Keeping a Chameleon
C.Calyptratus (Yemen/Veiled Chameleon)
Females
As with all egg laying lizards, females can have a tendency if not looked after properly to retain eggs, which can eventually kill them. A common misconception with Chameleons is that if a female Chameleon is not mated she will die egg bound. This is not true. If however she is not given a suitable place to lay her eggs then this is possible. Female Chameleons will produce eggs 2-3 times a year whether they have been mated or not. A suitable egg laying site is a plastic box (suggested size 15" x 8" x 8 tall) full of damp play or bird sand (don't use builders sand or any other types that contain lime). When she is ready she will dig a tunnel and lay her eggs before filling it back up again. Pay particular attention to watering your chameleon during this period as she can get dehydrated very easily as the eggs take moisture from her body to expand. Whilst a bit more effort is needed around egg laying time to look after females they do tend to be naturally tamer and more likely to interact with you than the males. The average size of a female veiled chameleon can vary but is generally 20 centimetres (just under 10 inches)
Males
Males are usually around 25 cm's in length and have a visually larger casque (hood) above their head compared to the females. Another way to identify a male from a female is the tarsul spurs located behind both of his rear feet he will also have a much richer variety of colouration along both flanks of his rib cage.
Housing
C.Calyptratus in my experience prefer a sparse planted vivarium/flexarium which should really include atleast one plant as a food source (see environment) and to keep the humidity up,
i would recomend that no substrate is used when housing chameleons for the simple reason this could be picked up during foraging/eating.
Your best bet would be to place a carpet tile or similar which can be purchased from a local garden center for about £3 a meter,
this will decrease the chance of bacteria building up and is much easier to clean than woodchips etc.
I would recomend having a vivarium with 50/50 glass and mesh sliding doors to increase ventilation and maintain humidity at the same time,
having a pure glass vivarium may look pretty but in my experience can sometimes cause more harm than good due to respitory infections and fungal/bacteria to grow which can be caused by lack of ventilation and stagnant air.
The furnishings should be pretty and also practical, there should be an easily accesable basking spot where the chameleon can bask.
There should also be a few hiding spots within the vivarium which the chameleon can get to if it needs to hide away, it is also practical to have a dripping system in your vivarium which consists of a pot at the top of the vivarium with a small hole/tube dripping water slowly onto a branch/leaf and into a waste bucket which the chameleon should not be able to get access to incase of potential drowning.
Temperature
Temperature is a vital part of husbandry with chameleons,
there is a huge difference depending on species.
With Veiled Chameleons the basking spot should not exceed 90 degrees farenheit but allow enough of a drop lower down for the chameleons body to regulate and a bigger drop at night (75 degrees farenheit) so that the chameleon can rest with ease..
i personaly use a 60 watt spot bulb to heat my vivariums but you can alternate this as required.
i would not recomend using a heat mat due to the fact chameleons are arboreal (high dwelling) and do not often go to ground unless there is a problem.
with the previous covered i will touch on humidity, humidity is also another factor in keeping chameleons healthy.
Veiled Chameleons should have humidity set between 50% and 75% so that they are able to shed with ease (Please note too much humidity with little air flow can cause respitory infections which could kill the chameleon and again too little will cause shedding problems resulting in poor looking chameleons, dark dry patchy areas of skin) its all a question of balancing the right conditions and maintaining.
Environment
Chameleons come from a wide range of areas and live in a wide range of places, yemens come from very sparse areas and are often found in colony's on one single tree.
I would recomend having live plants in vivariums to keep humidity up as an alternative food source and for eye candy so to speak and yes chameleons really do eat leaves.
Weeping fig (Ficus benjamina)
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Creeping fig (Ficus pumila)
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Hibiscus
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Umbrella plant (Schefflera)
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All of these plants are safe for chameleons and would make an excellent addition to any enclosure.
Feeding
feeding can be a stressful time for chameleon owners with all the supplements required.
Pure calcium: used to help chameleons bones grow and keep them maintained if this wasnt used metabolic bone disease would ultimately take effect causing your chameleons bones to become brittle bend and eventually break and possibly death will occur.
Mineral Supplements: used to replace the minerals which they would feed on in the wild.Personally i dust mine once a week with minerals and maybe 2 or 3 times with calcium
Locusts: good as a food source and stimulating for chameleons to search for.
Waxworms: good as a treat too many can cause kidney problems and make your chameleon very fat (not recomended as a sole food source)
Crickets: good as a sole food source commonly available and once gutloaded can become very nutricious.
Fruit Beatle Grubs: same applies to waxworms.
Mealworms: same applies to crickets.
Flies: very stimulating (gets the chameleons hunting) but not as nutricious as other food sources.
Worms: high in protein good for chameleons that are growing be careful of wild caught worms as they may contain parasites which can catch onto chameleons.
Butterflies: good as a treat but very expensive to get ahold of.
Moths: easy to obtain (keep waxworms for a couple of weeks) very stimulating again but little in the way of nutricion.
Gutloading!
Gutloading is an essential part of keeping chameleons in good health and is key to keeping them interested in the same/similar food sources due to different flavors from them the insects. The best way to do this is to mix two types of gut loading food and place it in with the insects and allow the insects to eat it for 24 hours before feeding to your chameleons. Good gutloading food sources are Carrot, Sweet Potato, Yellow and orange sweet peppers, Spring greens, Dandelion Leaves, Watercress, Roquet and finally bee pollen granules which are hard to find but are by far the best food source to gutload with.
Water
Chameleons do not recognise standing water as a drinking source and will only drink by a few ways. They will drink readily from a moving source such as a dripper system setup so it drips onto a leaf, or if a shallow bowl of water is placed at the bottom of the vivarium with an air stone churning the water. Or as many keepers do aswell, they spray the enclosure heavily 2-3 times a day to mimic rainfall inducing chameleons to drink from the dew that develops on leaves or the vivarium walls. Some enthusiasts have waterfalls which can be used to keep humidity up as well as having as a drinking source, the trouble with this is that the waterfall doesnt get changed often enough and the waterbecomes stagnant and dirty.
UVB
UVB (unltra violet type B) is an ESSENTIAL part to most lizards including veiled chameleons. A major test was carried out mid 2004 by Rob lane a well known chameleon breeder and keeper on the UVB output on various sources, of these sources Zoomed came top of the lot by more than double the uv output! and even after 10 months continued use it was still only a fraction lower output than the original readings. With Chameleons (paticularly the veiled chameleons) i would recomend the Zoomed Reptisun 8.0. This isnt confirmed but there are reports from other keepers and breeders that the reptiglo's can damage and possibly blind chameleons especially the vulnerable baby chameleons. Please note that mesh can block between 25%-40% of UVB so depending on if you are placing outside a viv you may need to use 2 UVB's with reflectors, obviously if its inside the vivarium then only 1 will be required.
Useful Sites/Forums
www.ukchameleons.co.uk
www.livefoods.co.uk (very good forum) my username is Chamellio
www.chameleonnews.com
if you have any further questions or need advice then pleas email me at dreadlordjax@hotmail.com
