Bonding

[chefbill]

My new Melleri not quite 3 weeks in my care ate 7 superworms out of my hand tonight. Mel has been eating,drinking and pooping (in the same spot every time) quite well. I was trying to get Mel to climb on my arm by holding food at my elbow like suggested in one of the recent threads and mel just zapped it out of my hand at least a foot away. he then ate 7 more before turning his/her nose up at the 9th. this was soooo cool to have Mel trust me enough to eat from my hand. The poops have been more solid than this last one here is a picture.

 

[pssh]

I would not feed so many superworms as they are very fatty. I use maybe 2-3 a week max. Is his/her poop always like that or have you been feeding hornworms/silkworms lately? Runny poop is a sign of parasites.

 

[chefbill]

previous poops have been more solid, Mel has been eating alot of superworms picking them out of the cups Mel would rather hunt the crickets than use the cup.
Should I have a fecal done?

 

[pssh]

Yes, its never a bad idea to ave a fecal done. Try using butterworms, silkworms, or hornworms instead of superworms for regular feeding.

 

[PardalisGirl]

WC Melleri.....

Hi there...I missed seeing you join the forum. I did read your original post after you aquired your Melleri. There are quite a few of us here who have them. I've got a group of WC Melleri. We have found the the WC usually have parasites. Every one of mine had one thing or another. It's crucial that you get a fecal done so that you can eliminate anything your beauty may have. While your Melleri may appear to be doing well now, it can go downhill quickly if any parasite colony rapidly multiplies. Acclimation of WC Melleri is a long process and a fecal examination is an absolute must in this process.

I would not feed superworms very often. They have very little nutrition in them. Crickets and Dubia roaches work well as the main staples. Dubia roaches are easy to keep and adults fill up a Melleri quickly. Hornworms and silkworms are a good addition several times a week. They are good for hydration. Butterworms are a good source of calcium. Superworms are an occassional treat. Hydration is the second issue WC Melleri seem to struggle with. How is yours drinking? How often?

Can we see a picture of your set up too? Most of us have spent a LOT of time tweeking our particular Melleri set ups. What kind of lighting and heating do you use? Welcome to our group.....You can make a lot of friends here if you share your Melleri with us

 

[chefbill]

my set up is 3'x3'x4' lots of height to climb a Shefelera ddripper filled twice daily with misting twice daily until Mel stops drinking about 10 ounces of water each misting. A 90 watt bulb about18 inches from basking with lower and higher basking areas. A10 uvb exo repti glo about 18 inches from basking in a metal reflector setup. There was a puddle of water on the floor of the cage when Mel pooped on the floor of the cage while i was at work. I read one of your posts about the sad eyes Paradisegirl and thats exactly what got me when I bought Mel.

 

[chefbill]

Sorry about the misspelling

 

[Leilaskeeper]

I'm not a pro by any means, but I get a lot of advice from my brother in law who has bred and owned many kinds of chams over the past 20 years. His advice is stick to your staples (crickets, roaches) and treat the cham to a few worms per week as a treat. Only 2-3 superworms a week. Think of them as chocolate

 

[summoner12]

Runny poop is a sign of parasites.

This is not a rule... rather than a posibility.....

Runny poop in my experience with Melleri is a lack of proper heat at the basking spot..... or eating a lot of hornworms and silkworms...... But I am willing to bet this is a basking spot issue since super worms are high in chitin (the hard shell they have)

What kind of basking spot do you have set up? what wattage and at what distance? is it a spot? flood? normal 'bulb' style lamp?

I assume he is WC? or did you buy him from someone who purchased him as a CH?

 

[pssh]

There I go again with my lack of thought through words. I should have said "can be."

Also, is that cage too small for a mellers?

 

[summoner12]

There I go again with my lack of thought through words. I should have said "can be."

Also, is that cage too small for a mellers?

Not really...... 3' is a good amount of room to 'spread out' melleri like wide spaces.... not TOO concerned with height if the temps are good.......

It looks like a custom cage... not bad. The melleri also looks to be a juvi from the picture, so 3' is a lot of room... well a good amount.

My big guy Henry is 23" overall length and he is in a free range that is 2x3x4 and he seems to have plenty of room..... he actually sleeps on a vine that is only 24" (runs from back to front of cage) and he sleeps only half way up the vine and curls his tail up over another vine at the end of the one he is on...... he does this EVERY night... so with other vines to sleep on and picks this one he must be content on a shorter vine.

 

[pssh]

Just checking. A mellers sounds like a great chameleon to own.

 

[summoner12]

Just checking. A mellers sounds like a great chameleon to own.

They are great....

 

[PardalisGirl]

I second that!

That are great to own. It can be a bit stressful getting them acclimated in the beginning. I've got to get updated pictures of my crew in their free range. They were very skinny when I got them. Now they are all much bigger and filled out. Squirt, who was 1/2 the size of the others, has caught up. I too think Chefbill's cage is a good size for this Melleri. I'm still hoping you get a fecal done on your prize....

 

[chefbill]

Iwill start making calls to the vets in my area to find out which has Cham experience hopefully Meller in specific got three who say they have reptile experience.

 

[chefbill]

pardilisgirl and summoner12 are you using free range for your multiple Melleri and how many can you keep together? i think. it depends on size sex and personality by what i have read

 

[summoner12]

If you are going to a vet to get a fecal.. find out who is the cheapest..... you don't really care about their experience level with reptiles. You just need them to look at the poop and tell you whats in it. Picking one with mild reptile experience is a good idea for later when you need to get a prescription. because a non-reptile vet won't know what to prescribe or might question you more when you come to him asking for something specific.

Carbondale is pretty far south..... but Chams1 on the forum is in the chicago area... I don't know if you wanna go all the way up there to see a vet, but maybe she can give you the name of her vet. I am from chicago, but I didn't keep reptiles as a child when I lived there so I don't know of any reptile vets.

As for keeping them together it allll depends. I keep three in one large free range and I keep my big guy Henry in his own range. He is pretty shy so He likes to be alone and away from the others. The other six seem to get along OK but Pat is a bit bossy..... sometimes I have to separate him. Right now Pat gets along with his two free range mates, Lenny and Sam, so I keep the other three in cages... mainly because two are being treated for parasites and the third (chris) is a runt with a snipped tail, so, in order to make sure he gets the right amount of food he has his own cage.

Check out The Melleri Discovery, if you haven't seen that site yet.

 

[PardalisGirl]

My free range.....

I have a big free range in the middle of a cham room. I've got four of them in it. They were all caged separately during the initial two months before they were clean of parasites. Mine exhibit no agressive/terratorial behavior what-so-ever. It's a pretty big area so they can get away from each other and there are separate basking areas for each one. I'm kind of wishing I would see any kind of behavior that indicates sexual maturity. The only behavior I get is the hissing when I handle "Squirt".