Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, If you noticed my last post (which was yesterday lol) i was thinking about buying a veiled chameleon over the summer. However, today I went to my pet store to purchase some things for my fish, i went into the store, and they were having a special sale , they were selling veileds for $49.99. Being curious, i took a look at the chams and one caught my eye. It was a male, he was about 5-months old and 6 1/2 inches in body length including his tail. When i saw him he looked healthy and he was a captive bred, he was a brilliant yellow and greenish-blue, magnificant patterns and a beutiful form. I couldn't help myself, i had to have him. So i got a 18"x20" all screen cage, a mister, some plants and vines, a heatlamp and some crickets and took him home. i set everything up in a flash, dusted my crickets and gave the cage a gental mist before i put him in. So far, he is okay, I check on him every hour because i want him to have some time to adjust to his surrondings (in the men-time ive been reading about veileds). So far he has only ate one cricket, he hasn't moved at all from the one perch under the heat lamp, i suspect he is basking. He is a brilliant creature, and i hope he will live, i feel alittle guilty for not doing my part of researching in advanced. Anyway, is their anything else about the cham that i should be aware of? or something i should look for? any advice from veiled owners helps.
Thanx
-Phibia5

I'm happy for you. Your chameleon may not be eating due to stress. Veiled chameleons do not like change. Don't try to handle him for a couple days. Give him time to adjust to his new home. Provide all his essentials, but otherwise, just let him be. One more thing that I might add, is try to get a fecal sample & take it to be examined. Most pet stores don't clean their cages properly & many parasites & bacteria are spread this way. He can actually get infested with pin worms from the crickets he eats. Also make sure you have the proper setup for him. Sounds like he's going to enjoy his new owner.
And congratulations,
Cricket

something that caught my eye is your stated cage size. Veileds need a min. of 2x2x3. I wouldnt keep him in such a small cage for too long. it could cause a ton of stress on him. There are a lot of really nice screen cages online for a decent price i would look into getting, the larger the better.

anyways, congrats on the veiled. Hope he provides you with much enjoyment like my veileds do.
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2.0.0 Veiled Chameleons (Eros & Himeros)
1.1.0 Senegal Chameleons (Francois & Fifi)
0.0.1 Pigmy leaf Chameleon (Franklin)
1.0.0 Sandfire red/gold Beardie (Whitey Ford)
0.1.0 Brown Basilisk (Leroy, I know shes a girl!)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon (Maggie May)
0.0.1 Marbled Gecko (Chalmers)
1.0.0 15 year old Eastern Box Turtle (Radar)

Coming soon
Female Bearded dragon names Sissy from the Mid Michigan reptile rescue. I pick her up on Saturday the 13th!

I was worried about the size of the cage, but it was the largest screen cage size the pet store supplyied. i am not sure about ordering online, i'll have to look into it. Do you know of any good links to sites that supply cages?
Thanx
-phibia5

It depends on how much you want to spend. the cheaper way to go is to get a reptarium, but they have some issues. they zippers that they use get jammed, and if your not careful, crickets may chew holes through the material. Also, ive read that some chameleons have been known to get toes caught and ripped out. The better, but more expensive way to go is to get an all screen cage. They are 100% cricket proof and they dont have the zippers to fuss with. The better place to get the screen cages or reptarium is LLLreptile.com very friendly people and have nice prices. If you find it cheaper they will beat the price by 10%. Either way look into a min of 24x24x36-48".

Btw, i currently have both the normal screen cages and reptarium in use. the reptariums arent too bad if you dont mind fussin with the zipper a lil. otherwise no prob's.
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2.0.0 Veiled Chameleons (Eros & Himeros)
1.1.0 Senegal Chameleons (Francois & Fifi)
0.0.1 Pigmy leaf Chameleon (Franklin)
1.0.0 Sandfire red/gold Beardie (Whitey Ford)
0.1.0 Brown Basilisk (Leroy, I know shes a girl!)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon (Maggie May)
0.0.1 Marbled Gecko (Chalmers)
1.0.0 15 year old Eastern Box Turtle (Radar)

Coming soon
Female Bearded dragon names Sissy from the Mid Michigan reptile rescue. I pick her up on Saturday the 13th!

Yes, I also think that LLL is the best place to get the cages. I've got cages from several different places that claim to have the best, But the ones from LLL are not only the best looking, but are also the easiest to put together. Check out their website for specials. Even when they're not on sale, you'll still be getting the best value for the money.
Cricket

Thanks for the site. i took a look at the cages, i think i will upgrade to a 24x24x36 inch all screen cage. It's a bit pricy, but i'll order one over the summer. i am also considering getting a larger screen encloser for outside. My backyard is very shady so i am considering keeping my veiled outside when the weather is appropriate.
Thank you for your help
P.S> my veiled is alot more laid back today, he had a very light green coloration earlier this morning.
-phibia5

I'm not worried about the eating. I'm very worried about the temps. Those "heat lamps" are very dangerous (and expensive). Get rid of it. Use a plain old incandescent or halogen bulb for heat. Get yourself a decent electronic thermomemter at Radio Shack or Home Depot, etc. and measure the basking temps and the screen temps. Basking temp should be about 90. Make sure the screen temp isn't hot enough o burn him. Those heat lamps will cause nasty thermal burns and will blow up during misting.

What are you using for UVB?

You need to worry less about food and more about hydration. Read the hydration article in the husbandry section of www.chameleonjournals.com

Get a GOOD gutload (see ww.herpnutrition.com). That will let you avoid over-supplemnting. With a premium gut load you shouldn't need to supplement more than once every 2 weeks (max).
Ed

I purchsed a heat LAMP , i am using a regular 60 watt light bulb. The basking temp is 83 degress last time i checked.I also have a hallogen light strip apart from the heatlamp.
-phibia5

I know a lot of people like and use them, but I would avoid screen cages. They cause toenail loss in Chams, and this can lead to bad infections. And, toenails don't grow back. My Jackson's lost 5 toenails within 3 weeks of him being in a screen cage. So now I have him in a 2'x2'x4' PVC coated wire cage with 1/2" spacing, and he couldn't be happier. Just be advised that this is a risk with screen.