help with deremensis species

lilj0e

New Member
i am going to buy a deremensis. i have been doing alot of research on the net but cannot find any real helpful care sheets. i am a little nervous because i have seen it takes expert care and i only have experiance in veiled and panther chameleons. if some one knows where i can get a real good care sheet i would appreciate it. and ive also read that they like it around the high 60s at night. in new orleans its doesnt get that cold this time of the year and during the summer my house doesnt get colder than around 72-74 degrees but its stays that temp in my house all day long. will the 5 degree difference in temp bother him that much and if it does what can be done for me to make his cage the temp needed. im not very worried about the humidity levels because its very humid in new orleans and i constantly mist. any info would help...i'm just trying to find out the proper care before i get him and do something that might be a fatal mistake
 
Deremensis are great chameleons - in my opinion, easier to care for than anything but panthers and veileds. (breeding is another matter)

I would reccomend getting a CB or CH if you can. Mike from Florida chams has some CH's, but they might all be spoken for at this time. Look around to see if anyone has any coming soon.

Deremensis are not as sensitive to heat as other montanes, and seem to like in in the low 80's on occation, as long as humidity's high. They do like the nighttime temp drops, though. During the fall and winter, the cooler temps become more important - especially at night. I have been told, by people with experience, that they cool night temps, especially during the fall and winter, are the key to long lives with them. They'll live several years with the warm temps - but with cool temps, they'll live over a decade.

Deremensis also are very good at conserving calories - they are sednetary, and can go for long periods of time without eating (the winter cool-down period). As such, they are very prone to getting fat. A CH/CB or acclimated adult will thrive on just 1 or 2 insects per day, with more during the active seasons.
 
i did reserve one from mike. im glad i got a chance to. i thank u for the info . and i was also wodering about the suplimentation. i read in a care sheet to only dust with the rep cal herbative once a month and the d-3 once every other week. is this correct??
 
Well, my first deremensis was a CB - the only CB deremensis I've had. he was very easy, stress free, and problem free.

I will first list how I cared for him THEN, and how I'd care for him NOW(I know a lot more now)

I obtained him at a time when I had a great distrust of UVB bulbs - I raised chameleons without them, and there were not convinvcing studies done at the time, so I did not use them.

So, I used a simple full-spectrum floruscent tube from lowes, fo rhis lighting. I was told by the Kammers that I didn't really even need a heat lamp - so I didn't use one at all. the Kammers also told me that, in their experience, deremensis were not as sensitive to artificial vitamin supplementation as other montanes. I could use a supplementation regiment similar to (and actually, now it's identical to) that of my calyptratus.

So, I had him in a large screen cage, with plastic on the back, sides and 1/3 of the front to keep humidity in. the light was from a small, 18" double tube, and humidity was provided by misting at least daily, usually several times a day. In addition, I bought a $40 ultrasonic cool mist humidifier, a timer, and added some pvc pipe. I set it to mist him a few times a day, and at night, to keep humidity up. I always let him dry out thouroughly in between mistings.

I also ran a drip system for about a half hour every day. He never drank much, as the humidity was nice and high, but I had to water the plants!

I fed him quite a bit. I found him to eat far less than a veiled of the same size. He also grew much slower - which itself makes MBD less likely.

For supplementation, I supplemented lightly, every day to every other day, with minerall with D3. I only dusted a portion of his meal with the powder. I later switched to repcal, and used it the same way.

For vitamins, I used reptivite and herptivite, in very light doses. I usually used herptivite every week - just one or two lightly dusted insects per week - and reptivite every two weeks or so - just to make sure he got vitamin A (it's absent in herptivite).

I never used much of a gut load - just fed the crickets and insects a random assortment of expired produce, and some grains. He ate a lot of silkworms when he was young, too.

All said, he went from a tiny baby, barely able to eat 1/4 inch crickets, to a big, 13-14" adult, in around 18 months, with zero UVB, and no heat lamp. His bones were rock solid - he'd jumped and landed on solid floors many times, and never so much as chipped a horn.

The only thing I'd change (from how I did it then) is the UVB light. UVB light helps reduce the amount of artificial D3 you need to administer, which reduces the guesswork you need to do. Plus, it has a drastic effect on their behavior, color and mood. Chameleons act more "naturally" when under UVB light.

You don't have to be afraid of supplementations, as long as you go very very easy with them. Give a good gutload, and use good zoomed bulbs, and the need for artificial D3 will be very low. The D3 requirements for a veiled, speed-grown to mature in 6 months is far greater than a deremensis taking 18-14 months to reach full size - so relax!
 
keep in touch - I want to see how they do. I probably won't be able to snag one myself (I got 2:2WC for my birthday, so I'm full right now), but I'd like to se ehow they develop.
 
thats alot of info. i'm going to buy a pair next week when i get paid. I think they look awesome and big i like big chams. how many are you going to get buddy
 
This is a thread that is is 5 years old.. please make a new thread in the general discussion forum and everyone will be happy to answer.
 
I'm Getting a deremensis. How do you like them and how long do they live?

Veiledchams is right you should make a new thread. You can also pm me for help with Deremensis, I have info and a clutch on 21 babies. I will find the link to the pictures.
 
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