Couple Questions..Humidity, Hydration, Lighting/Heat

[Renn]

Not to make this seem like I know absolutely nothing, as I've learned so much on these forums...Just had a couple questions..

Kabuki is still having trouble staying hydrated. I'm misting him several times a day and gave him a shower today which he seemed to enjoy, and he isn't acting stressed and doesn't mind handling. I just took him and the plant he was sitting on and put him into the shower, with the stream on the wall to splash onto the plant, and he sat in there for about 35 minutes. Most of the time he had his eyes closed and was just drinking forever it seemed.

I have tried making my own dripper to no avail. My main issue is either they won't drip enough or they drip too much, and my floor of the cage gets flooded. So this is becoming a pain. I'm perusing the forums looking at the drainage threads trying to get ideas for this. We have a habba mister from a rescue long time ago, but it drips and leaks and forget that..

He's been on the floor a lot lately, and I think it's been way too hot for him. My heat gun is reading 90 everywhere, which makes no sense, so I switched the basking lamp to a plain ol 60 watt lightbulb and he's actually up there basking today. The temp in ur house is hot today about 80-88, so I don't want to overheat him.

I'm concerned when I mist about the lights exploding from the mist. Has anyone had this happen before? Back when I had a slider turtle I had one explode on me once when he rushed back into the water, but in the 16 years I had him I've never seen it happen before. But I worry about it now.


This is Kabuki's enclosure, for now. It was housing a tarantula and a gecko when I got it, it is a nightmare to clean properly. I was waiting for him to bounce back before moving him into a bigger enclosure. It's weird how the screening is, only on the top and the front bottom panel. Everything else is plexiglass. Looks homemade. The inside flooring is put together oddly, so it doesn't hold water at all. I'm considering just building him one out of very simple wood frame and staple gunning on screen and voila. But I haven't been able to figure out what kind of screen would hold up to having hot lighting on top.

Thanks for listening to me babble. I really want to excel in chameleon husbandry and make him completely comfortable to live out the end of his days. I'm hooked now as well, so may get a veiled in the next year, but not until Kabuki can flourish.

 

[carol5208]

First off, I would add some more foilage in there. It is very bare. As far as the dripper, you can just buy one at the store. What I do is set the dripper on top of the lid (take the lid off the dripper) set it on the screen, and angle it in the corner of the cage so it has some support. Do this so it is actually not just sitting directly on the screen and is somewhat balanced by the aluminum frame. This will make the water drip through the screen and not pool on the top and flood. Once you get it going, take a large shallow container and cover it with screen so your chameleon cannot fall in and drown. This will catch the water and keep the cage floor dry. I pretty much do not use drippers inside anymore as I have the luxury of housing my chameleons outdoors the majority of the year and just water them outside. Before I starte doing this, I used drippers indoors and it worked well for me. On another note, that vine that is under the basking light looks as if it is awfully close. You chameleon may get burned while basking. You are better off running your basking branch horizontally and not vertically as you are doing.

 

[Renn]

I'm having a hard time getting anything to sit horizontally as I wanted to set it up for him. Since the sides are plexi, I can't seem to get anything to stay.

I picked up some more foliage today, so I'll add it tomorrow and see if he likes it.

That's the problem I'm having, is with it dripping and then it pools, and stops dripping. Driving me nuts.

 

[Devokid]

I'm having a hard time getting anything to sit horizontally as I wanted to set it up for him. Since the sides are plexi, I can't seem to get anything to stay.

I picked up some more foliage today, so I'll add it tomorrow and see if he likes it.

That's the problem I'm having, is with it dripping and then it pools, and stops dripping. Driving me nuts.

Just screw them in if you are going with non-living. I do this with my screen cages as well. Personally I would add a live plant that provides him with all the branches he needs. Also, that cage is looking a little small. I would try and move him to his bigger cage sooner rather than later. This will let you use a bigger tree with more leaves and provide a better dripping situation.

 

[Devokid]

I'm considering just building him one out of very simple wood frame and staple gunning on screen and voila. But I haven't been able to figure out what kind of screen would hold up to having hot lighting on top.

They make a metal mesh, you can get it at Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, or any other hardware store. I have been able to get away with fiberglass on top in most of my cages though as I do not need too much heat to create a perfect basking location. If you keep the room that he is in on the cooler side, then I would go with the metal.

 

[Renn]

Thanks, I think I've got it figured out now We'll get him a bigger cage when able and a live plant. ^_^