Husbandry. . am i doing everything correctly?

Mohrsl01

New Member
Hello Everyone,

I had done plenty of reseach, and had wanted a chameleon for years. This year I told myself was the year, and I finally got one.

I just want to make sure i am doing everything correctly for him to be comfortable.

Please check the photos and see if there is anything that needs changed in my routine.

Enclosure:
I have him on a 12 hour timer. With my 50 w basking bulb, my uvb 5.0 zoo med bulb, and the reptirain system. I have it set to spray for 45 seconds every 3 hours. Then when im home I try to spray additional. I use distilled water. I also keep my house at night at 69 degrees. Is my basking bulb in a good spot? He tends to hand mid cage. I dont see him in the basking spot a lot. He also tends to be a little darker because he hangs in the middle often. I have two live plants at the bottom of the cage. I do not have any substrate at the bottom. Ive herd that I dont need it and its easier to clean up after him if I dont have it. Yet i also herd substrate and bioballs can help absorb bad bacteria and help hold the humidity. What are your thoughts?

I am also concerned its not warm enough or im not keeping the humidity correct for him. Is my temp monitor in a good place? I hold it close to his basking spot to read the temp up there every few days.

Feeding:
He is 8 months old. Ive been feeding him about 12 to 20 dubia or crickets a day depending on size. I feed him as much as he will eat, since he is growing. I will hand cup feed him a few and then put the others in a cup in his cage.

I feed the feeders spinach strawberries cucumbers sweet peppers. What ever scraps I have, plus the flunkers orange cubes. I dust them daily with repash supercal nod. Then everyother saturday I alternate dusting them with repcal herptivite and repcal calcium with vit D.

The only time I have handled him was to put him in his enclosure when I got him. I do try to slowly approach him and talk to him. I put my hand out in front of him once in a while he will grab my fingers, but he has yet to walk on my hand. I will touch his sides but he tends to turn around and walk away when I do that. I do have 2 dogs who havnt even noticed him. Im not sure if they stress him out or not. I put the dogs away when I feed him and interact with him. He is in my dining room in a 22×22×40 screened enclosure on top of a stand.

Is there anything you think Im doing incorrectly or could be doing better? I greatly appreciate the feed back! Thank you!
 

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All looks good to me. I would add some more foliage for him to hide in until that pothos grows and fills out the cage. Also, I'd ditch the Flukers orange cubes. No need for artificial gutloading if you are able to feed the feeders fresh veggies like you listed.

Another suggestion would be to invest in a Mistking system. The one you are using now will work for now as long as you keep up with the addition hand misting. Most keepers here, including me, will say 45 second misting sessions are not long enough to stimulate the cham to drink or may not be long enough for the cham to clean its eyes well.

As for your basking spot, What is the temp on the basking branch? The branch seems way to close to the bulb for my comfort.
 
Thank you! I just temped the basking spot at 95. I can move the lamp to a branch thats not so close?
 
Lower the branch so the temp is around 85-88F. 95 is a bit high and with the chameleons back so close to the bulb you risk burning the cham.

You want atleast 6 inches between the bulb and the branch.
 
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