New Chameleon Owner - Help Please

[tegan thomas]

New to this forum and to chameleons, this is my first post, please be tolerant

Just bought a Chameleon from a pet shop, didn’t go to buy one but had a long talk with the man there and came home with a female Kinyongia Boehmei who is apparently gravid (new term to me!).
I have always admired chameleons for their photogenic qualities but had avoided owning one as I understood they are hard to keep, however according to the salesman they are not as difficult as I had thought.

Karma's (not too original) situation is as follows

Housing (50cm high x 45 cm diameter) fabric mesh drum.
Plastic plant saucer in the bottom to prevent substrate dust escaping
Plant compost substrate about about 2 cm deep
Dense artificial foliage extending to almost the top of the drum
Arcadia Mini D3 UVA/B 80 watt Basking Lamp with wire guard, suspended about 2 cm above the drum
Silent Crickets (small) live food (feeding about 5 per day)
Live food fed on potato strips (I plan to vary this with carrot strips etc) - crickets are thriving
Exoterra Calcium + D3 powder supplement dusted each day on the live food
Misting the inside of the drum several times a day with room temperature water avoiding spraying Karma directly.

Her drum is in the bathroom overnight next to a radiator,
Early morning she is under her lamp.
She spends the day either in a large conservatory when solar gain has warmed it up or under her lamp.
She spends the evening under her lamp and moves back into the bathroom late at night.

I have now read so much conflicting information about her care that I am getting a bit anxious that everything is right for her.
She seems happy in as much as she is quite mobile and seems content to lie on the upper leaves of her foliage.

I now “know” that this type lay eggs although in the shop we were told she would give birth to live young so I am trying to plan how to make her as comfortable as possible and to give her eggs (should they appear) the best chance of a successful hatching.
I haven’t photographed her yet (other than on my phone) as I don’t want to stress her if she is gravid and I want her the best possible life.

Questions -

How do I know when she has layed (gets thinner?)?,
How do I handle the eggs?
How do I incubate them (thought about putting them in a container on my external hard drive which is always running and stays warm.

Any help very much appreciated as I know next to nothing about caring for a chameleon and her (hoped for) brood.

Any help very much appreciated.

Tegan

 

[timsober]

Your new friend

Sounds like you have a Fisher's Chameleon that is prego. First off I like the screen mesh cages , zoomed , or zilla . she'll be fine in a 18x36x18 or the 30x30x18. I like the fogger for continuous moister during morning and eveningfor about 2 hrs. She will lay eggs usually 20-30 days after mating will want to dig and burry them. she is a cooler weather cham, so hot spot of close to 90 and keep the rest in mid 80's, nite can get to 65 make sure your bulb has uvb, the 100w powersun by zoomed is perfect. eggs will need a 2 week cold period down to 50's then about 7 months at 77

 

[timsober]

get an incubator. read up on fisher's chameleons care, the first month before the eggs get a little pink inside handling and moving them is ok, after they start to form they must be still. heat and moisture levels have to be carefully checked,