Check up Charlie??

[skully23]

I was reading through some threads about other chameleon deaths. I have decided to do a check up on my veiled chameleon, Charlie.

Charlie is around 3-4 months old. I have had him since 12/04/09. He has really adapted to his home and enjoys roaming it. During the day he will go to his basking spot. Through part of the day he roams around his potho and climbs around. He only drinks from the dripper. I use a 2 inch container to feed him, which I hold up to him everyday when I feed. I mist with hot water(which turns warm) 3 times a day, if he sheds its 4. He is normally always a bright green. He is so far not dehyrdated.

Enclosure: is all screen. UVb and bask bulb. Lots of places to hide and climb. One live plant. All safe.
When he grows I will free range him with pothos, dwarf umbrella, hibiscus, and a ficus.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44910169@N07/4170495704/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44910169@N07/4213957890/in/photostream/

Temp: Ranges 80-90 basking. 70-75 toward bottom of cage. 65-70 at night. Lights get turned on when I get up and turned off when I go to bed. No more than 12 hour light. For I have noticed he opens his mouth when he basks which tells me he is becoming over heated. I am going to change the heat lamp height. I will prop it up a few more inches..will that reduce the overheating or should I go smaller bulb? I'm at a 60w.

Feeding: He gets 10 crickets a day. Crickets do get dusted when time to. (calcuim with d3, w/o d3, and multivitamins.) Crickets are fed collard greens, mustard greens, kale, oranges, apples, and dry gut loading food. ** I have ordered phoenix worms to hand feed. ** He has a dripper. He has a dish for collard greens, mustard greens and kale. (loves it)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44910169@N07/4170528246/in/photostream/

Cleaning: Once a week I clean the cricket cage. I make sure Charlie's home is safe and clean.

activity: He roams his cage and hangs around his potho. Basks daily and drinks. Eats all he gets including greens. He is fast when it comes to me giving him crickets. Eyes are active. No sleeping during day, sound sleep during night. Aware of whats going on. BTW can chameleons hear?

Handling: I have not tried to handle him all the time. Maybe 3-4 times since I got him. But when I work with him on hand feeding I believe he will get held more with feeding.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44910169@N07/4182098147/in/photostream/

Tell me anything I need (may have forgot to mention) and tell me if I am doing something wrong.

 

[pssh]

Lower the basking to 80 degrees and he should stop gaping. Sounds okay to me. I wouldn't try to get him to crawl onto your hand while hand feeding though. Handfeeding is unnatural enough, no need to make him crawl onto a 'monster' to get food.

Chameleons cannot hear sounds, but they feel vibrations extra well.

 

[gholston]

My Cham is about that same size and age...

I'm curious, as I feed mine maybe 4-6 good sized crickets every other day, with a snack ocassionally of 1 or 2 in between.

I use MinerAll dusting once a week.

Am i not feeding mine enough? It seems like if I put 20 crickets in there, that she would eat them all right away... Is she starving, or do they just eat until all the food is gone regardless?

 

[skully23]

My Cham is about that same size and age...

I'm curious, as I feed mine maybe 4-6 good sized crickets every other day, with a snack ocassionally of 1 or 2 in between.

I use MinerAll dusting once a week.

Am i not feeding mine enough? It seems like if I put 20 crickets in there, that she would eat them all right away... Is she starving, or do they just eat until all the food is gone regardless?

When I first got mine I really didn't know how much to feed him. One day he ate 20. I just thought I could keep refilling his food everytime he was out but I was told its not good. Pssh will tell you that 10 crickets a day is enough considering if too much it can cause problems when he is an adult. stay at 9-10 and im sure she will like you more Btw I feed mine small crickets and if you are doing the normal size I think they need to be the size between their eyes to be safe.

 

[skully23]

Lower the basking to 80 degrees and he should stop gaping. Sounds okay to me. I wouldn't try to get him to crawl onto your hand while hand feeding though. Handfeeding is unnatural enough, no need to make him crawl onto a 'monster' to get food.

