My new cham, Pat.

[Julirs]

Right now hes being a bit fussy about what he wants to eat. Yesterday Pat ate everything I gave him it seemed. Now hes just watching the flies zip around while he sits on his perch.



I rarely see mine baby Mellers eat-but he is leaving poops! So I know he is eating. He gives me dirty looks whenever he sees me watching him!

 

[Kat77]

AWW! I am in love.

 

[summoner12]

Right now hes being a bit fussy about what he wants to eat. Yesterday Pat ate everything I gave him it seemed. Now hes just watching the flies zip around while he sits on his perch.



I rarely see mine baby Mellers eat-but he is leaving poops! So I know he is eating. He gives me dirty looks whenever he sees me watching him!

Yeah, Pat is leaving poop presents around his cage. I tried to feed him some nymph Dubia today. I guess he didn't care for them, or understand the dish concept. The cage isn't tight enough to house nymphs free roaming.

 

[summoner12]

Dubia update

Well a change in Dubia knews. I think he likes them. I left him four nymphs the other day, one was missing. The next day he ate the remaining three. This morning I put in a few, maybe 5 or 6 and only three are left.

I had to update my misting methods. I did have the Klan hat but found my UVB is too close and might be hurting Pat's eyes. So in order to raise the light I wouldn't be able to use the Klan hat. So I took a container I had and cut it up to make a misting thing..... here are the pics:

Started with:

Cut with:

Ended up with:

Used some Herpmist parts:

Installed:

I have not been able to watch the misting. I did see the after effects and there were lots of droplets on the screen within reach for him to drink from. The entire cage isn't getting misted like before, but I think he will figure out where to drink from.

 

[studiocham]

notes on CH

I'm answering in the thread so others can read some of the info...

First off, I'm getting the idea that every time a clutch is hatched, it imprints on the first temps, humidity, and caging it is put in. It does best when kept exactly in those conditions. In short, everything on my site about raising neonates worked for my CB clutch, but not necessarily for any other babies you'd get on the market, because they imprinted on different environments.

I tried keeping mine from Mike the same way I raised my CBs, and the failure was pretty fast and scary. If I hadn't taken weights once a week, I would not have been able to act fast enough to save them. The handling stress from weighing is a catch-22. I'd recommend weighing after lights out, in the dark, so they are less visually traumatized. The CHs here dropped 50% of their initial body weights in seven days. The really frustrating part is that I could see them eating and drinking like normal babies, so the weight loss was a total shock. I called Mike and he advised me to change them back to how he'd set them up originally. Right now, they are still adjusting to the change back. I have four with fat bellies again and two still on the thin side (both from the same clutch). One is getting assist-fed, and I know this is looked down on for babies, but as soon as he takes prey from my fingers, he perks up and basks and acts normal again. Prior to his 1x daily feeding, he's flat and either laying on the paper towel bottom or occasionally I find both his eyes closed. As long as he acts normal afterward, and takes the food, I'll do it until I see him hunting properly. Everyone else is free-feeding loose prey around them, and their dorsums have plumped up again.

The weight loss signs seem to be: first the belly pudge goes, then the dorsum gets thin, then the tail gets thin... past that, their heads start to look too big for them, and that's a hard stage to recover from.

Right now, the ambient temp is 77F in their room, which is 2 degrees past overheating-gaping-white for my 05 clutch. No joke. The CH I have here really like it warm. I am misting about 4x a day, very briefly, enough to make droplets on the leaves, which they lap up as the mood strikes. I am putting in small amounts of loose prey about 3x a day. This seems to be working, and I'll let you guys know the empirical data of this care revision on the next weighing day.

The room they are in is very brightly lit with white walls, they have a 5.0 stretched over the tub, and a 50w ReptiBulb in one corner. No eye swelling on these that would indicate the UVB is too strong- are you sure that is why Pat's eyes are closed? He may just be doing what my guys did, stress at the new cage style...? Are his eyes swelling?

It's not an age nor a species that can afford a stubborn keeper- even if what you've experienced before doesn't mesh with what you are observing now... like me, staring in disbelief at the digital temps and the happily basking CHs... revise until it works.

 

[hawaiianice99]

if your mister isnt misting like before why dont your cut the tub a little so the mister is closer to the screen, that way it would have more force before hitting the screen.

**just a thought

 

[mika]

Ok Tim or is it Mcgyver? That's a cool micky mouse on the misting system. Never thought of it. I might have to try that one of these days when I have time.

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

I just want to say Marzen...good choice! Ohh yea, sweet Mellers too!!!

