hello

uno

New Member
i just bought a flaped neck cham and was wondering how to find out how old it is and it male or female some stuff i read online said males will have bumps on the back and hind legs. i will have pics later uno is in hidding right now.

another question is is it better to have live or fake plants? or a mixture of both?

and for the time being he is in a 20 gallon tank. but im in the process of building a 2'x2'x3' plexi cage. i have noticed that alot of you live in warm climate areas i live in alaska so do i need to make it out of plexi or can it still be an open air (mesh) cage if a mesh cage how do i keep the humidity up? alaska is a very dry place for the most part we sit aroud 30% all the time and so far i can only keep about a 70% humidity in the tank for a short a couple hours.
 
Some breeds of flapnecks have the males with "tarsal spurs" which are tiny bumps on the backs of their heels. Not all do though, so that isn't alwaysthe answer, but if they do, it is a male.
Age is much harder to tell, as they grow at different rates. But getting an approx. measurement of nose to the base of the tail will help people guess for you.
You should also find a sticky thread at the top of the Health section it gives you a list if questions to answer about How to Ask for Help. Just so we can advise you about enclosure and lighting and supplements & watering & whatnot.
I'll tell you right now from experience, advice about flapneck specifics is hard to come by in written form. Most of them are wild caught, and are really hard to acclimate successfully, so it's especially important to get their environment perfect & not make mistakes that something more hardy might be able to overcome. so please help us help you get things right right away for this little guy.
 
thanx

for humidity im just misting but i think i need a mister or a foger. the place i bought it from told me a water fall would be awsome but i have found since that they are alot of work so im gonna buy a dripper now instead. as for lights i have a 75 watt heat lamp a 75 watt red (Night light) and a 5.0 uvb cant remeber exact brands. he has since came out of hiding and ill be posting pics soon. i have been feeding crickets and meal worms coated in jurassi cal. i have been puting the crickets in a zip lock and powdering them then dropping them in and he eats about 5-9 a day as for the meal worms i just bag them and powder them and he will only eat 2 of those a day. he only seems to drink warm water and he likes the higest spot in the tank but away from the heat lamp ( is it too hot its 82 in there right now) i am running a digital thermometer set in the middle of the tank on the back glass. the floor is covered in zilla jungle mix. my main concern right now is i have alot of problems keeping the humidity up
 
oh and im running the uvb and the 75 watt heat lamp for 14 hours a day on a timer that i havent figured out yet i have to hit mode at night to get it to swap over to the red heat lamp
 
most everyone on here are against the waterfalls due to bacteria reasons. as for the red night bulb you dont need it. the light disturbs their sleep and i doubt it gets colder than 60 in your house at night. the substrate on the bottom is a bad idea because they can get some with the feeder and it can get impacted. most of us go bare bottom in our cages. you can add live safe plants for humidity. oh, and welcome to the forum
 
Hi Uno, you need some advice from out expert in Alaska. I will send a pm and ask Carlton to pm you or come on your thread. Carlton have kept chameleons in Alaska for a good while.



i just bought a flaped neck cham and was wondering how to find out how old it is and it male or female some stuff i read online said males will have bumps on the back and hind legs. i will have pics later uno is in hidding right now.

another question is is it better to have live or fake plants? or a mixture of both?

and for the time being he is in a 20 gallon tank. but im in the process of building a 2'x2'x3' plexi cage. i have noticed that alot of you live in warm climate areas i live in alaska so do i need to make it out of plexi or can it still be an open air (mesh) cage if a mesh cage how do i keep the humidity up? alaska is a very dry place for the most part we sit aroud 30% all the time and so far i can only keep about a 70% humidity in the tank for a short a couple hours.
 
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Yes no nIghtlight, no substrate, no waterfall. You didn't mention what type or size of enclosure, you should fill out that form so we can know all the details to try and help better. Any live plants? That will help with humidity and drinking. If you've got two strong lights going, on a small possibly all glass tank, That likely would be too hot and probably part of your humidity problem.
You need to measure the temp right in the basking spot (close to the lamp) and then down & away, so we know the hottest & coolest temps, for the gradient. If it's 82 in the middle, it might be like 100 at the basking spot, and that's way too hot, you know what I mean?
I'm not sure what jurrasical is, but I'm hoping it's a calcium with no d3? Just so you know, the one thing I have seen mentioned repeatedly about flapnecks specifically, is that they are sensitive to oversupplementation. So you're going to probably want to go a little lighter on the vitamins & d3 than would normally be recommended for a veiled or panther, so make sure you know what kind of supplements you're using.
 
this is uno my 3 year old wanted to name him one so we changed languages
i hope the pics work
 
