Flap Neck Chameleon called 'George'

[unity]

Hi,

Just joined this site in hopes that some one or everyone can give me advice.
I have just saved a little Flap Neck Chameleon, by what I have read so far on the net. I would say it is about 8cm.
I have now gotten a tank for him/her. Some crickets, clean out the tank and fresh leaves with water for this beauty.
What gets me is the fact I read about lights for a chameleon. However it is very hot here and I was wondering if a light was still needed.
Please tell me what else I can feed 'george'
Oh and btw I am a newbie to the site... lol
So off to read some more posts..

Thanks
Uni...

 

[pssh]

Fill this out please.

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?


Pictures are helpful

 

[unity]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Not sure of the species, sex, and age of my chameleon. How long has it been in your care? a week
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? daily, up to three times a day.
Feeding -
What are you feeding your cham? Crickets.
What amount? 3 2x daily
What is the schedule?
How are you gut-loading your feeders? apples..
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? didn't know of these, still learning..
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Mist bottle and water on leaves, it is very dry and hot here.
How often and how long to you mist? 2x a day.
Do you see your chameleon drinking? nope
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. brown and some liquid.
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? no
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage Glass
What are the dimensions? 30 cm x 30 cm and 55 in height
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? no lights at the moment.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? trees branches
Placement - Where is your cage located? in my bedroom
Is it near any fans, yes a roof fan
At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? on top of a chest of drawers.
Location - Where are you geographically located? South Africa..

 

[justjumpit621]

It is pretty expensive to keep a chameleon. I am not sure what a flap neck chameleon is but I own a veiled and it is reccomended to use a screened cage with lots of plants and branches. They will need a heat lamp if they are inside and a UVB lamp too. They need a food source such as crickets, roaches, hornworms, silkworms, etc. you can order some online if there are none near you. also, whatever you are feeding it needs to be no bigger than the width between his eyes. Chameleons do not drink out of water bowls so you will need to mist it with water 3-5 times daily, depending on how fast it dries out. I am sure more people will give you more advice, this is all I can give for now.

 

[hallenhe]

Welcome! There are some other South Africans on this site (chameleonneeds is one), and hopefully they'll be able to chime in with some information more specific to your area and climate in terms of housing and lighting. As far as supplements go, chameleons (like other animals) need calcium (and other minerals and vitamins) for good, solid bone growth. With captive animals, it's common to obtain supplement powders formulated for reptiles and sprinkle a bit of these powders on the feeder insects. Too little calcium, especially when the chameleon is young and growing, can result in metabolic bone disease (MBD), in which the bones are soft and sometimes even bendy, and the animal is impaired in climbing, eating, etc, so you'll want to look in to getting George some supplements. People usually get three kinds, calcium with and without Vitamin D3 (if George is going to have natural sunlight year 'round, he'll get the vitamin D3 from that), and a multivitamin; searches on this website on "supplements" will give you more information than you want. You only use tiny amounts, so once you have the supplements, they'll last forever.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the site! Its a good place to get chameleon information!

If you post a picture someone will be able to tell you what species.

You said..."What gets me is the fact I read about lights for a chameleon. However it is very hot here and I was wondering if a light was still needed"...the chameleon needs UVB light in order to produce vitamin D3 so that it can use the calcium in its body. It can either come from direct sunlight or from an appropriate UVB bulb. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic. Failure to provide UVB leads to MBD...so its important.

You said..."Please tell me what else I can feed 'george'?"...I don't know what's available in S. A. but you can feed it superworms, silkworms, once in a while waxworms. You could feed it wild caught insects too, but there is always a risk of them picking up parasites from them....and you need to be careful that you don't use any that are toxic.

Gutloading/feeding your insects...its important to look after the insects well. You can feed crickets, roaches, superworms, etc. a wide variety of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.).

Supplements...
Since many of the feeders used have a poor ratio of calcium to phos., its important to dust the insects before feeding them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings.

I dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will not build up in the system like prEformed sources will. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene, so some people give their chameleons a little bit of prEformed vitamin A once in a while. Excess prEformed vitamin A can interfere with the D3 and push the chameleon towards MBD...so don't overdo it.

If the chameleon is kept inside, then I would also dust with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month to ensure that it has enough D3 to go along with what it produces from exposure to the UVB light on its cage.

Calcium, phos., D3 and vit. A are all players in bone health and in other systems in the chameleon and need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what the insects are fed and what the chameleon eats.

Here are some sites that might help too...
http://adcham.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...rnals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20060421.../index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=102
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/

Watering...