Leaving My Cham at Home

CamrynTheCham22

Avid Member
I am going to be taking a nine day trip in a couple of weeks and I was making plans for my cham. She is a little more than a year and a half old and I had a few quick questions about what everyone else usually does for their trips.
I will have the mister on the whole time, and I unfortunately can't turn it off at night since I don't have a timer, but she is usually fine with it.
She has gone a week without food before, and I have someone coming to feed her halfway through the trip, but I am just wondering if I should have someone come in. I mean the obvious answer is yes, but I am worried something will go wrong since the roaches can be frisky and freak people out (well, those who aren't used to them).
I just want to know what everyone else usually does when they go out of town for more than a week.
Also, I don't trust having her lights on while I am gone, so I have them off. Will she be okay without her lights for a few days? Most people have told me that it isn't something to do regularly, which I agree with, but it is okay once in a while. I would like to verify that this fact is true, since this is the first trip I am taking away from my cham for longer than a week. The house will be warm since no one will be in it, around 75 degrees, and I am giving her a dose of D3 in her calcium before I leave, but I am aware that this is no replacement of UVB intake.
Any tips on how I could make this easier for her and I?
 
Cup feeding and automation have made vacations very easy on my chameleon. You really should have the lights and mister on a good timer. As far as feeding, just using a large cup filled with a good amount of feeders should be great. I would not leave the lights on or off continuously though.
 
Why dont you trust the lights when you go on a 9fay trip but do trust em when you leave for work/school/groceries etc the other 356days of the year?

If your wiring is done properly and everything is dustfree there's 0 reason for things to spontaneously combust.

For your mister you can buy a digital timer at your hardware store. I also don't understand how you will have it in all day? Do you have a mister ir a fogger? Foggers make no good replacement for misters and can cause RI if used improperly.

Id get someone to visit your house atleast once a day to check up. They wont need to feed her if they dont want.
 
First, timers are cheap. You need one for the lights. Reptiles need to be able to thermoregulate under the regular bulb . And fighting MBD is an everyday thing for cham keepers even when they dont have it.

Not sure how your mister is set up. Most either have a built in timer or they are every 6 hours or whatever. Make sure the reservoir doesnt run dry. Most systems will have a dead pump. Unless you live in a dry climate, the cham should be ok with 1 misting a day for vacation. That's better than 4x per day for 5 days then a burnt pump and no water for the rest of the time.

A great trick for feeding while youre away is black soldier flies. Get mixed size larvae if you can and put their cup in the cage. First put a decent size hole in the lid for flies to fly out. As they pupate, tye cham will get fed. Timing is the trick. I always have larvae in the wine fridge so its easier for me because they start pupating in a day or 2 after being warmed up.

And a bit of preaching here... Wine fridges are worth the $60. Ive had larvae in there (56 degrees) since April first and they are still alive and still pupate. Think I paid $18 for 1000.
 
Timers are very cheap, everyone should have one. Before you leave get a 3-4 deli cups and put your feeders in there with some potato’s or any other food that holds a good bit of water. The have a friend come by every 2-3 days to toss a cup of feeders in the viv and make sure your resovior hasn’t run dry.
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Timers are very cheap, everyone should have one. Before you leave get a 3-4 deli cups and put your feeders in there with some potato’s or any other food that holds a good bit of water. The have a friend come by every 2-3 days to toss a cup of feeders in the viv and make sure your resovior hasn’t run dry.View attachment 213948
And the timers get cheaper too. Carrots are a great source of moisture and nutrition. I prefer them over potatoes.
 
I do use carrots, and occasionally water crystals (if she is looking a little dehydrated) and the roaches love them. My mister usually lasts around three weeks before having to be refilled, so I am not too worried about that. I really wish I could control the lights remotely, and have like a video camera setup. That would be ideal, because I admit that I am overly stressed about this. I am going to feed her a few extra roaches before the trip just to be safe.
The only reason why I feel better about her lights being on all day is because someone is usually home and any errands I have to run aren't usually more than an hour or so. I know it's silly! I am just weirdly stressed like I said before.
I will see if I can buy a good timer before I leave. Thanks for the advice, I will definitely use it.
 
I do use carrots, and occasionally water crystals (if she is looking a little dehydrated) and the roaches love them. My mister usually lasts around three weeks before having to be refilled, so I am not too worried about that. I really wish I could control the lights remotely, and have like a video camera setup. That would be ideal, because I admit that I am overly stressed about this. I am going to feed her a few extra roaches before the trip just to be safe.
The only reason why I feel better about her lights being on all day is because someone is usually home and any errands I have to run aren't usually more than an hour or so. I know it's silly! I am just weirdly stressed like I said before.
I will see if I can buy a good timer before I leave. Thanks for the advice, I will definitely use it.
I use these camera when my girl is laying eggs so I can monitor her progress without disturbing her, worth every penny. Just search “WiFi Camera”
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I would be terrified to leave a one and a half year old female alone. What happens if she lays eggs while you are gone? What happens if she becomes egg bound? Wounder if she something else happens? I have a petsitter and never leave my guys alone even for one night. If I left my guys alone and came home and someone had a prolapse or their tongue came out and could not retract and had no medical attention, I would never be able to live with myself.

