New to owning a chameleon

[Joolii]

Hi All,
I just got a panther chameleon for the first time from a reptile expo, he’s about 9 months old. I’ve had him for a couple of weeks and so far I’ve run into a couple of issues that I’m learning about and resolving as I go..

I live in New England and I feel like I’m having a lot of trouble with humidity levels. I currently hand mist a few times a day, but the monitor I have hasn’t been super helpful with alerting me about changes and I worry that I’m over-misting and putting him at risk for a respiratory infection.

Does anyone have tips around a smart thermometer/hygrometer that can send updates to my phone via wifi and not just Bluetooth? Does anyone also have recommendations around a misting system that works similarly through wifi? Also, how do I know if I’m over-misting?

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and warmest welcomes! I am glad you found this forum, you will get lots of great support and advice on here.

First things I would suggest is getting your baby tested, I've heard stories about parasites traveling easily through reptile expos from all the grabby human hands.

What are your current humidity levels and temps at both for the day and at night?
Do you have your baby in a screen enclosure, hybrid or glass?

This is what I use for my chameleon enclosures and i LOVE them because they are bluetooth and wifi AND you can set alerts for if temps and/or humidity levels go out of the range you specify.

https://www.amazon.com/Govee-Hygrom...-11-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&th=1
It sounds to me like you are relatively new to chameleon keeping, knowing there is a lot of bad information out there on the wide-web, would you like to complete a husbandry review to make sure you've got everything down?

If so, just copy and past the form below, the more info you can provide the better

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with, and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high-traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem -

 

[Joolii]

Hello and warmest welcomes! I am glad you found this forum, you will get lots of great support and advice on here.

First things I would suggest is getting your baby tested, I've heard stories about parasites traveling easily through reptile expos from all the grabby human hands.

What are your current humidity levels and temps at both for the day and at night?
Do you have your baby in a screen enclosure, hybrid or glass?

This is what I use for my chameleon enclosures and i LOVE them because they are bluetooth and wifi AND you can set alerts for if temps and/or humidity levels go out of the range you specify.

https://www.amazon.com/Govee-Hygrometer-Thermometer-H5151-Temperature/dp/B09BVLP9C5/ref=sr_1_11_sspa?crid=2AZC6N8C5U4NK&keywords=govee+hygrometer&qid=1700186183&sprefix=govee+hy,aps,232&sr=8-11-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&th=1
It sounds to me like you are relatively new to chameleon keeping, knowing there is a lot of bad information out there on the wide-web, would you like to complete a husbandry review to make sure you've got everything down?

If so, just copy and past the form below, the more info you can provide the better

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with, and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high-traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem -

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • F1 Ambilobe Panther chameleon, male, 9mo old. I’ve had him for two weeks
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • A few times a week
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • 4-6 feeders a day (closer to 6 if on the smaller side): mostly dubia roaches and crickets, but I have some treat worms too
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with, and what is the schedule?
  • Flukers calcium powder, with vitamin d3. I coat sliced apples, bananas and kale and throw those into the feeder containers every couple of days.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Hand misting right now a few times a day. I mist until I can see some droplets on the branches and foliage in the enclosure. I see him drink every day. I don’t really have a misting schedule, I just do it when I can if I’m not in a work meeting.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • Hasn’t been tested for parasites. Mostly regular looking brown droppings, but I haven’t been seeing urates attached in the last 3-4. He poops about once every other day. His urates were white when I first got him.
  • Droppings have been consistent, just haven’t really noticed urates since the weekend. Food looks like it’s being digested.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
  • I got him from Busy Bee Exotics in PA. He’s pretty easy tempered, curious and active in his enclosure. He’s colorful with reds, green, blue, and yellows.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Screen enclosure, idk the dimensions, but it’s a few feet tall and maybe 18” square.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Basking: previously used flukers sunglow 5.0 uvb coil bulb. Now I’m using Arcadia forest D3 with 6% UVB.
  • For heat: previously used Arcadia solar basking heat lamp e26 UVA. Since I got the lateral light in The beginning of this week and because it gets so warm in the room he’s in, I stopped using the heat lamp a few days ago. He looked like he was getting too hot (opening mouth), so I stoped using it.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • My Sensor Push says was installed in the center of the enclosure and it says that it’s never been below 70 at night, it’s an average of 75, and at the warmest it’s 83.
  • I don’t know what the range is, or how accurate the initial readings were. I got my Govee today, so temps at the base of the enclosure are low 66, high 75 and today’s average was 72. I installed it around 2p this afternoon.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • I think this hasn’t been measured super well, it’s hard for me to say? I got a SensorPush thermo-/hygro-meter last weekend, but i wasn’t sure how accurate it was. It didn’t send me alerts even though I’m usually working in the next room, so I got two of the Govee thermo-/hygro- meters that I installed today.
  • My Sensor Push readings over the last week have been all over the place from the center of the enclosure. His humidity average is about 30%, his lowest is 22.5% and the highest is 61%. Again, idk how accurate these are, which is why I got the new sensors today so I can confirm and change things as needed.
  • My readings from the Govee from today say my humidity average at the bottom of the enclosure is 38%, with lowest being 32% and highest at 67%.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • I have an elephant ear and what I think is a philodendron that he loves to sleep in each night.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high-traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Right now he’s in a small, low traffic room. It gets pretty warm in there, so we thought it was a good option for now. There are vents near the ceiling from our HVAC system. The cage is pretty low to the ground, but we sit in there with him so he feels higher up when handled and during feedings.
• Location - Where are you geographically located?
  • New England

