A few questions - Sex, Feces, Cage

[Bokaru]

Sorry for how long this is... I have a few questions. They are at the bottom of this post. I will add pictures of the cage and my Senegal, Peppers, in the next comment.

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Peppers - Senegal - Presumably Female- ~1y 3 mo old / 4 months of care.
* Handling - I handle Peppers usually once or so a day. She attempts to climb out onto my hand when I open the cage at least once a day.
* Feeding - Store bought feeder crickets. Wild caught field and cave crickets. 2-3 feeders or 1 cave/field a day. Gut-load : T-Rex Calcium Plus Cricket Supplement.
* Supplements - Just started using Fluker's Calcium + D3 dust (plan to use twice a month)
* Watering - I have a drip system, i spray twice a day for about 3-5 minuets at a time. I use a space heater to keep the room warm so I run a humidifier about 1.5 hours a day. (Humidity stays between 40 and 50 usually)
* Fecal Description - No parasite testing. Black is usually fairly chunky (partially digested exoskeleton) Urea is slightly yellowed. Mucus is sometimes included (i will talk about this more in a bit)
* History - Peppers is very friendly and will step out onto an open hand almost every time presented to her. She was wild caught, held by the capturer for 3 months and then at least 4 mo by the seller to make sure she was in good health before being sold. I don't know if any parasite testing / care was taken during these periods. No aggression and very minimal stress have been shown during the four months I have cared for her.


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Hand made wooden frame with screen. 2x2x3'
* Lighting - 8:00am -8:30pm One Exoterra UVB compact light, One plain incandescent bulb for heat and light, One 24" Repti Glo 5.0 on top.
* Temperature - The cage usually stays between 80 and 89 during the day. Lowest overnight =70
* Humidity - Humidity is normally 40 to 50% It has gotten to 37 before, but I have started monitoring it much closer.
* Plants - Live plants include a schefflera and a philodendron vine (She has never eaten plants so I have not removed the Phil. If I happen to see chewing, I will remove it immediately.)
* Placement - I keep it in the room behind mine in my house's attic. It is facing a window for lighting, and is about 2' away from it to avoid any cold. There is very low traffic. The cage sits about 3 feet off the ground.
* Location - North Central West Virginia


Current Problems - I have a few.

Peppers has been very dark when I open the cage. I don't know if this is just basking or what, but as soon as the cage is opened she turns back to a normal, calm green.

Peppers has recently been excreting a bit of mucus with her feces. Not every time, but usually once every other day or so.

I have never been able to sex her. I originally thought she was about 6mo old, but now I know from talking to the dealer that she is much older so adolescence should not be a problem. I added some sand to the bottom of the cage in a container just in case Peppers is a she, but i have yet to see any plugs or eggs. If anyone has any ideas from the pictures below please tell me.

My final three are questions. I am using a potting soil substrate right now. I have not had any problem with moisture because any liquid evaporates fairly quickly, but I figure I should replace it with something else, any ideas?

It is getting cool here (the normal temperature outside has been 50-55 already this year) , and I would like to take Peppers out to a vet to get checked up some time. How should I go about transport during cooler months?

Finally, based on the cage info and pictures below. I would like to know how I'm doing so far?

If anyone has some opinion on anything I posted, please feel free to give me some advice. Peppers is my first chameleon and I want to make sure I am doing all I can to keep him/her in good shape so I can enjoy her/his company for years to come.

Thanks for bearing with the size of this post.
-I will add pictures shortly-

 

[Bokaru]

Here are a few pictures.
Cage:


Dripper catch:

Made from sculpy clay, painted and then sealed with hot glue.

Mucusy feces:


Bottom of cage:


Peps on her perch:

Sorry about the lighting. I have light coming from like 4 different directions.

 

[laurie]

I know I will miss something but here goes. Welcome to the forum.

Lighting compact uvb's are not recommended as they can harm a chameleons eyes. The household for heat and the 5.0 for uvb should be all that is needed.

Feeding, variety is good to keep them healthy and instructed in food. You can add, silkworms, hornworms, superworms, dubia roaches any of those are good for a start. You need to gut load your crickets. feed the green leafy veggies like kale, collard green, mustard greens, no spinach or broccoli. That is much better than the store made stuff. Be careful with wild caught bugs as they can carry parasites.

supplements you need three, plain calcium (no d3), calcium +d3, and a muitl vitamin like min-all.

I will be back after I feed to answer further

 

[Texas Panther Man]

For vet transport she/he will be fine in a small box or critter carrier for the ride to the vet. I prefer a box because it cant be seen thru and the cham will usually go to sleep shortly after being put in there. And it would be a good idea to get her into a vets office and bring a fresh poo with you. They will need that if you want them to check for parasites and run a fecal exam. She needs to be checked, I dont like the sound of mucus being present in her poops. they should be black with a dry white chalky urate.

