We got a new chameleon — meet Pascal.

[Crack Crimson]

We got Pascal on Monday. We are unsure of his age. I will post him and his enclosure. Any advice is welcome, and if you have suggestions for upgrades—please post the link as well! I look forward to being in this community!

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!
Cute little chameleon!
If you answer the questions in the how to ask for help thread near the top of the health forum we can check your husbandry for you.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome! That is a little cutie! I do notice some husbandry errors that need to be corrected. This is the help form & if you fill it out, a member can review and make sure you have many happy & healthy years with Pascal.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[Crack Crimson]

Welcome to the forum!
Cute little chameleon!
If you answer the questions in the how to ask for help thread near the top of the health forum we can check your husbandry for you.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?

It’s a Veiled. Male. We assume he is around 3 months old. We’ve had him for 3 days.

• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

We have a relatively social Cham, so we play with him once every couple of hours.

• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

We are feeding him crickets for now. I have ordered BSFL on Amazon. We will begin supplementing and giving him calcium tomorrow. We gut load his feeders with romaine lettiuce for now. We will switch to apples soon.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule

See above.

• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

We have been manually misting him 2 times every few hours. He seems to drink somewhat regularly.

• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

We saw him poop earlier — was a light brown. We have not seen him urinate yet. No testing has been done.

• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

None.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?

He has an all mesh cage with the dimensions: (16x16x30)

• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?

We have been told we need a better lighting system by several users. We are running a ReptiBreeze combo light (default starting kit) We turn off lights just before bed, around 12.

• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?

Regular temp seems to fall in the 70s, while his basking spot is in the 80s.

• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?

Our aggressive misting regime keeps humidity at around 60 percent. We use a hygrometer.

• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

We have a pothos at the center and a fake vine at the side. We will buy more plants soon.

• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?

The enclosure is fairly high up.

• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Colorado.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

We are just getting advice for general husbandry.

 

[Crack Crimson]

Hi and welcome! That is a little cutie! I do notice some husbandry errors that need to be corrected. This is the help form & if you fill it out, a member can review and make sure you have many happy & healthy years with Pascal.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

See my other reply below.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ll put my responses in red.
Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?

It’s a Veiled. Male. We assume he is around 3 months old. We’ve had him for 3 days. Often they are mis-gendered. Males will have spurs on their back feet.

• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

We have a relatively social Cham, so we play with him once every couple of hours. I hate having to tell you this as much as you aren’t going to like hearing it. Chameleons are not social and do not like being handled, especially so frequently. What we interpret as signs they are relaxed and/or enjoy it is usually signs of extreme stress and sometimes even shutting down. Often we think their wanting to come out of their enclosure means they enjoy us. Really it’s that they don’t like their enclosure. Turning on the colors or brightening up can also mean stress.

• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

We are feeding him crickets for now. I have ordered BSFL on Amazon. We will begin supplementing and giving him calcium tomorrow. We gut load his feeders with romaine lettiuce for now. We will switch to apples soon. Very good. Bsfl are great feeders and usually the perfect size for little ones. The rule of thumb is to give feeders that aren’t any larger than the space between the eyes. He should be getting/eating 12-15 daily at this age. Romaine lettuce really has poor nutritional value to pass on. I’ll attach graphics on feeders and gutloading for you.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule

See above. You don’t specify what type of calcium. The basic supplementation is phosphorus free calcium without D3 with every feeding except one per week. That one feeding per week, you are going to alternate using phos free calcium with D3 and a multivitamin, so that he’ll be getting each one once every other week. Just dust lightly...you don’t need the feeders to look like snowmen.

• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

We have been manually misting him 2 times every few hours. He seems to drink somewhat regularly. You should be misting his plants about 3 times daily for at least 2 minutes each time. This gives him time to clean his eyes and triggers his drink response.

• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

We saw him poop earlier — was a light brown. We have not seen him urinate yet. No testing has been done. He most likely has urinated. That would be the white part of his poo...is called urate. The lighter it is, the more hydrated he is. It’s always a good idea to have a decal done to test for parasites.

• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

None.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?

He has an all mesh cage with the dimensions: (16x16x30) This is ok while he’s small, but he’ll grow fast and will be needing a minimum enclosure size of 24x24x48” or equivalent.

• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?

We have been told we need a better lighting system by several users. We are running a ReptiBreeze combo light (default starting kit) We turn off lights just before bed, around 12. Yes, you are correct. You need a T5HO fixture long enough to span the width of his enclosure with a 5.0 uvb bulb. The bulb loses effectiveness over time and needs to be changed every 6 months. Arcadia makes a 6% uvb bulb which is equivalent and only needs to be changed yearly. For basking, avoid colored lights as it can harm chameleon eyes. Most use an old fashioned incandescent bulb. As you’ll be needing to get a larger enclosure, I suggest getting the T5 which will be appropriate for that rather than having to buy 2 differently sized fixtures. Some plants have higher light needs than others and you can put a plant bulb in the unused side of your dual dome if you like.

• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?

Regular temp seems to fall in the 70s, while his basking spot is in the 80s. Good. Basking temp for a little one should stay in the low 80’s.

• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?

Our aggressive misting regime keeps humidity at around 60 percent. We use a hygrometer. This is too high. Ideal humidity range is between 30-50% during the day. At night when it’s cooler, humidity can go as high as 100%. If you have difficulty maintaining ideal humidity, you can wrap a shower curtain around a couple of sides of the enclosure and live plants raise humidity as well.

• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

We have a pothos at the center and a fake vine at the side. We will buy more plants soon. Yes. More live plants and get rid of the fake altogether. Veiled’s nibble their plants and have been known to eat a fake leaf and get impacted. You also need to make sure the plants are safe to nibble. Pothos is a favorite. This will help. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/

• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?

The enclosure is fairly high up. Very good. Chams feel safest when they can look down upon us and their world.

• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Colorado.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

We are just getting advice for general husbandry.
You really need to add more branches and vines in the enclosure...give him more little roads to travel on. You can use branches from outside...avoid pine and others that have sap. Wash with Dawn dish soap, blast with a hose and let dry in the sun. That will also give him a variety of diameters to keep his little mitten feet healthy. You also want to arrange the plants so that he has a few different shady and hidden areas. They do like to stay hidden at times, especially when sleeping.
I can’t see the bottom of your enclosure. I hope you’ve kept it bare. While reptile carpet, various sands, barks and such all look nice, they can pose different hazards and are more difficult to keep clean.
Besides asking all the questions you may need of the forum, (we love helping chams and their keepers ? ), some great resources to learning more are Neptune the Chameleon in YouTube - @Gingero has a video for just about everything and is fantastic!https://chameleonacademy.com/ is an excellent resource that not only teaches what and how, but why as well. There are also podcasts that are so informative, that you can find there. I hope this helps and feel free to ask questions.

 

[Gingero]

Here is a link to my YouTube channel @MissSkittles mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/c/NeptunetheChameleon?sub_confirmation=1

And here is a link to the playlist “Top 5 videos for new keepers” which would be a good starting place:

 

[AmandaS]

You have gotten some really great info here, I only came to say what a cutie you have there!!

 

[Thehippie]

@MissSkittles and @Gingero are great people to get info from!!! good luck with your cutie!!!

 

[kinyonga]

I would add a dripper that drips at the rate,of one or two drips per second.

I would also make sure it's a male. If it's a female you will want to learn about reproduction right away.