 

[Gloriawood]

Hello and welcome!!! You’re in a great place for advice I’d love to see pics of your little guy. We love pictures here

What helps me when my humidity is low, is to wrap a couple sides of the enclosure with a shower curtain. I just cut it to the size of the side of the enclosure and use tape or magnets to attach. If you use tape make sure there is no way he can get to it, sticky tape can damage their skin. Magnets are the way to go if you can.

 

[elizaann2]

Thank you! See my responses below in bold

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • F1 Ambilobe Panther chameleon, male, 9mo old. I’ve had him for two weeks. Congratts! Chameleons are so much fun
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • A few times a week. Avoid handling if you can, chameleons are a very shy lizard and handling our babies often can cause unnecessary stress which can lower their immune system and make them more susceptible to illnesses. Think of them more like a fish, they are fun to observe and fun to feed, but you don't touch them.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • 4-6 feeders a day (closer to 6 if on the smaller side): mostly dubia roaches and crickets, but I have some treat worms too. Beautiful, this is just a personal preference of mine (I also have a 9 mo old cham), but I give my juvenile boy way more bugs than he most likely will eat and will remove the uneaten bugs at the end of the day. That way if he is going through a growth or happens to want more bugs they are there available to him. You'll scale back to about 5 feeders every other day once your boy stops growing and starts to chunk out a little (around a year old or so). I put about 10 crickets in a feeder run and then have a bird cup filled with about 20 bsfl at all times. its a lot of bugs but I know my boy is eating as much as he needs. Attaching a document with other great feeder bugs and even treat bugs, I feed my chams their 'treat bug' on Saturdays...just incase you want to get as crazy about feeding as I do . Also attaching great fruits and veggies for you to use as a gutload for your bugs
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with, and what is the schedule?
  • Flukers calcium powder, with vitamin d3. I coat sliced apples, bananas and kale and throw those into the feeder containers every couple of days. Ok I am really glad we did this husbandry review Vitamin D3 is a fat soluble vitamin, meaning the excess amount is stored in the body vs being removed through the urine. You can overdose your cham on both D3 and vitamin A. Your baby needs plain calcium (without D3) and he also needs vitamins. This is what I use for supplements and I find it works very well:
  • Daily - ReptiCalcium without D3
  • On the 1st and 15th of each month - Repashy LoD
  • The Repashy LoD has the preformed vitamin A that your cham needs for healthy eye function, other needed vitamins (obvi) and the D3.
  • You will need to get the supplements sorted out immediately unfortunately to avoid any health problems
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Hand misting right now a few times a day. I mist until I can see some droplets on the branches and foliage in the enclosure. I see him drink every day. I don’t really have a misting schedule, I just do it when I can if I’m not in a work meeting.
  • Your hydration schedule is very important, you dont want baby getting dehydrated. Firstly, you'll know if he is dehydrated if his urates (the white part of the poop) is not white but orange. A little bit of orange is ok, but a lot means he is dehydrated.
  • This is my hydration method, feel free to use this and make adjustments to what makes sense for your environment (I live in a dry state)
  • 7:45 - mist enclosure for 2 minutes (if you are going to hand mist get a pressure spray bottle like this one to save your hand muscles)
  • 8:00 - lights come on, my chameleon is able to drink the dew from the leaves as he makes his way to his lights/food and top of his hydration from the night before
  • 3:00 - dripper installed, if I see my chameleon rush to the dripper to drink I know I need to adjust something in my hydration method. (chameleons are shy drinkers). Here is a video on how to make your own dripper for free
  • 8:00 - lights turn off
  • About 10:00 - Hand mist for 2 minutes before I go to bed
  • 12-6 am - My fog machine is on for 30 minutes, then off for 30 minutes between this time. In the wild chameleons get their hydration from the fog banks that roll in in the early morning. We have found that as we try to mimic this part of nature in our enclosures, our chameleons will drink less and stay hydrated.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • Hasn’t been tested for parasites. Mostly regular looking brown droppings, but I haven’t been seeing urates attached in the last 3-4. He poops about once every other day. His urates were white when I first got him. Ok I'm sure the urates are in there somewhere, they are not always attached to the poop, the next fresh poop try to find a urate and let us know how it looks . Also, as I mentioned before I would strongly suggest getting him tested for parasites.
  • Droppings have been consistent, just haven’t really noticed urates since the weekend. Food looks like it’s being digested.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
  • I got him from Busy Bee Exotics in PA. He’s pretty easy tempered, curious and active in his enclosure. He’s colorful with reds, green, blue, and yellows. Wonderful

