Mendez
Chameleon Enthusiast
Chameleon Info:
Cage Info:
Current Problem - Grommet, my cham, is spending around 80-90% of the day basking instead of walking around and roaming the cage. I’m worried that this behavior is not healthy for him and really want the best for him. He has only started doing this in the past couple of weeks, but nothing has changed. Maybe the pet store messed up his temperature schedule? Should I try to raise the night temp? Tomorrow I am going to buy the 100-watt bulb and place it further away from the cage than it is now. Also, he is not green which I heard starts to happen around 5-6 months. He is a browner color to help him absorb the heat, but he never gets warm enough to leave his basking spot. What should I do? I just want a healthy cham! Thanks for helping me out. I will answer any questions you have.
Thanks for the help!
- Your Chameleon - Jacksonii Xantholophus, male, approximately 4 months old, maybe a little older. He has been in my care for about 3 months.
- Handling - LOL, basically never. He is small and feels vulnerable around me, so I don’t force him to be held.
- Feeding - I have only fed him crickets so far, but I am raising silkworms at the moment and am planning to use them as food. I’d say I’m feeding him around 10 crickets a day. I feed him in the afternoon, maybe that’s the reason why he basks all day? I gut-load with carrots, broccoli, and lettuce. I just feed him around noon.
- Supplements - For vitamins, I use: reptivite w/o D3 (1x a week), and use reptivite w/ D3 (1x a month). For Calcium, I use Repti Calcium w/o D3 (1x a week). I dust them every wednesday and thursday (vitamins one day and calcium the next).
- Watering - I have a little dripper which I fill every morning. I mist the cage down at least 4x a day. I mist for about a minute, unless I see my chameleon drinking, then I’ll just mist until he finishes drinking which can be anywhere between 1-5 minutes. He is drinking, I have seen him drink.
- Fecal Description - His poop is black with white. The consistency is moist, not goopy, and definitely not dry. Looks normal for a chameleon poop, in my opinion. He has never been tested for parasites.
- History - Well, I got him from a pet store--which I know is bad--plus I don’t know his genetics. It was not a Petco or Petsmart, and they seemed to be taking god care of the baby jacksons, even though I thought it was irresponsible to be selling jacksons at that age (approx. 1 month old). He was the last one, and so I took him home. Some places on his legs look like they have been gnawed on by some crickets, but now his wounds look almost healed. The pet store I bought him from no longer sells chams, so hopefully more stores will start to do the same.
Cage Info:
- Cage Type - Screen cage with an opaque Press n’ Seal on three sides of the cage to keep humidity up. Since he’s still small, the dimensions are 16x16x30.
- Lighting - For UVB, I use zoomed reptisun 5.0. For the basking light use a 50 watt bulb called “All Living Things® Reptile Neodymium Basking Bulb” from Petsmart. To get the basking spot up to the right temp, I have to get the bulb pretty close to the screen top. The basking temp gets up to 85 degrees. I raised it from 80-82 to 85 once I saw that he basically stays under the basking light for 80-90% of the day. The basking light is a bulb while the uvb is a tube. I turn the lights on at sunrise, and then turn the lights off 12 hours later when it is close to sunset.
- Temperature - The lowest temperature is 72 degrees while the highest temperature is 86 degrees. There is a gradient, so if he wants, he can get whatever temperature he desires. The lowest overnight temp drop has hit 60-65, but now I have changed it up to 67 since he basks all day, maybe he can’t handle temp drops since he lived his whole life in a pet store where temp drops didn’t occur?? I measure the temperatures with a digital thermometer. It’s called “All Living Things® Reptile Habitat Thermometer & Hygrometer” which once again is from Petsmart. It seems to be accurate, but I have never tested it with another temperature reader. I also use a reptile fogger which cools down the cage a little while adding a little humidity. And, I also have a portable A/C unit which keeps my room from overheating.
- Humidity - Humidity remains around 50-70%. But mainly stays between 50-60%. As mentioned above, I use press and seal around 3 sides of the screen to keep up humidity. When I check the cage and the hygrometer reads 50% I will spray the live plant and the cage to keep up the humidity. I use a hygrometer which is connected to the thermometer I mentioned above.
- Plants - I have 1 live plant which takes up the majority of the cage. The plant is a Schefflera Arboricola.
- Placement - Cage is located in my bedroom--2nd floor. I have a portable A/C unit that is not pointed at the cage, but rather at a wall, so my cham can thermoregulate properly. Low traffic area. The top of the cage is close to 5 feet off the floor. It is on a table.
- Location - Geographically, I live in Folsom, California. Folsom is very close to Sacramento--the capital of California.
Current Problem - Grommet, my cham, is spending around 80-90% of the day basking instead of walking around and roaming the cage. I’m worried that this behavior is not healthy for him and really want the best for him. He has only started doing this in the past couple of weeks, but nothing has changed. Maybe the pet store messed up his temperature schedule? Should I try to raise the night temp? Tomorrow I am going to buy the 100-watt bulb and place it further away from the cage than it is now. Also, he is not green which I heard starts to happen around 5-6 months. He is a browner color to help him absorb the heat, but he never gets warm enough to leave his basking spot. What should I do? I just want a healthy cham! Thanks for helping me out. I will answer any questions you have.
Thanks for the help!
