Keeping A Female Veiled

Keeping A Female Veiled Chameleon
By Lynda Horgan


From the day they hatch until they are sexually mature, I raise both male and female veiled chameleons the same ... same food, same supplements, same conditions. I don't rush their growth. I feed them daily, as many appropriately sized insects as they will eat in a couple of minutes and then leave a couple of crickets free in their cage for later. These insects have been fed a nutritious diet, gutloaded and supplemented.

I house the hatchlings in long, low, glass cages (approximately 20" x 12" x 12" with a screen lid). In each I keep several hatchlings, separating them when size and behavior dictate that it's necessary, until there is only one hatchling left per cage by the time they are 4 months old.

I have double fluorescent hoods over the cages. Each hood houses a tube/linear Repti-sun 5.0 and a regular white fluorescent tube light. This maintains the temperature in the low 80's at the warmest end of the cage. You can see the setup in my article in the e-zine: A Babies first weeks. The shelves can be moved forward more than is shown in the pictures in the article to allow for more of a gradient in temperatures and more air flow as well.
Most of what is in this article is still current but I have made a couple of changes.

I maintain the same lighting and temperature range when the females are moved to their adult cages. I do not use a basking light, but continue with a double fluorescent hood keeping temperatures in the low eighties. The cages are of various sizes, but the smallest is 24" tall x 24" wide x 18" deep.

I feed them 8 to 12 crickets every two or three days depending on the season. I use other feeders too, of course, but just give an equivalent amount (not number) instead of the crickets.

In the summertime it isn't always possible to keep the temperatures in the low 80's but the increased temperatures, periodically, don't seem to push the females into cycling. I keep the diet the same during this time.

I dust the insects with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at most feedings.(Since the hatchlings are fed more often, they will get the calcium more often.) I dust the insects twice a month before feeding them to the chameleons with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene source of Vitamin A. And I dust the insects with a phosphorous-free Calcium/D3 powder twice a month because my chameleons rarely get direct sunlight.

I gutload/feed the crickets with an assortment of veggies (carrots, squash, zucchini, celery leaves, sweet potato, white potato, sweet red pepper, etc.) and greens (dandelion, kale, collards, endive, escarole, once in awhile parsley, a little romaine lettuce, mustard greens, etc.).

Maintaining the females in this way, they do not produce any eggs and they generally live to be over 6 years of age or even older. My females are not skinny, and do not look starved ... they are definitely not overweight either.

To cycle the females ... once the female has been mated, her diet can be increased and the temperature of the cage increased slightly too. It seems that once she has started to produce the eggs, the number of eggs is set and the clutch size will be small. So, this increased feeding is just helping to make the eggs she's working on healthy. Once the female has laid the eggs, I feed her well for a couple of days and make sure she is well watered. Then I start to cut her back again slightly until I know she is starting to work on producing the next clutch. (Usually there is another clutch laid with some fertile eggs after this one ... so the diet/temperature process is repeated.)

Once this second clutch is laid, she is then put back on the maintenance diet and temperature and will not likely produce another clutch.

The above method has worked for me for quite a few years now. As I have said, the females that are kept this way live long lives. The females that I have cycled and kept as described have lived long lives and produced healthy babies ... quite a few of which I have kept and raised over the years. The babies seem to do as well as the mothers have.

Please be aware that I live in a cool climate and I'm not sure if this would work as well if the climate was always hot.

At the moment I have one female, Latefah, that came from a female who produced no eggs until she was mated and produced the clutch that Latefah came from. Latefah is over 4 years old now.
I have another female, Mafana, who will be 7 in a couple of months who came from a similar situation.
Neither Mafana or Latefah have produced a single egg.


Lynda has kept chameleons for over 20 years now. The first chameleon eggs that she hatched were C. chamaeleons in 1995. Although she has kept, bred, hatched and raised a number of other lizards and reptiles, chameleons still remain her favorites.

Plants

Live plants are really the best way to "dress" your chameleons environment.
They provide security, help to maintain humidity, produce oxygen, and make the enclosure much more pleasing to the eye.
Veiled chameleons enjoy exploring a densely planted territory and will often stop to take a bite out of a nearby leaf.
For this reason in particular, safe, non-toxic plants must be chosen for your chameleons habitat.
Additionally, these plants must be washed well and re-potted in safe, fertilizer and pesticide free soil.
Popular plants that are utilized in a chameleon enclosure include:
Schefflera arboricola
Ficus benjamina
Dracaena fragrans
Ficus elastica
Hibiscus
Pothos
A very beautiful, jungle environment can be created by incorporating any combination of the above plants with some well washed branches and creatively twisted and braided commercially available vine for arboreal reptiles.
The soil mix that I prefer is one I make myself by combining two parts sifted peat moss and one part sifted topsoil.
The reason I sift it is because I allow the chameleon to have access to the soil and consume it if he wishes.
There is some danger of impaction with this practice if there are larger pieces of material in the potting mix.
To clean newly purchased plants, I remove the plant from the pot and rinse the roots outside with the hose. Bring the rinsed bare-root plant inside to your shower or tub area where you can wash the leaves (top and bottom) with a mild dishwashing soap, then rinse and rinse and rinse! Repot the plant with new soil and it's ready to be placed in the enclosure.

