Mosquitos and chameleons

[SSimsswiSS]

I went outside tonight to check on a girl who might be close to laying eggs, and was not happy to see a mosquito resting on a males lip. The mosquito looked full of blood, so I caught it and smashed it against my t-shirt.

Any thoughts welcome.

I'm hoping mosquitoe was full of button quail blood, that roam cage bottom floor.

 

[Elizadolots]

I think you have to assume the mosquito bit your chameleon.

It's rare for a mosquito bite to cause disease. There are gazillions of mosquito bites every day and very few result in disease.

That said, you need to watch for problems. Are chameleons prone to diseases carried by mosquitoes? I don't know the answer to that. I just know that if my daughter were bit by a mosquito I wouldn't think it was a big deal (having been bit by millions every summer I visited Louisiana growing up), but I would monitor her for a few weeks just in case.

 

[xanthoman]

mosquitos, no class

that would concern me too!

although mosquitos are easy to raise, and can be excellent feeders, i would view wild visiting mosquitos as a concern.

not all mosquitos are cross biters, but those that are are considered to be "bridge vectors" of disease, meaning they bite an infected host and then go bite something else.
lets face it, most mosquitos are blood suckers, and the biggest problem with that is, that they have no class whatsoever, and arent picky about their meals. they will just as readily bite a rotten, septic corpse, as they will a healthy human, so the point is, no telling where it was just prior to biting your cham.

dont get me wrong, not trying to cause a panic (the xanthoman would never do that lol!)

that being said, whats done is done, the most common serious diseases of mosquito transmission (in the us), would likely be some form of equine encephalitis, or west nile, both are fairly rare in humans, and years of obsessive cham googling, i have never come across a suspected cham case of either. still, it would bother me, especially if i had an animal as exquisite as that one.

they are attracted to standing water, like yard ponds, watering troughs, or old tires etc. so, if you have anything like that in close proximity, you may be able to at least reduce your future incidents by either moving or getting rid of it.
most mosquitoes arent attracted to bug lights so a bug zapper wouldnt really do any good, but if cash isnt an issue you may want to consider a "mosquito magnet", they can all but rid a fairly large parcel of land , in fairly short order. you might try "allofcraigs.com" there was recently one in there for fairly cheap. i think the smallest size is 1/4 acre, they use a propane flame about the size of a bic lighter flame to heat a small square wafer of ox piss, when they are attracted to the source, they get vacuumed into a cloth bag (requires 110v also)they usually harvest hundreds of mosquitoes a day. just a thought. jmo

 

[Olimpia]

I'm sorry I have nothing to contribute, I got stuck on the button quail. Why do they live in the enclosures, do they do anything (besides, hopefully not become lunch)? Just curious.

 

[carol5208]

I am also curious about birds roaming the cage floor. How do they get in if it is a cage?

 

[SSimsswiSS]

I'm sorry I have nothing to contribute, I got stuck on the button quail. Why do they live in the enclosures, do they do anything (besides, hopefully not become lunch)? Just curious.

I am also curious about birds roaming the cage floor. How do they get in if it is a cage?

Well let's just say that newly hatched button quail are about the size of a bumble bees . I also collect eggs to hard boil and feed to crickets, shell and all. I have noticed my female panther chameleons lay bigger eggs when fed crickets on this diet. I have a side by side compare of eggs, on the cricket crack facebook page.

 

[Lizardlover]

That's a pretty neat concept. Where did you get yours from by the way? I have been wanting to get a few for a while now.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

That's a pretty neat concept. Where did you get yours from by the way? I have been wanting to get a few for a while now.

I'll PM you info.

 

[Elizadolots]

hey are attracted to standing water, like yard ponds, watering troughs, or old tires etc. so, if you have anything like that in close proximity, you may be able to at least reduce your future incidents by either moving or getting rid of it.

I thought about mentioning this. If you have anything like a fish pond in your yard, that might be where the mosquitoes are gathering.

Here in San Diego, the county provides mosquito eating fish to put in your ponds for free. We did that. We went to the County Operations Building and were handed a baggy and a net and told to grab 3 fish (we grabbed 4, two of whom were pregnant and we now seem to have a self sustaining colony).

So, if you do have an open standing water situation, see if your county provides the fishies for free....

 

[Olimpia]

Well let's just say that newly hatched button quail are about the size of a bumble bees . I also collect eggs to hard boil and feed to crickets, shell and all. I have noticed my female panther chameleons lay bigger eggs when fed crickets on this diet. I have a side by side compare of eggs, on the cricket crack facebook page.

Ooooh, they are lunch.... lol Neat idea though, seems like an excellent enrichment feeder.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Congratulations on the potential eggs.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

l'm going to test more, (blood and fecal for worms) in months when this insect is present.

While I use alot of water with the parsons, I don't have standing water anywhere. Water drains to lawn and flower bed that quickly absorb it. I do think a house three doors down has a small pond, because I hear frogs at night, from time to time.