Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi,

i've got a juvie female veiled chameleon. she is amazing and intriques me daily. i've had her since she was about two inches long (not including tail) and now she is a little over 3 inches long. i've had her about 2 months, and she has grown a lot! i've got all the proper lighting, heat and setup for her (i am not stranger to herp keeping). i've got some q's though.

1. she seems not to be too interested in the crickets i am feeding her. i feed her small to mediums still. maybe she is ready for larges? or other bugs like waxworms/mealworms?

2. sometimes her nostrils turn white, as if she has a crust in them. this usually happens in the morning when i turn the lights on and she has been sleeping all night. i mist her down very well and the whiteness dissapears. is this a sign of sickness? dehydration?

any info, would be great!

rachel
In Depth Information On Common Aquatic Frogs

-----
4.3 African Clawed Frog
0.2 Calfornia Newt
0.1 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Tokay Gecko
0.1 Veiled Chameleon
0.1 Albino Argentine Horned Toad

Hi rachel,

The white is probably just salt build up. This is how they get rid of any excess and is perfectly normal so long as all else seems OK.

Rule of thumb feeder size is no longer than the width of the chams head. When you say small to medium...well, that is rather subjective. If you stick to the "rule" you should be fine. If they are on the small size just give her more. How/what are you gutloading your crickets with? What is your supplement regimen and brands? How are you offering water other than misting?

As for other feeders - yes, you can absolutley introduce a variety, which is recommended anyway. Waxworms are high in fat so should only be a treat, and mealies have a lot of chitin (in exoskeleton) so can be hard to digest, but again, can be offered occasionally. She is too young for superworms, but roach nymphs and silkworms would be a welcome change. ChamNews has an article with a bug nutrition chart here: http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2002/sept2002/nutrition/nutrition_sept_02.html

Don't take this the wrong way as it is not to question your herp knowledge, you said i've got all the proper lighting, heat and setup for her (i am not stranger to herp keeping) but chams are different from many other herps due to their high
temps/humidity/ventilation requirements. If you have been reading the forum you will have seen that the humidity issue comes up a LOT especially this time of year from those of us who live in cooler regions of the country/continent. It is up to you, but if you would like to post your setup just for some input it might not be a bad idea.

There is an article (linked below) with lots of great site links and setup questions if you want to take a look.

hope this helps!
lele

>>hi,
>>
>>i've got a juvie female veiled chameleon. she is amazing and intriques me daily. i've had her since she was about two inches long (not including tail) and now she is a little over 3 inches long. i've had her about 2 months, and she has grown a lot! i've got all the proper lighting, heat and setup for her (i am not stranger to herp keeping). i've got some q's though.
>>
>>1. she seems not to be too interested in the crickets i am feeding her. i feed her small to mediums still. maybe she is ready for larges? or other bugs like waxworms/mealworms?
>>
>>2. sometimes her nostrils turn white, as if she has a crust in them. this usually happens in the morning when i turn the lights on and she has been sleeping all night. i mist her down very well and the whiteness dissapears. is this a sign of sickness? dehydration?
>>
>>any info, would be great!
>>
>>rachel
>>In Depth Information On Common Aquatic Frogs
>>
>>-----
>>4.3 African Clawed Frog
>>0.2 Calfornia Newt
>>0.1 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake
>>1.1 Tokay Gecko
>>0.1 Veiled Chameleon
>>0.1 Albino Argentine Horned Toad
Chameleon Help & Resource Info

-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

hello! sorry for the delayed reply, my computer has been acting up agian.

anyways, thanks for the fantastic post! here are some more details on Yema's care (my juvie veiled female).

she is eating 3-5 large feeder crickets every day or everyother day. yesterday she ate 3 waxworms. although i've noticed that some of the waxworms NEVER move, i'm guessing these are dead ones? some hardly move, and when placed under the heat lamp they come alive and squirm in the feeding dish. they are not being kept inthe fridge right now because i dont understand why they arent moving....? she only ate the 3 that were moving around.