Supplements

In a natural environment we can only speculate as to what a wild veiled chameleon is consuming. How many different types of insects? How much plant matter? vertebrates? dirt?
In a captive situation, the best we can do is provide a good selection of insects, make sure they are gut-loaded with a nutritious diet, provide non-toxic plants...and supplement!
There is not so much controversy about supplementation, as there is variation in schedules and definite opinions on frequency and rotation.
In an effort to provide basic information, a schedule will be mapped out here that can certainly be "tweaked" but if followed exactly, should work quite well.
Some thoughts on oversupplementing:
Less is more! Over-supplementation is quite common among keepers who are trying to make sure their animal gets everything it needs. Very often people ask about the crusty white discharge that has started to appear in their veiled chameleon's nostrils ...this is how the animal eliminates excess minerals and salts and is a sign of over-supplementation.
Try to be aware of how small this animal is....how big is the vitamin tablet you take compared to the size of your body...how big would it be if you were the size of your chameleon?
Crickets do not need to be drowned in supplement, nor do all of them need to be dusted. Dust a few of them very lightly with that days supplement and you're done!
The Supplements:
Calcium powder without D3
Calcium Powder with D3
Herptivite (or other multi-vitamin)
Pre-formed Vitamin A
Calcium should be provided on a few feeders 3 to 4 times a week, Calcium with D3 should be provided 1 to 2 times per week for young chameleons (up to 6 months old) and reduced to once or twice per month for adults.
Your cham can overdose on Vitamin D3. It is produced in the body and enables calcium absorbtion. The primary reason for a UVB light is so the body can produce this vitamin. The light is not as effective as the sun, so we supplement with additional D3.
This supplementation is an insurance policy...and a little is plenty. Remember your cham is making his own as well.
Herptivite is a multi-vitamin. It's sort of a broad spectrum supplement. Ideally it meets some dietary needs but it should only be provided a couple times a month.
Pre-formed Vitamin A is vitamin A from an animal source. Your chameleon would get this in it's natural habitat by eating a vertebrate or blood-sucking insect. Chams can overdose on A, but hypovitaminosis (under-supplementation) is more common. Still, a very small dosage is recommended. One very small drop of fish oil or vitamin A (gel-cap for humans) on a feeder once every two weeks is sufficient, and let me stress again...one tiny drop.
Beta Carotene is not a source of preformed Vitamin A, and it is believed by many that chameleons cannot convert it.
Plant matter (collard greens, dandelion, kale) is another great source of vitamins, moisture and calcium, and veileds do consume it. This can be offered as often as you like.

Lights and Lighting

Very basically, two types of lights are required for a veiled chameleon and both are of equal importance.
A flourescent tube that provides UVB radiation and a basking light that provides heat.
UVB is essential to the chameleons ability to absorb and process calcium. This is obviously important in the growth and formation of bones and bone density. Vitamin D3 is the catalyst and can only be created in the body by exposure to the sun.
A UVB bulb attempts to recreate natural sunlight and allow the body to produce D3.
Of course no light is as good as the natural sun, but sunning your chameleon outside is not always possible. When housed in an indoor enclosure, the UVB bulb must be used 10 to 12 hours per day.
The most commonly recommended tube is the Zoomed 5.0, Compact or "screw in" UVB bulbs are not recommended.
The UVB tube has a lifespan. The Zoomed tube should be replaced every 6 months as it's effectiveness diminishes over time.
The basking light is much less specific. It needs to be a white light, and it needs to bring the basking spot to the appropriate temperature (see temperatures and thermoregulation). It should not be housed within the enclosure and it should not heat any part of the enclosure to a temperature that could cause the chameleon to be burned.
Ideally this fixture should be clamped or hung outside the enclosure at a few inches distance, pointed toward one corner where a basking branch has been secured.
A thermometer will need to be utilized io ensure the desired temperatures are achieved. Temperatures can be raised or lowered to the desired level by experimenting with different bulb wattages.
A common household lightbulb is sufficient for this job.
Often the UVB bulb and basking light do not provide enough light for viewing of the animal or for the benefit of the live plants in the enclosure. Additional lighting can be utilized, provided it does not adversely effect the temperatures in the enclosure.

Temperatures and Thermoregulation

One of the most common mistakes I have discovered with new keepers is that they believe their chameleon's environment needs to be kept at suffocatingly high tropical temperatures at all times.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
It is true that veiled chameleons love to bask, and the temperature in the basking area should be the highest in the enclosure.
It is my opinion that a basking temp of 95 degrees f. is plenty hot for an adult and younger animals should be provided with a cooler "hot spot".
A basking temperature of 80 degrees f. is sufficient for chameleons 3 months old and younger. Young animals are not terribly good at thermoregulation and may not know to get out of the heat when they need to. This is often evidenced by the observation of a gaping chameleon. They can cool themselves by opening their mouths and young animals will tend to do this rather than move to a cooler spot in the enclosure.
Thermoregulation is the term used in reference to a cold blooded animal's ability to control it's body temperature by moving to warmer or cooler locations. It is essential that chameleons be provided a gradient of temperatures within the enclosure to allow them to warm or cool themselves.
The basking light will provide the hottest spot in a corner at the top of the enclosure. At the bottom of the enclosure should be the coolest temp (perhaps 68 or 70 degrees) in the middle will be an ambient temp of anywhere from 72 to 80 degrees.
Night time temperatures are where people most often make a mistake.
No ceramic heater or red heat lamp should be provided at night...regardless of what the "expert" at the pet store tells you. Veiled Chameleons can withstand night time temps into the 40's. A good night time temp is between 60 and 65 degrees f.
The drop in temp is required for them at night. It slows down their metabolism and facilitates heavy sleeping. They will not rest well at night with temps that are too high.
In the morning your chameleon will make it's way to the basking spot and warm up for the day. This is very important as well, as it speeds up the metabolism allowing them hunt and digest their food properly.