New to this

[AustinVermont]

Hello All !!

About 6 months ago I rescued this angel of a reptile, his name is LaMar cause I kinda rescued him from a crack house! lol. but anyways he is around 1.5 years old not exactly sure. very good eater and loves to come out and explore. some information about his house. pothos and ficus are the live plants in there for now I have some others growing but are a little to small. his basking spot is around 88-93 F and the rest of the cage slopes off to around 70-75 . night time temperatures are low 50s. Humidity is 50%-80% I have a dripper and spray the cage 3 times a day (about to invest in a misting system). new to chams but not new to the reptile world! any information I would appreciate.

 

[All usernames were taken]

Love your set up, your chameleon looks very nice.

 

[AustinVermont]

Thanks, I forgot to mention the lights I have a Zilla Mini Halogen Blue Day Bulb, 50 Watts and Zilla Mini Halogen red Day Bulb, 50 Watts and a zoomed reptisun 130 watt

 

[Peachypink]

I would ditch the red and blue lights and just get him a plain old house bulb. The bright light will encourage him to bask and it's by far a cheaper option. When it's time to replace your reptisun, I would go for a linear tube light. 5.0 UVB, it will cover more area and give him more places to get the UVB.

 

[Peachypink]

Make sure to adjust the temps to what I posted on the other thread.

Also, check out the Veiled care sheets that are found in the resources section of the forum. For low that and you'll be doing great!

What's your supplement schedule?

 

[AustinVermont]

I would ditch the red and blue lights and just get him a plain old house bulb. The bright light will encourage him to bask and it's by far a cheaper option. When it's time to replace your reptisun, I would go for a linear tube light. 5.0 UVB, it will cover more area and give him more places to get the UVB.

I agree about the lighting. its my weak spot , I'm thinking of getting a LEC 315 grow light , its a little expensive but it covers an amazing amount of the light spectrum and contains a powerful amount of lumens and a large 3 x 3 footprint. I
m surprised more people dont use lights like this.

My feeding schedule isnt perfect by any means but I try my best.

Hornworms and super worms make up a big portion of his diet
I use calcium powder and a multi vitamin powder,
he will eat vegetables right from my hand like sweet potatoes, lettuce
I give him wax worm treats every now and then

 

[All usernames were taken]

I agree about the lighting. its my weak spot , I'm thinking of getting a LEC 315 grow light , its a little expensive but it covers an amazing amount of the light spectrum and contains a powerful amount of lumens and a large 3 x 3 footprint. I
m surprised more people dont use lights like this.

My feeding schedule isnt perfect by any means but I try my best.

Hornworms and super worms make up a big portion of his diet
I use calcium powder and a multi vitamin powder,
he will eat vegetables right from my hand like sweet potatoes, lettuce
I give him wax worm treats every now and then

Where do you find horn worms? Where I am their 3.50 a piece

 

[AustinVermont]

Where do you find horn worms? Where I am their 3.50 a piece

lucky for me there is a really great petstore that specializes in jungle reptiles and they carry tons of feeder worms there .25 cents per here

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Welcome @AustinVermont did you make your enclosure? You will be happy with the LEC light !!. Looks like your doing a great job . Well done .

 

[Peachypink]

I agree about the lighting. its my weak spot , I'm thinking of getting a LEC 315 grow light , its a little expensive but it covers an amazing amount of the light spectrum and contains a powerful amount of lumens and a large 3 x 3 footprint. I
m surprised more people dont use lights like this.

My feeding schedule isnt perfect by any means but I try my best.

Hornworms and super worms make up a big portion of his diet
I use calcium powder and a multi vitamin powder,
he will eat vegetables right from my hand like sweet potatoes, lettuce
I give him wax worm treats every now and then

I have a grow light my enclosure as well as day lights and UVB. I have the 36" quad from Light Your reptiles. Just keep in mind that you still need a UVB light. The Arcadia 6% UVB is fantastic!

 

[Peachypink]

I agree about the lighting. its my weak spot , I'm thinking of getting a LEC 315 grow light , its a little expensive but it covers an amazing amount of the light spectrum and contains a powerful amount of lumens and a large 3 x 3 footprint. I
m surprised more people dont use lights like this.

