New Chameleon!

[Terrapene13]

After months and months of contemplating the idea, i finally caved and got a senegal chameleon from the Havre de Grace Reptile show. While i'm not new to reptiles, this is my first chameleon so i do have a "few" question for you more experienced keepers.

In terms of misting, how often should i mist. He seems pretty annoyed when i do it, but i assume it's something he has to get used to. He has been very good about drinking though...when i do spray he spends the next few minutes licking the leaves around him.

When it comes to feeding...he's a little pig. I offered him a few crickets once his cage was ready and he devoured them (between 5-8 smaller crickets). I was even able to hand feed him a few more an hour or so later. My question is...how many should he be eating each day? I've heard this species in particular can be a bit overzealous, but i wouldn't want to underfeed him either.

The temps in his cage are: about 70 degrees in shade...and about 100 in his basking spot lamp....is that a good range for this species?

and finally....He has an umbrella plant in his enclosure that i got from Home Depot...I was told that they aren't fertilized there and have been there a while....I also thoroughly washed the soil before introducing into his enclosure. Should i worry about potential fertilizer in the soil?

Thanks,
Colin

 

[Hoj]

After months and months of contemplating the idea, i finally caved and got a senegal chameleon from the Havre de Grace Reptile show. While i'm not new to reptiles, this is my first chameleon so i do have a "few" question for you more experienced keepers.

In terms of misting, how often should i mist. He seems pretty annoyed when i do it, but i assume it's something he has to get used to. He has been very good about drinking though...when i do spray he spends the next few minutes licking the leaves around him.

When it comes to feeding...he's a little pig. I offered him a few crickets once his cage was ready and he devoured them (between 5-8 smaller crickets). I was even able to hand feed him a few more an hour or so later. My question is...how many should he be eating each day? I've heard this species in particular can be a bit overzealous, but i wouldn't want to underfeed him either.

The temps in his cage are: about 70 degrees in shade...and about 100 in his basking spot lamp....is that a good range for this species?

and finally....He has an umbrella plant in his enclosure that i got from Home Depot...I was told that they aren't fertilized there and have been there a while....I also thoroughly washed the soil before introducing into his enclosure. Should i worry about potential fertilizer in the soil?

Thanks,
Colin

hey nice to meet you and to hear you have gotten your first cham, you will never forget him..
first off i have never kept a sengel cham but i will help where i can.
as for misting if you are doing it by hand i would make sure you give 2 really good mistings a day 1 in the am just after lights on and another 2 or 3 hrs before lights out,as you want the cage to dry out by dark.
temp, 70 in the cool area is fine but 90 might be a bit hott, again not to sure with a sengle.
and the plant, sound like you did eveything right, you could add a few river rocks to cover the soil to keep the cham from ingesting any of it, use rocks too lagre for the cham to eat.
oh and crickets, depending on age it can really vary untill my males are almost a year i will give them what ever they want. but if it is at least 6m or more 5-8 should be good, again i would check further as to sengles specific.
a good idea is to fill out the how to ask for help form i will attach it here for you.
hope that helps a bit https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
hoj

 

[Terrapene13]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Senegal Chameleon...at this point i'm uncertain of the sex. He (we'll stick with him for now ) is fairly young if his size is any indication of that...about 3 inches SVL. He just came home with us today.

Handling - In terms of handling...we intend to keep that to a minimum...even though we do plan to feed by hand occasionally.

Feeding - For now we're starting on crickets, but plan on trying wax moths and a few other feeders to keep things exciting. He got almost 10 1/4" crickets today and i won't doubt that he'd eat more. We feed the crickets dark leafy greens (the tortoise's leftovers) and we dust them with calcium dust.

Supplements - We use Rep-Cal without D3.


Watering - We purchase a fine-mist spray bottle at the pet store. He almost immediately drink when we spray. He generally spends the next few minutes lapping up water.

Fecal Description - We haven't seen any stool yet. I work at the vet so i plan on bringing in a sample to get checked for any parasites.

History - We bought him from a breeder at the Havre de Grace Reptile show in Maryland. He's a wild-caught import from Ghana (if i'm correct) and was in their care for about a month before i purchased him.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - The cage is a Exo-Terra acrylic and screen terrarium. It's approximately 18 by 12 by 20. A bit on the small side, but i plan on upgrading him in the near future.

Lighting - For the basking spot lamp it's a Zoo-Med 75 watt. It creates a 95-100 degree basking area directly beneath it, but the temperatures at the cage floor and far left side of the cage are near 70. For UVA/B we're using a Zilla 50 UVB lamp.

