So I bought a Senegal Cham...1st time cham owner

[JustSara]

So I was at a local pet store and bought a Senegal Chameleon. I'm kind of mad at the pet store guy, because he told me a 10 gallon tank with *A* vine in it would be fine (even for when he's full grown) Well I brought my new baby home and IMMEDIATELY started researching how to care for my new family member. Needless to say, after reading everything, he is now in a 16inx16inx20in Reptobreeze cage. He has a humidifier next to his cage also. I've put in some pics of him and his new home. Please tell me what you think! Would love to get some feed back, so that I can make sure he is happy and healthy.

 

[JustSara]

I bought him yesterday. I have seen him eating. Doing the 5-7 minute misting 3 times a day (making sure not to spray him directly) I also have a foam cup that I poked a pinhole in the bottom of and once or twice a day I put water in it and let it drip. I saw him drink FOR SURE last night when I was dripping. He's eating crickets and I got this Zilla brand gutload stuff (looks like green jello) for the crickets. I also have a 150 watt Zilla blue full spectrum bulb in there. For extra humidity I have a Vick's cool mist humidifier close to the cage. I haven't dusted the crickets with anything though... Don't really know much about how to give him vitamins aside from gutloading and dusting the crickets..

 

[Chali2naRap]

nice Cham!!

 

[JustSara]

Thanks. I named him Rango. Also feel free to PM me. Would love to make friends with other cham owners!

 

[Yoshi and Daredevil]

I have 2 senegal Chams. What I was told to do by my pet store Reptile expert was that they need to have there humidity between 70-80% There temp needs to be around 77-86F. If you are thinking about putting two in the cage DO NOT. They will not get along. Mine were fine for a while in the cage together but now they have started fighting and now im in desperate need of another cage and setup. You will also need to have a little pad heater that sticks to the bottom of the cage(size of heater depends on size of cage). I would put a couple vines in there. Id leave enough space so that they can see the bottom for there food. They recquire dripping water they will not drink still water. Distilled water is all they will drink as well. Also do not feed them crickets that are larger than there head as this can make them constipated. You will also need a good powder to dust the crickets with for there diet. I use Zoo med's Reptivite which is very good for them. What I do is I put some in a ziploc baggy then select the cricket to be fed transfer them into the baggy with the vitamins and lightly shake (if you shake too hard you may kill the crickets and theyd more then likely not get eaten as Chameleons target there food by movement). My drip system is just a little black hose coming out of a boxish container this is just for there water for them to consume. I use a spray bottle to mist there cage. I have a cup under the drip system(Consumable) to catch the water from going into the soil because I am afraid of mold growing which is very bad. I would change the soil and clean the cage about once a month. The drip system I have is called "Little Dripper".

 

[Yoshi and Daredevil]

If there is any other information that you need please let me know, there are alot of very nice people on this site. So like you've done feel free to ask any question. There are no silly questions. If you feel there something amiss please ask.

 

[JustSara]

Yea, I read not to put another in the cage with him, didn't stop the pet store owner from trying to sell me another one when I returned the 10gal tank today. Thanks for the tips! Going to get one of those Little Dripper drip systems FOR SURE. How should I do the crickets? I put a couple of dozen in the cage with him, with that gutload green jello stuff in a little dish on the bottom. Is that ok?

 

[Trace]

You are correct you have a Senegal Chameleon or Chamaeleo senegalensis. It’s a female by the way.

It looks like you’ve got a good start to keeping her properly. Sadly most if not all Senegal Chameleons are wild caught and as such take a bit more in the way of care to make them healthy and happy in captivity. First off I’d suggest making sure she is well watered by either providing many long misting sessions a day or put her in the shower once a day for the next few days. This really helps rehydrate them. Once she settles in I’d recommend a trip to the vet for a physical and fecal exam. Many of these wild caught specimens are filled with internal parasites that can compromise their health.

As per the instructions of the next poster, under tank heaters are NOT needed. Chameleons live in the trees and get their heat from the sun (in captivity a basking light) not a heating pad.

 

[Yoshi and Daredevil]

@Justsara Again it depends on the size I cant say for sure

@Trace I have a heater on mine because they stay inside and I keep my window closed. They don't really have a heat source besides that. I also like to have my window open a little at night and it gets pretty cold. I'm just trying to make sure there warm enough.

 

[JustSara]

Wow! I didn't know it was a female! How can you tell!? Looks like I'm going to have to change HER name.

 

[pssh]

Sacramento weather is plenty warm for them. Unless your house goes below 50 degrees at night, they are fine. A light is the best way to provide heat. You want the basking temp to be around 85 with the rest of the cage being cooler. A digital or infrared thermometer should be used to determine the temps, not a stick-on type. UVB is also very important. Please do your research before giving advice.

