Introducing Hank Mophie Jr (it’s a long story) and making sure I am starting off right

[RWilder84]

My lovely daughter new I wanted a Cham for a long time, as I had been researching, and her and her stepfather surprised me with a 2m old male veiled Navel bloodline from FL Chams for Christmas. We had a naming pole, Hank technically won though I’m still in favor of Mophie lol ... He arrived Dec 23rd and I have been researching like crazy since then to try and make sure I am doing everything right. Figure no better way than to ask those here for input.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, male, navel bloodline from FL Chams, arrived Dec 23rd

Handling - Have not handled, would like to one day but proceeding with caution and patience

Feeding - Cricuts, small ones from pet store, though they have snuck a couple large ones in. He is eating about 8-10 ate a little less when ate one of the bigger ones. Putting some in cage in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Offering feeders flukers high calcium Cricut food and Cricut quencher

Supplements - Repti calcium without D3 dusted on one feeding a day. Know I need to get one with D3 and use once a week?

Watering - Right now I am just hand misting. Reg spray bottle. Mist for a good 2-3 min 3-4 times a day. I have seen him come down and drink off leaves when this is done. He also has quit running away everytime this is done.

Fecal Description - I have not seen any droppings which is concerning me a bit. Do I need to get in their and check leaves?

Cage Info:
Zoomed reptibreeze 18x18x36. Right now just have green bottom piece that was sold with on bottom but planning on just using flat sheet of newspaper. I also have an exoterra large jungle tree I plan on incorporating when I clean out cage in the next day or so. To add in better basking spots etc.

Zoo med lights that came with set up 1 bluish tinted 60w 1- zoomed reptisun 5.0 uvb 1- exoterra infrared basking 50w. Have been leaving bluish and uvb on from about 7am to 9pm and then red on at night

Temperature - cage floor running around 72. Basking spot 83 Measuring with zoomed probed thermometer which is the one that came with kit. The pet store told hubs supposedly measured humidity but it doesn’t so one arrives tomorrow, I know this important.

Plants - plastic and live plants. Have one small pothos and a cut leaf phylodendron (sp) cage is not 100% how I want it want to add a few more plants (the lovingly refer to me as the crazy plant lady) and remove plastic ones and make things a little better. My husband and daughter did what they could and knew so I want to add my touches

Placement - Cage is in living room, no vents or fans extremely close, but in looking at the questions here it is kind of a high traffic area ... maybe that needs to change?

Location - Locates in Hampstead, NC close to topsail beach (natural humidity a bonus )

Looking forward to suggestions and input tyia.

 

[timw1]

Hi, and welcome!
Please read the chameleon care section of this forum https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/

You should not have the red light on at night, and lighting should be 12 on and 12 off. As far as supplements, you can also read about that in the caresheets. I dust everyday with calcium without d3 and with d3 twice a month. Also dust with a multivitamin once every two weeks. Feed your bugs fresh veggies, the nutrition will be passed on to your cham. Read everything you can on this forum, there are some really smart people here with vast chameleon knowledge.

 

[dshuld]

Welcome! Handsome little guy you have there. The few things that stand out to me are the gut load, d3 frequency, uvb and infrared bulbs. There are several threads around on gut loading that may be worth a search to you. I've tried the Flukers in the past and not had much luck with it. I vaguely remember reading the flukers isn't good for keeping them alive for very long when I first started combing through this forum a few months ago though. I've been using @Matt Vanilla Gorilla 's gut load but I did pick up a small thing of repashy bug burger recently too though I haven't mixed any up yet tbh. I typically offer fresh veggies for 2 or 3 days then rotate to Matt's for a couple of days then back to fresh veggies.

For the d3, you typically will do twice a month calcium/d3 and twice a month of multi vitamins alternating weeks depending on how much or how little outside time you give him. This time of year probably won't be much outside time for him up in NC though I'd imagine. If he was outside all the time there would be no need for it but for those of us who's chams only get outside once a week or so, twice a month has been the recommended dosage.

