Feeding -crickets, mealworms, and wax worms? 12 pinhead crickets were put in her cage for the day and we then removed them if they were not eaton and we did this with the crickets every two weeks and in between that time she was offered dusted wax worms and mealworms every 2-3 days. The insects were all purchased pre- gutloaded
First, I'm pretty certain your cham didn't have anything contagious. Most likely the cause of death was improper nutrition...from poor care information you received.
Insects have to be fed daily despite what the pet shop gave them. Gutload is basically stomach contents...and they lose the gutload through normal defecation. If you didn't feed the insects once brought home, the cham wasn't getting much nutrition out of them.
Supplements - Zoomed D3 and calcium and we were told we could use vita- bugs and kale for vitamins
Supplement dusts are just that...supplemental to properly fed prey insects. The correct supplementation should be:
Dust with plain calcium (no added vitamin D3) daily.
Dust with calcium with added vitamin D3 once every 2 weeks.
Dust with a herp multivitamin such as Herptivite once every 2 weeks.
Watering - We used a waterfall purchased from a pet shope. Once a week... We used a glass enclosure so humidity was on point. Yes she would drink out of the fountain
Cage Info:
Cage Type Front dual door opening glass enclosure with screen top 36" height, 18" width and 24" length
Lighting - exo terra for all lighting, 100 wt heat dome, and reptile uvb 10. 12 on 12 off.
the breeder (where we bought everything from) and he said we don't need a humidity meter because he had the same setup for all his chameleons and the humidity was perfect .? Misting once a week and a constant waterfall.
No responsible breeder could be certain that the cage setup in YOUR home would provide the same humidity regime he had. Chances are, your room was drier as you wouldn't have had a lot of cham setups, misting, etc. to keep it as humid as his. This was quite irresponsible of him to suggest. You needed to monitor her cage humidity levels with your OWN gauges to be sure what the levels actually were. Misting once a week was not enough. Drinking out of the fountain would only be OK if it was religiously cleaned every day or so.
Plants - All plants were fake
Placement- The cage was in our 2nd family room? No fans, or vents were close to the cage, The room was more decorative and there was never really one there besides when caring for her or observing her Around 5 feet
Location - Northern Illinois near Chicago. USA
I really think your cham died due to poor care information you received. Sorry for your loss!
