Proper Introduction & Questions

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Hi,

I've been meaning to make this post, but every time I sit down to do it, I get overwhelmed. I have so many questions and I hate to bother the community with them if the answer exists in a forum somewhere... so I have spent many, many hours reading and reading. I plan on being a part of this forum for many years, so an introduction to who I am and (more importantly) who my chameleon is, would probably be helpful and appropriate. I have asked a question or two already and know this community is helpful, loving, supportive, but also able to bring on the "smack in the face" if needed. I hope I never need it ... some of you scare me So first, here are my answers to the How To Ask For Help:

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Female Veiled "Ophelia", approx. 6 months. I've had her since 12/1/16. Petsmart told me she was 4 months at that time.
  
• Handling - I handle her almost every day. Sometimes it is just petting her lightly while she is in her enclosure, sometimes helping her get from her enclosure to the window, sometimes it is holding her (although, she is almost always on the move going somewhere), etc.
  
• Feeding - Ophelia gets a variety of feeders: dubia roaches, crickets, blue horned worms, nutrigrubs, she vomited after mealworms so after that first feeding I did not feed them to her again. I order the feeders online and keep them in feeder-containers - I feed the feeders a variety of food i.e. a homemade salad (mix of approved veggies and fruit), Cricket Crack, Dubia Chow, my roaches like cheerios, so sometimes I put in a few as a treat. I feed her in the morning and she has a feeder bowl for the nutrigrubs and small roaches, but for the medium roaches/crickets - she has to catch them. I also cut up a few veggie items super small and put them into the feeder bowl for variety, but she usually just picks around them. She is fed almost every day (no more than 2 days a week without a feeder and never 2 days in a row). 10 med crickets - or 10 small roaches and 10 nutrigrubs - or 5 med roaches and a couple crickets. I overfed her when I first got her - I'll admit that it was very exciting to watch her catch food and I assumed she would stop when she was full... I was wrong.
  
• Supplements - I lightly dust all feeders with ReptiCalcium without D3 every feeding (except the nutrigrubs, I read on the website they were already high in calcium??). Once a month, I dust her feeders with Repashy Superfoods Calcium Plus. I have a calendar to help me remember when her lights will need to be changed, her weight every week and when to give her vitamins. She currently weights 107g.
  
• Watering - I have a homemade version of the "Little Dripper" and it slowly drips 20oz. water for about 30-40 mins, 2x day (morning and afternoon). I have a ReptiFogger that is automated 4x day. I manually mist her 2x day for about 5 mins. I have never seen her drink when I manually mist her. She does "shoot" water drops, which I have seen many times, but I have not seen her take water from a leaf. I have seen her drink water out of the water collection cup (which was weird, but whatever). There is not standing water in her enclosure, the drip collector is poured out after the drip system is empty - then repeated in the afternoon.
• Fecal Description - From what I can tell, her poop looks normal and healthy. I have Googled more pictures of chameleon poop than I care to admit. Her urates are white and the poop is neither to dry or to runny. I have taken pictures of her poop if you'd like to see! She poops almost every day - probably closer to every other day.
  
• History - I do not know much about her history. I got her from Petsmart and it was an unplanned acquisition. My kids and I enjoy visiting pet stores and loving on their reptiles - we do it whenever we drive by one, if we have time. On this particular visit, we met this super sweet chameleon and the clerk told me that they had her since she was a baby. They had her on 50% off the week prior but since she was getting too big for a cage out front, they would have to put her in the back (she seemed genuinely sad for her) and as a last resort, they would try to adopt her out. I asked what that meant and she said - give away free. I said if that happened to give me a call and wrote down my number. She said - if my manager agrees, would you be willing to take her tonight. This is when my entire life change and was turned upside-down. I would never have purchased a reptile (or any pet and we've had many!) without doing research, learning about the animal and having a home prepared for them beforehand. But I was afraid for this chameleon and worried that an irresponsible individual would take her just because she was free and not care if she didn't thrive. She came home with me that night in a small cardboard box and I had no where to put her and had no information on how to care for her. Thank goodness for the internet and forums like this! Lifesaver!

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - This is difficult to describe - but I will do my best. I want to mention that I have on order a ZooMed Reptibreeze Screen Cage 24x24x48 and it is supposed to be here by 2/24/17. I'm very excited. But until it gets here, I have been using a temporary enclosure that I made from instructions in an article on the internet. Don't laugh. It is 35" in height and 17" in diameter. It is screen wrapped around a potted Camillia plant (organic potting soil).
• Lighting - The lighting is on a timer: on at 7:30am and off at 7:30pm. I set it to her natural wake and sleep time. I have a ZooMed dual dome fixture that sits outside the cage on the top of the screen. The highest spot (branch/vine) is about 5 inches below the actual bulbs. One is the ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 UVB and the other is ExoTerra SunGlo 75w.
  
