help a brother out! with answering some questions! :) haha

[allllllen]

hey guys, ive had my 3 months old panther chameleon for about 3 days now.
everything seems to be going well, but after reading so many threads about owners thinking they are doing a good job with their chameleons, then something bad happens. I kinda started to worry. So i wanted to ask a few things. Here is my info...

My chameleon is an Ambanja X Ambilobe, male , a little over 3 months.
Handling- i wont be handling him for these first 2 or 3 weeks.
Feeding- 1/4 crickets, 8-12 daily.
Supplements - Rep cal ( calcium with D3)-every other day and herptivite ( multivitamin) twice a week
Watering - I have a habba mist system that sprays every 3 hours for 30 secs, so my chameleon has some water while im at work or school but, i try and spray his cage with a spray bottle 3-4 times a day. too much?
Fecal Description- shaped kinda like a mini football. dark brown / black. white with a little orange.
The cage is the Zilla screen habitat ( small)
Lighting- Reptisun 5.0, 5.5 ceramin heat dome with a 60 watt bulb.
Plants- i have fake foilage, with branches that run across my enclosure.
I live in California, and omg is it hot out here right now.
Temps hit around 100.
Questions- - - - - -
Would it be ok to turn on my ceiling fan to low to kinda cool off my room? or might that cause my cham to get sick from the draft?
Do you guys recommend cleaning the tank where i hold my crickets in after every batch?
In my care instructions, the schedule supplements went how i stated in my info. Rep cal calcium with D3 every other day ( since he's a juvenille) and Herpitive multi vitamin twice a week. Is this too much? im not sure what info is really right for my young cham.

Thank you for all the help i've gotten so far, but im just an over worried chameleon owner that just wants his buddy to be happy and healthy!

 

[hallenhe]

Looks pretty good at first glance. Different breeders and people will say different things about the supplements for juvies; I supplement mine with Herptivite Monday and Thursday, Calcium without D3 Tuesday and Friday, and Calcium with D3 Wednesday and Saturday, but you'll hear different opinions on this. As he gets older and nearer his adult size, you'll want to have calcium without D3 on hand and cut the Ca + D3 to once a month or so.
If his screen cage is small enough to move without too much difficulty or shaking him up, taking him outdoors in it now and again for real sunlight will be very good for him (when temperatures are more moderate; ideally 60-high 80's); the UV-B lamps like your Reptisun are essential for indoor chameleons, but they can never do quite as good as the real thing (you'll want him to be able to get into the shade as well if you do bring him outdoors, and not leave him unattended unless your sure the cage is secure and no cats, raccoons, etc. will come by and disturb it).
I wouldn't want the fan blowing on him, such that he can't get out of the breeze, but if you can put the cage where it won't get a draft, I would think that should be okay. Another option would be a floor or desk fan, that could keep up the airflow, but which you might be able to direct away from the cage more easily. We've used these kinds of fans in the same room as chams without problems.
I hope it's not a hundred degrees in your room?
I clean out my cricket cage between each batch - put in a little Chlorox, fill with water, rinse thoroughly with hot water, dry before putting new crix in. If you want to have the happiest, healthiest crickets, you can have two cages and move all live crickets to the clean cage every night, then discard the dead ones and waste and clean the other one. I don't always do that, but it does make the crickets last longer and stay in good shape, and it takes maybe 5 minutes a day (with the 100-200 crickets I usually have at a time).
For the fecal - the white-with-orange bit is the urate. In a perfect world, you don;t want to be seeing orange; if it's mostly white you're probably okay, but you certainly don't want to be giving him any less water. White urates = good hydration; orange indicates dehydration. Don't panic about this; just keep an eye on it. If you've only had him three days, it may take him a while to settle in and start drinking properly. You might also try setting up a dripper that will drip water slowly into his cage throughout the day, especially if things seem to be drying off fast between mistings. This can be as simple as a plastic cup with a pinhole in the bottom, or you can get drippers with adjustable nozzles from pet stores or supply places like LLL.
Hope this helps and isn't overwhelming. Enjoy him and post some pictures!

 

[Julirs]

Your temps are way too high. You need to figure out how to get those down a bit or you are going to dehydrate your little guy. The ceiling fan won't hurt a bit. Do not run the basking light if temps are that high. I would say you are watering a bit much. If you set the Habbamist to run 3X a day for a one to two minutes a shot you should be OK. As for supplements-you are using too much D3. Get some no-D3 calcium and use that 5-6x a week dusting lightly, use the D3 2-3 X a month, and the multivite twice a month. Gutload you feeders with good fruits and veggies like collard greens, sweet potatoes, etc...

 

[allllllen]

thank you guys with all the info. I really appreciate it.
One weird thing i noticed him doing since i got home from work.
I fed him, he ate about 8 crickets and wouldnt eat anymore.
Now he's just walking around the roof of the cage, he wont come down,
even when i went to spray his cage for a bit. He was just chillin up there
and every now and then, id notice him opening his mouth. ( not sure why) but yea, weird. any explanations? thoughts? assumptions? i dnt think he's dehydrated cuz ive seen him drink from the setup i have. ( cup with a hole dripping on foilage).

 

[Julirs]

Young chams will spend some time upside down on the top of the cage. If he is under the light up there, he is getting too hot and that is why his mouth is open.

 

[allllllen]

so thats normal? do i just let him be? or ? getting too hot is a bad thing of course lol. but not sure what i should be doing.

 

[reptoman]

How are you measuring your temps? Try downgrading your bulb to a 40W or raising the heat lamp to get it down to 85F tops. The best way to measure temps is with a digital thermometer/hydrometer. They sell them at HomeDepot or Lowes for $12 in the garden center. They should have a wire lead with a probe so you can check different areas of your cage to see what the temps are.

 

[allllllen]

i do have a digital temp reader. his basking spot i try to keep around low 80s but sometimes because of the weather, it can hit 90. I have unplugged my 60watt basking bulb for at least an hour so far, but its so hot, the temperature for his basking spot is at 87. freaking heat is crazy in cali right now.

 

[reptoman]

My thermomter on the porch today said 112F. Texas is not any better!
One thing I did to keep the basking spot from getting too hot was screw a wooden shelf to the wall with one screw and clamp the heat lamp to that. When I need to raise or lower the light to adjust the temp I just rotate the shelf. You could just use a small piece of wood to do the same thing. Its a lot better than having the light fixed in one spot with no easy way to raise it when too hot.