chameleon questions

[lizzleberry]

hi, still thinking about getting a chameleon, im going to the reptile store to get crickets for my other lizards next week and i am going to ask these questions then, but id love to get lots of opinions (and im impatient)
so if you could answer any of these, that would be a big help
danke

(first time using this site, hi - im liz, just recently i have decided i want a chameleon to live with my in my frequently used bedroom, it isnt a descision i am about to make lightly and i have been doing a huge ammount of research but some questions just need to be answered by people with experience. i already have a bunch of "beginner lizards" in the lounge but a chameleon would be my personal companion as i spend a lot of time on my own in my bedroom which is seperated from the rest of my house and an ideal place to keep a chameleon)

1) i am going to try and get a youngster, for its whole life what sized flexarium would be best, a 100gallon or a 35gallon? i'm not worried about money but i would prefer not to have to change its flexarium during its life, i am however abit concerned about space as the only area in my room that is suitable for a chameleon and has enough room for a 100gallon, is where my tv lives, im willing to move it, but i dont want to have the extra struggles if a 35 gallon tank will do, particularly as i would like my chameleon to experience as much time out of its flexarium as possible while im in the room (gonna jungle up my desk a bit)

2) what is the best way to feed it from the beginning? i know babies will be better off sticking to mostly crickets for a while, but does anyone have any methods of feeding a chameleon crickets one at a time, without the crickets getting loose in its flexarium and annoying it, and me not having to touch them (ew ew ew ew)? will they eat dead crickets? (freshly dead)

3) is it ok to let it wonder around? im sure its fine to have it wonder around its area of jungle on my desk provided the temp in my room is ok etc, but do chameleons have any issues with stuff like carpets or wiccor, fabric softener in clothes etc? do chameleons have individual allergies?

4) can i use branches i have brought in from the Outside World for its flexarium, or is it best to use ones from a store, and if it is ok are there any particular plants branches that are recommended?

5) my room has a slanted window (attic conversion) which amplifies rain, especially heavy rain and wind, a 100gallon flexarium would be fairly undernieth this window - will this upset a chameleon? i also get some noisy birds bouncing around on my roof which i can hear fairly clearly, it isnt loud and scary, but will a chameleon get irritated like people do when something insists on bouncing on the roof?

6) will a chameleon build up a personality, or will it always hate me no matter what? i understand that you cannot expect a chameleon to have the same kind of "feelings" towards you as people would and that a chameleon will not "like" you but just tolerate your presence, but have there been any people who swear down that their chameleon actually likes them? im not bothered by this, but itd be nice to be liked rather than just to be associated with food (a)

thanks for any answers

 

[kinyonga]

First of all, welcome to the forum!

Judging by the questions you have you should learn a bit more before you get the chameleon.

You said..."i am going to try and get a youngster"...while I understand your desire to get a young one please keep in mind that there are risks that you a younger one could die easier than an older one. There is always a mortality rate associated with younger chameleons.

You said..."for its whole life what sized flexarium would be best"...IMHO its best to start off with a smaller cage and get a larger one when it gets bigger...or you can buy a larger one and divide it vertically to make the cage smaller until the chameleon grows. The reasons I say this is that it keeps the chameleon more in the range of the UVB light and it doesn't have to search so hard for its food. You also mention handling your chameleon a lot....this is not always a good idea. It will depend partly on the chameleon...but in general handling them often stresses them out and can lead to health issues.

As for feeding them...properly gutloaded/fed crickets are a good staple to feed them... but you can also give them fruit flies, small silkworms, small suprworms, etc. too. I always free-range the insects in my baby cages. I would imagine it would be hard to feed them one cricket at a time by hand...but you could cup feed. You can kill the cricket just as you are feeding it to the chameleon...but why not just let it eat them live??

You akde if its okay to let them wander around...just remember that when they are out of the cage in your room, they are not getting the UVB light.

You can use branches from trees that are non-toxic to chameleons that you got from outside. Same for plants....they need to be non-toxic and well washed, both sides of the leaves. Pothos is a good plant to use. You want to use enough plants and branches of a size that its feet can grip to ensure that the chameleon has lots of places to go and places to hide.

You said.."a 100gallon flexarium would be fairly undernieth this window - will this upset a chameleon?"...it could if it can see the birds fly over it. It might also heat the cage up if the sun shines directly through it at any time during the day. Chameleons don't hear well...so the noise wouldn't bother them..but vibrations might.

You said..."will a chameleon build up a personality, or will it always hate me no matter what?"...each chameleon is different...just like people and other animals.

Water can be provided by misting the cage and once the chameleon is a few months old by also using a dripper.

Here's some information that will explain supplements, gutloading and a few other things....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it. At that size you only need to feed it every two or three days. Feed it enough that it doesn't get fat (and, of course, doesn't get thin either).

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium). Not sure how to tell you to dust WC insects if that is what you will be doing.

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.