Need Help with Graceful Chameleon!!!

A

astraeava

New Member
I am new to Chameleon ownership as in today being the first day. I purchased a graceful chameleon at a reptile expo to add to my terrarium. I want to make sure my chameleon is as healthy as possible and thrives but I am unsure what I should do... I don't know of any chameleon experts in Cartersville, Ga. Whats you set up?

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? glass, screen top, 36 in length 12 in depth and 16 in height
* Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Night lamp is black 75 watt I believe dont know brand and leave on 24/7 (had a red light but it died today).... Using zoomed repti sun 2.0 16 in day light.... its on a timer set to be on from 6am to 8pm right now
* Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? I dont have a digital thermometer to measure this unless i can use the type you put in your mouth when sick....
* Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? humidity is 90-100%.... habi mister sprays every 6 hours for 45 seconds.... whole floor is covered in sphangnum moss... I have a hygrometer
* Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? yes 2 aloe vera plants in one corner, a lot of bromelid like plants.... I have a pothos vine I can hang through the cage if that would make my chameleon happier.... I have two bare polished and sanitized rose wood branches in the cage could add more if it would be best
* Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? Cage is in my animal and plant room... this means a cat, dog, bird, snake and gecko are all in the same room plus around 25 exotic plants... I have no air vents in the room... the room is kept closed with a radiator type heater to maintain the room temp for ~ 75 degrees... could get low as 65 degrees in the room (if my dunb roomate touchs my heater... war world three commences thereafter)... This room is the only way to the bathroom so that means moderate traffic level... only two adults live here and we are not home much except at night.... my dog and cat are hyper and play all and bird can scream sometimes.... Usually people are only home from 10pm to 8am.... and sleeping most of the time.... except the occasional weekend but then i only go in there to relax and maintain my animals and plants or use the rest room. Cage height from floor is 32 in to the bottom of the cage....
* Location - Where are you geographically located? Cartersville Ga USA 30120


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - The species = graceful chameleon, sex= not sure (female I think, how do you tell?), and age of your chameleon = not sure. How long has it been in your care? 6 hours
* Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? not at all... but was handled alot to transport to my terrarium
* Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Have pin head crickets in cage right now but going to go get other varieties at pet store soon... recommendations welcome What amount? there are about 20 in the cage right now... What is the schedule? Dont have a schedule yet... what is a good schedule How are you gut-loading your feeders? I use orange cubes by flukers
* Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Dont dust-gut load suggestions welcome
* Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? I have a timed habi-mister system... it is set to mist every 6 hours for 45 seconds. How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? SO far very little... licked a little bit and thats it
* Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Not tested and has not used the bathroom yet
* History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. All I know is he/she has had a very stressful day... transported origionally from florida to ga kept for a while then brought to the reptile expo in a plastic tub full of branches with about 5 other gracefuls... I took him/her straight home made sure the cage was at the right temp and moisture... put a few branches in and placed him/her on the tallest one.... Ive been casually observing him/her over the last several hours... At first he/her moved across the terrarium and was trying to figure out how to climb the side of the cage after watching him struggle with that for 15 minutes I turned him/her around and then he went to the middle of the cage and has been sitting there since.... He /she has not opened her eyes much at all which may not be unusual due to the stresses of today (i dont know) he/she is resting near bottom of cage on the sphagnum moss... 100 % humidity... I have a night lamp that stays on 24/7 then my uvb flourescent light is on a timer....
* Current Problem - All advice is welcomed!!!!
 

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Please tell me there aren't other animals in there.

You need to get a tall screen cage. Chameleons need height not width. No substrate..

Oi.. there's a lot of work to be done.
 
That cage is not going to work for that chameleon. In fact I am sure it would not work for any chameleon except for maybe pygmies. Your Graceful will need vertical height as mentioned as well as much better airflow. Also as stated, your chameleon will need to be housed alone. They do not want to be with other chameleons let alone any other animals. Welcome to the forum, I am sure we will be able to help you get set up correctly. I am also going to guess that your chameleon is WC (wildcaught), which usually means a somewhat difficult transition to captivity. You absolutely want to set this animal up right as soon as possible to avoid further stress.

TEMPERATURE is going to be extrememly important. You need to know your temps-digital thermometers with probes are available at any petstore. It is very easy to overheat a glass tank, and with all of the humidity from the substrate (which is am impaction danger) your chameleon could get a respiratory infection.

UVB-the 2.0 is not going to cut it-get the Reptisun 5.0 linear flourescent tube.
 
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HOLD ON! Did you do ANY research before you bought that chameleon?
Get it out of that 'tank', and put it into a screen cage (It's usualy easier to care for a chameleon when it's in a screen cage). Is that a box turtle? If so, get it out of there! Look at like Brad gave you; that's what you want your chameleons cage to look like. Also, your chameleon is most likely WC, you need to make an appointment with a reptile vet to get he/she 'de-wormed'/treated for parasites.

Also, No light at night. He/she also needs a UV light (The long style fluorescent bulbs). Please, please get that chameleon out of there now.

I wish you luck,


Adam
 
Okay the box turtle everyone is freaking out about is a decoration not a real living animal... very life like I know and I didnt realize everyone would think it was real. So, the chameleon is alone. In addition, I realized he was stressed from my dealings with other reptiles and herps which is why I posted the need help thread so anyone rudely telling me that somethings wrong when I already have awknowledged that isnt helping at all. I posted the thread for advice not judgements so those of you who don't want to really help and just want to berate me about the situation when I am actually trying to fix the problem can go screw yourselves. (pardon my french) I asked the guy several questions about the enclosure before purchase but it is clear that he lied.... I told him everything about the tank in detail and he said it would be perfect.... I understand that reptiles and herps are very sensitive and that to save the lil guy I have to alleveate the stresses immediately! Ive bred frogs, snakes, as well as geckos so I'm not a complete idiot thanks for asking.