Temperature - Temps range from about 95-100 at the basking site and 70 in the cooler areas. I use a Zoomed analog thermometer for measuring.

Humidity - Humidity has been a bit unstable as of yet, but is measuring about 45-50 percent now.

Plants - There is one large umbrella plant in the enclosure.

Placement - The cage is in a less-trafficked area of the house...in the basement. It's in a practically draft free area. The top of the cage is about 6 feet off of the ground.

Location - We're in Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania....a little cow town in Southern Lancaster county. We plan on getting him outside in summer so he can enjoy some natural sunshine.


Should i keep humidity higher for this species...if so how do you maintain higher humidity in a screen enclosure?

At what frequency should we dust with Calcium supplement? (daily, bi-weekly etc.)

Should i wait to deparasitize him until he's acclimated or is that something i want to do immediately?

It can get a bit on the chilly side in the basement...What should i do to keep him warm at night, but also allow him to sleep?

~Colin

 

[laurie]

Hi Colin, welcome to the forum, I will try to offer some useful info below. If you have more questions just post away or send me a private message. All my responses are in red.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Senegal Chameleon...at this point i'm uncertain of the sex. He (we'll stick with him for now ) is fairly young if his size is any indication of that...about 3 inches SVL. He just came home with us today.Females get a little bigger than males. females may get upto 10" total length and males up to 8"

Handling - In terms of handling...we intend to keep that to a minimum...even though we do plan to feed by hand occasionally.

Feeding - For now we're starting on crickets, but plan on trying wax moths and a few other feeders to keep things exciting. He got almost 10 1/4" crickets today and i won't doubt that he'd eat more. We feed the crickets dark leafy greens (the tortoise's leftovers) and we dust them with calcium dust. Given the size I would allow what ever the cham wants for now. But later you will need to cut down. Might want to add sweet potato, red pepper, and squash to the cricket gut load

Supplements - We use Rep-Cal without D3. A good supplement schedule is the rep-cal you have every feeding except 2 times a month use Rep-Cal with D3, and 2 other times use a mulit vit like herpative


Watering - We purchase a fine-mist spray bottle at the pet store. He almost immediately drink when we spray. He generally spends the next few minutes lapping up water. The spraying is great, you could also add a dripper, just a 1/2 gal milk jug with a pin hole will work fine

Fecal Description - We haven't seen any stool yet. I work at the vet so i plan on bringing in a sample to get checked for any parasites. Parasites are a major issue with senegals so I would do the sample asap so you can get any parasites taken care of.

History - We bought him from a breeder at the Havre de Grace Reptile show in Maryland. He's a wild-caught import from Ghana (if i'm correct) and was in their care for about a month before i purchased him.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - The cage is a Exo-Terra acrylic and screen terrarium. It's approximately 18 by 12 by 20. A bit on the small side, but i plan on upgrading him in the near future.

Lighting - For the basking spot lamp it's a Zoo-Med 75 watt. It creates a 95-100 degree basking area directly beneath it, but the temperatures at the cage floor and far left side of the cage are near 70. For UVA/B we're using a Zilla 50 UVB lamp. Your basking temp is a bit high - see below

Temperature - Temps range from about 95-100 at the basking site and 70 in the cooler areas. I use a Zoomed analog thermometer for measuring. The recommend temps are 77 to 86, so you might raise your light a bit higher from the cage. The night temp can drop to 62-64 If your basement gets cooler that that you may need a heat emmiter. They give off heat but no light.

Humidity - Humidity has been a bit unstable as of yet, but is measuring about 45-50 percent now. if you have trouble maintaining humidity try wrapping 2 or 3 sides of the cage with plastic, that is what a lot of us do.

Plants - There is one large umbrella plant in the enclosure.

Placement - The cage is in a less-trafficked area of the house...in the basement. It's in a practically draft free area. The top of the cage is about 6 feet off of the ground.

Location - We're in Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania....a little cow town in Southern Lancaster county. We plan on getting him outside in summer so he can enjoy some natural sunshine.


Should i keep humidity higher for this species...if so how do you maintain higher humidity in a screen enclosure?

At what frequency should we dust with Calcium supplement? (daily, bi-weekly etc.)

Should i wait to deparasitize him until he's acclimated or is that something i want to do immediately?

It can get a bit on the chilly side in the basement...What should i do to keep him warm at night, but also allow him to sleep?

~Colin

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Post a few pictures and I might be able to determine sex.