Health Signs

[jenstar]

Hey so I am wondering how I can tell if my little guy is doing ok. He seems to be eating ok. I have had him almost a month now and just want to make sure i am doing everything right. What signs would show if he was dehydrated? Or not eating enough? He is almost 4 months old. He is an ambilobe panther. I handle him maybe once a day, if that and he's totally fine, no hissing, just crawls around my hand and sleeve and i usually only take him out after work with i heavily mist his cage so i don't soak him. I dust his crickets with plain calcium every other day. I dust with a D3 calcium and a multivitamin twice a month. i mist his cage in the morning, around 8:30 when he starts moving about (lights come on at 8am) and then mist again before i go to work and start a dripper. I come home for lunch (about 4hrs later) if i have an 8 hr shift and and mist again and give a couple meal worms he eats from my hand. i then start the dripper again before i go back to work. when i get home, i mist again and by about 6:30pm, he heads to his sleeping spot and stays there till the lights go out again at 8pm. I am thinking about getting a habba mist for the days i can't come home for lunch. I see him drink almost every time after i mist, especially in the morning. He is currently in a glass cage (exoterra with doors on the front) that is 18x18x24cm and come summer i will move him to a 2x2x4 foot mesh cage. I am using a reptiglow bulb and a sunglow bulb in seperate domes. I also add aquatize to the dripper and the spray bottle to help make my water better. In the cage there is a real ficus plant with vines i've added going everywhere. The only thing i have on the bottom is a thin green carpet thing (designed to prevent mold) that helps keep the crickets alive longer so they don't drown from the water dripping. His poop is a little brown log with a white bit attached to it

I think that's everything.

Oh, is there a way once I leave this page to find this thread faster then just searching the forum?

Thanks guys

 

[carol5208]

Signs of dehydration would be sunken eyes, and his urate instead of being white might be yellow or orange. Orange being the worst. I am not sure about the lighting you are using.It sounds like you are using a compact instead of a linear? One of them is a uvb light right? What are your temps,(0verall and basking) and what about your humidity? How many crickets are you feeding a day?. So you say the "green carpet thing" is there to prevent mold? How so? If it is carpet and it is getting wet all the time I would think it would create mold and bacteria. Better off to leave the bottom of the cage bare. When you leave this thread, if you post it should reappear when you hit home in the left hand corner.

 

[jenstar]

ya, the UVB is a compact as that is what the breeder gave me to start out with. I plan to get the hood one with the reptisun 5.0 but they are hard to find by themselves (the hood that is). Temps are between 71 and 75 and basking is between 85 and 90. Humidity is around 50 before misting. I throw 8 - 10 crickets a day with maybe 3 walking about the next day and he eats a meal worm or two when i offer them to him. As for the green carpet, i take it out once a week and clean and dry it but i found all my crickets would drown in the puddles of water when the carpet was not there.

 

[carol5208]

ya, the UVB is a compact as that is what the breeder gave me to start out with. I plan to get the hood one with the reptisun 5.0 but they are hard to find by themselves (the hood that is). Temps are between 71 and 75 and basking is between 85 and 90. Humidity is around 50 before misting. I throw 8 - 10 crickets a day with maybe 3 walking about the next day and he eats a meal worm or two when i offer them to him. As for the green carpet, i take it out once a week and clean and dry it but i found all my crickets would drown in the puddles of water when the carpet was not there.

well, as long as you are not having any issues with the compact bulb, you could keep it. Most of us just use the reptisun tube with no problems. Some people have experienced problems with the compacts and others use them with none. So that is your choice. All your other husbandry sounds goods. If he is eating all the crickets, you could up the amount to 12-15 or so if they are small. He is only 4 months old and they can eat alot. i understand what you are saying about the carpet, and as long as you are keeping an eye on it so it doesn't mold, then that is really up to you to keep using it. i prefer a bare bottom, but my cage is all screen and the crickets could always climb up the side so I never had a problem with them drowning at the bottom. Sounds like you got a handle on everything and are taking good care of your chameleon!

 

[jenstar]

another thing, I have a blue pail that is about the size of the deli cups people use for cup feeding. i would like to cup feed him but he refuses to eat from the bucket. i put it where he can see it but whenever i've tried it, all the crickets would still be there. are they stubborn enough not to eat if i were to leave it? or will they eventually give in. I would prefer to use the pail if i can as it has a nice little handle and it just looks nicer then a deli cup. But I will do whatever to have him happy. what do you think?

Thanks

 

[carol5208]

My chameleon will not eat out of a cup either, only if I hold it for him! spoiled rotten! I guess if he got hungry enough eventually he would have to eat. It the pail is too deep, he cannot see the crickets maybe or perhaps he does not feel comfortable shooting that deep into the pail if it is too tall. I know my chameleon hesitates to shoot for prey if it is sitting at the bottom of the cup when I hold it, so I always move the prey closer to the edge. I suppose ever chameleon is different. I mean I cannot really answer if he will or won't! i suppose just try and leave it in there and see what happens!

 

[jenstar]

ok, thanks so much for your quick replies