Normal growth?

[dlegare]

I'm curious if this guy is the right size for a Cham born on 8 Sept 2010? He's eating like a little piggy but as this is my first baby Cham I thought I ask.

Pic take today 1/30/2011



Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Nosy Be Panther male born 9/8/2010 has been in my care since 16 Dec 2010 purchased from Screameleons
Handling - Ist time handled was for the pic you see above.
Feeding - Eating 1/4" crickets dusted with rep-cal with D every other feeding and Herptivite twice weekly. Eating 15 to 20 daily Crickets fed Cricket Crack, gut loaded day before with apples, bananas, collards, carrots, apples.
Supplements - Rep-cal with D every other feeding. Herptivite twice weekly
Watering - Automatic misting system (Mist King) delivers 1.5 min misting 1 hr after lights on and every 3 hrs at 45 seconds per interval. Last interval 30 seconds 45 min before lights out. Hand misting 2 to 3 times daily. Seen drinking almost daily.

Fecal Description - Normal color dark brown fecal with white urates. No visible insects in feces. Fecal tested negative week of purchase.

Cage Info: 20x18x12
Cage Type - screen cage
Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 uv 60wat basking lamp
Temperature - basking site 85 to 89 directly under lamp. Day time ambient temp 76 to 85. Night ambient 65 to 77
Humidity - cage minimum over 7 days 45% averaging 54% with peak at 88 after mistings.
Plants - No live plants yet. Setup is as directed on Screameleons web site with the addition of Mistking mister.
Placement - Cage is located in a dedicated reptile room with supplemental heating and cooling to maintain min temp of 65 and max of 85.

Current Problem - Concerned about growth rate. Every thing else seems fine.

 

[Olimpia]

Well the first thing I notice off the bat is that your supplement schedule is a bit off. You want to give:
1. Phosphorous-free calcium without D3 for most feedings
2. Phosphorous-free calcium with D3 lightly about twice a month
3. Multivitamin lightly about twice a month as well.

Too much D3 can lead to problems, like actually preventing calcium absorbtion if I remember correctly. Not enough is a problem, but too much is also a problem, so the key is finding a balance.

 

[dlegare]

Any benefits of using Rep-cal vs Minerall? I have both types with and without d-3

 

[ChamDuke]

What's up dlegare? Everything honestly looks good with him in my opinion. I say this because I'm practically in the same boat as you. I got my little Nosy Be Panther male from Kammerflage Kreations around the end of January. He was born in October 2010 and since I am writing this post on Feb 15th it makes my guy around 4 months old as well. He is eating the same size crickets as yours is and I just started mixing in a few mini mealworms here and there the past 6 days. Crickets are gutloaded with Fluker's Calcium Fortified Feeder along with Potatoes and Oranges until I get some Cricket Crack. I have a MistKing mister but haven't completely set it up yet and have just hand misted since I've gotten him. My humidity is around 45-60, and I also have a screen cage basically same size. I have one live plant in mine and it's a Ficus. It has been a wonderful plant and I recommend getting one as your main live plant.

Everything seems fine except for the supplementing like Olimpia said which you can easily change since you haven't had him long at all. Having mentioned all that, your cham LOOKS JUST LIKE MY GUY so don't worry. Mine even has the same type of coloration as yours does at this very moment. Nothing too blue yet but he does show his white line across the body pretty well. My guy has his stripes showing if I scare him or make him nervous like yours does in the picture you included. But don't worry man, all seems well. Just pay attention to his poop, his casque, and his maintenance of eating.