 

[Bokaru]

One final picture for sexing:

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I dont see a hemi penil bulge. I'd say its a female. But Im no expert on senegals. Ditch all the lights coming from inside the cage. You need at most three bulbs. A 5.0 Uvb flouescent tube. A household incandescent of about 60 watt size. And for your plants a flourescent tube 6500k full spectrum plant bulb. All need to be placed on top of the cage out of contact for the lizard.

 

[jessica]

I agree with Texas Panther Man, fecal is a must the vent looks a little puffy to me and s/he looks a little thin.

If it's real cold and you are worried about transport you can buy a pack of disposable hand warmers (they usually sell them at camping stores) wrap it in a towel put it in the box. I would only worry if it's freezing.

I could be off base but it's possible the white "mucous" could be a sperm plug but I don't know much bout sexing Senegals.

 

[Bokaru]

Ditch all the lights coming from inside the cage. You need at most three bulbs. A 5.0 Uvb flouescent tube. A household incandescent of about 60 watt size. And for your plants a flourescent tube 6500k full spectrum plant bulb. All need to be placed on top of the cage out of contact for the lizard.

I have all of those minus the plant bulb. It is near a window (but far enough back that the coolness outside should not affect it) so I figured the natural light would help. All the lights are outside of the cage, just some are positioned to the side instead of on top (the only one up there is the Repti Glo 5.0). unfortunately I don't have much clearance above the cage, but I can probably rig a light box if necessary.

I agree with Texas Panther Man, fecal is a must the vent looks a little puffy to me and s/he looks a little thin.

I could be off base but it's possible the white "mucous" could be a sperm plug but I don't know much bout sexing Senegals.

I didn't figure that plugs would be expelled with feces, but I guess its a possibility. I was actually feeding Peppers a bit too much and have cut back. Haven't noticed change in body size. I think the thinness is common, but if you think Peps is thin I could start feeding him/her more for a while and see f anything changes.

 

[Bokaru]

Just a follow up on the prior postings. Thanks for the feedback folks.

-I removed the compact Reptiglo 10.0 UVB and moved the household incandescent to the top of the cage for a better basking point. Just to make sure, the compact UVBs are too bright but a 60 watt incandescent should be ok?

-The feces mucous problem might be sperm plugs. I would like a confirmation on this. I did some research and found that generally they are expelled with feces. Can anyone with a male cham confirm this? I will still make sure to bring this up in the vet appointment when I can make one.

-Peppers has been spending a lot of time at the bottom of the cage near the door, and a very deep shade of green. Any ideas? (Still not certain on sex, might be ready to ovulate)

-I will be going out to the store to get the two other dusts soon, and a vet visit will be set up asap.

Thanks again for all of the help so far. And if you have some ideas on how to better my caring from this or previous posts feel free to give me your opinion.

 

[laurie]

Hello I am finally back. You should remove all substrate. Your cham can become inpacteded from ingesting the substrate. Most of us use no substrate or at most a paper towel. Use live plants to maintain humidity. You could use a leafy umbrella or ficus. Also add some horizontal sticks and branches for highways. jmo

 

[carol5208]

One other thing you said you have natural sunlight through the window, well glass blocks out UVB so your cham won't be benefiting much from that. I think everyone else has all the other bases covered. Good luck with the vet appt and lets all hope for a sperm plug!! lol1!!

 

[kinyonga]

If that is calcisand in the container I would get rid of it and use washed playsand. Calcisand can cause impaction/ Also...the container should be opaque and at least 12" D x 12" x 8".

When she is dark does she have bright yellow spots?

Everything else you have already been told about!

 

[Bokaru]

If that is calcisand in the container I would get rid of it and use washed playsand. Calcisand can cause impaction/ Also...the container should be opaque and at least 12" D x 12" x 8".

When she is dark does she have bright yellow spots?

Everything else you have already been told about!

Ill get a bigger container for the eggs. It is play sand. It was a bit older so I strained it, washed it and then boiled it and washed through it again.

He/she has greenish spots (they have been almost lime green, but not yellow) from time to time, but usually not. The band down pepper's side is purple when he/she is dark normally if that helps any.

Also I read where the sand needs to be damp enough to stick and tunnel in. How would you recommend keeping it warm?

Thanks.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Dont worry abut keeping it warm. Just make sure it doesnt get too soggy from your misting and dripper. A good idea is to make some holes in the bottom to let any excess water drain out if it does become soaked for any reason. I use old discarded plant buckets from the nursery for my laying bins. They are the perfect height and they are easy to fit into a cage with the existing plants in place. The buckets also have small holes in the bottom to help with drainage. And they are free...

 

[jessica]

I was actually feeding Peppers a bit too much and have cut back. Haven't noticed change in body size. I think the thinness is common, but if you think Peps is thin I could start feeding him/her more for a while and see f anything changes.

Some parasites can block the absorption of nutrients, so you can feed and feed Peppers and see no results in weight There is tons of other ill effect also. This is why knowing your chameleons parasite load is important especially when dealing with a WC.

Very good book to read is "Understanding Reptile Parasites" by Roger J Klingenberg DVM. They sell it in the bookstore here on the forum.