Where do you live? I might be able to find a keeper near you to keep her while you are gone.
 
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Camryn, come on. You have been a member here for long enough to know better than this. You have come a long way and now is not the time to start regressing.

It is not acceptable to be misting your chameleon at night, nor is it fine to deprive her of light for 9 days (which, by the way, is significantly more days than "a few"). Timers cost like $15-$25. I am shocked you don't have one by now.
 
Camryn, come on. You have been a member here for long enough to know better than this. You have come a long way and now is not the time to start regressing.

It is not acceptable to be misting your chameleon at night, nor is it fine to deprive her of light for 9 days (which, by the way, is significantly more days than "a few"). Timers cost like $15-$25. I am shocked you don't have one by now.

I don't think they have a mister, but a fogger from the sounds of it?

OP do you have a mister or a fogger? I still wouldn't run that 24/7, but running a fogger at night is actually suggested these days, by people that know alot more about Chameleons than myself, and likely anyone in the thread. With a fogger it's the day time that you need to be concerned with. High temps + Humidity = RI.

Why are you worried about the lights? Are you afraid they will get too hot? That's an easy fix, grab a thermostat for them, they can be had for 20 for just a basic on off stat. They need to be on timers still I have alot of those woods 2 packs and they have always worked well for me :).
 
I do have a mister, not a fogger. I will be able to get the lights on a timer. What I was worried about it that the cage is up against the wall, and the lights get very hot and I don't even want to run the risk of a fire. I am going to see if the person I have coming in to feed her will stay to watch her. I will hook up the lights and the mister to a timer before I leave, so that will be dealt with. I am sure she is not pregnant, so I don't see any reason why she would mysteriously lay eggs over the trip, but I have a laybin in there for her right now. She just started getting her mature blues and yellows a few weeks ago, though. I had another thread about this and a few other people agreed that she might be sterile because she came from a chain store and didn't have a great start.
Also, what I meant by dehydration: when her urates are slightly tinged with orange. She has regular bowel movements and her urates are pure white 95% of the time, and she has no problem with drinking.
I know that this is basic knowledge, but I admit I don't go on that many trips and I was unprepared. I will know this information for the future. My worst fear is a fire, and I have seen and read stories of people on this forum who have head electrical fires from the lamp fixtures.
 
I use these camera when my girl is laying eggs so I can monitor her progress without disturbing her, worth every penny. Just search “WiFi Camera”View attachment 214032
I am definitely going to purchase this. A camera will give me all the peace of mind I need about a fire. I know that the risk is low, but this will help even more. Is it easy to set up?
I will make sure that the hood is fully clean of dust and debris before I go. Do I need to address any issue with a screen cage and the lights? I haven't had any problems in the past with the hood sitting atop the screen, but should I build a PVC stand for the lights instead?
 
I'm guessing it's the mister type that you can only set for a few preset intervals and preset durations. You can put them on a wall timer so they run their cycles only during the day.
 
I just found a hardy outdoor timer in my stuff and it is perfect for the lights, but it only has two outlets instead of three for the mister. I think I might have another wall timer for the mister, though. I am testing out the lights timer until I go on the trip just to make sure that everything runs smoothly.
 
I am definitely going to purchase this. A camera will give me all the peace of mind I need about a fire. I know that the risk is low, but this will help even more. Is it easy to set up?
I will make sure that the hood is fully clean of dust and debris before I go. Do I need to address any issue with a screen cage and the lights? I haven't had any problems in the past with the hood sitting atop the screen, but should I build a PVC stand for the lights instead?
Yes the app is easy to install and use, no harder than setting up an email account.

So why are you suddenly so worried about your lights catching fire while your gone but not while your there?
 
When I am home I can put out a fire or turn the lights off if something gets melted. If there is no one there, a fire could break out and nobody would notice until smoke started coming out of the windows. I know it's silly but I am just wired to be overly safe I guess. I feel so much better about it now that I have a plan. Thank you so much for helping me lessen my paranoia ;)
 
When I am home I can put out a fire or turn the lights off if something gets melted. If there is no one there, a fire could break out and nobody would notice until smoke started coming out of the windows. I know it's silly but I am just wired to be overly safe I guess. I feel so much better about it now that I have a plan. Thank you so much for helping me lessen my paranoia ;)
So what do you do when you leave the house normally? Shut the lights off?
 
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