 

[elizaann2]

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Screen enclosure, idk the dimensions, but it’s a few feet tall and maybe 18” square. I'm guessing you have an 18x18x36, if thats the case unfortunately this enclosure is much too small for your baby. The minimum recommended size is 24x24x48. You can usually find a cheaper enclosure on Amazon, Chewy, or if you have other supplies you need there are some really awesome chameleon kits found here
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Basking: previously used flukers sunglow 5.0 uvb coil bulb. Now I’m using Arcadia forest D3 with 6% UVB. Ok good, it sounds like you are using a T5HO linear UVB now with the correct UVB output. Unfortunately those coil bulbs do not push the uvb down into the enclosure so unless your chameleon is directly under it all day long they are not getting sufficient uvb.
  • For heat: previously used Arcadia solar basking heat lamp e26 UVA. Since I got the lateral light in The beginning of this week and because it gets so warm in the room he’s in, I stopped using the heat lamp a few days ago. He looked like he was getting too hot (opening mouth), so I stoped using it. Good catch, you don't want him getting to warm as that can be dangerous for him. It sounds like you don't need to use a basking light for now.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • My Sensor Push says was installed in the center of the enclosure and it says that it’s never been below 70 at night, it’s an average of 75, and at the warmest it’s 83. Good, you want a gradient of 78 degrees to 72 degrees in his enclosure. His basking branch you want to be 80 degrees.
  • I don’t know what the range is, or how accurate the initial readings were. I got my Govee today, so temps at the base of the enclosure are low 66, high 75 and today’s average was 72. I installed it around 2p this afternoon. 66 is a little cold for him during the day, as I mentioned above you want temps around 78-72 with a basking temp of 80
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • I think this hasn’t been measured super well, it’s hard for me to say? I got a SensorPush thermo-/hygro-meter last weekend, but i wasn’t sure how accurate it was. It didn’t send me alerts even though I’m usually working in the next room, so I got two of the Govee thermo-/hygro- meters that I installed today. Perfect monitor those and let me know what they are over the next day and night. You want his humidity to be between 50-60% during the day. At night you want as close to 100% as you can possibly get. Most of us accomplish this with a fog machine. This is the one I use. As I said before, monitor this over the next day and this will let you know if you need a fog machine, some states are fairly humid and they are not necessary.
  • My Sensor Push readings over the last week have been all over the place from the center of the enclosure. His humidity average is about 30%, his lowest is 22.5% and the highest is 61%. Again, idk how accurate these are, which is why I got the new sensors today so I can confirm and change things as needed.
  • My readings from the Govee from today say my humidity average at the bottom of the enclosure is 38%, with lowest being 32% and highest at 67%.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • I have an elephant ear and what I think is a philodendron that he loves to sleep in each night. This is a great start, most likely you will need many more plants, especially as you upgrade to the correct enclosure size. Pothos are also great if you can find those. I'll attach a document with other safe chameleon plants for you to view. Chameleons often hide in their leaves, this helps them feel safe so making sure you have enough places for him to hide in is good. A good rule of thumb is if you can look in your enclosure and instantly spot your chameleon you do not have enough coverage. Attaching a pic of one of my enclosures for you to get an idea of what you will need for him.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high-traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Right now he’s in a small, low traffic room. It gets pretty warm in there, so we thought it was a good option for now. There are vents near the ceiling from our HVAC system. The cage is pretty low to the ground, but we sit in there with him so he feels higher up when handled and during feedings. I'd strongly recommend getting him on something to make his enclosure taller, height equals safety to chameleons. An example: My enclosures are all on tables and metal shelving so that the top of the branches in the enclosure are taller than my head. You'll want to achieve something similar to this.
• Location - Where are you geographically located?
  • New England

