New to owning a chameleon

[Joolii]

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?

Yes, I saw somewhere in another forum, that someone got smooth river rocks to cover the soil in their plants, then they used mesh to prevent their chameleon from accidentally swallowing a rock as a safety feature.

I want to have some real plants in his enclosure, but I also want him to be safe. I don't want to bring plants into his enclosure prematurely without quarantining them first, since I'm worried about bringing mites or something else into his space. While I make some adjustments over time, I've got the fake plants in there so he can feel secure in the interim.

 

[Joolii]

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

I think I took the photo of the enclosure before all three sensors were installed, I'll post another photo to show you, but I have one sensor that just sits on top of the mesh enclosure. The one visible in the photo hangs down a few inches, so that's my mid-temp. Then I have one in the back on the left side, where those three branches are connected and hangs down about 4 inches from the actual base of the enclosure.

I got a smart humidifier (Levoit LV600S, 6 liter) that I started using yesterday as a fogger to control the humidity in the room. I'm working on creating a schedule so the temps can be a little more consistent and the notifications definitely help. It gives warm and cool mist options and I can set as many "scheduled events" that I want based on when the HVAC tends to kick on and I can remotely make the room a little cooler or warmer as needed.

 

[Joolii]

A couple questions:

• What is bsfl? Black Soilder Fly Larve
• 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.

Where would I get bsfl? I bought some crickets and hornworms from Great Lakes Hornworms because I saw that people liked that company on this forum and they should be here today. They only had a few feeder options to choose from though and I didn't see bsfl on their website.

I should be getting the Repashy I ordered any day now, but I just set recurring calendar reminders to dust his feeders with Repashy on the schedule you recommended.

Regarding the gut-loading-- from what you're saying, it sounds like you're talking about only dusting the feeders before putting them in the enclosure for meal time. In the question I posted, I was wondering if it did anything to coat the food (ie shaking some sweet potato chunks in a baggie with the calcium powder) and then letting the dubia roaches and crickets munch on that until they're fed to my chameleon.

 

[elizaann2]

Yes, I saw somewhere in another forum, that someone got smooth river rocks to cover the soil in their plants, then they used mesh to prevent their chameleon from accidentally swallowing a rock as a safety feature.

I want to have some real plants in his enclosure, but I also want him to be safe. I don't want to bring plants into his enclosure prematurely without quarantining them first, since I'm worried about bringing mites or something else into his space. While I make some adjustments over time, I've got the fake plants in there so he can feel secure in the interim.

That makes sense. I got larger rocks for some of my potted plants in my enclosure and they are too big for my chams to eat. The mesh is a good idea too!

 

[elizaann2]

I think I took the photo of the enclosure before all three sensors were installed, I'll post another photo to show you, but I have one sensor that just sits on top of the mesh enclosure. The one visible in the photo hangs down a few inches, so that's my mid-temp. Then I have one in the back on the left side, where those three branches are connected and hangs down about 4 inches from the actual base of the enclosure.

I got a smart humidifier (Levoit LV600S, 6 liter) that I started using yesterday as a fogger to control the humidity in the room. I'm working on creating a schedule so the temps can be a little more consistent and the notifications definitely help. It gives warm and cool mist options and I can set as many "scheduled events" that I want based on when the HVAC tends to kick on and I can remotely make the room a little cooler or warmer as needed.

That is fantastic!

 

[elizaann2]

Where would I get bsfl? I bought some crickets and hornworms from Great Lakes Hornworms because I saw that people liked that company on this forum and they should be here today. They only had a few feeder options to choose from though and I didn't see bsfl on their website.

I should be getting the Repashy I ordered any day now, but I just set recurring calendar reminders to dust his feeders with Repashy on the schedule you recommended.

Regarding the gut-loading-- from what you're saying, it sounds like you're talking about only dusting the feeders before putting them in the enclosure for meal time. In the question I posted, I was wondering if it did anything to coat the food (ie shaking some sweet potato chunks in a baggie with the calcium powder) and then letting the dubia roaches and crickets munch on that until they're fed to my chameleon.

There are a couple places to get a variety of bugs. I get most of my bugs from Dubia.com, you can also get a wide variety from Rainbow Mealworms. They are a sponsor on here and have different options I think would be fun to try. Silk worms I either get from Costal Silk worms or Frams Chams. And if you want to get grasshoppers @SauceGandhi is a great place I hear to get those from. I haven't ordered from him yet but others on here have and have loved it. I'll be trying out some of his bugs the next time I place my bulk order of feeders.

 

[Joolii]

There are a couple places to get a variety of bugs. I get most of my bugs from Dubia.com, you can also get a wide variety from Rainbow Mealworms. They are a sponsor on here and have different options I think would be fun to try. Silk worms I either get from Costal Silk worms or Frams Chams. And if you want to get grasshoppers @SauceGandhi is a great place I hear to get those from. I haven't ordered from him yet but others on here have and have loved it. I'll be trying out some of his bugs the next time I place my bulk order of feeders.

Thanks for this resource, I’ll check them out the next time I get some bugs!