my yemen's acting strangly

shelleyuk69

New Member
hi there anyone has any ideas why my 5 month old female yemen is eating the sand from her egg container? she is kept in a large viv with a mesh roof with good ventalation and all the correct lightingand heating.she came down to the bottom of her container few days ago so we thought she might be looking for a place to lay her eggs, we put in deep container ( 10-12 inches deep) and filled it with play sand and now insists on eating the moist play sand . i spray her regulaily and she has an water fall and open water dish so has anyone got any ideas please.
 
hi there yes she has gut loaded crickets meal worms, locusts and wax worms. she has chameleon dust 2x a week and liquid mineral suppliment in her water fountain.will not touch veg, flowers of any discription although i try every other day. has stopped eating the sand at the minute but i am unsure if she having hard time laying eggs, i dont want to lose my new baby. worse than the kids cutting a new tooth. :(
 
What is "chameleon dust" and your "liquid Mineral Supplement" ? Details!
There are many on the market- some good, some poor, and some very harmful.

It is likely that your twice a week dusting is not enough for the chameleon's needs- especially during gestation of eggs. Eating soil, sand, etc- substrate is commonly associated with animals that are either; A) Lacking dietary needs, usually minerals, or B) Already having digestive problems or a parasite overload.
 
vitamim suppliment is called chameleon dust by t rex and liquid suppliment is electodize by exo terra an electroyte and vitimin d3 suppliment. she has u v light 12 hours a day same with basking lamp at 90 degrees and has a timed moon lamp for the nights. i gut load with veg, carrots ect but not spinach as i know its bad for them.
 
I know of the 'T-rex Chameleon Dust' product, however I do not know what it contains in it. I havent been able to find its contents listed on the web here.

The Electrod3ize is not something I would recommend as a routine supplement. I do recommend its use for sick, weak or newly imported chameleons, but not as regular vitamin supplement. There is no need to drink Gatoraide (energy sport drink) if you are not needing or going to be using the sugars and electrolytes in it- same goes for this product. A chameleons electrolyte balance can be thrown off easily- just as a humans can.

I personally recommend the Rep-Cal and Miner-All products. You will want for the chameleons, all three of the following. The are to be used in a specific frequency and amount, and this will change depending on the chameleons age, sex, growth, health, food etc. They are as follows;

-Calcium (NO Vitamin D3, NO Phosphorous)
-Calcium with Vitamin D3 (NO Phosphorous)
-Multi-Vitamin Supplement (With Beta Carotene for a Vitamin A)

Calcium, is calcium, simple. Vitamin D3 (weather from a dust, OR from from Ultraviolet B radiation) allows the body to utilize the calcium to full extent. However, there is a balance from providing;

-Calcium & UVB
-Calcium & Vit D3
-Calcium & UVB & Vitamin D3

The difficult part is, there is no definitive guide to supplementing, only individual "What i use, works", and there are many different ways to have a healthy chameleon with good calcium adsorption. Vitamin D3, in dust form can build up in a chameleons body- vitamin D3 from UVB radiation cannot, however unless you are providing unfiltered real outdoor sunlight- you cannot put too much faith in using light bulbs that produce artificial UVB radiation- and so this is why it is recommended that you occasionally supplement with a VitaminD3 in dust form.

Keep in mind that the Vitamins and calcium should be supplemented separately, just as they are stored separately to prevent cross degradation, this should help the body focus on each as well. Alternatively to the suggested lesser frequency dusting's, it would most likely be best to provide slight more offerings at slightly lesser amounts- though nothing has been documented on this to my knowledge and so everything, everything about dusting, is just theory- though based on somewhat conclusive findings.

There is also the matter of Vitamin A in chameleons, specifically those of the genus Furcifer, who may or may not absorb Beta Carotenes (Natural provitamin A) as efficiently as they would Preformed Vitamin A sources. The difference? Beta Carotene doesn't not build up to excessive (& Dangerous) amounts, whereas Preformed VitA can. So, it would be wise to also experiment with supplementing with a source like Reptivite.

Should you decide to buy these items and cannot find them for sale, let me know, I'll be happy to mail them out to you. They can be a bit tricky to find, but in my opinion they are worth it.
 
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