Veiled Chameleons

Veiled Chameleons are often considered to be one of the most hardy and easy species of chameleon to own. This is not to say that a veiled chameleon is an easy pet. All chameleons require a large investment of time in feeding, watering, cleaning, and general care. Chameleons are not a good pet for children. They do not react well to handling, they easily get seriously injured and quickly die if improperly cared for. Simply put most kids are not responsible, carefull enough, nor do many kids have enough knowledge of how to care for a chameleon. I do have to admit though I have met some kids who own chameleons and are very dedicated to the care of chameleons and have made great chameleon owners. Most of them have been the kids of parents who are reptile breeders/dealers but some have just been very intelligent and dedicated reptile owners. Overall chameleons are too delicate and shy to make a good pet for the majority of kids. The best reptile for kids is either a bearded dragon or a gecko because both usually like to be handled and played with. Plus bearded dragons and geckos are sooooooo much easier to keep. Additionally a chameleon should not be the first reptile that any person adult or child should own. There is a huge learning curve with reptiles and it is better to learn with reptiles that will survive mistakes. Veiled chameleons come from Yemen/Saudi Arabia. Veiled chameleons are arboreal (they like to be in trees/shrubs) They are also diurnal (they are active during the day.)Sexing Veiled chameleons is very easy all male veiled chameleons from birth on have a tarsal spur located just behind their rear feet. Housing: Almost all chameleons with the exception of a few species of Brookesia and a few Rhampholean require screen cages. A screen cage is required because all chameleons except those genus previously listed cannot stand to see their reflection in glass. NO MORE THAN ONE VEILED SHOULD BE HOUSED IN A CAGE. Additionally chameleons need a good airflow. One should not think this means to point a fan at the cage. The only solution is a screen cage. Reptariums are good screen cages, except the mesh on top does not allow in enough light from uvb lights. If you get a reptarium you need to get a double fluorescent fixture, and get two fluorescent bulbs. The cage for an adult veiled should be at least 2 feet wide, 2 feet long and 3 feet high or at least 12 cubic feet. So the cage does not have to be 2x2x3. But the cage has to offer at least 30 inches of height for the chameleon to climb about. Feeding: You should feed veiled chameleons crickets, mealworms, superworms, waxworms, silkworms, and butterworms. A diet with variety is one of the keys to a healthy chameleon. Crickets should be the base of the diet. Crickets should be gut loaded before feeding them to the chameleon. To gut load I feed the crickets store bought cricket food made by fluker farms plus I give them fresh brocoli, a wedge of lime for moisture and vitamin c and a piece of carrot for beta carotine. A feeder insect is only as nutritious as what it eats. An unhealthy starved cricket is worthless nutritionally because basically it is nothing more than chitin. Also try to feed chameleons crickets no larger than the width of the chameleons mouth. Mealworms are an additional feeder insect and store easily in the refrigerator. Superworms are a good feeder insect but should not be fed to chameleons until they are about half grown unless you can get small superworms. Waxworms are kind of like junk food, they are high in sugar and fat and basically serve as a snack food and are not to be fed regularly. BUTTERWORMS are the king of calcium content they have more calcium than all other feeder insects by about 3 times and therefore I recommend using butterworms. Silkworms are a great source of food and I use them when available. VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS: reptile vitamin supplements are not all the same and therefore some are better than others for chameleons. I use repcal herptivite multivitamins for vitamins (the blue container) I also use sticky tongue farms miner-all indoor to provide minerals and vitimin d. I have found the combination works well. repcal uses beta carotine rather than vitamin A which avoids vit a overdosing and miner all is an excellent source of calcium minerals and vitamin d.If you cannot find miner-all indoors just use repcal multivitamin and repcal calcium with vitamin d3 (the pinkish red container. Dust feeder insects every other feeding according to directions. Veileds will eat some plant matter so occasionally offer some chopped up collard greens, carrots, and oranges all chopped up and see if he will dig in. vegetation may be eaten but it is not what you should exclusivley feed a veiled they require insects predominatly.