General Husbandry Check and a couple questions

KRGEE21

Avid Member
Good morning all. I just want to be certain I am providing the optimal care possible. Please let me know if anyone has any input or suggestions.

Thanks...have a great day


Chameleon Info:

  • Your Chameleon - Male Quadricornis Gracilior. Will be one year next week. Weight is 78g. Has been with us for 5 months
  • Handling - once a week for cleaning and free range
  • Feeding - Crickets(medium), dubais(small), BSFL(and flys), occasionally horn worms. Crickets gut loaded with Repashy superload, and dandilion greens. Dubais gut loaded with Repashy Bug Burger(add a sprinkle of bee pollen). He loves to eat...Usually 10-12 crickets/dubais per day with a few of the BSFL thrown in. He waits by the feeder cup in the morning after his misting.
  • Supplements - Calcium without D3 a couple times a week. Repashy Calcium plus every other Saturday.
  • Watering - Mist King set up. 1 hour after lights on for 5 minutes. Mid day for 2 minutes. 1 hour before lights off for 4 minutes. Also use a humidifier overnight, and when we are using the AC/heat, or have a fire going in the house. I very rarely see him drink. He just lets the moisture collect on his horns and opens his mouth a couple times.
  • Fecal Description - Normal brown poo with white urate. Have never noticed any yellow tint to the urates.
  • History - Acquired from @jajeanpierre

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Dragonstrand large atrium. 22"x40"x44". Full screen
  • Lighting - Arcadia quad fixture with 1 plant light 1 6% UVB and two daylight bulbs. I also have the LED function set to come on a half hour before the main lights, and go off a half hour after.
  • Temperature - Please see cage photo. I have the temps listed there. Red for daytime. Blue for night time. Added a 60W ceramic bulb to help raise temp for the winter.Measured with weather station, and infrared heat gun.
  • Humidity - Daytime: Bottom of the cage 60-65% top of the cage 50-55%. Higher after each misting then drops down. Night time is 75-80% entire cage. Measure with a couple analog hygrometers and weather station
  • Plants - Yes- Umbrella Plant, Pothos, Palm, fern and philadendron
  • Placement - Coolest bedroom in the house. Heat vent is closed. Low traffic. Bottom of the cage is about three feet off the ground. Top of the cage is around 7 feet off the ground
  • Location - North of Seattle, WA

Current Problem/ QUESTIONS:

1. Looking for a humidifier that I can easily modify with some PVC to pipe it directly into the cage. What I am currently using is shown in one of the photos. Any suggestions would be helpful.
2. How much food is too much? Some days he eats everything and just sits at the cup looking at it like...What the heck no more? Also seems like he has been more hungry after his latest shed.
 

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Not that many of us keep graciliors, so I'll abstain from commenting on the species-specific parts of your husbandry since I'm not very familiar. However, one suggestion I would have is to just add even more live plants. The plant cover is pretty sparse as it is and it looks like there's plenty of space for some additional pothos/ficus/schefflera.

Also, it is usually recommended to switch feedings to every other day by the time chameleons reach one year old. Could be different for graciliors, but I doubt it! Beautiful looking cham
 
Thank you for the suggestions. The previous photo was a few days after I upgraded to the new enclosure. This one is about a month into it. Not filling in as quickly as I thought it might. I'll add a couple things to fill in some of the blank areas.
 

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Thank you for the suggestions. The previous photo was a few days after I upgraded to the new enclosure. This one is about a month into it. Not filling in as quickly as I thought it might. I'll add a couple things to fill in some of the blank areas.
Well if it makes you feel any better I’ve spent over a month or more on 2 enclosures and still not done so I can relate. I’m also not familiar enough with that species of chameleon but here’s what I personally go for when it comes to husbandry. At a glance if all you see is plants and you wouldn’t ever know there’s a chameleon in the enclosure and even if you look and search hard and never see the chameleon in the enclosure you are in my book in good standing. Kind of like Where’s Waldo...
 
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Looks good to me!

I judge a lot by their color. Bright vibrant greens, good; mucky greens not so good and needs investigating.

He looks terrific. Good job.
 
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