then, he is very used to eating out of a small plastic food container that seems to hold most of the crickets. I usually use a bed of fresh kale at the bottom to prevent him from hitting a hard surface when eating, and this also keeps the crickets happy and staying in one place. I was concerned about the size of the cage originally and this is why I set up the tank first, but I think he will adjust to find his food.

 

[cricketkilla]

Wait how old is your cham?if he is still under i think its 4 or 5 months you need to get a smaller cage cause it will be hard for him to catch his food in a biggrr cage...so you gotta start off small .at 4 months i believe you can put him in a 24x24x48...

He should be fine in that enclosure as long as you give him plenty of foliage and vining to climb and hide in. I would watch and monitor his food intake as well to make sure he is finding it, that is if you free range his feeders. you could also try to get him to cup feed to make it easier to monitor his food intake and so he knows where to get food. I would do the same with a dripper as well so he has a designated spot that he knows he can get a drink, they like to have a schedule for their daily routine, you'll come to see that they are quite predictable. Good luck and welcome!

Oh yeah, DIY cages are awesome by the way, one of the best.

 

[Decadancin]

Thanks again for the advice/info. Do you use distilled/purified water in your setups? I have a monsoon rainfall system that uses distilled water.