Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just bought some Rep-Cal Herptivite and Rep-Cal Calcium from ReptileDepot.com along with other supplies.

I researched and found that many people like these products.

I've heard that people use vitamins every other week and calcium every other day.. but i've also heard other things.

So how often are you supposed to use the Rep-Cal Calcium and how often to use the Rep-Cal Herptivite ??

Are these powder form? Do you just sprinkle them over the crickets/bugs ??

Hey,
First of all, we must know what species of chameleon you have. Alot of species require different types, and ammounts of minerals and nutrients. We must also know how old you chameleon is. The younger the chameleon, usually the more vitamins it needs for growth.
Michele
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2.0 veiled chameleons (zebu and godzilla)
4.0 cinnamin blue faced button quail

Oh sorry! forgot!

It is going to be a sunburst/turquoise cross Veiled...and i think it is going to be 3-4 months old!

Hey again,
Excellent! Veiled chameleons are beautiful creatures, aren't they? I have a sunburst/turqoise cross, and her grew to be beautiful! Anyways, we're off the subject.

At the age of 3-4 months, vitamins arent as imporant as they were before, but they are still CRUCIAL to the chameleon. You should supply your chameleon with the calcium D3 supplement every 2-3 days, and the multivitamin every week to couple of weeks. I have found that if you over-calcitate a chameleon, it becomes ill, so dont think it will make him grow any faster. If anyone else had any opinions on how much vitamins to supply a chameleon with, go ahead and feel free to add, becuase Im just telling from personal experience, and the chameleons I had grew up to be robust and healthy.

Yes, you want to lightly sprinkle the vitamins ontop of your chameleons "prey". You may also sprinkle the supplements over your feeder insects food, so they get the vitamins as well.

I hope I have been of some help, and good luck!
Michele
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2.0 veiled chameleons (zebu and godzilla)
4.0 cinnamin blue face button quail

Awesome! Hey, i heard the crosses aren't as healthy as true breeds...is this a myth?

I want to buy a sunburst/turquoise cross from A1reptiles. My supplies arrive soon and then I gotta set up the environment...then I'm gonna order him.

So buying those gorgeous turquoise/sunburst crosses is a good idea? Where did you gets yours? Do you hae a picture of him now? How old was he when you got him?

Hey!
Im not quite sure about a turqoise/sunburst cross being as unhealthy has a purebred one, becuase almost all of the crosses I have raised have actually outlived my purebreds! And the colors are so much more vibrant!

A1reptiles is a good store to buy from! Ive purchased veileds from there before, and they have always had some of the best colorations and size. So what is your environment setup like?

Personally, I bought my sunburst/turqoise cross from topshelfexotics. He arrived, and I was dissapointed to see that he was missing half of his casque on his head, and most of his nails. Although he had many missing appendages, he made up for this with his awesome colors and size. He is about 20 inches.
I bought him at the age of 8 months, and he grew very quickly. I have also raised many other cross veileds. Ill try to post a pic of him tomorrow for you, to show you what your veiled my end up looking like! Thats so great that your getting one of these gorgeous guys! Are you breeding them, or keeping them as pets?
Michele
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2.0 veiled chameleons (zebu and godzilla)
4.0 cinnamin blue faced button quail

i'm getting one as a pet and may breed in the future but probably not. my setup is a 36"x18"x18" and i'm just going to put branches and other foilage in the cage. my supplies shoudl come soon so i can start building the cage.

i am torn between a sunburst and a sunburst/turquoise cross. =]

Hey!
Thats so awesome. I really dont think it makes a difference in health and longetivity by which chameleon you decide on. I think the turqoise/sunbust cross should be JUST as healthy as the purebred sunburst, but whatever you decide on should be great!! Good luck with your new chameleon, and it sounds like the cage and setup is going to be great!
Michele
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2.0 veiled chameleons (zebu and godzilla)
4.0 cinnamin blue faced button quail

I assume you have already ordered the cage? As a full adult the 36x18x18 will be a little tight. the 48x24x24 is a better size. a tip for setup: look at the cham photo gallery to see how others have their's set up. have fun!

lele
photo gallery

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0.1 Veiled - Luna
1.0 Beardie - (soon! For now his name is Kinky Boy )
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

Chameleon Help & Resource Info

Yah, I already ordered the cage. The chameleon I'm getting is 3mo-4mo and I will probably upgrade to a larger one when he gets big enough..But it shoudl be good for another 6 months atleast I would think!

