mbprime
New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, Male, 2 Months Old. Owned for about a week.
Handling - 1-2 times daily for 10min. or if we are cleaning his cage.
Feeding - Crickets/Spring Mix. Since he is so young we were told as much as tolerated so we give him 5 in the morn and 5 afternoon, he ate 6 yesterday and today 2. We are gut loading with cantelope, spinach, melons, and Flukers Orange Cricket Food.
Supplements - Calcium with D3 daily, and Multi Vitamins every other feeding.
Watering - Misting by hand for 30seconds each time. See him drinking occasionally, a few times today but he has looked dehydrated.
Fecal Description - No parasites, feces is white/brown.
History - Optimus has been doing alright, a copule of days ago he made a popping noise which kinda worried us. We checked his temps/humidity and have been watching him feed. Everything seemed fine except he did not eat and saw him drink. Yesterday he ate six crickets and did not see him drink water, today he ate two crickets and saw him finally drink water.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen Cage 18x18x18
Lighting - ReptiSun 5.0 UVB and Incadescent 40Watt, 9am-9pm
Temperature - Cage floor is about 70-75 and basking is 85, overnight is about 70-75 where he sleeps at the top.
Humidity - 40-60%, Mist 3-4 times daily, Hygrometers - digital and analog.
Plants - Live Plant is a Ficus, two fake vines and some fake ivy.
Placement - Cage is on an end table, no fans turned on in the room.
Location - Spokane, WA - dry and hot.
The last couple of days he has been not feeling well and today he had a bit of mucus in his mouth. We took him to the vet (who knows herps) and he checked out fine, just advised to keep the cage clean, temps in check and humidity. We believe he might have the beginnings of some sort of respiratory infection, so both the breeders and the vet advised possibly boosting his cage temp and then keeping it extra dry at night. We dont mist two hours before lights out so the cage is dry before bed.
All I want to ask are what are some other signs that he might be worsening? I have never owned a cham before, or any other reptile, but I have done the research for months before finally purchasing lil Optimus. It definitely was not a spur of the moment purchase.
And how do many of you feed your young chams? He doesnt mind being hand fed, but sometimes he seems very interested in the crickets in his cage but wont pursue them or get them out of the cup near his basking spot with a branch looking into it.
Also at the vet he seemed to get a boost of energy and was bright green and very active. At home in his cage he turns a dull shade of green, which we know means he is stressed but no matter how perfect we get the temp/humidity and creating pathways for him - he still stays a drab color. But if we take him out of the cage he gets green again. Are the temp/humidity levels okay? Any advice for lowering stress levels?
Thanks for everything. I know many of you are exhausted of "noob" cham owner questions but I am here asking advice from many of you who are experienced veterans of the cham world. I just want the best for my lil guy and dont want my first experience with chams to be bad. Even though I've only had him for 6 days he definitely is special to us.
- Matt and Britt
Your Chameleon - Veiled, Male, 2 Months Old. Owned for about a week.
Handling - 1-2 times daily for 10min. or if we are cleaning his cage.
Feeding - Crickets/Spring Mix. Since he is so young we were told as much as tolerated so we give him 5 in the morn and 5 afternoon, he ate 6 yesterday and today 2. We are gut loading with cantelope, spinach, melons, and Flukers Orange Cricket Food.
Supplements - Calcium with D3 daily, and Multi Vitamins every other feeding.
Watering - Misting by hand for 30seconds each time. See him drinking occasionally, a few times today but he has looked dehydrated.
Fecal Description - No parasites, feces is white/brown.
History - Optimus has been doing alright, a copule of days ago he made a popping noise which kinda worried us. We checked his temps/humidity and have been watching him feed. Everything seemed fine except he did not eat and saw him drink. Yesterday he ate six crickets and did not see him drink water, today he ate two crickets and saw him finally drink water.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen Cage 18x18x18
Lighting - ReptiSun 5.0 UVB and Incadescent 40Watt, 9am-9pm
Temperature - Cage floor is about 70-75 and basking is 85, overnight is about 70-75 where he sleeps at the top.
Humidity - 40-60%, Mist 3-4 times daily, Hygrometers - digital and analog.
Plants - Live Plant is a Ficus, two fake vines and some fake ivy.
Placement - Cage is on an end table, no fans turned on in the room.
Location - Spokane, WA - dry and hot.
The last couple of days he has been not feeling well and today he had a bit of mucus in his mouth. We took him to the vet (who knows herps) and he checked out fine, just advised to keep the cage clean, temps in check and humidity. We believe he might have the beginnings of some sort of respiratory infection, so both the breeders and the vet advised possibly boosting his cage temp and then keeping it extra dry at night. We dont mist two hours before lights out so the cage is dry before bed.
All I want to ask are what are some other signs that he might be worsening? I have never owned a cham before, or any other reptile, but I have done the research for months before finally purchasing lil Optimus. It definitely was not a spur of the moment purchase.
And how do many of you feed your young chams? He doesnt mind being hand fed, but sometimes he seems very interested in the crickets in his cage but wont pursue them or get them out of the cup near his basking spot with a branch looking into it.
Also at the vet he seemed to get a boost of energy and was bright green and very active. At home in his cage he turns a dull shade of green, which we know means he is stressed but no matter how perfect we get the temp/humidity and creating pathways for him - he still stays a drab color. But if we take him out of the cage he gets green again. Are the temp/humidity levels okay? Any advice for lowering stress levels?
Thanks for everything. I know many of you are exhausted of "noob" cham owner questions but I am here asking advice from many of you who are experienced veterans of the cham world. I just want the best for my lil guy and dont want my first experience with chams to be bad. Even though I've only had him for 6 days he definitely is special to us.
- Matt and Britt
