Help Please !

Hello I'm new here and not sure if this is the right place to post this?

I'm fond of Chameleons, I just lost one to health problems tonight and another awhile back... Now what I want to do is get a few more but this time I need answers & help, web links etc...


I want to build a habitat for them from the ground up, so I need for someone here to let me know what I need, lighting, sticks, watering systems, etc...

I also need to know what my dudties are as to owning and taking care of my lizards..

The Chameleons I had were Veiled Chameleons, I'm looking at getting more of that type and possibly Jackson as-well...
Thanks for you time and comments, looking forword to hearing from someone here...

Regards Joe
You can contact me here: steelrage33@hotmail.com

11 views and no replies... sad !

I'm out of here.. Thanks for the help

Joe,
Sometimes the right people do not get to your post in a timely matter. To give you the kind of info you may need. In the future put in the topic that you are needing help with Chameleons. There are some good breeders of them that would be glad to help out.

Here is the info I can give you on them.

Veilds live best in a complete screen enclosure. Nothing fancy. Then I put in a potted fig tree for them to climb on.
As for watering. Veilds are the only one I know of that can learn to drink from a water dish. Use a drip water and let it drip into a water dish and they will learn to get water from the dish after a little time.

For lighting you'll want to use a UV-A light such as zoomed or reptasun. placed on the top of the enclosure. Make sure the top in screen and not glass. Also you'll want a 40-60 watt bulb in a reflector hood to use as a basking light. and there lighting cycle should be 12 to 14 hour days.
Temps should be about 78 F day time and can go as low as 67 F night time.
With the live plants in the cage it will be easier to keep the humidity at 50 to 75 percent. You will want to mist a couple time a day to keep this up.
Now feeding is important. This is how I have done it. Now the crickets need to be fed a good diet of commercial feed and fresh veggies. You can switch from one kind of veggie or fruit each week to feed the crickets. Let them eat for at least 24 hour but 48 is better. Make sure the crickets are no bigger then the eye of your veild. I believe a meal a little small is better then to big. This is very important for young Veilds. Now you will want to dust the crickets with a vitamin and mineral supplement rich in calcium and vitamin D3 ( I use repetitive. They have two kids witch you'll want to mix each feeding and dust the crickets.) When ever you can you Veild out in the sun go for it as nothing is better for them. Now when your Veild starts to become an Adult reduce the dusting to every other day. Unless it is a female you plan to breed. Also make sure you either buy a pair or a male as females will become egg bound if they are not bred at least once. At about 8 months of age.

If I missed anything let me know.

If you looked around this section of the forum I am sure you noticed there hasnt been alot of traffic here yet. The chameleon forums are relatively new here. If you look at the dates of posts, you will notice there was quite a lull in traffic in between the dates and the date of your post. This site has a preference setting to email you when somebody has posted a reply to one of your threads. If you had replied to my thread offering help, I could have responded in a more timely manner. I stopped coming to this particular forum every day and relied on that function to make me aware of any new posts.

The 11 views most likely were people just curious, and may not have been able to help you.

I apologize for not responding quick enough to your post. People are not paid to post help here on this website, and do it of there own free will to benefit the species and other herpers. You have set me straight though, and I for one will not solely rely on the email notice function. I will try to check these forums every day at least once.

Now that being said, the following links are filled with vast amounts of info that is crucial in chameleon husbandry. I would strongly suggest studying them intensely for quite a while before obtaining more. Chameleons are one of the most delicate species of herps you could choose to keep and failing to research fully will surely end in a bad experience and dead chameleons.

If you have any questions whatsoever, at any point of your research, or after you get your new chameleons. Post here under the proper category, or email me at greenthumb1@entercomp.com . That invitation is open to all who may have a question, problem, or just want to chat about chams.

Here's some links:

A bi-monthly online magazine(put out by the best of the best)
www.chameleon news.com

Chamaeleo Research Group
www.chamresearch.com

Adcham
www.adcham.com

CCIC
http://www.geocities.com.0080/ccicen...erkeepers.html

The Chameleon Journals
www.chameleonjournals.com

CIN
www.animalarkshelter.org/cin/

Good caresheets
www.reptilevet.com/chamel.html

Great Jacksons info site
www.geocities.com/chamjacksonii/

Good veiled caresheet
http://coloherp.org/careshts/veilcham.html#ova

and for great screen cages, check out what Scales has at www.exoticlizards.com . I have several of their cages and they make for the most beautiful displays--most screen cages are so much darker. These allow a lot of light and I've had a lot of success growing plants through them.
good luck
dana