The only trouble I'm having with setting up a cage (supplies haven't arrived yet, but I'm trying to plan) is that I really don't want or like just having a potted plant on the bottom. I would rather have lots and lots of branches and sticks going across the cage in my directions. However, I would rather have live plants than fake plants, but how can I achieve this w/o soil?

I was thinking of maybe having bamboo in a pot of water, which I think would work well because the water/mist from the dripper and from spraying would land in here. I would just have to cover it with a screen to make sure my cham doesn't drown.

What would be the best option is if there was some kind of live ficus vine that didn't need soil that I could wrap around branches and stuff to create foilage and hiding spots.

I will take a look at the photo gallery - thanks! Any suggestions for how to get a nice looking cage w/o pots/soil ?

You can try placing cut vines (ie pothos or other safe plant) in a vase of water crystals rather than water. Just make sure your chameleon can't eat the crystals themselves.
Cut vines and certain trees will do very well grown in water crystals. The water crystals are non-toxic, but I'm sure you don't want your chameleon to be eating them on a daily basis.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Hmm.. Where can I find more information on these pothos fines and water crystals? Where do I get them?

Are there any vines that can grow w/o a water base...Just sprays and mistings?

What about the vines that grow on the walls of buildings?

Pothos is a type of houseplant that is generally considered safe for your pets. Water crystals is a generic term for polyacrylamide- used in the making of cricket water. Looks like little jello crystals when fully hydrated.
As for growing something without water, it can be tricky. You can do it with Tillandia (air plants) or mounted orchids if you have enough misting. These would require heavy misting but I've found that my chameleons LOVE this sort of setup.
Pothos, tillandia, and mounting orchids (I reccommend oncidium or dendrobium) can be found in Home Depot or local nursery.
Dry form water crystals can be found if you look around. Or you can drop me a line and I can send some out for a SASE.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

SASE?

Well I definitely want live plants.

Which method should I try? Which is easiest?

Do you just put a bowl of water crystals on the bottom of the cage?

For the orchids....where do you mount them?

Right now I just have to brances in there lying against the screen. They have tons of branches, and there is plenty of "highways" going across the cage. All I want to do is add some foilage and cover.

So would mounting orchids work best? How would I mount them? I think i would like to try this as I know I could mist them daily and give them lots of water...but how woudl I mount them because all I have in the cage is tons of sticks floating in the air.

>>SASE?
Self Addressed stamped envelope

>>Well I definitely want live plants.
>>Which method should I try? Which is easiest?
>>
>>Do you just put a bowl of water crystals on the bottom of the cage?
You were talking about putting vines UP in your cage. My suggestion with the water crystals was to get a small vase filled with water crystals (rather than water) and to place this vase up in the branches where you want your vines to be.

>>For the orchids....where do you mount them?
>>So would mounting orchids work best? How would I mount them? I think i would like to try this as I know I could mist them daily and give them lots of water...but how woudl I mount them because all I have in the cage is tons of sticks floating in the air.
Not WHERE you mount them. Mounted orchids means that the orchid has been mounted on a piece of wood or bark, rather than potted. Orchids and tillys are epiphytes- meaning they grow on trees, but not as parasites. I suggest using mounted orchids because then they would be on the wood itself and you wouldn't have a pot to worry about.

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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Ah, thank you for clearing that up.

As for the mounted orchids..which kinds should I try that are safe?

I think it would be cool to have 2 or 3 differnet kinds of plants mounted up in the "trees."

Do they grow quickly and all over? Will they flourish?

Thanks so much, I'm gonna go to Home Depot and check it out!

>>As for the mounted orchids..which kinds should I try that are safe?
>>
>>I think it would be cool to have 2 or 3 differnet kinds of plants mounted up in the "trees."
>>
>>Do they grow quickly and all over? Will they flourish?
>>
>>Thanks so much, I'm gonna go to Home Depot and check it out!

Oncidium Gower Ramsey are nice. They remain smallish with very nice blooms. Dendrobium will work well also. They have a cane habit and not very demanding. I would suggest a dwarf variety, unless you have a larger enclosure. You can of course also try tillandia (air plants).
Orchids and air plants don't grow very fast and they do need a good amount of sunlight. As far as I know, they're not harmful to chameleons. Unless you have very high humidity, I wouldn't think that would take over your enclosure per se, but they WILL give you a nice exotic jungle look.
Also, it is possible to start with orchid seedlings (plants that are less than one year old and haven't bloomed yet) and mount them on wood yourself. It takes some time for them to take, but it's relatively easy to do.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Thanks very much, I'll give it a shot.

BTW I have a 36x18x18" screen cage. I'll get some pictures of it up soon.