New chameleon

[CJ's Exotics]

Was this meant for another thread @CJ's Exotics ?

Nope. What I am trying to say is, don't trust random people on the internet unless you know that they can be trusted, and you know that they know what they are doing. The OP said that a chameleon FB group told her some wrong info.

 

[dshuld]

Gotcha, that makes more sense now .

 

[kinyonga]

I've kept/abred/raised the hatchlings of a lot of chameleons and other reptiles over the years and I've used reptisun 5.0s for all the chameleons and most of the others too for most of that time.

People have used substrates but you need to be sure they won't cause impaction. Yours scares me.
I recommend real non toxic plants and real branches because some chameleons try to eat the fake ones and so do some of the insects.

What supplements are you specifically using and how often for each? What do you feed/gutload the insects with specifically?

 

[Hypancistrus]

I've kept/abred/raised the hatchlings of a lot of chameleons and other reptiles over the years and I've used reptisun 5.0s for all the chameleons and most of the others too for most of that time.

People have used substrates but you need to be sure they won't cause impaction. Yours scares me.
I recommend real non toxic plants and real branches because some chameleons try to eat the fake ones and so do some of the insects.

What supplements are you specifically using and how often for each? What do you feed/gutload the insects with specifically?

I can remove the substrate. It's no problem. I feed my insects a variety of vegetable and fruits scraps (typically leftover from our own cooking, or from preparing food for our herbivorous animals). The worms also get dried egg shells which they chew on. If I have leftover CGD from feeding my geckos, they get some of that smeared on a bottle cap-- bottle cap is cleaned off the next day. They really like CGD.

So far I have only been using calcium without D3, because what I have read says only to use D3 calcium and reptile vitamin twice a month or so. So I was going to do around the first/fifteenth of the month for that.

 

[Hypancistrus]

Oh, meant to add-- I actually SAW him eat today. When I turned the lights on at 7 AM he immediately began walking down to the food dish, so after I misted the cage a bit, I put 10 crickets into his crock. Watched him eat a couple before I had to go to work. I'm pretty happy that he is eating. I am going to be trying to train him to accept water from a pipette this coming week, to make sure he stays hydrated.

 

[Chameleomom]

You need to set up a misting system or make a dripper for him. They need to have moving water to drink

 

[dshuld]

I still get excited watching mine eat . It's like, oh boy (insert name) is about to nail a (insert bug type)! Though I do agree with @Chameleomom on the dripper/ misting system. Sorry I missed that part earlier .

 

[kinyonga]

You said ...."So far I have only been using calcium without D3, because what I have read says only to use D3 calcium and reptile vitamin twice a month or so. So I was going to do around the first/fifteenth of the month for that"...I use phosphorus-free calcium at almost every feeding and twice a month a phosphorus-free calcium/D3 and a vitamin powder with a beta carotene prOformed source of vitamin A (no D3) twice a month...this leaves it up to you to decide when/if your chameleon needs a prEformed source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources won't build up in the system like prEformed sources will. Vitamin D3 from supplements can also build up which is why I only use it twice a month and leave it to the chameleon to produce the rest of it's D3 from it's exposure to the UVB light provided.

 

[Hypancistrus]

Re: water, I watched a video on a FB group about providing water via a pipette or baster and I tried it today and he drank from it very successfully. I also have on order a chameleon fountain which is what a breeder whose facility I visited was using. She has had good success with these. I may not add it to this glass cage as I do not want the humidity to become too high... but that brings me to the next thing.

I was able to get a 24" x 24" x 48" screen cage on sale from Amazon today for $77 shipped. I was pleased with the price. However.... given his size do you think he is okay to be in that cage?? I swear he's grown since I got him on Tuesday, but I think he is just happy, full and hydrated. I am starting to see his color pattern come out. I took a new photo today, see below. He still has a bit of shed on his sides. Not sure if I should do something to fix that or not.

