Juno - Help please

Hi,

My husband went to Zimbabwe recently and found Juno there, he brought him home, and i decided to take care of him. The problem is i dont know what species he is, how much he should eat? And if his coloration is normal? I dont want to harm him or let him get sick as i feel he was wild and i am actually doing him an injustice if i dont look after him properly. ANY advice would be aprreciated!

I believe that is a flapneck chameleon. Possibly female. Not sure though if it is male or female. Post a few more pics of the base of the tail area. Fill out this form please also.https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ You took on a wild caught chameleon which often times have parasites and are hard to acclimate to being captive. If its a female you have to worry about egglaying even though it has never mated with a male. Why didn't your husband just leave him/her in the wild? Where was he/she found?

Wild chameleons are best left in the wild. If possible, the best thing to do would be to return it where you found it. If you're not going back to Zimbabwe anytime soon, here are a couple of links to give you some basic info on how to care for the chameleon:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/general-care-true-chameleons-5943/

Best of luck

Thank you very much for your help. She seems much better now, i cleaned her home today and she was climbing al over me, she also ate much more. I will def go to your link and appreciate your kind advice x

She was in the middle of the road and about to be run over, he felt sorry for her and thats why he brought her back. There was no place he could off let her as they were in the middle of the highway and he saw her with a luck. We live far from there so to let her go back in zim wont be possilbe. I also only joined this site as an option to take better care of her not to feel even worse because of it!

well I would have done the same thing then! You came to the right place to learn as everyone on here is helpful and we all share a love for these amazing creatures! Don't hestitate to ask questions and I wish you the best of luck with your new little friend!!!

Welcome to the forum!
I can't tell if its a male or female from the photo...I need to be able to see the base of the tail.

Are you going to be keeping the chameleon inside? If its to be kept outside some things may have to change from the information below. I also can't tell you what the basking temperature or the humidity should be. Dilepis (flap-necks) come from a wide range of habitats and you need to know what the humidity and temperature were like where it was found so that you can try to replicate it.

Here's an article about the dilepis group that might help...
http://chameleonnews.com/06SepDeckers.html

Here's some information I hope will help you with things like supplements, gutloading, etc....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

Hope this helps!

Juno said:

She was in the middle of the road and about to be run over, he felt sorry for her and thats why he brought her back. There was no place he could off let her as they were in the middle of the highway and he saw her with a luck. We live far from there so to let her go back in zim wont be possilbe. I also only joined this site as an option to take better care of her not to feel even worse because of it!

Click to expand...

I didn't mean to sound critical - I apologize if it seemed like I was trying to make you feel bad. I just wanted to point out that wild chams don't always adjust well to being in captivity.

Welcome to the forums, by the way. This really is a great place to learn about chameleons, and we're glad you're here.

The links I gave you will have this information, but I just want to reiterate the importance of a few things. A UVB light is absolutely essential for your chameleon's health. A tube-style Reptisun 5.0 is the best option, but a Repti Glo 5.0 will also suffice. You also need to dust your feeder insects with plain phosphorus-free calcium without D3 every day. (In the wild, chameleons get a much wider variety of insects and therefore better access to natural calcium. Most feeder insects you can buy do not have a good phosphorus to calcium ratio, which is why you must provide calcium supplements to help keep your chameleon healthy.)

Best of luck with your new family member!

Juno

Thanks for all of your help and advice. I have a uvb light, a heater and another one, two white and one red (sorry a bit blonde cant remeber the names) i also have a thermostat and a humid reader that regulates the temp to be about 28 degrees celcius. I am feeding her crickets and meat worms at the moment, however since she tasted the meat worms she no longer wants the crickets? I will look for grashoppers today...

She is looking beter today and just think that she is camoflauging herself, she was walking on me yesterday and she eats out of my hand. However i can still she that she does feel restless and that she wis looking for a way out of her cage. I have big dogs so she cant be walking around freely. I am keeping her inside to keep her safe but her cage looks like a jungle...so i think she will be happy, i see that she originally does live in South Africa so she is not to foreign to our climate will keep you up to date xx

I was asking about whether you would keep it inside or outside because it can affect how much water they need and the D3 supplement won't likely be needed if its getting a lot of sun.