-chris

 

[summoner12]

I just want to say Marzen...good choice! Ohh yea, sweet Mellers too!!!

-chris

It was on sale and my GF has learned well....... I had 12 of them waiting for me when I got home from work

 

[studiocham]

CH weights

I finally have a moment for a break- here are the weights of my CH from Mike. They are definitely back on track now that they are being kept in a rubbermaid (that sounds awful).

6/26 all weighed between 2 and 3 g each

7/3 all weighed between 0 and 1 g each -drastic loss!

7/10 all weighed between 2 and 4 g each

One is shedding today- both from clutch of 92 eggs have shed here.

 

[Julirs]

I have had my CH in a tub since I have gotten him. He has a nice full belly and is growing well. He weighs between 3 and 4 grams-my scale is not in any smaller increments than whole grams. Major is from Megana's babies. Here is a new pic from moments ago...

 

[summoner12]

I have had my CH in a tub since I have gotten him. He has a nice full belly and is growing well. He weighs between 3 and 4 grams-my scale is not in any smaller increments than whole grams. Major is from Megana's babies. Here is a new pic from moments ago...

Yesterday Pat was 2.9 grams. Today my GF picked up small silk worms. I tried one silkie with him a few days ago and he went right for it. He seemed to have a little bit of trouble getting it down cause it was a bit long for him. I hope what she got is small. I asked her to make sure they gave her the smallest they had.

Pas is real active moving about his cage. I see him hunting his crickets. I never see him eat.... But he is just a private guy... like the rest of the melleri babies. If I don't see improvment with his eating in a day or two I will move him to the rubbermaid. I have a tub and the platic plants, I just don't want to move him unless I have to because of the stress. I don't think he hates the cage that much, just a new home to get used to.

Julirs, Your guy looks just like pat. I think pats eyes are fuller and he seems a bit larger. Pat shed on friday last week, he must be growing a little for that to happen right?

 

[Julirs]

Major was desperately trying to escape so the pics are not that great-his eyes are nice and full-he has not shed yet but I think he is close to it-that is a good sign. Major seems a bit closer to the 4 gram mark-he now eats in front of me. Do you have recent Pat pics?

 

[summoner12]

An update on Pat.

He is holding weight but I feel like he should be eating more.... Maybe hes just in a slow growing stage and will have a hunger and growing spurt soon....

Steve suggested I add some more cover to his cage so he feels a bit more secure. I am going to try this.

He was 6.2 on 8-23-08

 

[Sepioteuthis]

Melleri definitely grow is spurts and growth rates can vary greatly.

How old is Pat now?
From my CB babies from last year the fast growers reached 6 grams at 13-14 weeks, the slower growers got there at about 20 weeks.

 

[studiocham]

Melleri definitely grow is spurts and growth rates can vary greatly.

How old is Pat now?
From my CB babies from last year the fast growers reached 6 grams at 13-14 weeks, the slower growers got there at about 20 weeks.

The CHs hatched by Mike are all close to 3 months old. The first of the four clutches started hatching May 28th.

Inspired by the Pat Update I just weighed my CH group. One is 6g and the rest are now all 5g. Going by my CB growth chart on the MD, they are right about where they should be for this age. I'm watching for that growth spurt to the double digits in month 4, whoo-whoo!

And to those feeding houseflies to these little monsters... can they pack them away, or what?!

 

[studiocham]

Forgot to mention, I moved mine into the long 260-g Reptarium to start the housefly feeding phase.

 

[Julirs]

I feel the same way about Major-he just does not eat all that much! I am sure he is between 5-6 grams, and from Mike's first set of hatchlings. I moved him into his big boy cage (22 gal Reptarium) today, and am ordering houseflies tomorrow. Some of the baby Veileds that are 1.5 months old are bigger than he is!

 

[Sepioteuthis]

Some of the baby Veileds that are 1.5 months old are bigger than he is!

It's dangerous to compare them to veileds.
Melleri just don't grow fast. It may seem weird because they get so big, but with their longer lifespan they can take their time to get to that size. They don't even have to start thinking about breeding until they are in their 3rd year!

My 11 month old CB, Sybil, is now 116 grams and 6" svl, which is perfectly in line with the growth rates of the 2 CBs I bought from Kristina in 05.

Sidenotes:
I knew tracking weights would come in handy
Man, I can't believe my CBs are almost a year old!

 

[Julirs]

It's dangerous to compare them to veileds.

Oh understood! Nothing grows like Veileds!