Some great resources for you are:
Neptune the Chameleon - Website & YouTube
The Chameleon Academy - Website and Podcast

This is the care guide I follow for my panther, check it out and let me know if you have any questisons.

 

[elizaann2]

When you have a minute I'd love to see pictures of your boy and his enclosure including the lights if you are open to sharing

 

[Joolii]

Thank you! See my responses below in bold

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • F1 Ambilobe Panther chameleon, male, 9mo old. I’ve had him for two weeks. Congratts! Chameleons are so much fun
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • A few times a week. Avoid handling if you can, chameleons are a very shy lizard and handling our babies often can cause unnecessary stress which can lower their immune system and make them more susceptible to illnesses. Think of them more like a fish, they are fun to observe and fun to feed, but you don't touch them.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • 4-6 feeders a day (closer to 6 if on the smaller side): mostly dubia roaches and crickets, but I have some treat worms too. Beautiful, this is just a personal preference of mine (I also have a 9 mo old cham), but I give my juvenile boy way more bugs than he most likely will eat and will remove the uneaten bugs at the end of the day. That way if he is going through a growth or happens to want more bugs they are there available to him. You'll scale back to about 5 feeders every other day once your boy stops growing and starts to chunk out a little (around a year old or so). I put about 10 crickets in a feeder run and then have a bird cup filled with about 20 bsfl at all times. its a lot of bugs but I know my boy is eating as much as he needs. Attaching a document with other great feeder bugs and even treat bugs, I feed my chams their 'treat bug' on Saturdays...just incase you want to get as crazy about feeding as I do . Also attaching great fruits and veggies for you to use as a gutload for your bugs
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with, and what is the schedule?
  • Flukers calcium powder, with vitamin d3. I coat sliced apples, bananas and kale and throw those into the feeder containers every couple of days. Ok I am really glad we did this husbandry review Vitamin D3 is a fat soluble vitamin, meaning the excess amount is stored in the body vs being removed through the urine. You can overdose your cham on both D3 and vitamin A. Your baby needs plain calcium (without D3) and he also needs vitamins. This is what I use for supplements and I find it works very well:
  • Daily - ReptiCalcium without D3
  • On the 1st and 15th of each month - Repashy LoD
  • The Repashy LoD has the preformed vitamin A that your cham needs for healthy eye function, other needed vitamins (obvi) and the D3.
  • You will need to get the supplements sorted out immediately unfortunately to avoid any health problems
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Hand misting right now a few times a day. I mist until I can see some droplets on the branches and foliage in the enclosure. I see him drink every day. I don’t really have a misting schedule, I just do it when I can if I’m not in a work meeting.
  • Your hydration schedule is very important, you dont want baby getting dehydrated. Firstly, you'll know if he is dehydrated if his urates (the white part of the poop) is not white but orange. A little bit of orange is ok, but a lot means he is dehydrated.
  • This is my hydration method, feel free to use this and make adjustments to what makes sense for your environment (I live in a dry state)
  • 7:45 - mist enclosure for 2 minutes (if you are going to hand mist get a pressure spray bottle like this one to save your hand muscles)
  • 8:00 - lights come on, my chameleon is able to drink the dew from the leaves as he makes his way to his lights/food and top of his hydration from the night before
  • 3:00 - dripper installed, if I see my chameleon rush to the dripper to drink I know I need to adjust something in my hydration method. (chameleons are shy drinkers). Here is a video on how to make your own dripper for free
  • 8:00 - lights turn off
  • About 10:00 - Hand mist for 2 minutes before I go to bed
  • 12-6 am - My fog machine is on for 30 minutes, then off for 30 minutes between this time. In the wild chameleons get their hydration from the fog banks that roll in in the early morning. We have found that as we try to mimic this part of nature in our enclosures, our chameleons will drink less and stay hydrated.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • Hasn’t been tested for parasites. Mostly regular looking brown droppings, but I haven’t been seeing urates attached in the last 3-4. He poops about once every other day. His urates were white when I first got him. Ok I'm sure the urates are in there somewhere, they are not always attached to the poop, the next fresh poop try to find a urate and let us know how it looks . Also, as I mentioned before I would strongly suggest getting him tested for parasites.
  • Droppings have been consistent, just haven’t really noticed urates since the weekend. Food looks like it’s being digested.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
  • I got him from Busy Bee Exotics in PA. He’s pretty easy tempered, curious and active in his enclosure. He’s colorful with reds, green, blue, and yellows. Wonderful

