Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey
I have a 5 month old male veiled chameleon and have some questions about him. He eats dusted crickets, butterworms, mealworms, and lots of silkworms. He has a reptisun 10.00 and proper basking light. He lives in a 12 by 14 by 26 screened in cage. I spray him 3 times a day, and he drinks alot. What Im getting at is I havent seen him hardly at all the last month. I purchased him from a VERY reputable breeder, and he's only grown a half of an inch, although his veil on his head has got alot bigger. Do they just stop growing for a while, then start again? He's 9 inches Snout to tip of tail. How often do I dust his food?? Whats the average size of a male veiled his age??? Is his cage big enough?? Sorry about all the questions, but this is my first cham and I want to do everything right
Would love to here some comments. thanks.

At 5 months you should cut back the supplements...calcium about every 3-4 days, and vitamins once a week. At about a year you should only be dusting with calcium once a week and vitamins once a month at most. There is no standard size for any cham...genetics can play a big part as well as the health of the mother during egg development. I think your cage is small...I'd look into building or buying a cage at least 24"x24"x5' tall. Chams generally use all the space they are given and I don't think you can ever go too large. Yes, they grow in spurts and growth slows down with age. Chams also seem to go through "shy" phases I think. Males that are about ready to feel their hormones may be shy until they are mature. As long as he's eating and drinking normally I would not worry about that too much. Has anything changed around his cage? More activity? Low frequency noises? New animals he can see either outdoors or in the room? Any shiny surfaces that might be producing a reflection?

Hey,

Carlton mentioned alot of things that may answer your question. He's VERY knowledgable. Just make sure you give your veiled a very varied diet, that can give you some great results and an overall healthier chameleon. You most deffently need a larger cage, for your chameleon will probably exceed 18" if not larger. I think your cham will be fine in his enclosure until he gets a tiny bit lorger, but I wouldnt keep him in there too long. This may be a myth, but a small chameleon cage can cause a stressed out chameleon...Which in turn MAY possibly restrict his growth. Just something I heard, good luck though!

Michele

Hey,

I would agree with Carlton that the cage is too small, but a 5' tall cage is not 100% necesary. While the extra space is desirable in some aspects, it isn't in all(my opinion). With the larger space, you will be able to mimic his enviorment better, with better heat grdients, he will get more exercise, ect. But, with a cage that big, parasites will arise easier (my opinion). This is because it is not as easy to clean his cage. With a smaller cage, or should I say a medium cage, you will have a much easier time, and be more sucessful with cleaning. CLEANING is the most important part of keeping chams healthy.

You will not necesarily (lol, can somebody tell me how to spell that) see him grow, especially since hopefully you are around him so much. You simply will not notice it. However, I don't see any cause for concern. You should buy a gram scale to keep track of his weights. You seem to be doing everything right, and seem to be very enthusiastic about your cham, which is very good. If you have any other questions, post them.

LOL, I wish I knew about this website when I was starting chams.

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

For an adult Veiled, a 5 foot tall cage would not be too large. It is not totally necessary, however, I'm sure he would enjoy the extra space. I wouldn't move him into an enclosure that large just yet though...you might not be able to monitor him that well, make sure he's eating/drinking etc. If you can make/get a larger cage, maybe 24" x 24" x 36", or something like a 65 gallon reptarium, then when he grows a bit more, move him into the large enclosure. As for parasites...I don't think a taller enclosure will harbor more parasites if it is all screen, as all cham enclosures should be. There will be just as much air flow and such as a smaller cage, just the plant(s) will be taller and you might need more heat. It wouldn't make sense that there would be more parasites unless you drenched the enclosure and didn't allow it to dry, but that could happen with any size. Just make sure that if you do keep him in a cage that large, you have multiple feeding cups/tubs. As for vitamins/dusting, I agree with carlton. Good luck

Carlton: Thank you so much for answering my questions quickly. Im going to move him into a bigger cage when he gets a tad bit larger himself. as for anything that might stress him, I can think of nothing...he doesnt even live in a high traffic area.

Chamcham: Yeah, Ill try to vary his diet more and make sure he gets the right amount of vitamins. By the way, you have such pretty chams. ive always wanted a panther, but they are way expensive

Ankinc: Thank so much for the info. I really am enthuisiastic about my little veiled, and I wanna' make sure I do everything right the first time, so I dont give chameleons a rep.

Drep: Thanks for the information and for debating with Ankinc. lol jk. It really has helped alot, and I now plan on monitering my chams weight, and keeping a health log.

Thanks again everyone

Thanks....

I didn't mean that it will be easier to get parasites, I just meant that it is harder to get rid of them. And thats another thing; it is alot harder to monitor chams in a cage that big, and quite frankly I don't see a need for it. A cage 24x24x36 or 48 is plenty big. Many people always say bigger is better, but definetly not in my opinion. But again, this is just out of my own personal experiences, and I am sure many other people have had many other experiences that were good with big cages; I didn't. But I definetly wouln't when he is not even fully grown.

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

The cage size isn't the only important thing. Certainly, I wouldnt' keep an adult male veiled, no matter the size (most are usually under 18", but they all think they're big, and require the same space)in a small cage.

The smallest cage I'd reccomend is 24"x24"x36". Even then , a habitat of this size is usually inadequate unless it's raised several feet off the ground. I've kept several species in cages this size, but only if they are 3' off the ground. A cage double the size, but on the floor, will not be as good.

Bigger cages are easier to plant, as it's hard to keep ficus and sheffelera under 3'. Plus, it's easier to maintain a thermal gradient. I'll have to disagree about them being harder to clean - increases in height won't affect that, only increased floor area will. Cages that are more than 24"x24" at the base are a bit of a pain to clean, and I dont' find too many advantages with that, except for the really big species.

I've made cages for sale that are 2x2x3. I think it's better to go for 2x2x4, just for the plants. A 3' cage doesn't have much room for a plant, AND basking branches. I end up overheating ficus branches, or having to trim them too much...

I find that when a chameleon is given all the space and height he wants (MALE veileds anyway), they'll use the top 3-6 feet, and never go to the bottom. SO, if you're building a cage from the floor up, go 5 feet to 6 feet. Otherwise, build a 3-4 foot cage, and put it on a 3 foot shelf. He'll appreciate the height, and probably won't miss the last 3 feet...unless it gets too hot or cold.

I find cages that are over about 30" deep (front to back...if you have to reach through one front door) are harder to clean, but I can offer more useable space by keeping the cage shallow but wider and taller. My biggest cage is 5'tall, 4'wide, and about 30" deep. A cham that will be crowded in that such as melleri I free range in a spare room. Free ranging is a really nice way to keep large chams if you have a room to do it in. There is no cage to mess with! There are some chams who are so shy they don't use all the space, but most really take advantage of all the microclimates and the bigger bushier plants you can offer. Even my really sedentary deremensis used most of the 5' cage at some time or another. An active species like fischeri was all over it constantly.