Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi i have baby veiled thats almost two months now ( i think) and hes only grown about an inch since ive got him at one month. I have him in a glass aquarium right now temporarily because hes to small to go in the screen cage i have for him. Hes gota 75w basking bulb and a reptisun 5.0 bulb. Hes got two small umbrella plants, a fake plant, and a bunch of twigs. I feed him everyday 10, 1/4 inch crickets that are dusted. Hes showing some good colors (when hes mad) but shouldnt he be bigger. His body is about 3 inches (at most). I saw a picture of someones two month old veiled and i was wondering why mines so tiny compared to his. Should i move him into the bigger screen cage now since i moved my older female out if it? Should i start to feed him larger crickets? Should i feed him more crickets?

Thanks

hes getting calcium?

Ya i dust his crickets and he gets calcium from the reptisun 5.0 bulb.

maybe his tank is too little

i think the reptisun is for to help him assimilate the calcium.
Is that the only light you have? maybe his appetite is low?
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Like i said he has a reptisun and a 75 w basking bulb. His appettite is definately not low because he eats all the ten crickets i give him everyday in like 5 minutes. Should i give him more? Any by the way hes in a 10 gallon with an open top.

put him in the big cage and try to feed him 2-3 for cricklets if he wants them

Ya but hes already eating 10, 1/4" crickets a day. And i think im going to move him into the bigger cage tomorrow.

wow thats alot of crickets lol... you could see if hell eat more than 10.
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His crickets are getting dusted solely on phosphorous free calcium, if you mix minerals and calcium powders they cancel the effect of eachother. I recomend 6 days a week on calcium dusted crix, and 1 day on Vit/Min dusted crix (change his diet as he gets older)

Do any of his limbs seem a bit lumpy/bumpy?

I dont think so. He has bumps at his joints like elbows. But his legs arent lumpy or anything.

sorry last post... I believe unbrella plants are also toxic if ingested... veilds are part herbivorous... might be the cause (id recomend pothos/ficus)

whoa. umbrellas toxic? ive seen pics from reputable breeder sites with umbrellas and also seen them on many safe plant lists. i do know that there are 2 kinds of umbrella plants. maybe thats what your talking about. if it is toxic PLEASE let me know.

-jonathan

Lol im sorry for the startle, I guess chameleons have alot different digestive systems than cats ... heres the link below that shows what plants are toxic to cats, wich mislead me:

Link

n/p

Ok I hav heard of at least 2 diff umbrella plants. One is toxic.
The toxic one is also known as Indian Rhubarb. The other umbrella plants is Shefferela? ( not sure of spelling). Found that out on a google since I didnt know what a umbrella plant looked like. But I do think there is a third plant they call and umbrella plant. So does anyone have a picture of the umbrella plant ya'll do use? Is it the sheferela?
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yes the sheferilia (I dont know its spelling either) is chameleon safe. I dont know about the other 2.
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther
1.1 Ambilobe Panther

yea im using sheffelera (ahhh spelling) i dont have any pics but they're long stalks with 8-9 leaves on the top of each. they're green in color occasionally with white highlights. and i know for a fact that the other umbrealla is toxic. that looks more like tree with large long leaves. i know ive seen pics of the scheffelera online before. ill go look right now and post a link.

-jonathan

http://davesgarden.com/pdb/showimage/28464/

thats a nice pic of one. and by the way i found the spelling too: umbrella schefflera.

-jonathan

If you could post a pic it would really help.
-Ok, now for my evaluation. lol.
-From the sound of it, it seems like you are doing everything correct.
-If I were you I would change from 1/4" crickets to 1/2" to save money. Just feed him less.
-Generally, Chameleons don't grow rapidly when they are that young. I would say at about 3 months old, they start to hit "Puberty". So I wouldn't be that concerned as of yet. Plus it's better for a veiled to grow slower then faster. They tend to be more vunerable to MBD.
-I would dust the crickets 3 times a week with your Calcium supplement. Dusting everyday will lead to Calcium Difficiency or MBD.
-As soon as you think he is big enough, put him into a all screen enclosure.

That's just my 10 cents..

I am no expert but here are my thoughts...first, did you say he gets no calcium supplement? he definitely needs it when all his little bones are growing. The UVB light only helps with proper assimilation but does not provide calcium. I lnked an article for you to read below

While young you can let him eat as much as he wants. Do you offer him things other than crickets? Both Silkworms and butterworms have high amounts of calcium naturally, you may want to try that. If you get some silkies order the small ones.

Is he cup-feeding? If you move him to the larger cage make sure the crickets are contained so he can find them easily enough and don't let them stay loose in the cage overnight unless you put some food out for them. If they get hungry they may nibble on your cham's tiny feet All else sounds OK.

lele
Calcium

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

Little chameleons dont grow much AT ALL in the first 3 months of life, they grow from hatch to their first month, then they seem to hault growing till they reach 3 months old. You will definatly notice a growth after he reaches 3 months of age.

3 inches is a great size for a 2 month old cham. ( I would not dust daily though...3 times a week is good, your cricket size is perfect..dont go bigger yet)
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther
1.1 Ambilobe Panther