More grief in Bubble's world

darla

New Member
Hi, I asked about Bubbles getting out of his enclosure all the time. I fixed it so he could stay out all the time. I replaced his 5.0 bulb with a 10.0 because he's not always near enough and I was worried he wasn't getting enough uvb, So now with that he has figured out how to get on the bulb and I can't keep him off! Now what do I do? I think he is climbing up the cord to reach it, that's the only way I can see he's getting up there. The room is plenty warm with all of the other critters and light going. Any ideas?
 
Here are some pics...I caught him in the act. Will this hurt him to be so close?
 

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1st off, the 10.0 that close will fry him like a pancake. even a 5.0 would do some damage. keep him off. he will hurt himself. i learned the hard way with a 5.0. my cham got a bad uvb burn, but now hes all better. keep it farther away, and keep him from getting on top of it.
 
I can't keep him off. No matter where I put it he keeps getting on it. Is he trying to commit suicide?
 
I can't keep him off. No matter where I put it he keeps getting on it. Is he trying to commit suicide?

Yes. He hates you and is trying to kill himself.

OR

It's probably the highest place he can get to.

Build a cage around the light, or move the cord so he can't get to it, and be done with it.
 
you might be better of with 5.0 uvb if he's gonna get that close.
Find a way to prevent him getting way too close to it.
 
I can't keep him off. No matter where I put it he keeps getting on it. Is he trying to commit suicide?

Hi Darla,
I understand your concern and can identify with it. I have used a piece of slippery plastic, stapled into an upside down cone (rather like the dog collars that vets use to keep animals from chewing themselves) to keep chameleons from climbing cords. I will leave it to the more technically-minded members here to tell you what type of slippery plastic to use that is non-toxic and flexible enough to be shaped and secured (bought at Orchard Supply Hardware in CA). Make sure the staples face outward so Bubbles can't scratch himself - or perhaps there is a better suggestion of some type of adhesive to use. I just know that the upside slippery cone worked. :)


Susan James
 
Thanks! I don't know why I didn't think of that. I'll try that, but for now I turned the light off. As soon as I turned it off he moved. Go figure.
 
Thanks! I don't know why I didn't think of that. I'll try that, but for now I turned the light off. As soon as I turned it off he moved. Go figure.

<g> Well, sometimes the obvious solution takes some fiddling about. And if it is a linear tube light, he will still benefit from the rays that shine around the cone (and hopefully onto a plant that he will adopt), particularly if the lamp is a 10.0. If he hides all of the time under the cone, then you will need to proceed to Plan B. Do you also have any type of a basking light aimed at him or is he exposed to sunlight through a window (for beneficial heat only of course) so that he can bask? He may be seeking the heat. Chameleons are certainly the most interesting little animals, are they not.

Susan James
 
I do have a basking light for him and he doesn't care about it, only the uvb. The room is very warm already as I have other critters and lights going. Room temp is in the 80's. Thanks for saying he's pretty. I think he is 10 months now. I got him from a lady when he was 5 months and he has tripled in size. Back to the lights again, he never messed with the lights before I changed to a 10.0. He didn't even get anywhere near them. So I was worried about him not getting what he needed. When I changed the bulb well then he wouldn't stay away from it. I was constantly getting him down from it. I move the cord, moved the light, taped the cord to the wall, put a board in front of it....nothing worked. I think he can even scale walls! He my spiderman/houdini!
 
It's one of those lights that plug in instead of hard wire as I am no good with electrical stuff. I tried taping it very close to the wall but he climbed that as well.
 
I like the upside down cone idea, we use that to keep the squirrels out of the bird feeders here. It doesn't always work because the nervy buggers drop from the trees!

Darla, could you post a picture that shows his whole set-up? More people may be able to make suggestions if they can see exactly what you're dealing with.
 
Ok here are some pics of his current spot. I had trouble keeping him in his cage 4'x4'x2' so I took the door off and made a tree like thing so he would be somewhat contained. It was getting more and more difficult finding him each day as he sure didn't want me to find him. One day I spent 5 hours looking for him. I was thinking "how difficult can this be? he's in a locked 10'x10' room". Well I finally found him behind my bearded dragons cage hanging on a lamp cord. How he got behind there I have no idea, and why he wanted to stay there was a bigger question. Oh the places he found to hide!

Anyway back to his current set up. I took most everything out of his cage because he won't stay in. I did have a lot of real plants but they all died except for a ficus that I have up high for him to get on but he doesn't.
 

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Hey Darla,

Is his basking spot above the reptisun? I couldn't tell, but from the photo that is how it appeared. Maybe he is climbing up to the UV bulb because he wants to reach his basking spot. Could you move the heat lamp elsewhere and see if that changes things?
I also like the slippery material around the cord idea. I just wouldn't know how to implement it! I'm sure you will figure something out.
 
Yes the basking is now up top, but it wasn't and never got near it. I had things on top of his cage(the one he wouldn't stay in). When I came to the conclusion he just wasn't going to use his cage I moved things around. He still never got near the basking bulb. I did move it higher and placed a higher watt bulb as it is now farther away from him. Could he really be wanting to get warmer? The room is very warm even with out the basking light. I thought they liked it cooler and the room temp is in the mid 80's as it is. I set up a dripper for him when I'm not around to mist, not sure if he uses it. I'll get another lamp going for him and see if he is indeed wanting more heat. Thanks all!
 
I thought the cage was very big. I made him a 4'x4'x2'. Isn't that big enough? It takes up practically the whole room. I even have it about 3' off the floor so it almost touches the ceiling. About fixing why he won't stay in the cage, I don't really know why. He was fine until his large tree died. I even left it in there dead till I saw bugs then I took it out. I tried to replace it but it's about winter here and couldn't find anything. So I put a lot of fake vines and stuff as he was so unhappy. Maybe it was the last straw for him. I don't really know. I'm trying to do good for him, I really am.
 
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