Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, just got 1.3 veileds today. They seem to be very young and healthy. Couple of quick questions on husbandry and want to know if what I've been told is the best route to take.

I've got them in a 10g for the first couple of months. The cenery consistes of very bright colors on each side such as red, yellow, blue and green.

I'm feeding them primarily on lobster roaches and will throw some greens in there as I have fake plants right now.

I've got no subtrate whatsoever in there. Just bright green posterboard under the aquarium. Is this the best route to take?

I was told drip system was not needed? I was told to spray down only once in the morning really good and that's it. No other mistings or drip systems will be needed. Is this right?

Also, I was suggested to use a 100watt lamp for basking in the 10g. That's too hot even for my beardies. The ambient temp is around 90 and the basking area (about half the small tank) is 110-115.

I was told not to use d3. Why not? Only use a good uvb bulb. Also, is vitamin supplemetation okay? How often?

I'm unsure about the best husbandry practices, but the guy I got these from said he has 8 years experience. Please give me your opinions guys!
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Jeff
A Dozen Bearded Dragons
A Dozen Frogs and Toads
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1.1 Northern Pastel Skinks
1.1 Cats (Siamese and Tabby) Hulk and Mighty Mouse
1.1 Chihuahuas Arnold The Governator and Lucy
2.4 Leopard Geckos
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Arnold8169@charter.net

for substrate just use something that will be hard to injest and easy to clean such as paper towel or newspaper. how big are they? 10 gal may be too small them. try to get a screen cage as soon as you can. you want to spray a least 2 times a day. when i used to mist by hand i did it when i woke up, went to bed, and when i got home from school. i drip system is good but not necessary. in such a small tank there may be puddles of water and chams easily drown. way to much heat. go for 90-100 basking and 80 ambiant. use d3 and a good bulb. at a young age you can do it every other day. you may also want to get a mulivitimin like herpative.

-jon
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1.1 veiled chameleons
0.0.1 normal cornsnake
1.2 leopard geckos

yeah, the tank is probably gonna be too small in even a few weeks if it isnt already, i would go with a 60watt bulb, i used paper towels for substrate with no probs and its easy to change, mist 2 times but you can also put some icecubes on the top and let them drip, never used the roaches b4 just dusted crix but the more variety the better, to be honest with you i think the only thing that will eat the greens at a young age is the roaches and crix. mine didnt start eating greens until adulthood

OOOOOK where to start
a 10 gallon aquarium is ok for now but you need to seperate them and get them in screen cages as soon as possible. They will begin to compete for food and stress each other out.

As a diet I would try to get small crickets and or silk worms in the diet as well. Im not sure roaches will be enough.

No substrate is ok, since they will sometimes ingest it, which could cause impaction etc... Just make sure to keep the bottom clean.

>>I was told drip system was not needed? I was told to spray down only once in the morning really good and that's it. No other mistings or drip systems will be needed. Is this right?

A drip system should be considered as well as misting. Have it drip into a plant (small potted pothos vine or something else small enough to fit in the tank?) Misting should be ok for now but a dripper can run longer and many chams prefer them.

>>Also, I was suggested to use a 100watt lamp for basking in the 10g. That's too hot even for my beardies. The ambient temp is around 90 and the basking area (about half the small tank) is 110-115.

I think that the bulb your using will be too hot for them. I could be wrong, maybe babies need higher temps? But I believe basking temps should be in the 90-100 range or so, but you could over heat them I think with the watt bulb you have right now. Normal tank temps should be around 80s during the day and fall to 70s during the night. Make sure they have places to escape the heat as well, such as putting the basking lamp at one end of the cage so the rest is cooler.

>>I was told not to use d3. Why not? Only use a good uvb bulb. Also, is vitamin supplemetation okay? How often?

Personally im not sure on supplementation for babies (been awhile ) But you need to have a vitamin supplement given to them every couple days as they are growing to ensure good health and bone structure etc...

As for the "best husbandry practices" its kind of a learning experience. And questions you have this forum can answer em! One good idea you may want to try is searching this forum for such things as supplementation etc. Probably give you some good info.

Here is a care sheet to help you out as well!!
Good luck!

Erin
Veiled care sheet (found above in the caresheet links on Kingsnake as well)

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1:0 Veiled (Gene)
1:0 Sambava Panther (Knoxville)
1:1 Albino Clawed Frogs (Phedre and Jos)
?? Fire belly toad (Harold)
Various cats and dogs

>>I've got them in a 10g for the first couple of months. The cenery consistes of very bright colors on each side such as red, yellow, blue and green.

- Unlike beardies, chams are not aquarium dwellers except as neo-nates. They each need their own screen cage. Screen serves 2 purposes: 1. airflow which is needed to help thermoregulate and dry up excess water that can cause bacterial infections. 2. climbing areas for the chams. They like to wander and the more climbing area you have the better off they will be.

>>I'm feeding them primarily on lobster roaches and will throw some greens in there as I have fake plants right now.

- Roaches are fine, but I found that my veileds did not really go for them after a while. They loved Crickets and never went for the greens I offered. Crickets have softer exoskeletons which are easier to digest for the younger chams. I would go for superworms or silkworms and small crix for the young veileds.

>>I've got no subtrate whatsoever in there. Just bright green posterboard under the aquarium. Is this the best route to take?

I would put some papertowels as substrate to absorb the excess water until you get them in a screen cage. Change the towels after every misting so you can keep the bacteria at a minimum. After you get a screen cage, you dont need substrate but you can definitely use papertowels or unprinted newspaper as substrate. Just remember not to use PRINTED paper as the ink is bad for them. Remember to chage the paper substrate daily.

I was told drip system was not needed? I was told to spray down only once in the morning really good and that's it. No other mistings or drip systems will be needed. Is this right?

>> Chams do not drink from bowls (usually) so you need a continuous source of water for them. Drip systems are the easiest to use and work fine. You dont need to buy a fancy bottle. You can use a 32oz plastic cup from McDonalds as a dripper. Use a pin to poke a hole on the underside and see how quickly the drip goes. You want a slow drip so the water doesnt get wasted. You may need to practice a few holes to get the right drip rate but this, and mistings every 4 hours or so will take care of the water issues.

Also, I was suggested to use a 100watt lamp for basking in the 10g. That's too hot even for my beardies. The ambient temp is around 90 and the basking area (about half the small tank) is 110-115.

>> Use a 40w bulb and see how hot it gets under the basking AND the cool side. 100w might be okay for a screen cage but it's way too much heat for an aquarium with no ariflow.

I was told not to use d3. Why not? Only use a good uvb bulb. Also, is vitamin supplemetation okay? How often?

>> You need D3 supplementation, especially with young chams. A bulb is never enough. You can do supplements 3 or 4 times a week as young and then move it to once a week as they get older.

I'm unsure about the best husbandry practices, but the guy I got these from said he has 8 years experience. Please give me your opinions guys!

>> everyone's opinions are different, but, we try to help as a collective group. Take my suggestions and everyone elses and come up with your own best practices. Get a good UVB bulb and get screen cages for each cham soon. Dont buy the smallest cages because your chams will outgrow them quickly. Veileds grow fast and LARGE. Get the largest cages you can afford and plan on getting large enough for an adult cham.
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Raf

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1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.3 Bearded Dragons (Diego, Ginger, Baby and Georgia)
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0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
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