Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thank you.
I recently was given a veiled chameleon. She is about 6 inches long (not including the tail). She is in a large plastic sweater box type of container, with all sorts of plants, etc. Overhead basking lamp gor heat. I fed her 2 dozen crickets today. She ate about 6-7 of them. Anyway, here are my questions:
1. Do I need to dust the crickets I but with a supplement? If so, can you recommend one?
2. My household temp drops to about 68 degrees at night. Without the basking light, is that too cold for her?
3. As I said, she did not eat all the crickets. I noticed some crawling on her. Will the crickets bite her or anything?
3. Besides crickets and meal worms, what else should I feed her?
Any other advice you can offer to a novice chameleon keeper would be greatly appreciated.

Well first things first. You need to get her an adiquate cage. A 2x2x3 foot screen/or mesh cage. This is one of the most importaint things for a chameleon.

A female will not/should not eat 2 dozen crickets a day. 10 is a good amount. Lots of crickets can lead to the female becoming gravid and laying infertile eggs. meal worms should only be fed as treats and not daily. will you cage be inside or outside? dusting requirements are different for each.

I forgot your other questions..I'm alittle preocupied...so read some posts on chameleon care in here, it will give you lots more information.
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.0 Veileds
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther

You wrote
I recently was given a veiled chameleon. She is about 6 inches long (not including the tail). She is in a large plastic sweater box type of container, with all sorts of plants, etc. Overhead basking lamp gor heat.

She needs a wire or screen cage. Gt her out of the sweater box.
The basking temp should be about 90 with a drop down to 70 in the rest of the cage. Also, you can't water properly in a sweater box. She needs to be sprayed/misted at least 5 min. at a time 3X/day and a drip system running for sevefral hours is also important. Read the husbandry section of www.chameleonjournals./com. Then read the C. calyptratus profile at www.adcham.com

I fed her 2 dozen crickets today. She ate about 6-7 of them. Anyway, here are my questions:
1. Do I need to dust the crickets I but with a supplement? If so, can you recommend one?

If you gut load the crix properly (I like the gutload sold by www.herpnutrition.com) she won't need to be supplemented more than once every 2-4 weeks. That same web site sells supplements. BTW, if she's gravid she needs a preoper laying chamber at the first sign that she's looking for a laying spot. She needs this even if she hasn't been mated. Without it, she'll die.

2. My household temp drops to about 68 degrees at night. Without the basking light, is that too cold for her?

I night time drop into the 60s is highly desireable.

3. As I said, she did not eat all the crickets. I noticed some crawling on her. Will the crickets bite her or anything?

No.

3. Besides crickets and meal worms, what else should I feed her?
Any other advice you can offer to a novice chameleon keeper would be greatly appreciated.

Meal wormsd aren't very good. Superworms (Zophobos) are better. The occassional wax worm, silkworm, etc. as a treat is also good.

Start readinhg everything you can et your hands on. This is a VERY delicate animal. Don't worry about feeding her enough. She needs to be on food restrictrion. DO worry about giving enough water in the proper manner.
Ed

1. Do I need to dust the crickets I but with a supplement? If so, can you recommend one?

A: Yes you do need to dust the crickets. Usually the younger chams need it more frequently than adults. If you need a recommendation on brand, please email at screameleons@yahoo.com. I can tell you what I'm using and what dose has worked for me.

2. My household temp drops to about 68 degrees at night. Without the basking light, is that too cold for her?

A: I'm not too familiar with veiled temps, but somebody here should be able to tell you exactly what the night temps should drop to.

3. As I said, she did not eat all the crickets. I noticed some crawling on her. Will the crickets bite her or anything?

A: Yes they will. I have personally witnessed a chameleon getting eaten alive. For now, i'd recommend removing any uneaten cricketes or leave gut load in the cage for the crix to eat. Crickets crawling on the chameleon will cause stress!!!!!!!!!! You want to do everything to minimize stress for the well being of the animal. Eventually, it would be easier to manage food by cup feeding.

3. Besides crickets and meal worms, what else should I feed her?

A: Besides those feeders, i'd recommend silkworms. They are a great source of food for chameleons. you can find some at www.californiasilkworms.com.

Any other advice you can offer to a novice chameleon keeper would be greatly appreciated.

A: Get online and find some caresheets for veileds ASAP. I' don't have any veiled links, but someone here should point you in the right direction.

Good Luck.

Vince

Vince is absolutely right. Any left over crickets should be removed. They are actually members of the cock roach family & will eat anything. Even your chameleon. I once had a jackson chameleon that did not eat all her crickets & they ate the eyes out of the poor thing. Don't learn things the hard way. It's better to remove the crickets than it is to hope it feeds on the gutload. And I dust mine with Sticky Farms Miner-all. Lots of supplements are available, and lots of other breeders use different types to dust.
Cricket

I've never seen any evidence that crix will attack a healthy cham. If the cham is VERY sick or a very young baby, perhaps. But with a healthy animal, free ranging crix in a proper, well hydrated set up are not a problem.
Ed

Look back on this forum page to March 12th. Someone has posted links to VC care pages.
Cricket