Okay I see now there's more info & questions added to the original post.
A lot of people no matter where the climate in winter have the same issues. My house is very dry with the heat going, I had to buy a humidifier and I run it next to the cages. With live plants in the cage & misting, it keeps it good. Drops in between, but that's okay you want a minimum humidity, then jumps after misting, then dry out cage, then mist again, etc. That's normal.
Also, people with screen cages will just cover parts of the cage with like a shower curtain or plastic or even just towels that way it's covered but not sealed, so there's still some circulation but most of the humidity is kept in.
 
the suppliment is as you said it is a calcium with no d3 and yes the tank is all glass right now but it will be plexi with a internal mesh on the inside when i finish the bigger cage. im going to try to do the list thing your talking about
 
Honestly, if it was me and something I was custom building anyway, I would make it an all screen structure with the option to fasten plexi walls on the outsides (back & sides) leaving top and front mesh, and sides & back optionally mesh as well.So I don't know if there's ever warm enough days in alaska for outside sunning? But with screen you could take the cage outside for natural sunlight, with solid walls you'd kinda cook them. I would also make it 2x2x4 instead of 3, just in case you ever end up wanting to put a veiled or panther in there. That way you have options as far as screen or solid walls, and you have options for possible other inhabitants. Not trying to think negatively, but even in an almost perfectly set up enclosure, up high, lots of live plants for coverage, humidifier, frequent mistings, etc etc, and my flapneck didn't make it. Parasites caught up with him right when he was finally settling in and becoming comfortable with his surroundings. I was prepared for it but it still broke my heart. So starting out in a fish tank with a waterfall might have already put yours at somewhat of a disadvantage as far as acclimating goes. Try to put the tank up high and give him lots of live plant coverage and privacy, and double check those temps ASAP in multiple areas of the cage, particularly right in the basking spot.
I'll check for your help form in the morning, and see if there's anything else I can recommend.
 
another question is is it better to have live or fake plants? or a mixture of both?

and for the time being he is in a 20 gallon tank. but im in the process of building a 2'x2'x3' plexi cage. i have noticed that alot of you live in warm climate areas i live in alaska so do i need to make it out of plexi or can it still be an open air (mesh) cage if a mesh cage how do i keep the humidity up? alaska is a very dry place for the most part we sit aroud 30% all the time and so far i can only keep about a 70% humidity in the tank for a short a couple hours.

I have kept chams in SE AK and found that a screen cage works just fine. You can easily modify the screen cage so it holds more humidity when the indoor air is too dry, and can also provide the proper UV light even if it doesn't get warm/sunny enough to get your cham outdoors very often. I haven't used the CF UV bulbs as I like the linear ReptiSun 5.0 bulbs just fine. Remember to change the bulbs every 6 months. I like the linear tube lights also because they tend to light more of the cage and the plants do better.

Build your screen cage, but plan on making plastic panels for the sides, either from something like clear vinyl shower curtains or lightweight plexiglass. Live plants will help the humidity much more than fake ones, but there's no reason you can't use the fakes to add structure for climbing. The more live plants filling your cage the better for your cham.

Don't trust the cheap humidity gauges most pet shops sell. Get a good quality digital type...you will need to watch the humidity closely. The other thing you will most likely need to raise humidity is an ultrasonic room humidifier. There are several styles, but look for one that has a round spout on top for the fog. Attach some PVC pipe or flexible tubing to the spout. This will let you aim the fog right in to your cham's cage (place the humidifier somewhere above or next to the cage so the fog pours down over the foliage). You can cycle the fogger on and off using a multiple setting lamp timer.

A couple of things I found making cham keeping in AK a little more complicated was finding a variety of feeder insects year round, and finding vet care...in my area there just isn't any, but you are a bit closer to Anchorage than I am. You will want to gutload your feeder insects very carefully because the variety available won't be great. Tiki Tiki reptiles (forum sponsor) sells Cricket Crack and I recommend it highly.

Welcome to the forum!
 
thank you all for the help! i took the waterfall out and built a dripper, i am also building the cage now one thing about the cage i was wondering do you make the bottom mesh too and then put a catch underneath it or a solid bottom?
 
Most of us have a solid bottom that you drill holes in for drainage. Doesn't sound like it makes sense but it works.
 
I live in oregon uno i don't use a humidifier and plus its not humid here just keep the temp up to 70+ and you should be good. I use plastic plants instead of real. just to much of a hassle imo. and use a mesh cage. if the place you got them from don't know or didn't tell you their age take a doo doo sample to your vet to get it checked to be on the safe side!!! I want flap necks soooo badly!!!
 
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