I would appreciate anyone who can tell me the best type of cage set up... most likely I can constructe it from all of the many different rep and herp things I own here at my house or even go to walmart if I know what and why I need to do certain things. I prefer explainations because then I remember better and am less apt to make mistakes. I would prefer to build the cage right the first time... in case you didnt notice the efforts I went through with the tank he is in now! I was clearly misguided by this idiot and that is why I am asking for help.... thank you.
 
Astraeava, I believe the whole idea was that you should do research before buying a chameleon, meaning over a couple weeks, preferably longer. You tried doing what research you could beforehand, even if from an idiot trying to make a quick buck, but that is the reason you research research research.

Brad Ramsey gave you a link to a very good website, I suggest you read all of it.

Is there a good herp vet near you? Start looking now - if that guy told you glass was good, you don't know what else could be wrong with the chameleon.

Good luck with your Graceful.
 
No one is trying to be rude by any stretch of the imagination, they are all just trying to punch home the point that the glass tank is by no means the ideal enclosure for the animal you have purchased. http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/reptile-cages-glass-and-screen/ one of the top 5 cages are what you are looking for. Too do it yourself instead of buying shouldnt be too hard now that you see what they look like. (basically a box frame with mesh screen on all sides, top and bottom) You will want live plants to go in there (I would recomend Umbrella trees, Ficus and Pothos). You will need a LINEAR TUBE UVB flourescent light as well as a basking lamp (I use a RetiSun 5.0 and a normal 60w house bulb for basking). Those are the main areas that need to be changed ASAP. I am sure others will post and fill in the holes that I didn't cover, but for now getting a screen cage, some live plants, LINEAR UVB light as well as a basking light should be the number one priority. Hope this helps, and remember no one is here to ridicule you, they all want to help and make sure you get the things you need. Good luck, and welcome to the forums.
 
Okay.... now that I've calmed down. Based on the size and type of chameleon I have should I start with the bigger cage 4ft high, 2ft, 2ft or a smaller one so he doesnt get lost and can find his food?
 
What is the approximate size of the chameleon right now? If he is quite small a smaller cgae would be better in my opinion. I dont know very much at all about the type of chameleon you have so I may not be the ideal person to be answering your questions.

Also, if you are concerned about not being able to find food in the cage you can "cup feed" rather than just let the feeders run loose. This makes it much easier to keep track of how many of what feeder the chameleon has eaten. Keep posting questions, the forum members here will help you get to where you need to be.
 
Okay so when it comes to the misting system.... I think I will have to go automatic if more than 2 times a day is needed.... I can do 830am and somewhere between 9-11pm for sure but in the middle of the day it would be impossible (thats why all of my other pets have alot of automatic/timers for their needs)..... so with that in mind then I will need a auto... mister right? And a drip too... so how do you make sure the bottom doesnt fall off from being so heavy with plants, caught water etc... use all pvc pipes... but what about the bottom? Also, putting the tank on the top of the chest of drawers I never use would be high enough right? I own lots of basking lamps what wattage and type of bulbs do you recommend?
 
astraeava said:
Okay so when it comes to the misting system.... I think I will have to go automatic if more than 2 times a day is needed.... I can do 830am and somewhere between 9-11pm for sure but in the middle of the day it would be impossible (thats why all of my other pets have alot of automatic/timers for their needs)..... so with that in mind then I will need a auto... mister right? And a drip too... so how do you make sure the bottom doesnt fall off from being so heavy with plants, caught water etc... use all pvc pipes... but what about the bottom? Also, putting the tank on the top of the chest of drawers I never use would be high enough right? I own lots of basking lamps what wattage and type of bulbs do you recommend?
Click to expand...

As for misting.....morning and mid-day.....never late afternoon or eveing so the cage will dry out for night.
 
The cages on lil reptile are great... will my chameleon make till the cage gets delivered to me though? Or is there a temp solution that I can do while waiting for the cage.... (clearly next time I should get cages then animals not vice versa... duh)
 
What if I take one of the glass aquiriums put it long ways (so its tall) and mesh cover the front.... take my pothos plants and put them all over at different heights... get my basking light out in one part of cage and get a dripper... then this week I will come home for lunches to mist and also do the morning mist when i wake up... will this suffice for 5-7 days so the big cage from lil reptile can come in for my lil chameleon!?!?
 
The occipital lobes look too big for it to be a Graceful Chameleon (Chamaeleo gracilis); I think you have a Flapneck Chameleon. (Chamaeleo dilepis). For the most part they can be kept the same as a Veiled Chameleon. See the link Brad Ramsey has supplied you.

To be perfectly frank though, I'd spend the money on a vet trip over a cage and accessories at this point. He is a wild caught animal and without immediate medical attention he will not make it by the time a cage gets there.

Good luck!
Trace
 
New Cage!!!!

Okay so I got a cage built.... whew took 12 hours by the way.... I don't have the repti sun 5.0 lamps yet.... I made a drip bucket.... dont have the mister yet.... not sure if my basking lamp is the right one or large enough... chameleon moved some today and opened eyes a little but I have not seen him eat or drink at all and for the most part he is just hanging there.... also not sure what temp gradients I should create and how to create them.... any advice?!?:p
 

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I'll take 4! That is a very nice cage. What kinds of plants are you using?

Cover that drip bucket with screen, you don't want food or the chameleon falling into the water.
 
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