The bulbs, you can ditch the red bulb altogether. It will keep him awake at night which you don't want. If you need a night time heat source, ie your house gets into the 50's or below at night, then pick up a ceramic heat emitter instead. For the uvb, look into getting him a linear uvb setup instead of the corkscrew type bulb. You'll get more usable uvb over a larger area of the cage this way.

I'm sure others will chime in shortly though .

 

[RWilder84]

Welcome! Handsome little guy you have there. The few things that stand out to me are the gut load, d3 frequency, uvb and infrared bulbs. There are several threads around on gut loading that may be worth a search to you. I've tried the Flukers in the past and not had much luck with it. I vaguely remember reading the flukers isn't good for keeping them alive for very long when I first started combing through this forum a few months ago though. I've been using @Matt Vanilla Gorilla 's gut load but I did pick up a small thing of repashy bug burger recently too though I haven't mixed any up yet tbh. I typically offer fresh veggies for 2 or 3 days then rotate to Matt's for a couple of days then back to fresh veggies.

For the d3, you typically will do twice a month calcium/d3 and twice a month of multi vitamins alternating weeks depending on how much or how little outside time you give him. This time of year probably won't be much outside time for him up in NC though I'd imagine. If he was outside all the time there would be no need for it but for those of us who's chams only get outside once a week or so, twice a month has been the recommended dosage.

The bulbs, you can ditch the red bulb altogether. It will keep him awake at night which you don't want. If you need a night time heat source, ie your house gets into the 50's or below at night, then pick up a ceramic heat emitter instead. For the uvb, look into getting him a linear uvb setup instead of the corkscrew type bulb. You'll get more usable uvb over a larger area of the cage this way.

I'm sure others will chime in shortly though .

Thank you!

 

[RWilder84]

Hi, and welcome!
Please read the chameleon care section of this forum https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/

You should not have the red light on at night, and lighting should be 12 on and 12 off. As far as supplements, you can also read about that in the caresheets. I dust everyday with calcium without d3 and with d3 twice a month. Also dust with a multivitamin once every two weeks. Feed your bugs fresh veggies, the nutrition will be passed on to your cham. Read everything you can on this forum, there are some really smart people here with vast chameleon knowledge.

Thank you!!

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Hi, and welcome!
Please read the chameleon care section of this forum https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/

You should not have the red light on at night, and lighting should be 12 on and 12 off. As far as supplements, you can also read about that in the caresheets. I dust everyday with calcium without d3 and with d3 twice a month. Also dust with a multivitamin once every two weeks. Feed your bugs fresh veggies, the nutrition will be passed on to your cham. Read everything you can on this forum, there are some really smart people here with vast chameleon knowledge.

I agree with this. You must keep the light schedule steady, the same time every morning and the same time every night. I started with crickets, but they escaped my cage for some reason (I have no idea how) and then switched to mealworms, and ultimately to dubia roaches, which are working wonderfully. The gutload for your feeder insects is very important. I feed my dubias lettuce, carrots, apples, collard greens, kale, and others. I have a detailed list of good ingredients for your gutload that I can pm anybody. It has 100 + ingredients. A lot of the time, I give my roaches the calcium gel, and I calcium dust them every feeding because my little girl needs as much calcium as she can get. I actually set up a humidifier for my cham, and she enjoys it, as well as the roaches! It is beneficial because it keeps your humidity up, especially if you live in a dry area. You seem pretty much good to go and your cage setup looks great.

 

[CJ's Exotics]

I agree with this. You must keep the light schedule steady, the same time every morning and the same time every night. I started with crickets, but they escaped my cage for some reason (I have no idea how) and then switched to mealworms, and ultimately to dubia roaches, which are working wonderfully. The gutload for your feeder insects is very important. I feed my dubias lettuce, carrots, apples, collard greens, kale, and others. I have a detailed list of good ingredients for your gutload that I can pm anybody. It has 100 + ingredients. A lot of the time, I give my roaches the calcium gel, and I calcium dust them every feeding because my little girl needs as much calcium as she can get. I actually set up a humidifier for my cham, and she enjoys it, as well as the roaches! It is beneficial because it keeps your humidity up, especially if you live in a dry area. You seem pretty much good to go and your cage setup looks great.

