Well it begins. New owner + rescue.

GTSLOW

GTSLOW

New Member
So I've been rescuing and re-homing turtles for almost 5 years now I've never dealt with a chameleon before. I was planning on getting one from a breeder here on the forums, but yesterday I was poking around CL and found this guy. He's been living in a 10 gallon tank, has a water dish, one plant, a red reptile night light, and nearly zero humidity.... Needless to say even a turtle person can see when something's terribly wrong. So I made the drive today and picked up him. He has good grip, doesn't bite, and is very mobile. Unfortunately he'll have to deal with his small tank + free roaming until his new setup gets here at the end of the week.

So here's what I've ordered for him (should be here Friday):

16x16x30 Chameleon Cage
Zilla 18" Tropical UVB Fluorescent fixture/bulb
Dome light w/ 50w heat bulb (already had from previous turtle re-homing)
24" Ficus
Digital Thermo/Hydrometer
Little Dripper (bought from petsmart, he needed a real water source ASAP)
Hand Mister (Mistking to come on the 15th)
72" Artificial vine
3 assorted fake plants (plan to cut these up and secure them to the vines and branches)

Supplements/times used:
Rep Cal Herptivite supplement (2x a month?)
Rep Cal Calcium WITHOUT D3 (Daily?)
Rep Cal ultra fine calcium with D3 (2x a week?)

I've also ordered some of those vitacrickets that the vendor sells on here. I'm going to re-use the 10 gallon tank as a cricket home.

Cham4_001.jpg


Thoughts?
 
Congrats on the new little buddy. I'm sure he will be much happier with you. There are only a couple of changes that I would make. The first and probably most important being the cage. I know that the 16x16x30 cage is larger than what he is in now, but he really needs a 24x24x48 cage.

The other thing is your dosing schedule. Use the calcium without D3 everyday, with D3 every 2 weeks, and multivitamin every 2 weeks. Otherwise you are on the right track.
 
Lpsouth1978 said:
There are only a couple of changes that I would make. The first and probably most important being the cage. I know that the 16x16x30 cage is larger than what he is in now, but he really needs a 24x24x48 cage.
Click to expand...

Yes, male veilds, when full grown need a minimum of a 24x24x48. I would see if you can exchange it. It will save you have to upgrade again in the future. If you were planning on getting another cage in the near future, you will be fine. With proper care they grow like weeds.

Good luck!
 
Do you know what UVB bulb is coming with the Zilla fixture? I would go with the reptisun 5.0 over the Zilla bulbs. In my experience they are much better.

I don't know how much $ you want to invest in the hobby but an automatic misting system like mistking or aquazamp and t5 lighting setup are very good investments. Misting systems are super handy, you won't regret the purchase
 
Lpsouth1978 said:
Congrats on the new little buddy. I'm sure he will be much happier with you. There are only a couple of changes that I would make. The first and probably most important being the cage. I know that the 16x16x30 cage is larger than what he is in now, but he really needs a 24x24x48 cage.

The other thing is your dosing schedule. Use the calcium without D3 everyday, with D3 every 2 weeks, and multivitamin every 2 weeks. Otherwise you are on the right track.
Click to expand...

Ah shoot. I'm calling the place now to see if I can upgrade. Now that makes me wish I'd have ordered the large Ficus lol.

Djturna4thakidz said:
Do you know what UVB bulb is coming with the Zilla fixture? I would go with the reptisun 5.0 over the Zilla bulbs. In my experience they are much better.

I don't know how much $ you want to invest in the hobby but an automatic misting system like mistking or aquazamp and t5 lighting setup are very good investments. Misting systems are super handy, you won't regret the purchase
Click to expand...

That's a good question. I tried to find specs on it and all it says is a "tropical UVB" bulb. I know they do also offer a "desert" one so I'm guessing the tropical might be a 2.5 or 5.0 and the desert a 10.0?? Also I'm used to high setup costs after getting my latest turtle setup going ($200+ for a setup canister filter alone). I just have to get the necessities and buy the rest on the following payday.
 
Sounds good!

In the mean time I would remove the substrate in the bottom of his cage, they can accidentally ingest it and it can cause problems. If it were me, I would try and make a quick makeshift cage using a live plant. You can get plastic chicken wire and put it around the plant to contain him. The glass aquarium is a last resort. I guess you could also stand the tank on its end, then put a plant in there and put mesh screen over the front.
 
Djturna4thakidz said:
Sounds good!

In the mean time I would remove the substrate in the bottom of his cage, they can accidentally ingest it and it can cause problems. If it were me, I would try and make a quick makeshift cage using a live plant. You can get plastic chicken wire and put it around the plant to contain him. The glass aquarium is a last resort. I guess you could also stand the tank on its end, then put a plant in there and put mesh screen over the front.
Click to expand...

Substrate is long gone. I cringed when I first saw it! Also standing it on end was the first thing I thought of. Only thing is will any heat from the light get through at all? He's super friendly doesn't act all weird (which may or may not be good/bad)? I have no problems keeping him out most of the day.

Was thinking of hitting up Home Depot for a large indoor plant and putting it by the window to get him some natural sun?
 
That temporary cage should do fine until his new setup arrives. In my experience it is perfectly normal for them to just let the water drip on them. My guys hate the mist and run from it every time, but when it "rains" on them, they seem to enjoy it and are not bothered by it at all.
 
By the way....

I must give you props for taking action the way you have. It is great to see a keeper that is so dedicated to these wonderful animals. Sometimes it is hard, you think you are doing everything right only to learn that things need to be changed. Many people get discouraged and just say "Oh well". You on the other hand took the initiative to make the necessary changes to improve Ziggy's Life.

MY HAT GOES OFF TO YOU SIR!!
 
So I went out yesterday after work and got another fake plant, stuff for a DIY dripper, and more branches. Here's a pic my wife sent me from a few minutes ago. Seems he's quite content:

Cham3_001.jpg
 
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