how often do chams poop? and other ? from a new owner.

[ksvette]

I am new hear, and have only had my cham for about 3 days. He has pooped twice in that time. The first the white part was more yellow (I figured this was due to him being at the repitle show, and stress and dehydration from all that). The 2nd still had a decent amount of yellow, but was about %50 white. An improvement. I have been keeping my eyes open for the third, as I want to make sure his hydration continues to improve (white poop, right?). He has not had another movment.

Today, his color was darker than it had been most of the time. Eyes still look, moves fine, does great on all that. He is a juvenile (maybe 2-3 months old) and is eating about 7-9 crickets a day. Just want to make sure I am doing everything right.

Screen cage, heat lamp, seperate uv lamp- both on for about 12-14 hours a day. Then change to a night lamp. Also spraying about 2 a day, and using a homemade drip system I found on here (two water bottles). I let the drip start when I leave for work, and let it continue until about 9pm. Drips probably about 13-16 oz of water a day that way.

 

[jannb]

Hello and welcome to the forums. This is a great place to learn about chameleons. A cham that age should poop about everyday. There's an "Ask For Help" form you can fill out so that the members here can make sure you have everthing correct for your new cham.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Also here's a great blog that really helped me out when I got my first chameleon.

http://raisingkittytheveiledchamele...-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=11

 

[Dave Weldon]

...only had my cham for about 3 days.

...Screen cage, heat lamp, seperate uv lamp- both on for about 12-14 hours a day.

Then change to a night lamp...

Howdy,

Did you happen to get your chameleon (what kind?) at the NARBC show? Are you a fellow Southern Californian ?

Your chameleon will be much better off without a nightlight. Nighttime darkness is best. In fact he'll also be fine (benefit) with nighttime temps down to 60F-65F.

Jannb's suggestion to fill-out the Help form will be useful. A brand name and model of UVB is important info (CFL or linear tube?) Photos are often very helpful in spotting trouble with setups and chameleons.

If you are within driving distance of LA, keep an eye out for posts in a couple of weeks about the next meeting of the South Bay Chameleon Keepers group (SBCK). We meet towards the end of the month .

 

[ksvette]

Not in Cali, bought him at a show in Kansas. The night light is an incadescent light, and our entire house drops in temp at night. Cage goes dark with it on, but keeps it from getting to cold. Just keeps the cage from getting to far down at night in fall and winter.

I think I probably just jumped he gun a little bit, as he did poop today, and it looked very healthy. I would say the part that is white is about 95% white. He is eating about 9 crickets a day, and is a very quick eater. His color has been a little darker lately, however, I addeda lot of climbing items in his cage, and some are very large brown sticks. It almost seems as if it is more to him trying to blend then problems. He pretty much stays light green, or light greenish brown. Never goes dark green, dark brown or blackish.

I wold guess the couple days without a bowel movement is just because of the move, and who knows what he had to eat at the show. I was also told not to feed him the first night, so I am guessing he had little to nothing the sunday I bought him. probably explains the odd bowels I would think.

 

[jheitz]

Welcome to the forums. Are you a fellow Kansan? I understand your concern for the night time temerperature drop. It gets nasty on the prairie. The great thing about veileds is that they handle low temps very well, and even prefer them. The cooler temps allow them to sleep deeper. The change in his coloration is most likely due to stress in his/her new environment. He/she should start settling in really soon. 1 poop a day is normal, one every other day is not alarming, but I would assess the situation if it persists over 3 days. Keep scourning this forum, theres tons of info here. Best of luck.

Jason