New Chameleon setup/ curved casque

[chriscalvert]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Juvenile Veiled Chameleon - Male- 6 months? Ive had him for almost 4 months.
Handling - Cleaning and rare occasions
Feeding - Crickets and Mealworms. Usually about 10 medium crickets and 2 mealworms given in 2 feedings. I only cup feed the mealworms. I gutload crickets with flukers orange cubes.
Supplements - repcal w/o d3 once a day. repcal w/d3 and herptivite 2 times a month.
Watering - Misting 2-3 times daily and soaking cage with spray bottle. see him frequently drinking
Fecal Description - Normal, brown with white urate
History - Got him from LLL when he was really young. but all has been well. Just moved into new cage last week

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 24x24x48 aluminum screen cage. (previous cage 16x16x36)
Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 linear 24 inch. 50w heat bulb. (Previous lighting 100w powersun)
Temperature - lowest temp 71.5 and basking at 84.1. only drops to about 65 at night
Humidity - Humidity around 50%. misting and live plants for humidity
Plants - Banana leaf Ficus, and dracaena
Placement - Cage is located near a window in my room. stands about 4 and half feet tall
Location - San Diego, Ca
Current Problem - Well he has been acting completely normal, but i have noticed a slight bend or curve in his casque that is pretty noticeable. I do not think he is showing any other signs of MBD but i have yet to have anyone of knowledge really look at him. Also kind of unsure of his age cause i got him pretty young. does he look as if he is in general good health? Just wanted some input before i made a trip to the vet which is coming soon. Pictures attached of the enclosure and the best picture i could get of his casque. Thanks!

 

[kinyonga]

I don't see a curve in it. I don't see any signs of MBD either.

IMHO you need to improve your gutload...crickets, locusts, roaches, superworms, etc. can be fed a wide variety of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, zucchini, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, etc.).

You said you have the cage near the window....where do you live?

 

[chriscalvert]

Yeah i use to feed them greens just havent in a while. I could not get a good picture of his casque straight on but there is a definite bend in it. just wondering if that would be anything to worry about or is it that normal? i live in san diego

 

[Lingling]

what are your intentions with this chameleon? it doesnt seem like your taking care of him that well

Seems from this post that he is taking care of him fine. I agree with Kinyonga that using a different gutloads would be a good idea, rather than fluker's, but many people just don't know better. They use what is sold to them by pet store employees who are supposed to be knowledgable. They don't sell quality gutloads at pet stores, and many people don't know there are better ways of gutloading.

If that's his only mistake, then it seems like he's doing a fine job. The cham looks healthy, he has the proper enclosure, and he's taking time to ask questions on the forum... I doubt he has ill intensions.

 

[Echoezra]

Why are you saying that cl123? Aside from the gutloading and lack of variety in feeders, seems like the rest is pretty much standard. He said he's planning a trip to the vet, so that seems to be the intention. It just seemed like a sort of vague and borderline rude thing to say. If you have criticisms in the care you should try to be specific about the issues in order to be more helpful.

 

[chriscalvert]

yeah i mean LLL has told me alot of things that seem to oppose what is said on here. such as the Powersun heating/lighting is the best lighting you can get and not to use the reptisun5.0 linear and being told to dust the crickets everyday with calcium w/d3.

 

[Lingling]

yeah i mean LLL has told me alot of things that seem to oppose what is said on here. such as the Powersun heating/lighting is the best lighting you can get and not to use the reptisun5.0 linear and being told to dust the crickets everyday with calcium w/d3.

When I bought my 4 week old sambava from them they told me that a MV bulb would be totally fine him... ? I knew better, thankfully, and he's under a reptisun 5.0. I do use a MV for my free ranged veiled, but that's in addition to a reptisun, and only because he has plenty of space to get away from such a hot bulb if he needs. I can't imagine using a MV on a month old cham, especially in the small cages that most babies are kept in.

Can't trust what you hear, no matter how reliable a source 'should' be. Especially if it's coming from a store or dealer who has something to gain if they can sell you the wrong, but more expensive, item.

 

[jojackson]

Looks ok, setup well within 'ok' guidelines, might be female though.
I dont see tarsal spurs, and I cant really see anything odd with its casque, its young.
Congrats, best wishes

 

[chriscalvert]

alright well what would you recommend to make the enclosure better? Im pretty sure hes a male, it doesnt show in the pics but he definitely has spurs.