tips on my chameleon care

[shaneandjennifer]

I bought a Veiled Chameleon from Exotic Pets here in Las Vegas. This is the only store that I know of in Vegas where they know anything about chameleons. I previously had jacksons, and had a tough time keeping them hydrated here where the humidity is like 12%. anyway, I don't know exactly how old, the guy said he thought around 9 months. I have him in a 4 foot tall reptarium, with a draecaena marginata plant and a schefflera plant. I mist him twice a day. I stopped using the dripper because he never drank from it, even if it dripped onto the vine he was sitting on. He always drinks when I mist him though. I don't know how much he should be eating. Sometimes he seems like he eats like a dozen crickets a day, sometimes just a few. I can't get him to eat superworms. I am dusting the crickets and just throwing twenty in at a time, and letting him hunt them down, and I try and clean up the dead ones every couple of days. The crickets congregate on the ceiling of the enclosure where the lights are, but he never seems to see them there. Anyway, I tried to upload pictures but they are too big for the site. Should I be doing anything special with the water, since it is hard water here in Vegas? I also tried to cup feed, but he didn't go for it. So far just free roam. . .

 

[ChrisnLisa]

Although you may not see him drinking from the dripper I would still use it. Look for orange parts in his urates, this is a sign of dehydration.
How far is the closest branch from the top of the cage? It needs to be close enough for him to have a good basking spot and receive his uvb rays. Which in turn he should have no problems zapping crickets that are up there.
Also superworms are not recommended so much. They can bite your cham.
You should try hornedworms, roaches, silkworms, and waxworms occasionally as a treat.
Are you using a uvb light at all? What brand and type?
Also putting a humidifier in the room he is in helps to raise the humidity. We are in michigan in the dead of winter and the heat from the furnace drys out the whole house. We bought a coolmist humidifier from wal-mart that works really well and is relatively inexpensive.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Superworms are a regular staple feeder here.

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

-Brad

 

[shaneandjennifer]

yes, i'm using a normal basking bulp and also the long cylindrical type bulbs i think called the reptisun 10.0 or something like that. anyway, his urates are always white, sometimes they are kind of runny though. anyway, thanks for the tips, he seems to be o.k.