Supplements!!!

Hi, im new to the forum, after reading a few posts im beginning to think im not giving my 2-3 year old Yemen enough supplements. So far he is being provided with a calcium powder dusted on to his locust before they enter his vivarium, a 160w solar glo bulb (Wich states that it provides both UVB and UVA) kept on for at least 18hours a day, a waterfall that runs 3 times for an hour in the coarse of the day, What else should i be introducing as he's not eating as much as usual and lost quite abit of weight, still pretty strong and active tho, any suggestions?

Most everyone use a reptisun 5.0 bulb and then a basking bulb and keep them on around 12 hours or just go with the natural sunrise and sunset. Waterfalls tend to collect bacteria so they aren't recommended. Fill out the how to ask for help on the health clinic forum and it will be easier for members to give you suggestions/advice on your setup.

It would be helpful to fill this out. https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ I can tell you off the right off the bat, you are leaving your lights on way too long. 12 hours is plenty. Your cham needs to be able to sleep and most likely is not doing so with the lights on. Can you post a few pics of your cham also.

Cham info:
Ive had my male yemen for 6months and was told he was around 2years old when i bought him.
As for handling i allow him the exit his vivarium onto my bed on his own then pick him up as he wont allow me anywhere near him in his viv, this is done on a daily basis, he also loves to sit by the window looking out, but he gets pretty cold so i move him back into the viv to warm up!
Feeding, i feed Locust on a regular basis, i throw 3 into the viv in the morning before i go to work and providing there gone the time i get back i'll throw another 3, but usually there still hovering around when i get back i gut load with lettuce wich is fed to the locust daily and occasionally offer him mealworms wich he will not take and waxworms wich he loves, only offered once a week and only given around 5 waxworms on a day. As for dusting i use Nutrobal and pretty much everything gets dusted before it goes in. I also keep a dish on the inside of the viv with lettuce for the locust wich havnt been eaten.
I have quite a large waterfall wich runs 3 times in the day each time lasting an hour, the water usually gets changed twice a week wich i now realise this may not be enough, also gets random changes through the week when needed as he sometimes does his buisness in the water, i have seen him drink on a couple of occasions wich im surprised at as ive been told you rarely see a chameleon drink.
His faeces are black with a yellow white look to it, this does appear every 2-3 days wich is then cleaned out asoon as spotted.
I have no information of the previous owner but he was in top notch condition when i purchased him.

Cage info:
My vivarium is 3ft length x 3ft width x 4ft height, hopefully my pictures will give you more of an insight.
I am using 1x exo terra porcelain clamp lamp + glow reflector with 1x solar glo 160w bulb, i did also want to introduce strip lights but was told by numerous reptile stores around my area that my lights were enough, there kept on for 18hours wich as uve stated is to long so am now reducing.
I have no way of testing for my temp or humidity levels, was again told by my local reptile store as ive been concerned with temps dropping so low during the night and have had replies that the temp will reach simular levels during colder seasons in the wild, also was told my waterfall would create a high enough humidity tho my viv never looks wet, maybe i should mist aswell?
Again as for placement in my room hopefully my pics will give you an insight.
Sorry for such an essay but i hope this helps !!!!

