I don't understand how she keeps burning herself

[Syreptyon]

I didn't see anyone else mention this, but in addition to the burns, your chameleon looks pretty dehydrated (sunken eyes). How are you offering water? There isn't a whole lot for water droplets to stick onto in there and I don't see a dripper anywhere either. If you don't have one, you ought to incorporate it.

Also, can you tell us a little bit about how you set up the fish tank portion at the bottom? Does it have drainage? Is it bioactive?

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

@Syreptyon I believe it is bioactive. They said that the plants are planted in the soil at the bottom, but that's all I know. There is no visible drainage system. There was another thread about this enclosure and its bioactivity/overall setup, but I am not sure what it was called.

 

[Rowenacham]

I didn't see anyone else mention this, but in addition to the burns, your chameleon looks pretty dehydrated (sunken eyes). How are you offering water? There isn't a whole lot for water droplets to stick onto in there and I don't see a dripper anywhere either. If you don't have one, you ought to incorporate it.

Also, can you tell us a little bit about how you set up the fish tank portion at the bottom? Does it have drainage? Is it bioactive?

There is no drainage. We have live plants in there. Could you show me an example of what normal eyes look like in a hydrated chameleon? She goes through a litre of water every three days.

 

[Syreptyon]

@CamrynTheCham22 It is not bioactive. Plants in dirt does not a bioactive enclosure make.

The reason I ask about drainage is because all the water you're putting in there has no where to go. Although some of it is getting taken up by the plants, the remainder is just staying there and is going to cause problems like rot and mold. To properly set up an enclosure like this, you really need at least 2 inches of a drainage layer at the bottom (like expanded clay balls) to make sure the excess water has somewhere to go so it doesn't build up and cause bacterial growth. To go fully bioactive, it would require microafauna (isopods and springtails) as well.

As for hydration, just look at the pics in the photo contest or by regular users. Looks at the picture you posted in your first post in this thread. The dark ring around your chameleons eye is because the eye is sunken in due to lack of proper hydration. Hydrated chams' eyes are plump and do not show that dark, sunken in ring around the eye. You didn't answer my question about the dripper, so to reiterate: if you don't have one, it looks like she needs it. For it to be effective, you will need to add for foliage in there (which she needs anyways)

 

[Rowenacham]

@CamrynTheCham22 It is not bioactive. Plants in dirt does not a bioactive enclosure make.

The reason I ask about drainage is because all the water you're putting in there has no where to go. Although some of it is getting taken up by the plants, the remainder is just staying there and is going to cause problems like rot and mold. To properly set up an enclosure like this, you really need at least 2 inches of a drainage layer at the bottom (like expanded clay balls) to make sure the excess water has somewhere to go so it doesn't build up and cause bacterial growth. To go fully bioactive, it would require microafauna (isopods and springtails) as well.

As for hydration, just look at the pics in the photo contest or by regular users. Looks at the picture you posted in your first post in this thread. The dark ring around your chameleons eye is because the eye is sunken in due to lack of proper hydration. Hydrated chams' eyes are plump and do not show that dark, sunken in ring around the eye. You didn't answer my question about the dripper, so to reiterate: if you don't have one, it looks like she needs it. For it to be effective, you will need to add for foliage in there (which she needs anyways)

Ok thank you for the information!! We had a dripper for her before and she hated it. We had it in for a week and she wouldn't even go into that side of th enclosure.

 

[Syreptyon]

Well also keep in mind that most chameleons don't like being watched when they drink! She may have used it when you weren't looking. Just make sure the water drops have some leaves to land on for her to see and drink

 

[Rowenacham]

Well also keep in mind that most chameleons don't like being watched when they drink! She may have used it when you weren't looking. Just make sure the water drops have some leaves to land on for her to see and drink

We had the Zoo Med dripper that looks like a plant. She normally doesn't mind us watching her. My son sits and watches her for hours at a time, so she's pretty used to eating and drinking in front of us. She evens eats and drinks from our hands.

 

[Scottsquatch]

A regular old school incandescent light is the best to use. Put a thermometer directly in her basking spot and leave it there a while. You need an accurate reading. If she' getting burned it' gotta be pretty darn hot. Good luck.

 

[Remkon]

There is no drainage. We have live plants in there. Could you show me an example of what normal eyes look like in a hydrated chameleon? She goes through a litre of water every three days.

For your comparison my 2 enclosures go trough 10 litres every day...

Right now you have the limitations of a glass tank (cant drain water) and the disadvantage of a screen cage (doesnt keep humidity well).

Best way to avoid burns is to make sure she can't touch the light and that she can't touch any potential hotspots... How do you know? Use your own hand and keep it on a potential hotspot fotva minute or two... If it burns you it can certainly burn her as reptiles don't feel as good as we do.