Delores917
New Member
Hey all, new cham parent here.
I recently inherited a chameleon from a friend a few days ago because I noticed that they weren't taking very good care of her, (i.e. not cleaning her enclosure, handling her poorly and causing unnecessary stress, and not giving her a good 12 hour sleep cycle.) I've never owned a chameleon before, but I knew that they weren't good owners due to their lack of care and knowledge.
In the few days I've had her, and the days before I took her in, I've been doing extensive research every day trying to learn more about how to give this beautiful animal a good life. Here are the supplies I have for her as of now, plus the routines I've been keeping:
-humidifier
-zoo med reptisun 5.0 UBV light
-zoo med heat lamp
-lear water dripper
-16x16x30 screen enclosure(I feel like this is much too small, but I'm not sure)
-various fake foliage and leaves for her to hide in, plus fake branches and vines + a little bridge and a hammock thing for her to hold onto
-lucky bamboo plant (real and disinfected)
-her enclosures average humidity is between 60-70
-avg. General temp is 70-79; basking spot 83-87 (day) and 61-70 at night
-i mist her enclosure about four times a day with distilled water; once before I turn on her lights in the morning, and then twice again once the fake leaves in her enclosure seem to be dried out, and one more time after I turn her lights off at night
-i spot clean her enclosure about every other day/whenever I notice a dirty spot, and I replace her newspaper substrate every day
-she has a full 12 hour day/night cycle, with her lights turning on at 6 am and turning off at 6 pm
-i plan on fully sanitizing and cleaning her enclosure as well as her fake plants once a week
Some other things I want to add are that I like in Nevada, so it's very dry. Because of this, I'm doing research on what real plants I can add to her enclosure to keep humidity up. Also, I don't know exactly how old she is or when the last time she may or may not have visited a vet, but I'm absolutely open to taking her in for a check up in the near future. Whatever I need to do to make her comfortable and happy, I'm willing to do.
Sorry if the formatting on all this is weird; I'm totally new to this kind of stuff. Are there any tips or bits of advice y'all can give me? Thanks so much.
I recently inherited a chameleon from a friend a few days ago because I noticed that they weren't taking very good care of her, (i.e. not cleaning her enclosure, handling her poorly and causing unnecessary stress, and not giving her a good 12 hour sleep cycle.) I've never owned a chameleon before, but I knew that they weren't good owners due to their lack of care and knowledge.
In the few days I've had her, and the days before I took her in, I've been doing extensive research every day trying to learn more about how to give this beautiful animal a good life. Here are the supplies I have for her as of now, plus the routines I've been keeping:
-humidifier
-zoo med reptisun 5.0 UBV light
-zoo med heat lamp
-lear water dripper
-16x16x30 screen enclosure(I feel like this is much too small, but I'm not sure)
-various fake foliage and leaves for her to hide in, plus fake branches and vines + a little bridge and a hammock thing for her to hold onto
-lucky bamboo plant (real and disinfected)
-her enclosures average humidity is between 60-70
-avg. General temp is 70-79; basking spot 83-87 (day) and 61-70 at night
-i mist her enclosure about four times a day with distilled water; once before I turn on her lights in the morning, and then twice again once the fake leaves in her enclosure seem to be dried out, and one more time after I turn her lights off at night
-i spot clean her enclosure about every other day/whenever I notice a dirty spot, and I replace her newspaper substrate every day
-she has a full 12 hour day/night cycle, with her lights turning on at 6 am and turning off at 6 pm
-i plan on fully sanitizing and cleaning her enclosure as well as her fake plants once a week
Some other things I want to add are that I like in Nevada, so it's very dry. Because of this, I'm doing research on what real plants I can add to her enclosure to keep humidity up. Also, I don't know exactly how old she is or when the last time she may or may not have visited a vet, but I'm absolutely open to taking her in for a check up in the near future. Whatever I need to do to make her comfortable and happy, I'm willing to do.
Sorry if the formatting on all this is weird; I'm totally new to this kind of stuff. Are there any tips or bits of advice y'all can give me? Thanks so much.