New to Chams...questions!

[Emily-Fisher]

Okay so to start off, I would just like to say that I have always loved chameleons but yesterday, after seeing a photo of Mary's baby cham which she won, I finally decided to buy one. I have been doing research, but not enough of it, which is why I think that I should wait at least a year before I buy one. Still, I have some questions which weren't answered in the caresheets and I was hoping that you guys could help me :)

1. <i>Handelling</i>. How good are veiled chams for being held?
2. <i>Housing</i>. How long will a 15 gallon aquarium house a baby chameleon for? (I know that screen enclosures are better which is why I would build one when the chameleon is an adult.)
3. <i>Lighting</i>. I read that I should use UVB lighting or a fluorescent bulb. Of course, I would use this for an adult chameleon but do babies <i>need</i> it?
4. <i>Humidity</i>. Believe it or not, I haven't found a single caresheet which says how much humidity they need. How often do I mist the enclosure? How much water should I use each misting? Should I use dechlorinated water?

Well, thanks again guys!! You really have been a great help :D

[marisa]

Hi! I don't have much experience with Chams but my ex-roomate did have one which I researched for him, as well as a few of my good friends. All vieleds.

From what I know they really must have UV light during all aspects of life. I think for babies its even MORE important! :)

Handling I am not *sure* about because I see some people holding theirs but from my personal reading I have basically deducted that it stresses *most* chams out, but then you have your exceptions that enjoy coming out of the enclosure.

Trace seems to be the resident Cham Queen, although others are quite experienced as well as her! So I am sure you'll get some great responses other than my feeble one! :)

Marisa

[Trace]

Morning Emily! :D

You've asked some excellent questions here, I'll try my best to answer them for you. First off, I will commend you for doing your research before getting a chameleon, they are not an easy animal to care for. They require a lot of detailed work on a daily basis.

I'm assuming you are interested in a Veiled Chameleon. That is species that Mary just acquired. Click here (http://www.adcham.com/html/taxonomy/species/chcalyptratus.html) for a good care sheet on them. If you are interested in a different species, let me know and I can direct you to other ones.

1: Handelling: I always say not to handle your chameleon. Most chameleons don't like to be held, they hiss, they puff up, they bite, handelling just causes them great stress. Marisa is right though, there are some individual chameleons that don't mind it at all.

2: Housing: I don't really recommend a tank for a chameleon, but I've used them to house babies temporarily. I use a 24x12x18 size tank for mine. (is that a 15 gallon?) I will use this until they are about 3 months of age then they get transferred to an all screen enclosure. Please don't wait until it is an adult to make that enclosure!

3: Lighting: UV is terribly important for a baby chameleon! No access to UV; no bone, tissue, organ growth! They use the vitamin D in sunlight and change it to calcium to make those body parts. I use the Iguana Light 5.0 on all of my cages.

4: Veiled's need 50-70% humidity daily. I mist all of my chameleon enclosures twice daily for about 10 minutes each with regular tap water. Humidity is important to chameleons, but it's during these misting periods that chameleons will drink. Dehydration, not lack of humidity is the biggest killer of chameleons!

Hope this helps in some way!

Trace

[dank7oo]

i agree with you trace

i spray mone 5 times a day for 2 minutes and no problem - i also have a fine mister system for my dwarfs that hate the big drops

[JeffT]

From what I hear most are not good at being handeled. Also, their skin is fragile and can be broken and torn if handled against will. I've never owned them but thats just what I've heard. They need large cages with a TON of UV and are quite a lot of work.

[geckoguy157]

well a 15 gallon tank wont last very long maybe till its month or 2 old if your lucky and yes the do need uvb lighting and yes screen enclosures work alot better and handling chameleon's is not something that should be done very often they tend to get very stressed easily and i mist mine 2 or 3 times a day im not sure for how long but i spray the roof of the cage the sides and all the leaf's so they can drink the water of of them and yes it would be a good idea to use uvb lighting for babie's
ps height is more important then length and width because they are always climbing

[Trace]

Also, their skin is fragile and can be broken and torn if handled against will

Actually that's not true, chameleons skin is fairly thick. It's not like some types of geckos (Day's, Sand's etc) that can't be handled because of their thin epidermis. I suppose if I pulled hard enough on my chameleons skin I could potentially damage it, but you can't do so from the course of regular handling.

JeffT, this post is not meant to put you down in any way, I just want to make sure that you and any other people new to chameleons don't believe that old wives tale!

You are correct though when you say they are a lot of work!

Cheers!

Trace