yemen chameleon

[Charlie1985]

found this on the lizaed forum, thought it might be of some use here. its a care sheet that has been edited by myself and another cham keeper.

hope it helps sombody,

Charlie


Like I said everybody you speak to will have a different opinion on how they keep their chameleon and are often pretty successful but I do feel the need to defend some of the points because I think they are pretty good and so do my books lol.

Distribution: - The Veiled Chameleon also known as the Yemen Chameleon are found around northern Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Size:- This Chameleon is one of the larger species males reaching about 30 - 35cm (12 - 14 inches) females tend to be a bit smaller.

Males can reach up to 24 inches total length.

I don't think these measurements included the length of the tail

Diet:- Chameleons are mainly omnivorous animals. Foods eaten consist of arthropods, small lizards, mealworms, wax worms, black field crickets (be aware that large black crickets can bite so any crickets that are not eaten should not be left in the enclosure for long periods of time or over night), locusts, brown crickets, earthworms, pink mice,and some plant matter.

In captivity chameleons do not feed on small lizards. Also mealworms are not a great feeder as they can cause impaction as the shell is hard to digest. My chameleon has locusts, brown crickets,pheonix worms,butter worms,super worms and the occasional wax worm.I put all my feeders in a cup so they can not bite the chameleon at night,and so they are easy to catch to.The locusts climb out so my chameleon hunts those.

You would have to be pretty sick to feed your chameleon live small lizards however in the wild they do eat small lizards. In fact I have seen a pretty disturbing video on you tube where a fully grown cham eats another juvenile cham! Meal worms I would agree are not terrific and shouldn’t be offered every day. However, they do make a change from other insects and change helps to keep your chams appetite healthy. Broccoli is good for you but would you want it every day? Larger chams are also known to occasionally eat pinkie mice and mine like to munch on the leaves of the ficus plant I bought for him

Heat source: - This can be reflector (spot) lights in green, red or blue, these should be angled spots and not directly from above, chameleons are lateral basking reptiles. Ceramics and tubular heaters can be used for large enclosures

A white spot light is best and it shines down from above so the chameleon can bask underneath it.Just like it would with the sun.

If a chameleon is too cold it will darken its skin pigment so to absorb the heat better and make its body thin and tall to make the biggest possible surface area it can then lean its body to the side to absorb as much heat as possible, having a light pointing from the side makes life a little easier for your cham should it be in this predicament. It’s an interesting thought that you choose white bulbs to imitate the sun and I like it! However the sun is not directly above you in the sky all day and generally I don’t think the colour really matters that much.
Wire mesh guards:- These should be fitted over all heat sources used in order to prevent thermal burns.

Yes if light is in cage, my lights are all outside the cage on a mesh top.

My lights are inside the vivarium as it is a wooden viv that I have modified with extra large vents. I made it so you get all the security and insulation of heat and the ease of keeping the humidity at the required level a wooden viv gives you but also all the ventilation a cham needs.

Thermostat:- An essential part of any vivarium and is required to regulate the internal temperatures within the vivarium and to prevent your pet from becoming too hot or too cold.

Thermometers:- One should be placed each end of the vivarium in order to give an accurate reading of the temperatures within the vivarium. Never go by the temperature on the thermostat as these are often inaccurate.

UV light source:- Reptisun 5.0UVB or D3 lamp. These should be left on for 8 - 12 hours a day and replaced every 12 months unless otherwise stated by the manufacturer.

I use a zoomed repitisun 10% as my uv tube is outside my enclosure in a canopy with reflector.A 105 will penetrate further into the viv (about 20 inches ,where as a 5% will penetrate about 12 inches down.

Also some uv output is lost when penetrating through the mesh top on my cage.Therefore i think uv percentage needs to be based on type of cage, size of cage and whether or not the tube is to be inside the cage or outside.

It should also be changed every 6 months as the uv output decreases with time. Uv lights should be on for 12 hours a day.

Agreed for the most part a 5% is fine for my viv and it is located inside the viv for that exact reason that UV% does drop when shined through mesh. UV lights should be on for 12 hours a day during the summer months but less time during the winter months. The aim is to imitate the natural environment of a cham to the best of our ability. I.e. in the summer, longer days. In the winter, shorter days

Housing:- This should be a netted enclosure as adequate ventilation is needed or a wooden vivarium with a netted front . An enclosure measuring 60cm (2ft) in length by 60cm (2ft) deep by 1.2 meters (4ft) high is sufficient for a single Chameleon. Males are notoriously aggressive and should not be kept with other males, Chameleons are best kept on their own. Hatchlings should be kept in a smaller container which can be housed in their future enclosure.