Few questions about the mesh cage... first, how do you go about securing thicker sticks and vines to it? I have seen folks use zip ties to put cups up for feeding, but branches... how would you secure those so they do not fall? Been watching videos and everyone shows the cages already established and never mentions how they got the branches up there. Second... live plants. I know a lot of people use pothos. I was thinking of getting one of these and trying to suspend it somehow so the leaves drape down through the cage. My local florist also has schleffera (umbrella plants) which I have used in my day gecko vivs with good success. The nursery a bit further out has some really interesting plants including Calathea's. Does anyone have a comprehensive list of which plants are completely safe for chams? I know they sometimes snack on the plants (unlike my day geckos).

When I got home from work today he was sitting on the branch above his food bowl, eyeballing it and me. So I put a few more crickets in there. He ate five, I gave him some water, and then went back out. When I came back around 5:00 he had cleaned the rest of the crickets out. So he's eating about 20 crickets day, which are Petsmart smalls-- so 1/4 - 1/2" in length. I'm really pleased with him. He seems to be doing really well. Here is a photo of him basking after he ate.

 

[CJ's Exotics]

Is he mad at you and gaping? Or is he staying like that? Don't give him water via pipette, he could aspirate some. Give his body a good misting. I hear FLChams have a good safe plants list, look it up and just look up "Safe plants for Reptiles".

 

[kinyonga]

Regarding a fountain....they are hard to keep clean and usually end up with bacteria in them. I don't use them.

 

[Hypancistrus]

He doesn't seem to drink from the leaves and I was told on this thread not to mist too much because of the danger of a URI and bacteria building up, and not to mist him directly at all because they don't like that and it's bad for their skin. He certainly doesn't seem to care for being misted. But now I am told I need to mist more so he can drink from the leaves (he doesn't seem to do this).

I used the pipette to put a small drop of water on the front of his lips, which he sipped up. Placed another. He sipped that as well. I did this until he turned around and walked away. He seemed quite keen on it. Here is the video that was shared to me on a veiled cham group on FB by the group owner who breeds veileds-- it didn't come from the local teen at the pet store or some random internet page. This guy has been using this technique with his veiled chams for some time to keep them hydrated without raising the humidity too much. Several other people in the same thread discussed the technique and said they've been using it as well in addition to other techniques. Here is the video:



I don't see how this technique would be much different from having a dripper on top of the tank, except that it won't leave excess water around the tank or rust out the screen lid. He's still going to have to stick his snout close to the dripping water to sip and I suppose he could inhale water that way. But that would probably be true of any method of providing moving water.

This is exactly what I mean about the conflicting opinions on care. It makes it very hard just starting out with chams... but at least on FB I can go to people's pages and see who they are, what they raise and how they keep their critters. The same isn't true of forums where the user name means that literally anyone can be posting and there's no way to tell who they are or what experience they have besides their word.

And yes, he gapes his mouth at me if I get too close with my phone/camera. I don't think he cares for photos much. Beyond that he doesn't seem terribly grouchy like some are. My phone is black, though-- so it could be the color and size of it that he dislikes. He ate again this morning-- when I turn the lights on he immediately walks down to the stick above his cricket crock and waits for me to put crickets in.

Can anyone help with the question of attaching horizontal sticks and vines to the screen cage? It should arrive next week after Christmas.

 

[Chameleomom]

The misting is good for them. They drink. They clean their eyes and the water is good for their skin. Ok on Facebook you can see a face does that mean that they have more knowledge than the people here? You can see what people raise here and how they keep them. There are pages of cage setups. We tell what works and what does not. Here on these forums we truly LOVE our chameleons, that's why we are all here.

 

[CJ's Exotics]

He doesn't seem to drink from the leaves and I was told on this thread not to mist too much because of the danger of a URI and bacteria building up, and not to mist him directly at all because they don't like that and it's bad for their skin. He certainly doesn't seem to care for being misted. But now I am told I need to mist more so he can drink from the leaves (he doesn't seem to do this).

