Help me ID this chameleon
- Thread starter dmr
- Start date
So do you have him yet or what?...This seems pretty legit.
Click ME!
Veiled Chameleon Caresheet
by Gene Richardson
INTRODUCTION:
Veiled chameleons (Chameleo calyptratus) are found in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. There are two subspecies of C. calyptratus, C. calyptratus calyptratus and C. calyptratus calcarifer. The main difference in the subspecies is the appearance of their casque. The C. calyptratus calyptratus has a larger casque (around 3-4 1/2 inches tall) than the C. calyptratus calcarifer (around 2-2.5 inches tall). An adult male of both subspecies reach a length of around 17-24 inches from tip of snout to tip of tail.
Veiled chameleons are very aggressive chameleons. They should be kept separately and out of sight of each other. If you are planning on keeping a single veiled as a pet, you should keep a male, females if not bred are likely to die eggbound.
Housing:
Veiled chameleons are arboreal. The enclosure should be filled with climbing branches and fake or live plants. They should be provided with a well ventilated enclosure such as a all screen cage or at least 2 sides being screen. We do not recommend metal screen as it tends to be quite harsh on chameleons nails and feet, sometimes breaking their nails off. We use Reptariums which are made of a tough fabric screen mesh and ABS tubing. They are lightweight, easy to clean, come in a variety of sizes and are inexpensive. We use a 65 gallon (28 x 17 x 30) Reptarium for females and a 100 gallon (30 x 17 x 48) for males.
LIGHTING AND HEATING:
Veiled chameleons LOVE to bask. Therefore adequate basking areas should be provided. A 60-100 watt incandescent bulb set up at one end of the enclosure. The basking spot should be around 100 degrees directly below the bulb (be sure that they cannot get to close or touch the bulb and burn themselves), ambient air temperatures away from the bulb should be 75-80 degrees.
Veiled chameleons also require UV lighting. Unless you live in a part of the country in which you are able to keep your chameleons outdoors year round you will have to provide an artificial source of UV lighting. Reptisun 5.0 by Zoomed is about the best source of UV lighting provided by a florescent bulb. There are also other sources of UV lighting which are from a mercury vapor bulb. We use Big Apple Herpetological "Capture the Sun" dual tube mercury vapor bulb. There are other brand name mercury vapor bulbs available on the market such as Active UV Heat and a few others. The use of mercury vapor bulbs eliminates the use of separate florescent and incandescent bulbs because it provides both heat and UV lighting. Caution must be taken with mercury vapor bulbs, they put out intense heat.
WATER:
Clean water should be provided daily via a drip bottle dripping over the foliage within the enclosure. A drip bottle can be purchased at about any reptile supply site on the Internet or at your local pet store. They can also be easily made from a cup with a pin hole poked in the bottom or you can purchase a valve from the aquarium sections of a supply store and make your own by poking a hole in a cup, baby bottle, or just about any container that will hold water and inserting the valve for a controlled water flow.
The enclosure should be misted with warm to hot water daily. This aids in shedding and adds a little humidity. Baby chameleons (and adults) will usually lap the water off the foliage. We do not recommend using just misting the enclosure for a primary water source. It will cause problems in the long run, the chameleon will not get sufficient water.
FEEDING:
Veiled chameleons are omnivorous. The eat both plant matter and insects. Providing crickets of appropriate size for a staple diet is adequate. They should also have a varied diet which can consist of king mealworms, silkworms and moths, grasshoppers, spiders, wax worms and moths and just about anything else (except fire flies or lightning bugs, they are toxic). Most of which are readily available on the market. Feeder insects should be "gut loaded" with high quality foods to ensure proper nutrition. Everything a feeder insect eats the chameleon eats. High quality chicken feed such as Purinas' Layena mash can be used as well as feeding grated carrots, green leaf lettuce, kale, orange slices, collard greens, etc.
Fresh fruits and vegetables should also be provided to your veiled chameleon, such as collard greens, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, turnip greens, dandelion leafs, squash, etc. Iceberg lettuce should be avoided, it has no nutritional value. You should start feeding your veiled vegetables as babies, sometimes they have to be coaxed a little bit like a baby. Once you get them to eat it and they like it, they're hooked.
VITAMIN/MINERAL SUPPLEMENTATION:
A high quality vitamin/mineral supplement should be dusted on food items as well as a calcium supplement. We use Rep Cal's Herptivite vitamin/mineral supplement and Mineral I (Mineral 0 without vitamin D3 if the season permits us to put our chameleons out side) in our supplementation. With breeding females and babies to subadults we supplement 1 day with Rep Cal and 2 days with Mineral I. Adults we supplement 1 day Rep Cal, 1 day Mineral I then skip a day of supplements and start over.
or this
Click me.
Good luck.
Click ME!
Veiled Chameleon Caresheet
by Gene Richardson
INTRODUCTION:
Veiled chameleons (Chameleo calyptratus) are found in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. There are two subspecies of C. calyptratus, C. calyptratus calyptratus and C. calyptratus calcarifer. The main difference in the subspecies is the appearance of their casque. The C. calyptratus calyptratus has a larger casque (around 3-4 1/2 inches tall) than the C. calyptratus calcarifer (around 2-2.5 inches tall). An adult male of both subspecies reach a length of around 17-24 inches from tip of snout to tip of tail.