As for supplements, you want three kinds: Phos free calcium without D3, Phos free calcium with D3, and a multivitamin. Use the calcium without D3 on most feedings, the D3 frequency will depend on what brand you get, and the multivitamin once or twice a month. (Report back with the brands you gets and we can help more.) When you dust, you want the food items to be a slight shade lighter than the original. If they are "ghosts" there is way too much.

edit: The gutload you bought isn't the best and I would recommend using something better (like fresh veggies and a dry gutload.) in the meantime, supplement the stuff you bought with fresh leafy greens like mustard/collard greens, kale, endive, dandelion greens, etc. Veggies like squash, sweet potatoes, sweet pepers, etc. And fruits like apples, berries, papaya, etc. You can use two or three different ones and switch it up every week or so to keep it cost effective.

 

[Trace]

Males have a noticeable bulge at the base of the tail that houses their reproductive organs; females don't.

Here is a good article on Senegal Chameleons for further reading. It also shows the differences between the males and females. http://chameleonnews.com/08FebFrancis.html

I can't tell by the second picture but does she have her eyes closed?

 

[Yoshi and Daredevil]

Very nice a Female! I have no clue what mine are. Im assuming there both boys.

 

[Yoshi and Daredevil]

Sacramento weather is plenty warm for them. Unless your house goes below 50 degrees at night, they are fine. A light is the best way to provide heat. You want the basking temp to be around 85 with the rest of the cage being cooler. A digital or infrared thermometer should be used to determine the temps, not a stick-on type. UVB is also very important. Please do your research before giving advice.

As for supplements, you want three kinds: Phos free calcium without D3, Phos free calcium with D3, and a multivitamin. Use the calcium without D3 on most feedings, the D3 frequency will depend on what brand you get, and the multivitamin once or twice a month. (Report back with the brands you gets and we can help more.) When you dust, you want the food items to be a slight shade lighter than the original. If they are "ghosts" there is way too much.

edit: The gutload you bought isn't the best and I would recommend using something better (like fresh veggies and a dry gutload.) in the meantime, supplement the stuff you bought with fresh leafy greens like mustard/collard greens, kale, endive, dandelion greens, etc. Veggies like squash, sweet potatoes, sweet pepers, etc. And fruits like apples, berries, papaya, etc. You can use two or three different ones and switch it up every week or so to keep it cost effective.

My bad i'll just keep my mouth shut I was just giving information I was told by users on here. I was jsut trying to be helpful but if my information is wrong I don't want to harm anyone else's pet's. This will be the last public post you will see me do for a long while. Have fun.

 

[pssh]

It's not that you shouldn't post at all, just that you should do a bit more research before you give husbandry advice. It's not a bad thing, we all have to start somewhere.

 

[JustSara]

No she doesn't have her eyes closed, she just had that eye pointed straight forward. So far I haven't seen her sleep really at all during the day. She likes to sit under her light and may close her eyes for a minute or two sometimes. I put her in the shower.. I have a little palm type tree and a downpour shower head with 8 settings. I've got it lukewarm and just kind of dripping about, she doesn't seem to be drinking though.. Maybe she just has to get used to it?

Edit: Also, how do I know if she's content? I read on that article that if she's dark brown or black that means she's stressed, but I haven't seen her REALLY dark brown or black...

Another edit because I don't want to post a million times: EEK! She just ate a cricket! LOL! She was wandering all over and I wondered what she was doing, then BOOM! Her tongue shot out and she nabbed a nice, fat cricket. lol

 

[pssh]

You want the water to be hitting a wall so that the spray bounces off the wall and onto the plant/animal.

 

[JustSara]

So, after much thought I have decided to name her Patchouli. It was my best friend's idea. She changes color so we were thinking tie-dye and hippies and Patchouli was the resulting name. hehehe

 

[mcleodschams]

My bad i'll just keep my mouth shut I was just giving information I was told by users on here. I was jsut trying to be helpful but if my information is wrong I don't want to harm anyone else's pet's. This will be the last public post you will see me do for a long while. Have fun.

its ok you were just givin the wrong info not your fault you just need to now thake the advise from some members that are more experienced. Like if you r cham is too cold at night you should buy a heat emitter that replaces your light for night time heat then put your light back and turn the emitter off in the morning.

to th op. you could use a little more foliage so the cham can have shade maybe a shefferiera or pothos is one of my favorite live plants. everything is off to a good start nice job1

also like trace said a vet trip would be highly recommeded for a senagal because they are alot of the time wild caught . good luck

 

[camimom]

Do you have a uvb bulb?