Thank you so much! I just purchased the supplements, so that’ll be adjusted in the next couple days and I’ll start working on the watering schedule this weekend and get back to this thread with updates.

How do I get him tested for parasites? Does anyone know of any reptile vets in the Boston area?

I will send photos of my little guy and my enclosure later today!

 

[elizaann2]

Thank you so much! I just purchased the supplements, so that’ll be adjusted in the next couple days and I’ll start working on the watering schedule this weekend and get back to this thread with updates.

How do I get him tested for parasites? Does anyone know of any reptile vets in the Boston area?

I will send photos of my little guy and my enclosure later today!

That is fantastic! Here is a spreadsheet with a list of reptile vets that have been recommended on this forum. Maybe there is one near you on it?

 

[elizaann2]

That is fantastic! Here is a spreadsheet with a list of reptile vets that have been recommended on this forum. Maybe there is one near you on it?

I guess I didn't answer your question very well. To get a fecal sample you'll need to find an exotic vet with chameleon care experience. You'll take your fresh poop sample into them and they may be able to check it there or they might send it out somewhere to be checked out.

 

[Joolii]

Here’s a few photos of the little guy!

 

[Joolii]

I guess I didn't answer your question very well. To get a fecal sample you'll need to find an exotic vet with chameleon care experience. You'll take your fresh poop sample into them and they may be able to check it there or they might send it out somewhere to be checked out.

Thank you so much for this list— I’ll make some calls and see what I can find!

 

[elizaann2]

Here’s a few photos of the little guy!View attachment 346681View attachment 346682View attachment 346683

Oh he is darling

 

[elizaann2]

Thank you so much for this list— I’ll make some calls and see what I can find!

Wonderful! Let us know how it goes.

One thing I would do is remove all the fake plants and replace them with real plants. The fake plants can cause impaction issues which can be fatal.

 

[Joolii]

Wonderful! Let us know how it goes.

One thing I would do is remove all the fake plants and replace them with real plants. The fake plants can cause impaction issues which can be fatal.

He was eating some of the dirt in the plants I had in there, so I took those out until the mesh I ordered gets delivered. I should have that on wednesday this week, then I plan on putting them back in.
Thanks for the heads up on the fake plants. He hasn’t really paid much attention to the fake plants in there, but I’ll keep an eye on it and remove them over time as I get more real plants to put in there. I just want him to feel safe in there, but I also want to make sure the plants I put in there have had time to quarantine and don’t bring other issues into his enclosure, like mites and stuff.

 

[Joolii]

When you have a minute I'd love to see pictures of your boy and his enclosure including the lights if you are open to sharing

Here’s a photo of the enclosure. I sent back the other temp/humidity sensors, the ones you recommended seem to be doing the trick.!

 

[Joolii]

A couple questions:

• What is bsfl?
• I have three sensors in my enclosure right now, what is considered the basking area?
• I got the new feeding powder, but I’m still waiting on repashy you recommended. The container says to feed him 12 crickets a week that are dusted in the powder, but also how it goes by weight— how do I figure out how much he weighs?
• Can I coat gut-loading food for his feeders and give it to him that way, too? Should it be more measured than that?

