Cham acting weird? Doesnt like me?

[Tomtom]

I dont know what it is but i currently have a veiled that a friend gave to me. He said that he wanted to make room for his ball python (lol). So i took her in. Ive had other reptiles before that were pretty basic and beginner and i know all that it takes for a keeper and his cham. but i was caught a little off gaurd. i just got my screen cage in the mail today but for about a week and a half ive had to keep her in a glass terrarium. (yes, i know all about how not to do that). she always puffed up and kind of backed away everytime i would approach her cage and i dont know why. she seems a little sluggish as well. i dont really know how fast these chams move in general so im wondering if she might have a parasite or bone disease. any thoughts on why she might be acting like this?

 

[Lancecham]

It sounds like you just got her. Chameleons get stressed easily and moving to a new place and putting her in a different enclosure adds to the stress. She is probably just adjusting to her new surroundings and that can take up to 2 weeks for her to settle down completely.
Put a lot of plants and branches in the new set up to allow her places to hide. This will help with the adjustment period.
If you take some pics, we may be able to tell you the overall health of her and it would be pretty easy to determine if she has metabolic bone disease(MBD).
Lance

 

[Lovereps]

Welcome to the forums, Tomtom!

Lance has given you sound advice.
Also, if you want to, take pictures of your screen cage after it's set up and people here can let you know if it needs anything added (or taken out).
I do hope your friend told you that most chameleons really don't like to be handled.
These forums are very active and you can spend hours/days reading posts.
Most people here enjoy helping other cham keepers--and everyone loves cham pics

 

[Tomtom]

awsome

yeah i know that theyre not really meant to be held. more for viewing. and i thought about her just getting adjusted. it just sucks because i didnt raise her either. i remember what kind of set up he had and it was far from what she needed. all glass upright terrarium with the front of it that unlocks and opens. i do need to get the new pics up and ill try and figure that out (this is my first time being on a forum). i hope this reply gets a notice to you guys that i replyed to this haha im so dumb with forums. thank you so much for helping me, its good to be able to talk to people with the same hobby as i.

 

[Tomtom]

here is some crappy pics for now. i cant find my digi

 

[Lovereps]

Yes, these forums are great.
They probably help to save our other relationships, too, since we have an outlet for our chameleon obsession and don't have to bore our family and friends with constant talk about chams.
I'm glad you seem to know more than your friend, since you did get her a screen cage.
Of course, she will have to adjust to the new screen cage, also.
Once she settles-in to her new cage and if your cham gets to associate you with food, she may very well warm-up to you

 

[Tomtom]

sweeeeet

well hows the set up look? i still need need need to get the uvb goin. and im gonna go out to the lake to get some drift wood (of course sterilize, bad idea?) and make it better for her. also i want to get a hibiscus but all the nurserys dont have them due to them being out of season. so i have collard greens and some little live vines in there. any idea if she looks healthy or whatnot? shes on a cricket diet in which ive been gut loading them with veggies and the fluckers crap. plan on changing it up a bit next time i go through the pet store. yeah i hear you on that lol, they dont even know what your talking about half the time when you go into detail about theyre habitat and feeding and egg laying and all that haha.

 

[kinyonga]

Do you have a place in her cage for her to dig so that she can lay eggs if she needs too? If not I recommend doing so ASAP.

What brands of supplements do you use and how often for each?
Do you know about gutloading and feeding your insects a nutritious diet?

Here are some sites that you might like to read...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...rnals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20060421.../index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=102
http://adcham.com/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

 

[Tomtom]

ok yeah i know i need to get the digging place. she does seem a little fat but i dont see any bulges. and thank you for the sites. i already made a binder of everything that i need. yes i know about gut loading and the only suplement i am using right now is the calcium powder. any others i should consider? i also mist her with this spray that is good for her skin or something. my friend gave me it with her.

 

[kinyonga]

I dust at most feedings with a phosphorous-free calcium powder to help make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phos. found in most feeder insects.

