Kaizen
Chameleon Enthusiast
My experience is that unless your Cham is going to see temps below 40, do t worry about nightime temps.
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- Thread starter Jocccellynnn
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@Jocccellynnn Welcome to the forum. Start reading through every module of this husbandry program https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
Jocccellynnn
Established Member
I have actually been using this website for a few months now, when I had questions about setting up her cage and her behavior. And it has helped a lot, and then I found this, which has helped even more. Thank you!
Hi thank you for responding so quickly! I adopted her on 9/11/2020, she is a female and I’m not sure how old she is they just said she was a baby when I got her but she has grown a bit since I’ve had her. I had her in a glass tank for a week until my screen cage came in but she’s been in this one since. I have a 13 watt UVB white light, I was trying to find the box to take a picture and attach it but I couldn’t find it. I have the white UVB on all day, I turn it off around 7-8. I live in a colder area and it has gotten colder at night, so i have a chicken heat lamp that I used for my chicks, so I have been turning that on at night recently and leaving it near her cage, so she doesn’t get cold. How cold does it get? There should be no lights on at night. I need to buy a night lamp and was wondering what night lamp I should buy for her. I handle her whenever she will crawl onto me which is pretty often, she is super friendly. For the first month I only fed her small crickets, then I bought meal worms and she eats about 10-15 crickets in the morning and 5 mealworms and a few crickets at night. She eats a lot, she’s always hungry but I try not to feed her to much because I don’t want to over feed her. I wouldn't use mealworms. Silkworms, hornworms, BSFL, roaches and once in a long while waxworms or superworms would be better along with the crickets. I’ve tried feeding her greens but it seems like she’s not interested. I dust her crickets with zoomed repti calcium at night. And her crickets are being fed flukers orange cubes. you need to feed the insects a good diet so they wil be healthy. Orange cubes aren't a good option. I would feed crickets, roaches, superworms, etc a wide assortment of greens such as dandelions, kale, endive, escarole, collards, mustard greens, etc and veggies such as sweet red pepper, sweet potato, squash, zucchini, etc. And Avery small bit of fruit such as berries, apples, pears, melons. The top of her cage where she usually hangs out (where she is in the picture) is 85 degrees and the bottom of the cage is 70. I mist her cage about 10-15 times a day when I can but she also has a drip system on the top of the cage. She drinks from the drip system tube and also comes up to the spray bottle to drink when I spray her cage. When I hold her I let her drink water from the faucet because she will only drink from visible running water. IMHO the faucet is a bad idea unless it's just a drip...she might end up aspirating water into her lungs. Her humidity is usually at 50 after I spray it it stays at 60-70 for a while. I have the zoomed thermometer humidity gauges. I’m not sure if they’re 100% accurate, if you could recommend me to a better thermometer, I will get it. She has never been tested for parasites, she hasn’t been to a vet since I’ve had her because she seems to be in better health since I’ve got her from the pet store. She shed about two weeks ago, it was very strange to watch. She kept gaping and changing colors, like a dark green spotted and striped pattern. I have some pictures if you like I could send them. She never really changes color she is normally a light green, she will sometimes change to a darker green if I’m holding her and the lighting in the room changes. I have one live plant in her cage, I want to get more but I haven’t gotten around to it. The one she has in there now, I’m not sure what plant it is but the pet store told me it was safe for her. Make sure the plants are non toxic and well washed ...both sides of th leaves.Her cage is located in this little nook in our house because it’s the quietest place. It isn’t next to a vent but it is pretty enclosed so I feel like it keeps the heat at a good level. I live in lake arrowhead, California. It’s in the mountains and it actually snowed a few days ago but the temperature in our house is warm and I don’t think she’s affected by it. When I first got her I would take her outside with me but it’s too cold to take her outside now. I’m not worried about anything, she seems perfectly healthy and happy but I just joined this and wanted to see if anyone had any comments or advice for me!
Please be aware that females can lay eggs without having been mated and once they reach maturity their diet and temperatures should be controlled so that they won't produce large clutches. If they are overfed and become fat, they will likely oroduce huge clutches, may develop MBD, may prolapse, may develop follicular stasis and egg binding and die.
Please be aware that females can lay eggs without having been mated and once they reach maturity their diet and temperatures should be controlled so that they won't produce large clutches. If they are overfed and become fat, they will likely oroduce huge clutches, may develop MBD, may prolapse, may develop follicular stasis and egg binding and die.
Jocccellynnn
Established Member
I identified all her plants in her cage and they are all non toxic. I was everything in her cage regularly, every week if not every two weeks. I feed her more crickets than I do meal worms, and I do put in kale and spinach but I’m not sure if the crickets even eat it. I am going to buy a terrarium so I can attempt to breed the crickets. I haven’t fed her other worms yet because I was afraid of the size and I did not want her to choke. And as for the faucet water, she never drinks more than just a few drops, she usually drinks out of the misting bottle or off of beaches or leaves in the cage. I am aware that she can lay eggs, i know that she is still young and probably has a few more months. But when do the females usually lay eggs?
Jocccellynnn
Established Member
Also, I did not turn the heat lamp on last night or the past few days since the house has been warm. The coldest the house gets inside is 40 and outside it gets about 20. But I have read through the husbandry website and found out she doesn’t need a warm night so I will not have that lamp on when she sleeps anymore.
Spinach binds the calcium so I wouldn't use it.
Females won't begin to produce eggs until they get their "big girl colors" (mustard yellow splotches and blue dots) at about 5 or 6 months of age. It varies so I can't give an exact age. The eggs take 30ish days to produce and they can lay a clutch about every 120 days...so 3 or 4 clutches a year. It's best to put an egglaying bin in her cage once she starts showing the big girl colors and leaving it there always. If she does lay eggs, it's important to dig them up after she's done and back up in the branches somyounknow how big the clutch is. Once she has her big girl colors it's important to control her diet and temperatures so she won't end up with health issues and huge clutches.
Females won't begin to produce eggs until they get their "big girl colors" (mustard yellow splotches and blue dots) at about 5 or 6 months of age. It varies so I can't give an exact age. The eggs take 30ish days to produce and they can lay a clutch about every 120 days...so 3 or 4 clutches a year. It's best to put an egglaying bin in her cage once she starts showing the big girl colors and leaving it there always. If she does lay eggs, it's important to dig them up after she's done and back up in the branches somyounknow how big the clutch is. Once she has her big girl colors it's important to control her diet and temperatures so she won't end up with health issues and huge clutches.
Jocccellynnn
Established Member
Okay good to know. Thank you for the help. And for the egg bin, I’ve heard a few things. Would sand be appropriate to put in there, or what bedding do u recommend? And do I put the bin on the floor?
