Cham info.

NateD13

New Member
Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon – veiled, they say he is approx 6-8mos and he is a male . He just came home yesterday 1/14/2019.
• Handling – never. Only to put him in his new habit.
• Feeding – He gets 4 crickets with reptical calcium on them. So far he ate 4 last night and 4 this morning. They said to give him this ammount. The crickets were loaded with this blue jelly substance. I don’t know the name as he just put some in the container.
• Supplements – As I said reptical calcium. As of now that is all I have.
• Watering – I use a hand mister at the moment we do it for approx a minute and a half 5-6 times a day. For drinking I have a zoomed Big Dripper it drops down onto a leaf of the rubber plant.
• Fecal Description – as he has just come home I have not seen any faces yet. Will note when I get the first.
• History – none atm.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - zoo-med 24 x 24 x 48 screen enclosure.
• Lighting – using zoo-med 150w basking light, zoo-med T5 uvb and at night use 150w zoo-med red light. Day time (7a-9p) for approx 14hrs night(9p-7a) for 10.
• Temperature – Day ranges from 93°F (top) -74°F (bottom) night ranges 90°F to 68°f. I monitor with an analog dual zoomed humidity/temp gauge in top and in bottom digital temp guage
• Humidity – Stays at approx 50%-70% I use the hand mister to create and maintain. Again the dual temp/humidity guage.
• Plants – we have a pothos and a rubber plant.
• Placement – cage is in my daughters room. She’s 13 and very well. She doesn’t cause chaos or be loud it’s the best spot. The cage is on the floor as it is 4’ tall.
• Location – I like in the thumb of michigan.

Current Problem - I know he just came home and has to get acclimated to his new environment . However I have not seen him drink once. He has eaten but I don’t think drank. And he hangs out on the screen near the top of cage. Also I’m having trouble figuring out the drip ammount from the big dripper.
 
One thing I know for sure....No Red light. They need complete darkness at night. Also? The enclosure is better off the floor...on an end table or something that raises it a couple feet off the floor..misting for at least 2 minutes each time is a good thing. I'm sure the more seasoned cham owners can fill you in on more. I'm still new, myself.
 
If he has a dripper don´t worry, he will drink when he wants to. Only check if dripper is accessible to him, and the color of his urate, if it is white the cham is hydrated, but if it is yellow/orange the cham is dehytdrated.

Pd: i don´t recommend a red light at night, better a ceramic bulb if the temperature is too low.
 
There's a fair bit to work on here. You will want to do a lot more reading. Here are some pointers:

(1) 4 crickets a day is not nearly enough. Aim for 8-12.

(2) The blue gel stuff is just water. It is of no nutritional use to your chameleon. You need to gutload your feeders with fresh produce like turnip greens, mustard greens, collards, escarole, sweet potato, papaya, etc. Make sure to research what ingredients you should and should not use, though. Not everything is healthy or safe. Alternatively, you can buy a pre-made nutritional gutload like Cricket Crack. But, whatever you do, do not get any of the Fluker's brand gutload or the commonly sold ones in pet stores. They are not optimized for chameleons' health

(3) One calcium supplement is not enough and your chameleon will not survive on this regiment. He needs 3 different supplements: [1] calcium powder without vitamin D3 for daily use; [2] calcium powder WITH vitamin D3 for twice a month use; [3] a multivitamin powder for twice a month use

(4) The number of times you're misting a day is great, but I would increase the duration of each misting session to at least 2 minutes

(5) Absolutely no lights on at night, ever. This is a really big one. Overnight temperature drops are actually very good for chameleons and any light of any color on at night will prevent them from sleeping

(6) Move the cage off of the floor. Your chameleon needs to be as high up as possible and with your current situation, people will be towering over him which will cause significant stress

Chameleons are shy at first and it is unlikely that he will drink while you watch him. Rest assured, he will drink when you are away.
It would also be extremely useful for us if you could upload a picture of the enclosure you have him in! Keep asking, you're on the right track
 
There's a fair bit to work on here. You will want to do a lot more reading. Here are some pointers:

(1) 4 crickets a day is not nearly enough. Aim for 8-12.

(2) The blue gel stuff is just water. It is of no nutritional use to your chameleon. You need to gutload your feeders with fresh produce like turnip greens, mustard greens, collards, escarole, sweet potato, papaya, etc. Make sure to research what ingredients you should and should not use, though. Not everything is healthy or safe. Alternatively, you can buy a pre-made nutritional gutload like Cricket Crack. But, whatever you do, do not get any of the Fluker's brand gutload or the commonly sold ones in pet stores. They are not optimized for chameleons' health

(3) One calcium supplement is not enough and your chameleon will not survive on this regiment. He needs 3 different supplements: [1] calcium powder without vitamin D3 for daily use; [2] calcium powder WITH vitamin D3 for twice a month use; [3] a multivitamin powder for twice a month use

(4) The number of times you're misting a day is great, but I would increase the duration of each misting session to at least 2 minutes

(5) Absolutely no lights on at night, ever. This is a really big one. Overnight temperature drops are actually very good for chameleons and any light of any color on at night will prevent them from sleeping

(6) Move the cage off of the floor. Your chameleon needs to be as high up as possible and with your current situation, people will be towering over him which will cause significant stress

Chameleons are shy at first and it is unlikely that he will drink while you watch him. Rest assured, he will drink when you are away.
It would also be extremely useful for us if you could upload a picture of the enclosure you have him in! Keep asking, you're on the right track
So I dont know If I didn't write it properly but he does get 4 or 5 crickets twice A-day. In as far as the supplements that's where I needed help I've read so many different things to get so many different answers so thank you for that. I will be elevating his cage approximately 2 and a 1/2 feet off the floor that will put the top of his cage and about 7'. This was the initial batch of crickets that I got so when I go back to get more I will be getting everything that I need to feed them appropriately. Also how do we feel about giving the chameleon meal worms in such as a substitute or an in between meal
 
Mealworms have an exoskeleton that are hard for chameleons to digest, especially if they're babies...from what I've seen here in this forum, gutloaded superworms or dubia roaches are preferred for variation. Although superworms are more like an occasional treat.
 
Mealworms have an exoskeleton that are hard for chameleons to digest, especially if they're babies...from what I've seen here in this forum, gutloaded superworms or dubia roaches are preferred for variation. Although superworms are more like an occasional treat.
Ok. That's what I meant was the super worms. I had thought I read that somewhere in here. Thank you for help. It's truly appreciated.
 
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