I dust twice a month lightly with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder. D3 from supplements can build up in the system, so don't overdo it.

I dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. Beta carotene is converted as needed so it won't build up in the system. However, its not proven whether all/any chameleons can convert it...so some people give a little prEformed vitamin A once in a while. PrEformed vitamin A can build up in the system and excess prEformed can prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD.

Phos., calcium, D3 and vitamin A are all important players in bone health and in other systems too and they need to be in balance. You need to look at what you feed/gutload the insects with, what you feed to the chameleon and what you supplement with when trying to balance them.

 

[Lovereps]

Setup looks pretty good for the most part and it's elevated above the floor, which is a necessity.
For the UVB Reptisun 5.0 is the most recommended one here--the long bulbs, not the compact ones. The compact bulbs have been linked to serious eye problems and blindness--so most people here avoid those compacts like "the plague"
LLL, a forum sponser, sells the bulbs and the fixtures at prices that are less than half of what I'd pay at a local store.
http://lllreptile.com/
I hope you have checked the temperature where she will bask and in several other places. Nobody wants to cook their cham--and they can (and do) get burns if they get too close to too much heat.
I don't think driftwood would be of any use to her. Chams are all tree-dwellers, so they stay in their plants and on vines. Looks like she has plenty of climbing and hiding room.
Another missing thing is a dripper--and I hope that's not a water bowl at the bottom of the cage.
You can buy a dripper or you can take a plastic cup/bottle or one of those plastic food storage containers and put a pinhole in the bottom of it, so the water drips down.
Chams won't drink from water bowls and they can drown in surprisingly little water---remember, there aren't any puddles in trees
She doesn't need any special spray for her skin, but if she doesn't mind getting sprayed, that's good, cause she'll probably let you spray her with water, which stimulates them to drink.
The final item, as mentioned by Kinyonga, is a laying bin.
Here's one thread about them:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/best-medium-egg-laying-31425/
Kinyonga posted some really good links and her ideas and questions are very important.
In addition to plain, phosphorus-free calcium powder, Rep Cal calcium with D3 and Herptivite (a vitamin supplement) are pretty popular with the forum members.
These last 2 are usually only recommended to be used 2x a month each for adult chams. It's different for younger chams and the montane species like Jackson's, Fischer's, etc.
The plain calcium is often used at each feeding or every other feeding (except when dusting with one of the other powders).
Here's a link to Sandrachameleon's thoughts on supplementation:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html

 

[Tomtom]

well that is really good info you gave me. i appreciate that. i do need to get this pot and dirt for her... shes starting to hang around the bottom of the cage kind of hidden. i dont know if shes ready to lay, or if shes just a little chubbie but might as well be safe than sorry. good thing you told me about the dusting. i havent had her but 2 weeks and ive dusted almost every time. so ill cut back on that. im gutloading the crickets (will get some meal worms soon as well) with a mixture of veggies, the fluckers crap, and the fluckers hydration crap. i heard (and my vet has some) that this perscription cat food is really good for the gut loading and also juicing some of the plants that you feed them. i do also know that you shouldnt over do the juicing with gut loading.the dusting supplement that i am using is reptoCal with calcium and d3. most of the crap that the owner before me gave me is all petco crap. and im pretty sure he didnt have the slightest clue what he was doing. sad, but im hoping i can improve her health and hoping to get her into the vet next friday for a checkup. im sure there has to be something wrong at the very least, so im expecting it to get expensive. she is very active though, right now shes even crawling around her vines but she seems to go in the back left corner underneath my fake pot leaves into the place where i have the collard greens. so ill get on that pot. can regular potting soil be sufficient? thanks for all your help too, i enjoy learning as much as i can to be a good caretaker. let me know if im doing anything wrong.

 

[Lovereps]

Since she's lurking around the bottom of her enclosure--I'd think you'd better get her laying bin setup today.
Why the hurry? She can become eggbound because it can can be fatal
Potting soil might not be good, since it might have fertilizer or other chemicals in it which could do her harm--and I didn't see any posts about anyone else using it.
I've never had a female cham, so I can only tell you what I have read here.

