I just got a Carpet Chameleon last week and it seems to be doing fine. I would appreciate any pointers from anyone who has Carpets or just general info. It is a young adult, wild caught, female (I think). I have it in a wire mesh cage with a ficus and some jungle vine in a room that is heated to about 72 degrees. I spray 4-5 times a day as well as put a drip cup on her at least twice a day. Feeding Crickets and waxworms. I will be bringing her to a vet early next week.
Mercury Vapor 60watt bulb and supplementing mineral once a week and Calcium every day. Please let me know what I need to change or add/remove to help acclimate her - I know that these chameleons are very 'fragile' or 'hard to keep in captivity'. Thanks!
Ahem… Lat. Lat???
I actually have 2 new females inbound to me… Fresh out of the sack and showing gravid coloration, with any luck they will be good eggs and not infertile… Again…
Happy day late birthday to me! And with more luck I might be even to roust up some more in Jan… But we shall see when that month rolls around. Kent, I have been asking about majors out the wazoo but the most common answer is “huh?” which will give you some idea of the progress that I am making with that.
-How big of a cage do you have her in?
-4 to 5 times a day misting is fine. Usually fresh WC will drink like they are camel or something after a few months they calm down a bit. I let my cages dry out in between misting; they don’t seem to like it overly damp, which is not to be confused with high humidity. 2 drip cups a day might be a little much, I would cut back to one a day… Or an all day slooooow drip.
-What is the temp under that bulb? 60w halogen will put off some mondo heat! That is about what I use on my dragons!!! The do love to bask though! Try to bump up the room temp a little and cut back the wattage on the basking light. Something like an 80w regular light bulb, I like the revile brand from GE… Then get a 5.0 tube bulb for above it…
-Now that she is not out in the sun you are going to have to give her some D3… Do that however you like. Some say once a month, twice a week. I do a *little* every week… Then mineral no D3 once a week… Cal 3 times a week…And again a *little* herpvie once a week… Sunday they get naked bugs or more cal for the girls… This is what works for me; but do whatever you think is best for yours.
-Actually they are very hardy chameleons that are easy to care for once you get the kinks worked out and the parasites gone. They are full of personality and all of mine will eat right out of my hand! They do like a lot more brush-ie type cages with lots of places to hide. Give her a week to be alone then you can start to keep more of an eye on her. They are really fun chameleons!
Do you have a picture? My little pic is a baby carpet actually...
Here is a girl... Note no bumb of the base of the tail = girl
And a boy here... Bump at the bottomof his tail = male.
Enough for now... my fingers hurt
if you have more questions shoot me a PM... Maybe Dean will jump in too.. I know he has some.
