Guess I need to intro. myself.

Joann

Member
And so Ive settled on getting a cham. so I may be here awhile.
Lets see I just turned 47 (Ugghh!!) and aside from my family(a hubby of 28yrs and 4 boys),everything I love to do seems to revolve around my animals.I love training and playing with my dogs.I love hanging out with my little greencheek conure and making new toys for her.
I love building bigger and better enclosures for my snakes.I could buy premade cages but wheres the fun in that.
I also have 3 chickens that are a blast to watch, they are so much like little raptors its amazing.They give me lots of eggs too.

Im pretty excited about getting a chameleon but it seems that I may need to buy one online so it could take awhile before I actually get one.I am hoping there will be one at the expo in March but after getting ahold of a few of the venders It doesnt sound like I will find one.
 
Welcome JoAnn, happy to meet you.:) You will find lots of folks here with the same love of animals. What part of Kansas are you in? I think KC still has a reptile show. You might want to take a look at a couple of our sponsors. LLL Reptile and Pangea. You can be linked to the websites by clicking on the sponsor button in the upper right corner. Just as questions if we can help.
 
Welcome, Joann! It's a bit of a drive, but Omaha has an Expo in April that often has chams. And buying online isn't as scary as it seems - I'm still afraid to ship things out myself, but have not had problems having pets shipped to me (knock on wood). It would be nice to see everything in person, but outside of the big expos (California, Florida, Vegas), you're going to have more to choose from on the web.
 
Welcome to the world of chameleons!

Here's some information to get you started.......
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
 
Thanks everyone.I appreciate the welcome.
Laurie we are in Central ks, but I am going to the KC rept expo, its a good drive but I havent been to one in a long time.
Thanks Kinyonga for the sites, Ive been reading everything I can find.
 
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