the tank she is in right now is a home made tank wiht glass sides and a screen front. on saturday she will be moving into a screened enclosure that is much bigger. i use an 8.0 UV bulb and a 75 watt red basking lamp. the temp is about 90 F in her baskign spot and 75 F on the coolest part of the tank, away from the basking light.

i mist her with a plant sprayer set on the mist option. its heavy duity and really nice, not like those hand pump water sprayer things. her humidity stays anywhere from 70-90 %

i have tried a dripper for water but she ignores it and it ends up making a huge mess on the floor of the cage. she only drinks water off the screen on the front of her cage, she wont drink if off the leaves or anything.

i use a live pothos for her to climb on, it has really nice established vines already that i have spirled around the cage going up to the top. they are held up wiht suction cup clips. i also have bendable vine for more support as well. one side of the cage is covered with a hermit crab mat. it is this fiborus mat used for climbing, she loves it and scales that wall all the time.

she is eating great and loves the waxworms, only if they move though! UGH. i've noticed that in the past week she will eat every other day now instead of every day. am i feeding her too much? or is this normal? i know all of my other herps are not fed every day except as babies, so i'm not sure. she is approx. 4 months old i'm guessing. i've had her for two, and she was a tiny little thing when i got her....

rachel

The white is probably just salt build up. This is how they get rid of any excess and is perfectly normal so long as all else seems OK.

Rule of thumb feeder size is no longer than the width of the chams head. When you say small to medium...well, that is rather subjective. If you stick to the "rule" you should be fine. If they are on the small size just give her more. How/what are you gutloading your crickets with? What is your supplement regimen and brands? How are you offering water other than misting?

As for other feeders - yes, you can absolutley introduce a variety, which is recommended anyway. Waxworms are high in fat so should only be a treat, and mealies have a lot of chitin (in exoskeleton) so can be hard to digest, but again, can be offered occasionally. She is too young for superworms, but roach nymphs and silkworms would be a welcome change. ChamNews has an article with a bug nutrition chart here: http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2002/sept2002/nutrition/nutrition_sept_02.html

Don't take this the wrong way as it is not to question your herp knowledge, you said i've got all the proper lighting, heat and setup for her (i am not stranger to herp keeping) but chams are different from many other herps due to their high
temps/humidity/ventilation requirements. If you have been reading the forum you will have seen that the humidity issue comes up a LOT especially this time of year from those of us who live in cooler regions of the country/continent. It is up to you, but if you would like to post your setup just for some input it might not be a bad idea.

There is an article (linked below)
In Depth Information on Common Aquatic Frogs

-----
4.3 African Clawed Frog
0.2 Calfornia Newt
0.1 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Tokay Gecko
0.1 Veiled Chameleon
0.1 Albino Argentine Horned Toad

sorry almost forgot to include this!

u dust her food about 1-2 times a week with ReptoCal made by tetrafauna. it includes calcium and D3.

i also use a product called Calcimize in her water. It is made by ExoTerra. It is a drinking water conditioner with calcium supplement included in it.

The crickets are gutloaded with a cricket feed called GutLoad, i believe it is a product of ESU? i cant remember exactally, i threw the box out, but kept the baggie it comes in. I also include fresh chopped carrots and mustard greens for the crickets as well. i understand veilds need veggie mattter in their diets too. The crickets are watered with Flukers Calcium Fortified Cricket Quencher. they are little yellow gels.

i also have red tipped lettuce and mustard greens hanging in her cage at alltimes. but she never nibbles it yet, she likes to eat the new pothos growth instead....haha.

ok, i think i've covered everything so far....am i doing all this right?
In Depth Information on Common Aquatic Frogs

-----
4.3 African Clawed Frog
2.1 Calfornia Newt
0.1 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Tokay Gecko
0.1 Veiled Chameleon
0.1 Albino Argentine Horned Toad