I agree with a well ventilated cage, mine is wire mesh.



Hides:- These are essential to prevent stress and to allow your pet to hide away from the outside world. Artificial plants, boxes, plant pots, caves etc. all make excellent hides.

Chameleons do not need hide boxes at all. They need real live plants ( that are non toxic) e.g. umbrella plant, fiscus plants, hibiscus plants etc... The leaves will give them adequate places to hide and real plants help keep correct humidity levels.

Yeah I have never seen a chameleon use a hide box, however this was recommended to me by a vet. I did experiment with building a hide box but my cham never used it. However a cham does need somewhere to be out of site so it has somewhere it can go when he may feel intimidated (like when all your mates come round to have a nosey at your amazing pet) this is especially essential if your enclosure is in a high traffic area of your house

Water:- These animals in particular drink from drops, you should supply a dripper system or use a syringe filled with water which can be dripped on the animal's head. Some will use a shallow bowl of water but not many, alternative is regular spraying of the vivarium.

Misting the enclosure twice a day (sometimes once,depending on cage) for several mintes is essential too.The chameleon will either drink of the leaves and drips or will drink from the spray.Water must be warm (but not hot).

Chams do drink from drops left on leaves from spaying the viv however with a bit of time and patients I managed to teach my cham to drink from a water dropper or pipet so I can give him a drink by hand giving me reassurance my cham is drinking. It also allows me to know exactly how much my cham likes to drink (and is fun to do!)

Temperature:- A basking area at the top of the vivarium reaching temperatures of 36°C (97°F). A background temperature ranging from 25 - 30°C (77 - 86°F). Night time temperatures can drop down to 21 - 24°C (70 - 75°F).

Babies require a lower basking temperature (in 80s), in fact my male likes his basking at about 90 f otherwise he gapes if it gets much higher.

I guess every cham has their own "preference like people and it would be down to the owner to make the observations. A care sheet is just a rough guide as no two lizards are alike.

Humidity:- Humidity needs to be quite high for most species of chameleon however it is important to make sure you have good ventilation. You are looking for a humidity level of about 65 - 80%. I recommend using the super fog with a digital hydrometer to maintain the humidity.

This seems high, my humidity is between 50-60%

the humidity needs to change throughout the day again, to imitate there natural environment as much as humanly possible. Where these chams originate from it does not rain a lot to say the least however it is very humid (why? I don’t know I’m no geologist! lol) the high humidity allows the chams to drink in the wild as when the temp drops towards the end of the day so does the humidity as the water in the air would turn into droplets on leaves and branches, this is why chams like to drink from droplets left from spraying and will rarely even look at standing water. this is why the care sheet said the humidity needs to range from 65- 80% This is also a contributing factor to the need for good ventilation as continuous high humidity with no vents for the water to escape can lead to reparatory problems. The lucky reptile digital hydrometer has several settings which allow you to set what you would like the humidity to be at different times of the day.

Longevity:- In captivity, Chameleons can live between 4 and 7 years.

just to be picky female chams will live closer to the 4 years of age and males will live closer to the 7 years of age


but like I said, everybody does things a little different but I feel these are really good guide lines to get you started and help you find what you think is best for your cham.
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[kad1966]

hi that made good and to the point reading but what substrate would you use only asking as i'm thinking about getting a cham well the mrs is i prefer my beardies & corn snake

[andy123]

Originally Posted by kad1966

hi that made good and to the point reading but what substrate would you use only asking as i'm thinking about getting a cham well the mrs is i prefer my beardies & corn snake

no substrate or something like newspaper, kitchen towel




also we stick to replacing uv every 6 months as chameleons are known for there calcium problems so this just helps

apart from that its a good basic guide to them

[Mikaela]

Can they eat woodlice?

[bradleymarky]

Originally Posted by Mikaela

Can they eat woodlice?

woodlice have no nutritional value...stick to crix and hoppers

[Mikaela]

Originally Posted by bradleymarky

woodlice have no nutritional value...stick to crix and hoppers

Even if I coat them in peanut butter? lol

Thanks for replying, just wondered cos I have them in my snail tanks and though they might be exciting to hunt as they small