I used the pipette to put a small drop of water on the front of his lips, which he sipped up. Placed another. He sipped that as well. I did this until he turned around and walked away. He seemed quite keen on it. Here is the video that was shared to me on a veiled cham group on FB by the group owner who breeds veileds-- it didn't come from the local teen at the pet store or some random internet page. This guy has been using this technique with his veiled chams for some time to keep them hydrated without raising the humidity too much. Several other people in the same thread discussed the technique and said they've been using it as well in addition to other techniques. Here is the video:



I don't see how this technique would be much different from having a dripper on top of the tank, except that it won't leave excess water around the tank or rust out the screen lid. He's still going to have to stick his snout close to the dripping water to sip and I suppose he could inhale water that way. But that would probably be true of any method of providing moving water.

This is exactly what I mean about the conflicting opinions on care. It makes it very hard just starting out with chams... but at least on FB I can go to people's pages and see who they are, what they raise and how they keep their critters. The same isn't true of forums where the user name means that literally anyone can be posting and there's no way to tell who they are or what experience they have besides their word.

And yes, he gapes his mouth at me if I get too close with my phone/camera. I don't think he cares for photos much. Beyond that he doesn't seem terribly grouchy like some are. My phone is black, though-- so it could be the color and size of it that he dislikes. He ate again this morning-- when I turn the lights on he immediately walks down to the stick above his cricket crock and waits for me to put crickets in.

Can anyone help with the question of attaching horizontal sticks and vines to the screen cage? It should arrive next week after Christmas.

Misting is not just for water. It is also for hygiene. Why take the risk of aspiration? You said that that is true for all moving water, which is true, but what if your hand twitched, and he aspirated some? Not the same as a dripper, so you should stop doing it, because it is a risk that is not needed. You can use zipties or tacks to attach them to the sides. Happy Chameleon Keeping!!! Happy Holidays!!!

 

[kinyonga]

The way you're using the pipette is fine. When newbies start talking about pipetes the first thing they seem to do is quickly squirt the whole load of water into the chameleon's mouth which is why we say don't use them.

With fountains...they don't clean them out often enough or make sure the water is fresh...so we tell them don't use them.

Hope that helps!

 

[Goose502]

The pipette is a great tool to help hydrate a sick and/or dehydrated chameleon. As a standard of care, this would be far too time consuming for nearly all keepers. Misting can cause an upper respiratory tract infection only if the cage isn’t allowed to dry between mistings. In a screen cage, it’s nearly impossible to do this, and the cause of a URI is usually inadequate temperature zones or constant cool breezes. As far as fountains go, I love the idea, but much like the pipette, very few keepers would spend the time to properly maintain it. MANY have tried, honestly I can’t remember any who have ended up keeping it. Spend some time looking over others screen enclosures, and take time to put yours together, letting it grow out for at least a few weeks before you move your chameleon in. The size of the chameleon does not dictate the size of the enclosure unless the animal is in quarantine or being watched for illness. Remember, your job as a keeper is to provide an environment as close to natural as possible. Water doesn’t get delivered by a monster using a plastic tube a few times a day, and miniature waterfalls aren’t awkwardly placed in different areas either.

 

[CJ's Exotics]

The way you're using the pipette is fine. When newbies start talking about pipetes the first thing they seem to do is quickly squirt the whole load of water into the chameleon's mouth which is why we say don't use them.

With fountains...they don't clean them out often enough or make sure the water is fresh...so we tell them don't use them.

Hope that helps!

That's the OP using the pipette?

 

[kinyonga]

@CJs Exotics said.... "The pipette is a great tool to help hydrate a sick and/or dehydrated chameleon. As a standard of care, this would be far too time consuming for nearly all keepers"...I agree it would be time consuming..but the way the OP demonstrated using it in the video was an acceptable way of using it so the chameleon won't aspirate the water.

 

[CJ's Exotics]

@CJs Exotics said.... "The pipette is a great tool to help hydrate a sick and/or dehydrated chameleon. As a standard of care, this would be far too time consuming for nearly all keepers"...I agree it would be time consuming..but the way the OP demonstrated using it in the video was an acceptable way of using it so the chameleon won't aspirate the water.

That was someones else's video.

 

[kinyonga]

Oops!