Also, here are my averages from the last couple of days with the new sensors. I lost the data from the previous ones after I disconnected the devices, so I don’t have as much to share as I anticipated.

• Top sensor avg: high 82, avg 77, min 71
• Middle sensor avg: high 80, avg 74, min 70
• Base sensor avg: high 76, avg 72, min 69

Still needs work. I got a fogger that will also be here Wednesday and I’m still trying to find a mister that I like, so I am still doing that by hand.

 

[elizaann2]

View attachment 346848
Here’s a photo of the enclosure. I sent back the other temp/humidity sensors, the ones you recommended seem to be doing the trick.!

I do love the purple, it gives it a nice pop.

If i have said this previously then just ignore me...its been a long day and my brain is just done I would recommend using real branches you can get them from outside. Don't use anything with a strong smell to it or is sap producing. Wash them really well in your tub with hot water and soap and let them dry in the sun. Those rods you are using are super smooth which may be hard for your baby to grip onto. The fake plants do cause impaction risks if accidentally injested so I would actually put those outside the enclosure and provide extra coverage that way.

 

[elizaann2]

A couple questions:

• What is bsfl? Black Soilder Fly Larve
• I have three sensors in my enclosure right now, what is considered the basking area? The basking area is the warmest spot in your enclousre right under your heat lamp. You'll want to make sure that it gets no hotter than 80 degrees. Place your hand on the closest branch your cham can get to under your heat lamp and make sure its a soft warmth, if its a harsh heat it can burn him.
• I got the new feeding powder, but I’m still waiting on repashy you recommended. The container says to feed him 12 crickets a week that are dusted in the powder, but also how it goes by weight— how do I figure out how much he weighs? A gram scale that you would use in your kitchen. I hate to say this, but don't go off those instructions, just dust all his feeders daily with calcium and on the 1st and 15th of each month use the Repashy LoD. At 9 months old your baby should be eating about 12 feeders every day.
• Can I coat gut-loading food for his feeders and give it to him that way, too? Should it be more measured than that? Im not sure I understand this question. The gut load is basically just feeding his bugs fresh fruits and veggies a minimum of 24 hours before you feed the bugs to the chameleon. Because the bugs have been eating healthy foods, they will have nutrients in their body for your chameleon when he eats them. I feed my bugs every other day and remove any uneaten foods.

Also, here are my averages from the last couple of days with the new sensors. I lost the data from the previous ones after I disconnected the devices, so I don’t have as much to share as I anticipated.

• Top sensor avg: high 82, avg 77, min 71.
• Middle sensor avg: high 80, avg 74, min 70
• Base sensor avg: high 76, avg 72, min 69

This is like Where's Waldo but instead Wheres the Sensor...I see one but I dont see the others, where exactily are they at in your enclosure?

If your top sensor is right under your heat lamp it should not read any higher than 80-85
The middle sensor should ideally read something around 75 degrees, for sure not 80, that means the top of his enclosure is in the 90s or 100.
Base sensor is perfect at 72

What about your humidity levels?

Still needs work. I got a fogger that will also be here Wednesday and I’m still trying to find a mister that I like, so I am still doing that by hand. That is fantastic! I actually hand mist myself, I do have a misting system but I haven't set it up yet. MistKing is expensive but really nice...which is the one I got and many on here have as well. But again, there is nothing wrong with hand misting. I have actually really enjoyed it the last 2 years because its not a 'set it and forget it' system and I actually used that time to check everything in my enclosure to make sure all was well and check on my chameleon. If you have the time and can maintain the schedule i actually would recommend hand misting just for the experience it would give you to have to check your enclosure at least 2x a day.

 

[elizaann2]

He was eating some of the dirt in the plants I had in there, so I took those out until the mesh I ordered gets delivered. I should have that on wednesday this week, then I plan on putting them back in.
Thanks for the heads up on the fake plants. He hasn’t really paid much attention to the fake plants in there, but I’ll keep an eye on it and remove them over time as I get more real plants to put in there. I just want him to feel safe in there, but I also want to make sure the plants I put in there have had time to quarantine and don’t bring other issues into his enclosure, like mites and stuff.

Got it, I did post about the fake plants again so my apologies. Is the mesh for the plants so he cant get to the dirt?