No nails!!!

[leolover]

I noticed that my 9 month old cham was falling from the side of his cage from off the screen recently. I took him out and was holding him and noticed that on one side of his "hands" he doesnt have any nails and then on one of his feet he doesnt have any either. I know that sometimes they can get ripped out but will they grow back? I touched them and they dont seem to hurt him I just know that will make climbing hard for him...

 

[jannb]

They do not grow back and can become infected. Keep a close eye on them.

 

[arkist]

How do you discourage them from climing on the walls of these screen cages though? I'm having the same problem, I havn't lost any nails yet, but he instists on climbing on the walls all the time and many of his nails are worn down now

 

[jannb]

Do you have alot of vines and a branch for him to climb on in the cage?

 

[leolover]

Yeah, I have a live ficus in there and the rest is pretty much branches and fake vines. But he still climbs on the screen. I was thinking about getting something with bigger holes in it that he could wrap his whole fingers around, but then I worry about crickets escaping... maybe if I got something with bigger holes and surrounded that with screen so that the inside has something that he can grab onto and then it is surrounded with screen to keep food from getting out? Would that work??

 

[Kat77]

How do you discourage them from climing on the walls of these screen cages though? I'm having the same problem, I havn't lost any nails yet, but he instists on climbing on the walls all the time and many of his nails are worn down now

It is natural and ok for his nails to get worn down. That should be fine, as long as they aren't pulling out.

LeoLover, what is the size of the enclosure you have and how old is your cham? Sometimes they do that when they don't have enough space and sometimes it just means they are getting "sexually frusterated" and coming of breeding age. Or it could be something else! Wish I had a Phd in Chameleon Psychology!

 

[jannb]

You could line the inside of you cage with the plastic chicken wire.

 

[skeeta]

Plastic grid ...

Here's what a slightly wider version of the "chicken wire" suggestion looks like. Skeeta loves it, and there are no sharp edges to give her trouble. You can get it in small rolls at your local building supply shop. Just attach it on 3 sides with those zip ties (also at the builders) and no more worries!

 

[leolover]

The Chicken wire is a great idea. Easyt enough. I do believe that it may have something to do with the size of his cage. I still have him in his baby cage that I got with him from the Kammers. My husband has been saying that he is going to build him a cage.... but has he... NO!!! And now my baby is suffering for it. I am moving to Colorado on thursday. When we get settled I will just buy him a new one. Right now it is hard because we are out in the middle of the Mojave desert and in the middle of NOWHERE so I cant just go shopping for a new cage... closest thing we have to shopping is walmart 45 minutes away! Will he be ok now that he doesnt have those nails??? Im so worried!!!

 

[Kat77]

The Chicken wire is a great idea. Easyt enough. I do believe that it may have something to do with the size of his cage. I still have him in his baby cage that I got with him from the Kammers. My husband has been saying that he is going to build him a cage.... but has he... NO!!! And now my baby is suffering for it. I am moving to Colorado on thursday. When we get settled I will just buy him a new one. Right now it is hard because we are out in the middle of the Mojave desert and in the middle of NOWHERE so I cant just go shopping for a new cage... closest thing we have to shopping is walmart 45 minutes away! Will he be ok now that he doesnt have those nails??? Im so worried!!!

How old is he? Yeah, those baby cages from the Kammers aren't meant to last you too long.
He should be fine with no nails, as long as he has lots of foliage and vines and things to climb on in his enclosure that are about the right size for his feet. If you notice him starting to fall off of his branches, you may want to line the bottom of the cage with papertowels to soften his fall, especially once you get him into a "big boy" cage.
Good luck with your move! Mojave Desert to Colorado will be a big change! Oh and hey, check www.lllreptile.com for cages, they almost always have nice cages on sale and your chances of finding a cage that nice in a petstore is VERY slim.

 

[leolover]

Yeah, I def need to get him a bigger cage.. i actually cant wait! I really want to make him a little forest jungle cage. Right now he has branches and fake vines and some ficus but I can tell that there just isnt much room to roam. He is 9 months now. Hatched mid Nov. He isnt falling off his branches, I just notice that he falls when he is on the screen, in which case he doesnt really "fall", he just slides down to the bottom, but you can hear him slide all the way down and hit the bottom... I feel so bad! I wish that he would just stay off the screen and stay on the branches.. that is why I was thinking about putting something that he could grasp with his whole finger, like the plastic chicken wire. That way he doesnt rely on his nails to hold him onto the holes of the screen. BTW... what about the move. That is a 17 hour drive!! I am moving with a rottweiler, a small tortoise, my chameleon and my 9 month old son.. not to mention my car packed with crap!! I am going to break down my chams cage and put him into a little plastic cage... vented top... I think about my cham surviving the 24 hour mail trip to my house.. but I worry about him now. I am going to stop half way there.. or a little more than for the night and finish early in the morning...I will make sure that I spray him down when I stop for gas. Should I keep him in front of a window for warmth?? Will he be ok? Any advise

PS... the dog will be upfront and cham in the back... no contact!!! LOL

 

[Eyal]

Yeah a bigger terrarium is more secure for the cham. My female veiledy is about 6 months and she's got a citrus tree to walk in its about 140 cm high and 85 cm wide. Dont know if you know the Centimeters?

Do like the rest of the world, get Centi, Deci, Meters, Kilometer, Mil and get rid of that inch and foot and feet and alllt that mess. , Any thoughts?

 

[THECHAMMAN]

i always use cm dm and the like with the people i know who also use the metric system. i think the citrus tree is fine.

 

[opihiman]

Avulsed toe nails are hard to avoid if you have a screened enclosure. I think the only way to really avoid this is to use a larger mesh size or to go free range.

To minimize this injury as much as possible is to give lots of cover ( hiding places) lots of vines to climb on. Also keeping your Cham higher rather than lower to the floor will keep him/her on the vines and off the screen.

If by chance your cham has avulsed a toe nail treatment would be like if you got a cut. wash and clean. with topical antibiotics (neosporin) and repeat may twice a day till closed.

My cham has lost about 7 of his toe nails, all from the things that I listed above. I made those corrections and haven't had an issue since.

Hope that helps

OPI

Good luck on your trip

 

[leolover]

yeah, his nails all look to be closed... no issue with infection... they look to be healed... I wonder how long ago he lost them! He seems to do fine now. I guess he will just have to learn to do with out them... thanks for all the advice!

 

[opihiman]

good to hear...but just in case you should just keep an eye on the feet for a few weeks. just to make sure

Good luck

OPI