A great feature of this site is that there is an entire forum devoted to breeding.

Some of the threads that I've posted links to have links in them, which you should definitely check out.
You don't want to lose her.

You can use the search feature on the Breeding forum here and have a look.
What I did read that was recommended is super soil (from home improvement stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, and even Walmart) in this post:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/will-have-panther-eggs-17623/

Here's a link to some good breeding/egg laying info:
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/breeding.html

Containers can't be clear and must be 10 inches deep at the very least and she is probably lurking around the collards because they want to be hidden when they lay their eggs--so definitely don't be around watching her when she's in her laying bin.
Here's 2 posts about suitable containers to use: https://www.chameleonforums.com/egg-laying-boxes-pics-28516/

https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-stupid-question-30804/


LLL has the Rep Cal calcium w/o D3 and Herptivite vitamin supplements:
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/vitamins-medicines-and-cage-cleaners/

The search feature can lead you to tons more information.

 

[Tomtom]

awsome awsome info here. pretty much everything i needed to know. especially with the 5.0 i had no idea the compact would be bad. and if you say that guy has fixtures and bulbs at a hella good price. im there. ill also have to order some of the supplements that you mentioned soon prolly next friday. sucks right now cuz im all spent from ordering her cage. as for the drip system, i just got a habba mister in the mail today. set it to spray ever hour for 30 secs. is that good? oh and i almost order a cage from LLL but yeah (they looked cheap lol). i got my cage now from sandfiredragonranch.com and i have to say...im more than pleased. sturdy, non plastic, and semingly good height. but anyways. i appreciate all the info. and ill post some new pics since i found my camera and you can tell me maybe what you think a little bit more on her overall appearance and health

 

[Lovereps]

I'm rather irate from a bad experience with Premium Crickets today, so I'm distracting myself by living at the computer...I'm really not on here 24/7, I swear

Every time someone posts about Habba Mister, you're going to get posts about how great the MistKing is and how not so great the Habba Mister is--so brace yourself for the possible onslaught
I'm sure just about everyone would like to have a MistKing system but everyone's budget is different. For those who say the price difference is insignificant; perhaps, it is for your budget.


Misting serves 2 purposes; to keep humidity at cham required levels and to get your cham to drink.
You don't want the cage to constantly be wet. It should dry-out between mistings.
Here's a good thread about misting schedules:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/misting-schedule-male-veiled-24975/

 

[Tomtom]

yeah i hear ya. never even heard of mistking. and the problem i am having with my mister...is its not mist lol. its like squirts. and it sucks so i actually had to cut a hold in my screen to get it to fit my cage. makes me uber sad. but i mean its supplying her with water on the hour. and it does have settings to adjust flow and timing. but i def. know that there is better out there. even a humidifyer would be better. just sucks im am DESPERATELY trying to keep my humidity up. its only about 40-50 right now and its worrying me. but yet, she sits right under the habba and lets it drop on her and she drinks. ive tried the bottle and getting her to drink from it, thats a big negative ghost rider. she HATES being sprayed.

 

[graydon]

yeah i hear ya. never even heard of mistking. and the problem i am having with my mister...is its not mist lol. its like squirts. and it sucks so i actually had to cut a hold in my screen to get it to fit my cage. makes me uber sad. but i mean its supplying her with water on the hour. and it does have settings to adjust flow and timing. but i def. know that there is better out there. even a humidifyer would be better. just sucks im am DESPERATELY trying to keep my humidity up. its only about 40-50 right now and its worrying me. but yet, she sits right under the habba and lets it drop on her and she drinks. ive tried the bottle and getting her to drink from it, thats a big negative ghost rider. she HATES being sprayed.

Yeah that is supposed to be one of the problems with habbamist. Like someone else said, the mistking is a much more desirable unit. I saw the habbamist at a local pet shop for 80 bucks. Mistking is 100 online.