My feeding schedule isnt perfect by any means but I try my best.

Hornworms and super worms make up a big portion of his diet
I use calcium powder and a multi vitamin powder,
he will eat vegetables right from my hand like sweet potatoes, lettuce
I give him wax worm treats every now and then

Is it Calcium with or without D3? Calcium without D3 should be used daily, the multi vitamin 2x a month and then a calcium with D3 2x a month.

Oversupplimenting on D3 is toxic, just make sure the Calcium you are using daily is witout the D3.

Also, be careful with the hornworms...they are mostly water and should not be given as a staple feeder.

Good staple feeders would be...dubia roaches(my fav), crickets, silk worms, mantids, locusts. Some say super worms can be used as a staple, others will say they are too hard to digest. Phenix(calci) worms are high in Calcium but they are tiny.
Then you can throw in the occasional horn worm, wax worm, Black Soldier flies, butter worms. I avoid mealworms all together. I have given mine a hornworm a day without issue but they will cause runny poop if given too many.

 

[AustinVermont]

Is it Calcium with or without D3? Calcium without D3 should be used daily, the multi vitamin 2x a month and then a calcium with D3 2x a month.

Oversupplimenting on D3 is toxic, just make sure the Calcium you are using daily is witout the D3.

Also, be careful with the hornworms...they are mostly water and should not be given as a staple feeder.

Good staple feeders would be...dubia roaches(my fav), crickets, silk worms, mantids, locusts. Some say super worms can be used as a staple, others will say they are too hard to digest. Phenix(calci) worms are high in Calcium but they are tiny.
Then you can throw in the occasional horn worm, wax worm, Black Soldier flies, butter worms. I avoid mealworms all together. I have given mine a hornworm a day without issue but they will cause runny poop if given too many.

Thank you very much for the information on dietary needs, Its definitely more complicated than my snake ! Calcium and vitamins are on correct schedule, my cham prefers worms more so than crickets and dubia for some reason any advice on getting him to eat them?

 

[broderp]

I have to ask, what were you doing in a crack house? Lamar looks awesome.

 

[Peachypink]

Thank you very much for the information on dietary needs, Its definitely more complicated than my snake ! Calcium and vitamins are on correct schedule, my cham prefers worms more so than crickets and dubia for some reason any advice on getting him to eat them?

For dubia I use a 1/2 gallon milk jug that I cut the front out of and leave a few inches of a "cup" at the bottom. Then I took some mesh and glued it up the back inside, leaving about an inch around the sides. This way the dubia climb up the back and are more visible.

The other thing I have done recently since my panther has decided to go on a dubia strike is I put a dubia in front of him on a branch or leaf and he will usually take it. I do them one at a time.

And then there is the option of just offing the dubia every day and nothing else until he starts eating them. If they are a healthy weight then will be fine and it could take a week before they get hungry enough to eat them.

 

[AustinVermont]

I have to ask, what were you doing in a crack house? Lamar looks awesome.

it was a craigs list thing .. lol

 

[Stinger]

I have a grow light my enclosure as well as day lights and UVB. I have the 36" quad from Light Your reptiles. Just keep in mind that you still need a UVB light. The Arcadia 6% UVB is fantastic!

Yes spare no expense ,just do it .The best on the market Arcadia

 

[WAMBO]

I would ditch the red and blue lights and just get him a plain old house bulb. The bright light will encourage him to bask and it's by far a cheaper option. When it's time to replace your reptisun, I would go for a linear tube light. 5.0 UVB, it will cover more area and give him more places to get the UVB.

I just had to do the same. I used a 60w daylight ZooMed bulb for the medium cage, but when I put it on the new XL cage, the basking area was only 76 . I got a 100w house bulb to use as the heat and got 85 degrees.

 

[AustinVermont]

Yes spare no expense ,just do it .The best on the market Arcadia

Arcadia D3 T-5 22 Inch 24 Watt *6% Forest UVB* The Original Reptile HO T5 In North America! this bulb??

 

[Peachypink]

Arcadia D3 T-5 22 Inch 24 Watt *6% Forest UVB* The Original Reptile HO T5 In North America! this bulb??

Yup, that would be it.

 

[AustinVermont]

Love this guy, he seems to like the forums to .... ha ha