Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[stargazerlily7]

Hello! Yesterday I got a 2 week old female veiled chameleon from a breeder at a reptile expo. I've never had a chameleon before (i've had beardies, a collared lizard, and armadillo lizards) so I want to make sure im doin everything right here. So here's my setup, please let me know if im doin anything wrong or not doin something i should be. I got a 5 gal tank, 3 sides covered w/ stuff (i hear they dont like to see their reflection). I'll move her up into one of those rep habitats w/ screens on all sides once she's bigger. She's got branches (highest point is more than 6 inches away from the 50 watt tight beam basking lamp), warm side of the tank is a bit over 100, cool side around 85, off at nite where the temp in the room is 70-75. I got a ESU Reptile UVA/UVB bulb comin down on top, also off at nite. I got fake bright green plants that she can hide in if she wants (she doesnt seem shy, she's been wandering around quite a bit so far). I got the leaves set up so they drip water down into a bowl (i hear this encourages them to eventually drink out of water bowls), I'm misting her a bunch in the morning and a bunch in the evening, humidity in the tank is around 65 at those times, probably dries up quite a bit during the day but theres still water in the (shallow) bowl that evaporates. the bowl has leaves in it so she wont get stuck in it and drown. im also placing ice cubes on the top of the tank a lot during the day, so they melt and drip down onto the leaves. i've already seen her grab leaves and lick off the water. no substrate, of course, just paper towels. i fed her today, dusted pinheads with nekton MSA, and im gutloading more pinheads with T-Rex calcium plus cricket food. she's eaten two pinheads so far. i have a thermometer and hydrometer. yesterday when we got back from the expo i put her in her tank and she wasnt moving much, i figure she was pretty stressed so i left her in the quiet room for a few hours, by last nite she'd settled up on a nice branch and then today she was wandering around a lot. i handled her today, by putting my hand in and letting her decide if she wanted to climb on me (and she did). The breeder suggested I handle her every day. Is that ok? I don't want to stress her by handling her too often but i figure if she climbs onto me willingly it cant be that stressful, and of course i want her to stay comfortable with handling. Ok i think thats it, i'd really appreciate some feedback, tips, advice, criticism, whatever. i know its not that easy to raise these guys and i want to do everything right. thanks!

oh and here's a link to a pic....... i think her name's gonna be kameal...

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c229/stargazerlily311/kameal1.jpg

[stargazerlily7]

sorry one correction, humidity was around 65 when i got home and hadnt misted all day, i think my mom did once during the day, its around 90 now and i misted her a bunch about an hour ago.... also i'd like to know how many pinheads she should be eating, i got a dozen to start and i put 5 in w/ her and the rest are separate to gut load, i pass by the pet store every day on my way back from work but just so i have an idea of what she should be eating... thanks!

[Rickeezee]

Hello nice chameleons to keep are the Yemens.

I found with my young Yemens that it was best to keep them in a relatively smaller set up to begin with so they can find food easier. I used small exo terra glass terrarium, front lower ventilation and top ventilation. Just plug up any gaps with parcel tape on the outside to prevent insect escape.

Fake plants are good provides somewhere to climb and to hide. Small branches of varying thickness are also good to exercise the legs.

I kept all heating and lighting external to the tank. UV 5% stripe lamp tube on top. I only used a 20 watt halogen spot clamp lamp for basking (from homebase) area and moved it nearer or further away from the tank as required. I set the temp to 90f at the basking site. they dont need it at a 100f when that young. using the spot clamp light allowed for the chams to regulate their own temperature needs. As this only heated part of the tank.

I supplemented with calcium x3 per week and x1 per week with vit / mins. I also used to gut load the crickets. Fruit flies are really good for baby chams also as you are doing using pin head crickets I would feed her up to x3 per day whilst she is growing. and as much as she will eat in one session. You will be able to gauge this after a while.

The misting is good, I used a water drip feeder zoomed dripper bottle. I have never seen a cham drink out of a water bowl, as you rightly say they love to drink droplets from the leaves.

Two weeks old is very young to be selling a chameleon. But as long as the conditions are right she should be fine. They usually get sold around the 8 week mark onwards. I would strongly recomend wingless fruit flies though.

You sound as though you are on the right track well done!
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

[Jan O]

Aww what a sweet baby, I have never seen a Yemens so young before. She's adorable, just a quick tip- follow Ricks advice- hes pretty darn good at this Cham keeping!
Love Jan