Yemen chameleons

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Yemen chameleons are fairly easy to care for. Providing the correct lighting and supplements are very important. If starting with a baby we recommend that these are not brought or sold at any less that’s 12 weeks, this is to ensure they are well established in feeding and are a good size and won’t get too stressed by the change to their new home. It’s best to start with a smaller enclosure for a baby then get a bigger enclosure once they’ve grown. A good size for a baby is a medium reptibreeze or equivalent.

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Mesh enclosures are good as they provide good airflow which allows for good humidity peaks and dips. I would recommend t5 12% linear uvb over the mesh. For young chameleons the basking temperature should be around 28c which can be gradually increased to adult temperatures (32/33c for males, 30c for females) as they grow and are changed to their adult enclosures. Basking temperatures should be created with a nice white basking lamp not a coloured bulb or ceramic heater. Males get considerably bigger than females so do require an xl sized reptibreeze or equivalent as their adult enclosure whereas a large size reptibreeze is fine for females.

 

Whilst providing a nice high level of uvb lighting it’s equally important to provide lots of foliage and shades areas where the chameleon can escaped the heat and lights if he wants. Care should be taken that the plants are safe for leaf eating reptiles as it’s quite common for Yemen’s to enjoy eating their foliage. This also means that they may (or may not) eat salad. Humidity does not have to remain constantly high (this can cause respiratory issues) you should mist your chameleons enclosure, either manually or with and automatic system only twice a day . It should peak around 85-90% when you mist and then drop off to between 35 and 40% before misting is done again. Is also important to allow enough time for the enclosure to dry out before the lights go out as sleeping in wet conditions can also cause respiratory issues. Yemen’s are from a much drier climate than other species so keeping their enclosure wet is detrimental to their health. Both uvb and heat lights should be run for 12 hours a day, then both off for 12 hours a day. Yemens do not require any supplemental heat at night especially not by coloured bulbs. A drop in temp at night is beneficial to their health. Good supplements should be used on most feeds.. please see my supplement file for more details.