ericasheree
New Member
OK Everybody,
I bought a Cham from Lance in California and he will be coming next week after I get his new bigger cage set up. After losing my Veiled I want to make sure everything is just perfect for this new guy. Lance suggested I get a bigger cage because my old one was too small for this new adolescent because he is a bit larger for his age!
I will tell you what I have and what I am getting and please offer any suggestions to improve on.
WHAT I HAVE:
-I have several of the fake bendable branches from exo terra. Will use to stagger down so he can acclimate to different temps.
-fake vine (pothos) to go on the top vines for hiding.
- a large piece of wood, that I don't know if I will use (just one more thing to collect droppings and to have to clean.)
-a Reptisun 5.0 Compact Fluorescent UVB/A Bulb in a deep dome fixture. This was the item I wasn't sure of because everybody seems to have the long tube fixtures. Is this ok or should I change it to something else? I know they only penetrate about 6-12 inches and this being a larger enclosure I want to make sure this is absolutely correct as its vital to his health.
-a 60 Watt basking light, the usual household bulb. I also have a red basking lamp that I turn on if my house gets too cold during the day in the winter.(We don't have central heat, just a wood burning stove in our older house).
I know he should have daylight for 12 hours starting in the morning when everything comes on with the timer, and dark for 12 hours, when everything goes off.
- a little dripper that I set to drip about once every 30 seconds through the day and turn it off at night.
-two analog thermometers from petco that have been reliable and I place one at the top of the cage and one in the middle to monitor as much of the enclosure as possible.
- one analog humidity gauge from petco that I think is reliable. Not sure where to place this guy either.
WHAT I HAVE COMING-
Zoo Med ReptiBreeze Open Air Screen Cage, Extra Large, 24 x 24 x 48-Inches
-I ordered a Zoo Med Digital Terrarium Thermometer that had good reviews to monitor the temperature, but I am not sure exactly where to place the probe in his cage.
- Also coming is the habba mist auto mister from zoo med. (Not sure how often of how long I should run the mister, so suggestions would be awesome.)
-Zoo Med ReptiBreeze Open Air Screen Cage, Extra Large, 24 x 24 x 48-Inches.
FOOD FOOD FOOD And Supplements:
Lance told me he feeds him 12-15 crickets/lobster roaches per day, with crickets being his main staple. We don't have lobster roaches for sale here, so anybody have any good ideas for ordering them? I only will have one Cham so don't want to order a ton if they will die off rapidly. I know nothing about these roaches at all.
Superworms as treats.
Plain Calcium 5-6 days a week.
Calcium with D3 once every two weeks.
Any brands I should by in particular I have Zoo Med Repti calcium with D3.
I know I should gut load my feeders and I have flukers Hi Calcium Cricket Feed and Orange Cube Complete Cricket Diet. I am not very informed when it comes to gut loading. Ideas too are appreciated here.
Seriously I want to do the absolutely right this time around and am focusing all my efforts on raising a perfectly happy and healthy Chameleon.
Thanks for ANY AND ALL input!!
Erica
I bought a Cham from Lance in California and he will be coming next week after I get his new bigger cage set up. After losing my Veiled I want to make sure everything is just perfect for this new guy. Lance suggested I get a bigger cage because my old one was too small for this new adolescent because he is a bit larger for his age!
I will tell you what I have and what I am getting and please offer any suggestions to improve on.
WHAT I HAVE:
-I have several of the fake bendable branches from exo terra. Will use to stagger down so he can acclimate to different temps.
-fake vine (pothos) to go on the top vines for hiding.
- a large piece of wood, that I don't know if I will use (just one more thing to collect droppings and to have to clean.)
-a Reptisun 5.0 Compact Fluorescent UVB/A Bulb in a deep dome fixture. This was the item I wasn't sure of because everybody seems to have the long tube fixtures. Is this ok or should I change it to something else? I know they only penetrate about 6-12 inches and this being a larger enclosure I want to make sure this is absolutely correct as its vital to his health.
-a 60 Watt basking light, the usual household bulb. I also have a red basking lamp that I turn on if my house gets too cold during the day in the winter.(We don't have central heat, just a wood burning stove in our older house).
I know he should have daylight for 12 hours starting in the morning when everything comes on with the timer, and dark for 12 hours, when everything goes off.
- a little dripper that I set to drip about once every 30 seconds through the day and turn it off at night.
-two analog thermometers from petco that have been reliable and I place one at the top of the cage and one in the middle to monitor as much of the enclosure as possible.
- one analog humidity gauge from petco that I think is reliable. Not sure where to place this guy either.
WHAT I HAVE COMING-
Zoo Med ReptiBreeze Open Air Screen Cage, Extra Large, 24 x 24 x 48-Inches
-I ordered a Zoo Med Digital Terrarium Thermometer that had good reviews to monitor the temperature, but I am not sure exactly where to place the probe in his cage.
- Also coming is the habba mist auto mister from zoo med. (Not sure how often of how long I should run the mister, so suggestions would be awesome.)
-Zoo Med ReptiBreeze Open Air Screen Cage, Extra Large, 24 x 24 x 48-Inches.
FOOD FOOD FOOD And Supplements:
Lance told me he feeds him 12-15 crickets/lobster roaches per day, with crickets being his main staple. We don't have lobster roaches for sale here, so anybody have any good ideas for ordering them? I only will have one Cham so don't want to order a ton if they will die off rapidly. I know nothing about these roaches at all.
Superworms as treats.
Plain Calcium 5-6 days a week.
Calcium with D3 once every two weeks.
Any brands I should by in particular I have Zoo Med Repti calcium with D3.
I know I should gut load my feeders and I have flukers Hi Calcium Cricket Feed and Orange Cube Complete Cricket Diet. I am not very informed when it comes to gut loading. Ideas too are appreciated here.
Seriously I want to do the absolutely right this time around and am focusing all my efforts on raising a perfectly happy and healthy Chameleon.
Thanks for ANY AND ALL input!!
Erica
