Veiled Chameleon Care Sheet

Scientific name

Chamaeleo calyptratus.

Adult size

Males measure about 17-24 in (43-61 cm) in total length, and females about 10-14 in (25-35 cm) and stockier. The casque on a male is much taller.

Lifespan

Males live about 6-8 years and females about 4-5 years, shorter because of egg production. Vet factsheets give 4-7 years overall.

Enclosure

Keep one chameleon per enclosure, with no exceptions, since cohabitation does not work. An adult needs at least 24 x 24 x 48 in tall (60 x 60 x 120 cm), and larger is strongly recommended, about 48 x 24 x 48 in for adult males. Use screen or a hybrid (solid sides help hold night humidity) with good airflow. Smaller screen enclosures are fine to start juveniles in.

Fill it with dense live, chameleon-safe plants and branches at all levels, an open basking branch near the top, and a thick leafy area to hide in. Use a bare floor, or a drainage and soil layer with plants. Do not feed off loose substrate, and never use wood chips.

Adult females need a laying bin even without a male.

Temperature

Daytime ambient: 72-78°F (22-25°C). Basking spot: about 85°F (29°C), measured at the chameleon's back and not much higher. Night: 55-65°F (13-18°C). A drop at night is healthy, and no night heat is needed unless the room falls below that range.

Humidity

By day keep it at 40-50%, and at night 80-100%, from a fogger or night misting, with solid sides if needed. Keep airflow up and let surfaces dry during the day to avoid foot sores and infections. Measure with a digital probe hygrometer in the middle of the enclosure.

UVB

UVB is required (Ferguson Zone 3). Aim for UVI about 3.0 at the basking branch, measured at the chameleon's back, with the highest point in the cage no more than about UVI 7.4. Use a linear T5 HO tube in a good reflector fixture (Arcadia ProT5 or Vivarium Electronics, not the Zoo Med T5 fixture).

An Arcadia 6% (or Zoo Med T5 5.0) tube rests on the screen, with the chameleon's back about 4-6 in below the top of the screen. An Arcadia 12% (Zoo Med T5 10.0) tube is suspended about 6 in above the screen. Check the readings with a Solarmeter 6.5, and change bulbs on schedule. Provide shaded leafy areas where the chameleon can escape UVB.

Lighting

Run 12 hours on and 12 hours off all year. Over most of the top, add a bright 6500K daylight lamp, either T5 HO or LED. Keep lights off at night, with no red or colored bulbs. No seasonal change in light is needed.

Heating

Mount one or two incandescent or halogen basking bulbs above the screen, never inside the cage, over a single basking branch. Begin with the bulb farther away or at lower wattage and adjust with a dimmer. The bulb only has to run part of the day, usually about 2-3 hours in the morning, adjusted to the chameleon's behavior, and room temperature carries the rest. In a normal home, do not use heat mats, heat rocks or night heat.

Diet

Veiled chameleons eat insects. Offer varied, gut-loaded feeders: crickets, dubia, red runner and banana roaches, black soldier fly larvae and flies, blue bottle flies, hornworms, silkworms, locusts, stick insects and captive-bred snails. Mealworms are fine in moderation, and waxworms and morio/superworms are treats only. Prey should be no wider than the space between the eyes.

Juveniles (up to about 6-9 months) eat daily, as much as they will take while growing in length. Adults get about 3-5 insects every other day; cut back if fat pads appear.

Veileds may nibble plant leaves, which is normal roughage, but do not offer fruit. They get water from misting, drippers and night dew, and most will not use a bowl.

Supplements

Lightly dust feeders at most feedings with phosphorus-free calcium without D3 (for example Repashy SuperCal NoD or Zoo Med Repti Calcium without D3) or a calcium and bee pollen blend (Arcadia EarthPro-A).

About twice a month, switch to a calcium/multivitamin containing PREFORMED vitamin A (retinyl acetate or palmitate, not only beta-carotene) and a low dose of D3, for example Repashy Calcium Plus LoD, Arcadia Revitalise D3 or Zoo Med Reptivite with D3 from other brands. With UVB at about UVI 3, the chameleon makes most of its own D3, so powders are a top-up and never a substitute for UVB. Do not stack several D3 or vitamin A products, since both can be overdosed.

Gut-load feeders for 24-48 hours, for example with Repashy SuperLoad or another complete gutload. Exact chameleon vitamin needs have not been established, and keepers' schedules vary.

Shedding

Veileds shed in patches rather than in one piece, and juveniles shed often. Correct night humidity and good hydration support normal sheds. Skin that has not come off must never be pulled. Repeated poor sheds, dull color, swollen eyelids or swollen turrets can point to vitamin A deficiency or dehydration, so see a vet.

Handling

This is mainly a display animal that tolerates little handling. Leave a new animal alone for 1-2 weeks, and if it has not eaten by then, see a reptile vet rather than handling it. Build trust by tong-feeding and then hand-feeding, then let it walk onto your hand from a branch held at the open door.

Slow movements are best. Do not restrain it, and do not pull it off a branch. Hissing, gaping, darkening and puffing up all mean you should back off.

Brumation

Veiled chameleons do not brumate. The normal nightly drop to 55-65°F (13-18°C) is the only cooling they need.

Health signs to watch

Watch for egg retention or binding in females: a swollen belly and weakness. It is life-threatening and needs a vet fast. Causes include no laying site, low calcium, wrong heat or humidity, overfeeding and obesity.

Other problems are metabolic bone disease (rubbery jaw, bowed or broken legs, weak grip, poor tongue use, from low calcium or no UVB); gout (swollen joints, linked to phosphorus in dusting powders); a swollen eye turret or eye abscess (often vitamin A deficiency or a blocked tear duct); basking burns on the casque and back (gray patches, melted spines); foot sores and infections from constantly wet perches; and obesity.

Chameleons hide illness. Closed eyes in the daytime, sunken eyes, dark stress colors, not eating, or not using the tongue need an ARAV reptile vet.

Welfare

Overfed, overheated females can produce clutches of 60 to over 100 eggs, which is life-threatening. Restricted feeding reduces clutch size and extends a female's life.

Florida and Hawaii both have established populations of veiled chameleons. In Hawaii it is illegal to import, possess or transport them, and moving or harboring them to breed, sell or release can be a felony, because they threaten native birds and wildlife. Releasing one is never acceptable, and state law should be checked before shipping.