Chameleons cannot hear sounds, but they feel vibrations extra well.

Um how do I keep it down to 80? Buy a 40w or raise the lamp?
Everyone says not to handle them much but why can't it be a few times? I am trying to get mine from being so scared because sooner or later I have to move him from his cage and I am sure it will stress him out alot if He barely gets held. A friend has some chameleons she handles all the time, I don't see how it harms if they are really use to you and expect a treat.

 

[jannb]

My Cham is about that same size and age...

I'm curious, as I feed mine maybe 4-6 good sized crickets every other day, with a snack ocassionally of 1 or 2 in between.

I use MinerAll dusting once a week.

Am i not feeding mine enough? It seems like if I put 20 crickets in there, that she would eat them all right away... Is she starving, or do they just eat until all the food is gone regardless?

Females at 5 months should be cut back on food to prevent egg laying.......along with cooler temps......80 degrees.

I would do as Pssh said and keep Charlie a little cooler......85 or 86. I keep my adult males basking spot at 88 to 89. You can try a lower watt bulb......I use a 40 watt and if that doesn't cool it off enought you may need to raise it a bit also.

Be sure to take some freash poop to the vet for a fecal to make sure he's parasite free.
Jann

 

[skully23]

I would do as Pssh said and keep Charlie a little cooler......85 or 86. I keep my adult males basking spot at 88 to 89. You can try a lower watt bulb......I use a 40 watt and if that doesn't cool it off enought you may need to raise it a bit also.
Jann

I know. I figured that when he was gaping.

 

[chamlover]

Just because he is gaping doesn't necessarily mean anything. Some chams can be lazy and will gape instead of moving away from the heat source. Especially veileds, they love the heat and will often gape, just to help regulate his temps, like dogs panting. If he/she is really uncomfortable he would move to the cooler side. I would bring him and a poop sample to the vet anyway. That's always a good idea to do at least once a year.

As far as handlling chams all the time, NOT a good idea. Unless you really know each cham, you might not be able to notice her/his signs of stress. And they don't always show it either. Remember showing signs of anything but healthy is a good way to get yourself eaten in the wild. That doesn't mean you won't shorten their possible life span due to excess stress and what it can do to the body. Just like humans....Stress can do a lot of damage it just doesn't necessarily show right away. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't occasionally hold him either. Each cham is different and you will need to see what your will allow, ONCE he gets to know you well. I have chams that i can never hold without them trying to bite and others that play jack in the box as soon as i open their door.

 

[pssh]

His Cham is still young so the temps should be lowered as babies cannot thermoregulate their temps as well as adults. It may not actually move away if it gets too hot.

I handle mine once a week to check them. They usually do not get used to handling (if they do not like it already,) so 'working' with them hurts more than it helps. My rule is, if they do not volutarily walk out onto your hand With or without a treat (your hand is not in the cage, but at the front) then limit handling to once a week. I also suggest not holding them for more than a couple minutes.

 

[OOOst16]

i second that hole thing about gaping....vields are soo lazy....instead of moving away...Yogg <---my cham(8 month male vield)....just gaped...his temps were fine...he hasnt done it since hes been in his new 2x2x4 ll reptile cage. lazy farts....( he show no signes of URI or RI at all Btw)...but yeah temps for babys should be lowerd. to around 80-82

 

[serenitystarlite]

i second that hole thing about gaping....vields are soo lazy....instead of moving away...Yogg <---my cham(8 month male vield)....just gaped...his temps were fine...he hasnt done it since hes been in his new 2x2x4 ll reptile cage. lazy farts....( he show no signes of URI or RI at all Btw)...but yeah temps for babys should be lowerd. to around 80-82

That's because Yogg has to gape, otherwise you can't throw the fragments into his mouth to create the legendary mace. Duh!

 

[OOOst16]

good lord another wow reference!!!!!!! hehe