Good advice! Don't feed mealworms though. Can you please PM the list to me please? I'm kind of curious.

 

[CJ's Exotics]

I agree with the posts above about the lights, etc. One thing I would add is that it is so much easier to just breed your feeders, and to feed a variety, just make sure that you know some feeders are more nutritional than others.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Yes. Do you want it in a file, or just typed up?

 

[CJ's Exotics]

Yes. Do you want it in a file, or just typed up?

I really don't care, whatever is easier.

 

[Twitchet]

Congratulations on your new Chameleon, what a lovely story and that your daughter and her step father got him for you. Have a wonderful time learning and living with this amazing little creature.

 

[RWilder84]

I agree with this. You must keep the light schedule steady, the same time every morning and the same time every night. I started with crickets, but they escaped my cage for some reason (I have no idea how) and then switched to mealworms, and ultimately to dubia roaches, which are working wonderfully. The gutload for your feeder insects is very important. I feed my dubias lettuce, carrots, apples, collard greens, kale, and others. I have a detailed list of good ingredients for your gutload that I can pm anybody. It has 100 + ingredients. A lot of the time, I give my roaches the calcium gel, and I calcium dust them every feeding because my little girl needs as much calcium as she can get. I actually set up a humidifier for my cham, and she enjoys it, as well as the roaches! It is beneficial because it keeps your humidity up, especially if you live in a dry area. You seem pretty much good to go and your cage setup looks great.

Yes I would love to have this list, however is easiest to send. Thank you! The only thing I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around is roaches ... but maybe I will get there lol

 

[RWilder84]

Welcome! Handsome little guy you have there. The few things that stand out to me are the gut load, d3 frequency, uvb and infrared bulbs. There are several threads around on gut loading that may be worth a search to you. I've tried the Flukers in the past and not had much luck with it. I vaguely remember reading the flukers isn't good for keeping them alive for very long when I first started combing through this forum a few months ago though. I've been using @Matt Vanilla Gorilla 's gut load but I did pick up a small thing of repashy bug burger recently too though I haven't mixed any up yet tbh. I typically offer fresh veggies for 2 or 3 days then rotate to Matt's for a couple of days then back to fresh veggies.

For the d3, you typically will do twice a month calcium/d3 and twice a month of multi vitamins alternating weeks depending on how much or how little outside time you give him. This time of year probably won't be much outside time for him up in NC though I'd imagine. If he was outside all the time there would be no need for it but for those of us who's chams only get outside once a week or so, twice a month has been the recommended dosage.

The bulbs, you can ditch the red bulb altogether. It will keep him awake at night which you don't want. If you need a night time heat source, ie your house gets into the 50's or below at night, then pick up a ceramic heat emitter instead. For the uvb, look into getting him a linear uvb setup instead of the corkscrew type bulb. You'll get more usable uvb over a larger area of the cage this way.

I'm sure others will chime in shortly though .

Sorry for my naivety on this, I found @Matt Vanilla Gorilla page, but can't find gut load or where to get? can someone help me? Thank you!

 

[CJ's Exotics]

Sorry for my naivety on this, I found @Matt Vanilla Gorilla page, but can't find gut load or where to get? can someone help me? Thank you!

Just ask him about it, I think it is $11. I'm going to get some soon as well!

 

[dshuld]

Sorry @RWilder84 , I didn't get a notification on this before . Has @Matt Vanilla Gorilla reached out to you already on the gut load? Matt is great to deal with and his gut load has between 150 and 300 ingredients depending on time of year if I remember correctly. It is $11 plus shipping per pound. Now, that things are quieting down from the holidays and a few things from regular everyday life, I need to grab my medium flat rate box full lol (11.4 lbs will fit in that size box btw).