Veiled chameleons are very aggressive chameleons. They should be kept separately and out of sight of each other. If you are planning on keeping a single veiled as a pet, you should keep a male, females if not bred are likely to die eggbound.
Housing:
Veiled chameleons are arboreal. The enclosure should be filled with climbing branches and fake or live plants. They should be provided with a well ventilated enclosure such as a all screen cage or at least 2 sides being screen. We do not recommend metal screen as it tends to be quite harsh on chameleons nails and feet, sometimes breaking their nails off. We use Reptariums which are made of a tough fabric screen mesh and ABS tubing. They are lightweight, easy to clean, come in a variety of sizes and are inexpensive. We use a 65 gallon (28 x 17 x 30) Reptarium for females and a 100 gallon (30 x 17 x 48) for males.
LIGHTING AND HEATING:
Veiled chameleons LOVE to bask. Therefore adequate basking areas should be provided. A 60-100 watt incandescent bulb set up at one end of the enclosure. The basking spot should be around 100 degrees directly below the bulb (be sure that they cannot get to close or touch the bulb and burn themselves), ambient air temperatures away from the bulb should be 75-80 degrees.
Veiled chameleons also require UV lighting. Unless you live in a part of the country in which you are able to keep your chameleons outdoors year round you will have to provide an artificial source of UV lighting. Reptisun 5.0 by Zoomed is about the best source of UV lighting provided by a florescent bulb. There are also other sources of UV lighting which are from a mercury vapor bulb. We use Big Apple Herpetological "Capture the Sun" dual tube mercury vapor bulb. There are other brand name mercury vapor bulbs available on the market such as Active UV Heat and a few others. The use of mercury vapor bulbs eliminates the use of separate florescent and incandescent bulbs because it provides both heat and UV lighting. Caution must be taken with mercury vapor bulbs, they put out intense heat.
WATER:
Clean water should be provided daily via a drip bottle dripping over the foliage within the enclosure. A drip bottle can be purchased at about any reptile supply site on the Internet or at your local pet store. They can also be easily made from a cup with a pin hole poked in the bottom or you can purchase a valve from the aquarium sections of a supply store and make your own by poking a hole in a cup, baby bottle, or just about any container that will hold water and inserting the valve for a controlled water flow.
The enclosure should be misted with warm to hot water daily. This aids in shedding and adds a little humidity. Baby chameleons (and adults) will usually lap the water off the foliage. We do not recommend using just misting the enclosure for a primary water source. It will cause problems in the long run, the chameleon will not get sufficient water.
FEEDING:
Veiled chameleons are omnivorous. The eat both plant matter and insects. Providing crickets of appropriate size for a staple diet is adequate. They should also have a varied diet which can consist of king mealworms, silkworms and moths, grasshoppers, spiders, wax worms and moths and just about anything else (except fire flies or lightning bugs, they are toxic). Most of which are readily available on the market. Feeder insects should be "gut loaded" with high quality foods to ensure proper nutrition. Everything a feeder insect eats the chameleon eats. High quality chicken feed such as Purinas' Layena mash can be used as well as feeding grated carrots, green leaf lettuce, kale, orange slices, collard greens, etc.
Fresh fruits and vegetables should also be provided to your veiled chameleon, such as collard greens, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, turnip greens, dandelion leafs, squash, etc. Iceberg lettuce should be avoided, it has no nutritional value. You should start feeding your veiled vegetables as babies, sometimes they have to be coaxed a little bit like a baby. Once you get them to eat it and they like it, they're hooked.
VITAMIN/MINERAL SUPPLEMENTATION:
A high quality vitamin/mineral supplement should be dusted on food items as well as a calcium supplement. We use Rep Cal's Herptivite vitamin/mineral supplement and Mineral I (Mineral 0 without vitamin D3 if the season permits us to put our chameleons out side) in our supplementation. With breeding females and babies to subadults we supplement 1 day with Rep Cal and 2 days with Mineral I. Adults we supplement 1 day Rep Cal, 1 day Mineral I then skip a day of supplements and start over.
or this
Click me.
Good luck.
Okay, male/female differences in veileds are way easier to determine than in other chameleons: males have a 'spur' on the hind legs that projects out behind their feet facing backwards, looks like another toe sticking out. Males also have a taller casque (head crest) than females. egg-binding is usually not a problem unless you're trying to breed them, but just in case it is a female, Put in a large potted tree in the enclosure with loose, damp potting soil (without perlite or those little styrofoam balls) so she always has a place to lay eggs. Use a ficus tree if possible, they're usually available at home depot, as the chameleons will enjoy eating the leaves as well as the cover it provides. Make sure you wash it thoroughly (leaves & roots) to remove fertilizers and pesticides before you put it in the enclosure. Let me know if you have any more questions, I've worked extensively with most species of chameleons.
Mike
Mike
