Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All, Proud new owners of a female veiled, hoping to find help with approx. age, we think about 3 months. She was bought from a pet store who failed to give any indication of the care she needed. Sooooooooooo glad there are sites like this, we have done countless research already to give her the best. We are very concerned about eggs (rather be prepared early) and getting her in the best cage possible.Right now she is free range during the day and in a 10 gall glass at night both have 100 degree basking spots and other areas too. She eats well both out of cup and hand, also we mist her up to 4 times a day with warm water(our favorite time). Looking for general good care tips and specifics about eggs. Nice to meet you all , looking foward to many conversations.
Keith , Lisa, and Serenity ( there's kids too but they dont count anymore LOL)

I read and answered your post on the veiled subforum before I read this one...so I have given you some information you already know. Better to give it than to have missed something, I suppose?

Most of my female veileds live to be over 6 years of age...hope yours will too!

She looks older than 3 months but I have no sense of relativity left!

Welcome! I just want to elaborate on one thing that kinyonga mentioned in her reply in the veiled forum. She mentioned the UVB light, but I'd like to bring it up again. The fact that she free ranges during the day means she is getting no unfiltered UVB (unless you are taking her outside). it can also be dangerous so my personal opinion would be to keep her caged for now. Most of us use ZooMed repti-sun 5.0 fluorescent bulbs for UVB needs. Other than reiterating this follow everything that k said and you'll do fine

See the link below for additional sites, vet info (set yourself up with one before you need him/her), etc. Also, I linked to a great UVB/calcium/D3 site.

lele
uv guide

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan and Stan Jr.!
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skippy
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh, Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Thanks for your reply and concern. I guess I forgot to metion that the area she free ranges in is set up with a uvb light and basking spot. We have a piece of lattice attatched to the wall and pothos woven through it, so we are able to "limit" her range while still providing uvb and also a basking spot. We tried to take her out on my hand today and she flipped. Im going to invest in a traveling cage so she can get some "real" sun! Let me know if you think this is ok and I'll work on getting pics up. Thanks again.

Well, I glanced at your message and all the replies and I don't know if anybody mentioned this. You said you have 100 degree lights on her during the day on her free range and at night in her 10 gallon glass tank. You're cooking her at night, a 100 degree bulb is way to hot for a 10 gallon. She would prefer a temperature drop down into the low 70s or high 60s, so she doesn't need the heat at night.

You should get her an all screen cage soon because glass tanks are bad news for Chameleons. They can cause all sorts of problems from mouth and foot rot to URIs and for Chams, they are a breeding ground for bacteria because of the high water volume that Chams require. Oh yeah, one more thing I would come here to the Kingsnake Chameleon forum to ask questions and get advice. I saw your message on "Reptic Zone". I go to the "Reptic Zone" once in a while to see if I can help because there just seems to be nobody there with any experience and there are lots of people that need help. When I looked around for care sheets (for any reptile) on "Reptic Zone" I found "URL: FILE NOT FOUND". Not good!

What kind of UVB bulb do you have for her? If you got it at the same pet shop where you got her, it may not be adequate. The is a lot of bulbs that say they provide UVB but it is in such small amounts that it doesn't benefit your Chams.
What other reptiles have you had before her?

I think she might be about two months old based on her size and color. At 3 months my Veileds are usually 8 to 10 inches long and showing more than just green. However she was a pet shop baby and they probably didn't tell you about taking care of her because they don't know how to care for her, so she could undersized and be 3 months old. I hope she is 2 months old because some of them become sexually mature at 3 1/2 months and she would be kind of small to develop eggs. Veileds are like chickens, they'll develop eggs whether they are with a male or not. If she develops a clutch of infertile eggs she may or may not display gravid colors without other Chameleons around her.

Just keep coming back and we can keep helping you. You didn't get off on the right foot because of the pet shop but we can help you get back on the right path. There is plenty of experience at this forum. I'm sorry if it seeemed like I grilled you but unless we find out exactly how you are caring for her, we can't help you. I've been coming here for more than 10 years and the people that get on here now are the best group there has ever been. A lot of that is due to the forum monitors or hosts ( the guys with "PH" before their name, like PHEve and PHWynn) and they are almost like normal people (well Eve's not but the others). Just joking Eve! They do a great job of getting rid of trolls. In the past, beginners would really get blasted and so would the people honestly trying to help them. So just give us a chance and understand that we have to ask "those" questions. Valerie.

