How old is our chameleon?

[carol5208]

ok, no heat or light at night! Unless your house is super cold like in the 50's you don't need that right now. If you ever need heat at night, you get a little ceramic heat emitter, but no lights at all. You will need to start feeding your crickets lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Ditch the flukers!!! Kale, collard, mustard greens, carrots, apples, etc. are much healthier. Need to know exactly what kind of uvb bulb you are using. If it is incorrect it could hurt its eyes. You gotta get him to drink. Try using the eye dropper like I said. He will go down hill very quickly if he becomes dehydrated. Just keep dripping it on his nose. Do not squirt it in his mouth or down his throat.

 

[Swayne8998]

Can we see some pictures of the heels of the back feet?

And yes, Fluker's food sucks. There are some better gutloads available online like Cricket Crack or Bug Burger. You can also make your own.

 

[carol5208]

wow I cannot imagine how that little guy ended up on the floor of Walmart. That is just bizarre.

 

[mandyyy]

ok, no heat or light at night! Unless your house is super cold like in the 50's you don't need that right now. If you ever need heat at night, you get a little ceramic heat emitter, but no lights at all. You will need to start feeding your crickets lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Ditch the flukers!!! Kale, collard, mustard greens, carrots, apples, etc. are much healthier. Need to know exactly what kind of uvb bulb you are using. If it is incorrect it could hurt its eyes. You gotta get him to drink. Try using the eye dropper like I said. He will go down hill very quickly if he becomes dehydrated. Just keep dripping it on his nose. Do not squirt it in his mouth or down his throat.

This is the UV bulb we have. Its what we were told to get by the people at Petsmart. So you're saying I should turn BOTH lights off at night? I was told to leave his heat bulb on 24hrs or he'll die from being too cold. Now if thats the case, do I turn the heat bulb on when I turn on his UV light in the morning? Or does he not need the heat bulb entirely?

 

[ISA my Veiled]

Wow to leave them on or he will die...some petsmart employees will do anything for a sale, that just pisses me off. He was saying that so you buy more merchandise from them. Bad people to ask advice from, but you were in a pinch so I do not blame you one bit.

 

[Swayne8998]

This is the UV bulb we have. Its what we were told to get by the people at Petsmart. So you're saying I should turn BOTH lights off at night? I was told to leave his heat bulb on 24hrs or he'll die from being too cold. Now if thats the case, do I turn the heat bulb on when I turn on his UV light in the morning? Or does he not need the heat bulb entirely?

No offense, but you were fed a total pack of lies!

That is not a UVB bulb. It is a basking. And if you leave it on 24/7, he will die of no sleep. He needs a good drop to 65 degrees at night. Get a UVB hood with a reliable UVB bulb. Search ReptiGlo, ReptiSun, or Arcadia. The night bulb will also disrupt his sleep at night, and may provide too much heat.

 

[carol5208]

I am so glad that I asked you what the uvb bulb was. I knew when you said 50 watt something was wrong. Your cham will die without uvb. It is critical. Try and get a reptisun 5.0 or reptiglo 5.0 tube style preferred. You can use the compact type that goes in the dome. You may hear some flack about them but that is because long ago they caused eye issues but no longer. So if that is all that you can get, that is fine. So the lighting schedule should be 12 on 12 off or you can do sun up and sundown and set your lights like that. Seeing that has had no uvb for the past few days, I would take him outside tomorrow and just let him get a little bit of sun in the morning if you can. just hold him and let him soak up a few rays. He is very tiny and can overheat quickly so be careful.

 

[ISA my Veiled]

I am so glad that I asked you what the uvb bulb was. I knew when you said 50 watt something was wrong. Your cham will die without uvb. It is critical. Try and get a reptisun 5.0 or reptiglo 5.0 tube style preferred. You can use the compact type that goes in the dome. You may hear some flack about them but that is because long ago they caused eye issues but no longer. So if that is all that you can get, that is fine. So the lighting schedule should be 12 on 12 off or you can do sun up and sundown and set your lights like that. Seeing that has had no uvb for the past few days, I would take him outside tomorrow and just let him get a little bit of sun in the morning if you can. just hold him and let him soak up a few rays. He is very tiny and can overheat quickly so be careful.

Yeah really. Good call on that one Carol.

 

[carol5208]

Yeah really. Good call on that one Carol.

if they would have told me they went to Petsmart I would have not had to even see the picture of the bulb to know it was wrong.

 

[ISA my Veiled]

if they would have told me they went to Petsmart I would have not had to even see the picture of the bulb to know it was wrong.

LOL I know right! Jeez I like my Petsmart but now getting further and further into the hobby you really see what they will say to new people to get them to purchase unnecessary and pointless things.

 

[mandyyy]

if they would have told me they went to Petsmart I would have not had to even see the picture of the bulb to know it was wrong.

Yeah, I'll admit we were completely unprepared. But when I picked him up off the floor, I fell in love and I had to save him! I've had other reptiles before(I currently have a red-tail boa and I've had a few of those little green lizards you win at the carnival), but never anything as advanced as a chameleon so I was completely relying on the so-called 'experts' to help me. I'm so glad I came across this forum. I didn't think chameleons were a 'common pet' but I'm glad I found a place with so many people willing to help who actually know there stuff and care as opposed to just trying to sell me something!

 

[ISA my Veiled]

Yeah and you are not the only one, but the difference between you and other people is you found the help you needed rather than taking the first opinion that went your way.

This forum is fantastic, everyone is great and I couldn't think of a better source of information that is actually correct and given to people through years of experience with this animals. No keep is perfect but a lot of keepers are excellent and have a lot of knowledge like carol who helps me on occasion also. You will find that everyone is always willing to help you no matter the question. If you have any question, any question at all never be scared to ask we are always here! And again welcome!

 

[Swayne8998]

LOL I know right! Jeez I like my Petsmart but now getting further and further into the hobby you really see what they will say to new people to get them to purchase unnecessary and pointless things.

Yeah... the PetSmart people near me are nice and friendly, but unfortunately have no knowledge Actually there are a few idiots that have crappy customer service... but all the dudes that work there are pretty nice and always practically have my crickets ready Lol

 

[carol5208]

Mandy first of all I want to say I am so glad that you are giving the little cham a chance a life! You did what most people do, and you go to a petstore and ask a salesperson what you need to buy. You assume they know what they are talking about and in many cases they can help you but the consensus is they do not know chameleon care!!! If we can get this little guy/girl out of the woods and get all the proper set up, they are not that hard to care for. They are prone to alot of illness though and there are things that need to to be monitored to prevent that. Look on the back of the back heel and see if you can see a little point sticking out. That is called a tarsal spur and only the males have them. You cham might be too little to see them but when they are young they all look the same in coloring pretty much and that is really the only way to tell.