New to The Forum, and Chameleon's in General

[mschultz]

Hi all! I just joined the forum and am in the process of setting up for my first chameleon. So I figured that I would post a general Hello! And see if I can gain any extra advice.

There have been a lot of new things for me lately. I just moved to Honolulu Hawaii from St Louis Missouri. Now I'm teaching middle school science at a TINY little school on Oahu. When I found out that Jackson Chameleons were invasive here I thought it would be a GREAT idea to get one for my classroom and show my kids some living science. (although to be honest... all they really want to do is blow stuff up and dissect things)

But I know that I need to do this right and set up a proper enclosure. That is a lesson in and of itself... the kids have seen me researching and preparing for two weeks now. I'm just about ready to bring a little guy or gal into the classroom. But I figured I'd post this here for further advice... sorry that was so long!

TLDR - New to Chameleons, this is my set up, advice welcome.

1. Nice tall screen enclosure.
2. Hibiscus - bought from Lowe's - washed with soap and water.
3. Medium-Large river rocks - washed with soap and water - to cover soil in pot.
4. I plan on getting branches on my next hike and baking them. How do I soak them?
5. Light on top, UVB bulb coming from Amazon shortly.
6. Plan to cultivate crickets in a smaller side container. (will buy crickets and container when Chameleon arrives) - Vitamin's and calcium on order from Amazon.
7. Plan on constructing a drip system (waiting for part from Amazon)
8. Spray bottle for humidity (will buy a mister next year -- with additional grant $)

 

[Candybugs]

Calcium with d3 and without and absolutely no disecting or blowing up no matter what those kids say !!!! Lol. Welcome

 

[Candybugs]

Where were you when I was in school. Enjoy your new every single thing in life. Missouri to Hawaii is a big change.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. It's really nice to see people here researching before getting a chameleon. Here's a good care sheet for Jacksons.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

 

[mschultz]

Calcium with d3 and without and absolutely no disecting or blowing up no matter what those kids say !!!! Lol. Welcome

I was wondering about the difference of with/without d3. I bought "with". Why would I use "without"?

 

[Candybugs]

From what I know they can overdose on d3 but not calcium. The schedule I use is 3 days a week I dust with plain calcium on sat or sun I use the calcium with d3 and every 2 weeks I add a multi vitamin to it. The d3 and uvb are connected I think in absorbtion. I'm so not a technical person. I messed up at the very beginning and had 2 chams with mbd I lost the female I had her put down but the male I was able to save with this supplement schedule. I lucked out and found a chameleon breeder at my cricket company in the middle of the mbd nightmare.and he's the one who educated me about the supplements and saved my Seymore. I also took him outside alot for short periods of time. Research all of this because mistakes can be really bad. They must have the supplements and uvb .

 

[Candybugs]

I've also seen other members on here recommend the same schedule. Just for fun look up the third eye thing it's like a window on top of their heads. I was able to get a pic of my dragons 3rd eye. I think it's so cool and I enjoyed being able to teach it to my grandson he's 8. We don't kiss him on his window anymore.

 

[Candybugs]

I can't find the spot on the chams head where the window is.

 

[Candybugs]

I had to order the plain calcium on line . I could only find it with d3. The best gut load for your crickets is Repashy.

 

[Candybugs]

You can look at images of mbd in chams too its valuable info but very unpleasant

 

[Candybugs]

This is Seymore. He's a chameleon so you want to see more of him. He's getting big.

 

[MamatoElvis]

The most common supplement schedule I've seen is
Calcium without d3 at every feeding
Calcium with d3 2 x per month
Multivitamin. 2x per month
Not to be given together. When you use the multivitamin you skip the calcium that day.
Also when dusting do so lightly. The feeders should not be caked with it or looking like a ghost.

 

[MamatoElvis]

Few more things. You said this is a classroom pet. If you are using a hand mister you must take him home over the weekend. I would also zone in on a male. Females are quite a bit more work with the egg laying. they don't live as long and can have some nutrient differences when gravid. I don't have any personal experience with this its just from reading a lot of posts. I'd also work in a lot more feeders besides crickets. Roaches are actually much easier to keep and breed. They don't smell bad either. Chameleons need a wide variety of feeders to stay healthy. Try blue bottle flies, hornworms, silkworms, stick bugs and maybe butterworms as a treat.

 

[mschultz]

Thanks for the advice. I got a female before I read on, but she's a Jackson so she is live bearing. And from what I've read they don't produce without a male. If that's wrong I'll be sure to watch for slugs and nutrition issues. I'm trying to get diverse feeders. But the only ones in pet stores near here are crickets, silk worms and meal worms. I know meal worms are not really nutritious. Most places don't ship live to Hawaii. And craigslist is not helping me find local feeder breeders.

 

[Moxie]

So, if they are invasive, do you go out and catch one? Or buying one? You must be an awesome science teacher!

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!

Re: supplements and a few other things...
To keep your chameleon healthy you need good husbandry.

It's important to provide a source of UVB usually from sunshine or a long linear Reptisun 5.0. This allows the Chameleonforums produce D3 so it can use he calciumn its system to keep the bones and muscles and other systems strong.

Appropriate temperatures are also important since they play a part in digestion and thus indirectly in nutrient absorption. A basking spot in the low 80'sF is good for a Jacksons chameleon. The rest of the cage can have temperatures in the mid to high 70'sF

It's important to dust the insects just before feeding them the chameleon with a phosphorous-free calcium powder to help make up for the poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects.

It's also recommended that you dust once a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that you give the chameleon some D3 without overdosing it and leaving the chameleon to produce the rest of the D3 from its exposure to the UVB light. D3 produced from exposure to UVB won't likely build up in the system and lead to health issues like D3 from supplements can as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB when it wants to.

It's recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A cannot build up in the system and lead to health issues while prEformed vitamin A can so this leaves it up to you to decide whether the chameleon needs prEformed or not.

It's also important to feed/gutload the insects properly. For crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms you can use a wide assortment of greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, kale, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc.

Hope this helps!

 

[mschultz]

I tried really hard to find one... but no luck... the pet store sells them for $20... they say they catch them in the wild.