Im at a loss as to how to post my images??? :S will try again later on today

Ok right of the bat, get rid of the waterfall! Especially if you know you cham poops in it! Bacteria breeding ground!!! Your cham can get sick from that. Get yourself a dripper from the pet store or you can make yourself one. Search some threads on here and put in "homemade drippers". The petstore ones only cost about $10.00 U.S dollars. I am guessing they have them over there also. You need to gutload your locusts more nutritonally. Regular lettuce has very little nutrients. Go with dark leafy veggies and other fresh fruits and veggies, carrots, apples, etc. I am not positive though if locusts can be gutloaded the same as roaches, crickets and superworms. If you can get superworms, they would be a much better choice than mealworms. Mealworms contain alot of hard outer body(chitin) and not much meat. Your viv needs to be misted atleast a couple of times a day. This is to spike the the humidity and for freshwater drinking purposes also. Your humidity should be around 50-60% and then with spikes. you need to get something to measure this. You cage temp should hover around in the low to mid 70's with your basking area at about 80-85 max. Do your bulbs put out UVB? Does your supplement have d3 in it. You should have two types of calcium with d3 which you should only be giving a couple of times a month and the regular calcium without d3 which you should be dusting your feeders with at every feeding. your night temps can get down to around 60 or a little lower and he should be ok. You need something to measure your temps also. Temps are important. If you can get a Reptisun 5.0 tube, that is the best light to use. ok, as far as pics, just click on post reply and at the top you will see a bunch of icons and there is a little paper clip where you can download pics from your computer. If that does not work you can set up an account at photobucket.com. It is free and it works on here. that is what I use as some of my pics they say are too large when I try an download from here. hope this info helps you!

Thanks for all the info, Im keeping the waterfall, just draining it and keeping it as a dried feature in the viv, ill try my locust on apple and carrot instead see what comes of it, any advice on products that contain calcium with d3? Also going to head out maybe tomorrow when i get chance pick up some gear to measure my temps, would i be aswell buying two to monitor both bottom and top of the viv?

Oh ye, nearly forgot the pictures :

I just have the two monitors at the top of my cage. When I want to check the temps below I just move it down there and get a temp. you could get two if you wanted, it is your choice really. Also, there are many other fruits and veggies, you can use besides the two I said, they were just examples. Again, I know nothing about locusts. You could always start another thread on here to ask about gutloading of locusts as everyone may not be reading this thread and know what we are disucussing. Good luck with everything! I am glad you decided to not keep the water going in the waterfall. Better safe than sorry ya know!!. I use the Repcal Brand of Calcium with d3. There are others. I am not sure what is available to you over there in the UK!

oh and just a little criticism here on your viv. It looks nice but I think it needs more foilage and live is best as it helps keep up the humidity. Some of the favorite plants to use are Pothos, ficus and hibiscus, and they are all safe and Veilds do eat plants. Again, not sure what is available to you over there!!! Also a few more skinnier branches and vines for him to climb around on both placed horizontally and vertically. You might want to reconsider keeping the waterfall and putting a nice large plant in its place!

Thanks for all the info, i'll keep you updated

you can get ficus and umbrella plants from B and Q places like that and they only cost a few quid. if you dont have a local exotic pet suppliers then amazon has everything you need with regards to bulbs, supplements and even feeders. you can pick up thermometers and hygrometers dirt cheap.

I see you have the light inside the cage. If the chameleon can grab onto it it might burn its feet. I would recommend you put a screen "cage" over/around it so that can't happen...or move the light onto the top of the cage so it passes through a screen.

Here's some information you might like to read.....
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

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.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it.

If you 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. (Some UVB lights have been known to cause health issues, so the most often recommended one is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube 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.

Dusting twice a month 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.

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs....so its important too. 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.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/

Thanks for that, lots of info there wich im slowly working my way through, i have noticed that a couple of the sites state that if i was to use adequate UVB lighting i may not neceserally need a calcium base with d3, im guessing this would then mean that its one or the other and i wouldn't be able to use both as it will be over doing it???

Exposure to UVB allows the chameleon to produce D3 which allows it to use the calcium in its system...therefore there has to be enough calcium in its system to use...and since most insects we use as feeders have a poor ratio of calcium to phos. its still necessary to dust with calcium to make up for it.

Giving it some D3 from supplements ensures that it has some D3 that is already to go and doesn't have to be converted to D3 as it does from the UVB. However...D3 from supplements is ready to go and can build up in the system while D3 produced from the UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB at will.

Hope this helps!

BTW all of this comes from what I have learned from others, from reading, etc.

dang!!! Sweet viv... i'm still new and my girl is barely 6 inches if lucky. I've still got a little one.

Thanks
Ive drained the waterfall now and am in search of a live plant to fill it up
Look forward to seeing your little cham around the forum