We would like to say thank you for the wonderful reply and guidance as you can tell we want the best for her. I'm sorry if it sounded like the 100 degree light was on at night it isnt. At night we use exoterra night glo and only because it is very cold in my house. We use a 13 watt super uv coil lamp purchased at the pet store. What should we be using?Her cage does get around 70 at night.
We are also happy to announce that the cage is getting built this weekend. We finaly have a break from the "real" kids and the time and attention to do it. We have downloaded several plans and are anxious to get started she is getting big quick.
We have been posting here and there and when we are there we usually listen to luna c and dragos mom. We would love to stay here and we're glad to hear that there is so much experience here.
She is my first repile and I realize that I took on alot without knowing it, but please believe we are dedicated to her well being.
How do you measure her? Do you include the tail in the length? So if she was 3 months she would be about 8-10 inches with her tail? We have read about the eggs and recently put warm moist playground sand in the tank. When she started eating the sand we put her back in the regular cage with paper towel on the bottom. Now I've noticed that she is eating the dirt in the jade plant so I took that out too. I am dusting her crix with reptivite every feeding.Does she need something else?Also the crix are fed orange flukers. Trying to introduce some veggies.
She eats out of our hands and also out of containers and also we can let the crix run in the cage ( with food of course so they dont bite her). She has a wonderful personlity already and is so smart too. She loves to be misted and gets a nice warm misting up to 4 times a day. We clean her cage everyday while she roams about to get all the excess water out. Can't think of anything else right now and we'll try to get some new pics up to help out too. Thanks again Valerie!
Lisa, Keith, Serenity(cham), and the kids!!!!!

Wow! Thanks for the kind wordz. That's very nice. Yes I'm talking about overall length. It sounds like you are doing a pretty good job with her, you mentioned a few things that took me years to grab a hold of. So I think you are doing alright with her.

I wouldn't use any heat at night but take a look at her when she is sleeping. If her tail is tightly curled she is okay with the temperature.

I don't really like "Reptivite" but others use it. I prefer Repcal Phosphorus Free Calcium with Vitamin D and Repcal Herptivite. At 3 months old, I would dust her food items every other day with the Calcium and twice a week with the Herptivite. At six months I would back off to twice a week with the Calcium and once a week with the Herptivite and continue that for the rest of her life.

For my gravid females I use Coco - Tek as a digging substrate. It comes in brick form and is available at most pet stores. You add water to it to get it to set up. It is made out of ground coconut so if they decide to eat it, it won't hurt them. I don't know why they eat things like dirt, bark and sticks but that isn't unusual behavoir. I think they might be looing some some sort of enzyme that isn't party of their captive diet or maybe they need small pebbles to help them digest their food (like Birds do).

Well I hope this helps. I think you are on the right track with her so keep doing what you are doing and keep doing your research. Good Luck, Valerie.

I'm a little more at ease now thank you so much,I put so much effort into her especially since she is so little. I just love her so much I would be wrecked if something happened to her.
She seems to be happy with life as it is right now. We clean her cage every day and put things back the way they were she knows where to go for good belly mistings and of course where the crix bowl is too, lol.
I am very concerned that I have been using the wrong product ( I was under the impression, this reptivite is the daily calcium)
and a couple of posts say not to use it. I hope I haven't harmed her in any way. Have I been depriving calcium and overdoing vitamins due to this product and if so how do I correct. I am off to the store to get what you are using thanks for the recommenation.
I think the other hard thing for me is telling her age. I have had her 1 month yesterday so she probably is 3 months which means we're in for a growth spurt right? Yeah!
When should I make the coco-tek available to her? She has quite a fat belly already and I'm not overfeeding her. Im having problems getting pics from cam to comp but have plenty to show, working on that this weekend too. Hopefully Monday she'll have a new house and we'll be able to get the pics up.
Just to let you know many thanks to you for responding, You have made me feel so comfortable and at ease , not afraid to ask even the gross questions lol!!!! You never can tell with the internet but I hope to be able to consult with you on things for my years to come!!!! She is my first and probably only and she will always have the best I can give!!!!!! I get the feeling you feel the same about yours and now I don't feel as if I'm the only one LOL!!!!thanks agan hope to hear from ya soon.
Lisa

thanks lele!

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan and Stan Jr.!
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skippy
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh, Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet