My First Chameleons

[Tropheus]

I recently purchased 2 baby chameleons 1male,1female. They are about 3" long. I have them in an exoterra hanging cage. I have a 125watt exoterra Solar Glow. There are fake hanging plants along with a flexible vine. I water them 3 to 4 times a day. The temp is stays around 80 to 90 during the day and maybe around 65 to 70 at night. The female seems bigger than the male and changes colors more. The male seems somewhat timid and stays the same bright green. He will sometimes open his mouth for minutes at a time. Also the spines on his back seem yellow. They are fed about 20 crickets a day . The crickets are gut loaded with spinache, oranges, lemons, and potatoes. Is this a healthy regimen? Is the male just a runt or is he ill? If pictures are needs I can post them. Also I have a 30"x36"x72" cage I built for them. I'm just keeping them in the small cage so they don't get lost in the big one.

 

[BigTex]

what kind of chams are they? most do not like to be housed together. spinach from what i have read blocks calcium absorption so i think i would switch to collard greens if i were you. a lot of times when chams open their mouths it is because they are hot. and some pictures would be nice

 

[Tropheus]

Sorry , they are veiled chameleons. I took the spinache out and just have ornge, lemon and potatoes. The 6' cage should be big enough for a male and female shouldn't it? A guy that breeds them in my town said he only seperates the female for about 1week to lay eggs and to recover

 

[ChameleonsTree]

The fruit is good to provide a source of water for the crickets but i still believe in a standard gutload...i personally use nature zone total bites.

 

[Calavera]

Congrats! Welcome to your new addiction.

-Cala-

 

[Julirs]

The female is changing colors more because she is stressed. The more you read and learn the more you will see why you really should not house them together, with stress being the biggest reason. If the male is opening his mouth for minutes at a time, it is almost safe to say it is too hot for him. 125 watts at this age is WAY too strong, and most of the experienced keepers would say to have a separate basking lamp and a ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 for proper UVB. By watering I assume you are misting them for maybe 5 minutes at a time 3 daily? These are not easy animals to keep, but you have found a great information source with this forum!

 

[Geckoxp]

The fruit is good to provide a source of water for the crickets but i still believe in a standard gutload...i personally use nature zone total bites.

I had a real bad issue with those total bites and from what I have heard so have others....real possible early signs of Gullar Edema. Once I took the cricks off of the staple it went away real quick so ever since then its been a mystery...regular gut load and oranges for water for my cricks and thats worked great since.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Absolutely cannot house these two animals together.
The enclosure you describe is nowhere near large enough for this to possibly work.
The guy in your town doesn't know much, judging by what he's told you.
Start doing some research...gut-load needs to be improved, dusting schedule needs to be implemented, temps seem too warm, lighting?, Live plants?
The babies look nice and healthy...proper husbandry is critical in the next 12 months if they are to survive and grow well.

-Brad

 

[Tropheus]

they seem fine and i actually got the number of the breeder that produced my chameleons and he said he never seperates his males and females and also he said he has never lost an adult chameleon due to stress or aggression i think everything will be fine i mist about 12oz of water on them 3 to 4 times a day i also talked to several other breeders that saif they keep their mated pars together up until it;s time for the female to lay her eggs i mean seriously i've succesfuly kept both stony and soft corals and produced hundreds of frags from them for several years surely i can keep a male and female in a 30x36x72" cage with no problems right? i mean seriously if i can breed percula and maroon clownfish i can house a mated pair of chameleons...right?

 

[davider]

hey man dont listen to the breeder

just purchase another 18 18 36 cage for the female wen she gets larger and keep the male in the larger one...

i think it is okay to house them together until 3 - 4 months but if u see any aggression between them seperate them immediately...

temps seem a little too high for babies 90s are usually for adults..

gutloading is great throw in carrots (if you already are nvmd)

goodluck hope all goes well with ur new chams

-David

 

[TRI0N]

I've been using total bites myself and have not seen any problems but would like to hear more about anything of this nature with other members that have used Total Bites all in One Gutload. I have seen and tought about using Fluker's Orange Cube http://www.flukerfarms.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=25.

Anyways it would be nice to hear more about any positive or negitive use of such products.

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Actually ... almost everything that you read says that Veiled chams are fine together until they are about 4 months old. I ended up leaving my trio a few months longer and one ended up being gravid and laying eggs at a fairly young age. You will notice that at about 5-6 months of age they will start to annoy each other a little bit. These guys look fairly small so I'd say that you've got a couple of months in which to prepare another enclosure. Did the breeder tell you how old they were or when they hatched?

Apparently when they're adults if you have something as large as a greenhouse or sunroom you can house several chams together but other than that I'd be looking for another enclosure for the near future. The males are very territorial as they mature and when the females are gravid they get very moody. You certainly don't want one of your chams injured or dying just because the breeder said it was OK.

Unfortunately many breeders are worried about the $$$ and not the chameleons. The lady that sold me my trio said that the male could stay with the 2 females in the 24" x 26" x 12" enclosure that she sold me with them even as adults. She seemed nice and very knowledgeable and said she's been breeding for years. I quickly learned that they cannot stay together unless you have a small room sized enclosure for them and that this cage is nowhere near large enough to store 1 adult cham let alone three. Apparently she was just out to make a sale and not worried about the chams health or giving me the proper information to care for them. Luckily I have the interent!!

There are many places on the net ... including this forum ... that you can find vast amounts of information on these amazing creatures.

Good luck with your new babies ... they look very healthy !!

Dyesub Dave.