Hi all
So new here and I posted yesterday trying to figure out what ive done wrong with the enclosure for the rescue chameleon my Mom got my after law school. You can find my previous post here with pics of the enlcosure: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/opinions-and-advice-on-my-custom-enclosure.168919/
SO my question now that I've found a group of people who know what they are doing is how does misting, humidity, etc. work? Unfortunately I have decided I will need to put my boy Iggy down as he is too far gone. But I would like to try again with my own cham prob a jackson from the FL sponsor but I do not want to subject another animal to it until I know exactly what I am doing.
1) So with the humidity what should it be during the day? I live in MI where temps can fluctuate like crazy. The vet told me I need to have the humidity up in the 70s since it is a tropical animal which can be difficult as its a screened enclosure but I see many people do this.
2) When do I humidify? The original owner gave me a repti fogger and told me to have it on during the day for humidity as did the vet that saw him. However here on the forum I found posts saying not to do this and run fogger only at night so the heat lamp does not evaporate it and cause respiratory infection. I have also since yesterday wrapped the bottom of this enclosure with bubble wrap to retain humidity which seems to help, if I do another cham I would probably install some plexiglass with hinges to open and clean them of gunk.
3) Misting? I usually hand misted the enclosure every few hours, as I gather this is the main source of humidity etc. during the day, and while this worked fine while I was waiting on Bar Exam results, now that I am working full time not as many chances to hand mist and have seen people hail the Mist King starter system as the best.
4) Dietary: Not long after I got my Veiled he refused to eat anything so I switched to hornworms which he loved but has since degraded in health. My plan for a new cham would be offering crickets and dubias on feeding tongs as otherwise they always escape the enclosure and I don't want them running around my new place. In a no escape feeder dish I would be offering superworms, meal worms, wax worms, and hornworms as no worry of escape and he would have some independence in eating.
So I know thats a lot but I really want to know where I am misinformed. My end goal is to see if this is something I can learn from and correct. If it turns out that I'm just no good at this and the environment is impossible to manage for these beautiful creatures I will leave them be and not subject another to the torture of my care. If it's something I can correct I would happily do so as my place does not allow cats/dogs and I have developed a fond fascination for chams. Thank you all for reading this.
Noah
So new here and I posted yesterday trying to figure out what ive done wrong with the enclosure for the rescue chameleon my Mom got my after law school. You can find my previous post here with pics of the enlcosure: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/opinions-and-advice-on-my-custom-enclosure.168919/
SO my question now that I've found a group of people who know what they are doing is how does misting, humidity, etc. work? Unfortunately I have decided I will need to put my boy Iggy down as he is too far gone. But I would like to try again with my own cham prob a jackson from the FL sponsor but I do not want to subject another animal to it until I know exactly what I am doing.
1) So with the humidity what should it be during the day? I live in MI where temps can fluctuate like crazy. The vet told me I need to have the humidity up in the 70s since it is a tropical animal which can be difficult as its a screened enclosure but I see many people do this.
2) When do I humidify? The original owner gave me a repti fogger and told me to have it on during the day for humidity as did the vet that saw him. However here on the forum I found posts saying not to do this and run fogger only at night so the heat lamp does not evaporate it and cause respiratory infection. I have also since yesterday wrapped the bottom of this enclosure with bubble wrap to retain humidity which seems to help, if I do another cham I would probably install some plexiglass with hinges to open and clean them of gunk.
3) Misting? I usually hand misted the enclosure every few hours, as I gather this is the main source of humidity etc. during the day, and while this worked fine while I was waiting on Bar Exam results, now that I am working full time not as many chances to hand mist and have seen people hail the Mist King starter system as the best.
4) Dietary: Not long after I got my Veiled he refused to eat anything so I switched to hornworms which he loved but has since degraded in health. My plan for a new cham would be offering crickets and dubias on feeding tongs as otherwise they always escape the enclosure and I don't want them running around my new place. In a no escape feeder dish I would be offering superworms, meal worms, wax worms, and hornworms as no worry of escape and he would have some independence in eating.
So I know thats a lot but I really want to know where I am misinformed. My end goal is to see if this is something I can learn from and correct. If it turns out that I'm just no good at this and the environment is impossible to manage for these beautiful creatures I will leave them be and not subject another to the torture of my care. If it's something I can correct I would happily do so as my place does not allow cats/dogs and I have developed a fond fascination for chams. Thank you all for reading this.
Noah