• Temperature - I have two thermometer/hygrometer - one at the top and one at the bottom. The top temp is 80-85f with a fluctuating humidity between 50-70% (higher when the fogger is going, but no lower than 50%). The one at the bottom is 70-75f and the humidity is always right around 70%. Over night, the temp of the room stays around 70f, but I have a ceramic heater that probably doesn't do more than keep the chill away and I have it on just as a precaution. She usually sleeps in the middle/lower, but could (and has) slept closer to the top where it's a few degrees warmer).
• Humidity - See "Temperature"; also, since the bottom of her enclosure is a ceramic pot with a plant in it, it seems to keep the humidity fairly constant. If I have been gone for a few hours, when entering her space I can feel the humidity in the air around her area.
  
• Plants - I have several real branches, a store-bought vine, moss attached around the enclosure and the plant potted at the bottom is a Camellia. I have also put in her enclosure a Gardenia, but it was getting to much water, so I switched it out.
• Placement - Her enclosure is in my bedroom. The bottom of her enclosure is 3.5' off the ground and her basking area is another 3' up, so she is higher than I am when I stand next to her area. It is set next to a window - no vents, the ceiling fan is on only occasionally and it is not a high traffic area. I like her here because I love to watch her all the time and I spend most of my time in my room when I'm home. I've taken waaaaay to many pictures of her. I'm obsessed, I love her so much! If I didn't attach enough pictures (haha), you can see more on Instagram @opheliaeatsbugs
  
• Location - Torrance, California

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Current Problem - My current problem is ... where do I begin.... I am freaked out about her being gravid. I'm worried that I'm not caring for her properly (I know her enclosure isn't optimal, but I'm working on that), I don't know if her behavior is normal and/or how to read her signs. This is more difficult than I realized it would be (but that's okay, really). And I don't have anyone to ask or talk to. I hope I'm not coming off whiney, but maybe I'm worrying for nothing? or maybe she's on deaths door? I need someone to tell me that I'm doing fine... or tell me that I'm doing it all wrong so I can fix it.

I've read a everything I can find on gravid females. What I'm walking away with is - there are things that you can expect but no hard and fast rules to guide this process - every chameleon is different. I was really hoping for something etched in stone LOL. Even laying bins vary widely on what works. I did watch the vids in a thread and I could put one of them together no problem.
Question 1: Since the bottom of her cage is soil and is wet because of the drip system and seems to be, in general, the right dimensions of a laying bin, do you think it will work for her first time through laying her eggs? I have dug a few holes and the texture and density holds a tunnel. She is looking a little fuller (but not a bag of marbles by any stretch) and does not spend any time at the bottom of her enclosure (but maybe she has already checked it out and rejected it as an option??). Sometimes I think I can see an egg shape but can't really feel anything definitive when I gently palpitate her belly. I have not seen any pale blue colors. But if an experienced keeper could look at the recent pics of her and tell me that she needs something else set up for her ASAP, then I will get that done tomorrow.

Question 2: Her enclosure is secured at night and when I'm away. When I'm home, I take the front off. Sometimes she is ready to come out and practically jumps out on my hand. Other times, she will hang out in her enclosure. When she leaves the enclosure to go on a walk-about, she always heads to the same spots. Her favorites are wedged in-between the horizontal blinds looking out the window. Would a chameleon-whisperer tell me if she is looking for a better place to lay her eggs then what she has found in my room. Is that a strange question? Again, I am freaked out about her being gravid.

If you have read this far, bless you. I appreciate any thoughts, constructive criticism or comments.
Best,
Julie

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

My cage was upgraded, so I wanted to update my details. Hopefully, someone will be able to look this over and give me some feedback? - thanks in advance I have attached pictures of her poop yesterday. This is the first "non-normal" poop I have seen. Could someone tell me if her poop is normal?

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Female Veiled "Ophelia", approx. 7 months. I've had her since 12/1/16. Petsmart told me she was 4 months at that time.
  
• Handling - I hand feed her a few times a week. Sometimes, she will walk out of her cage onto my hand. If the weather is nice, I'll take her outside a few times a month. I now handle her less because I've read that they prefer to not be handled.
  
• Feeding - a variety of feeders: dubia roaches, crickets, blue horned worms, nutrigrubs. I feed the feeders a variety of food i.e. a homemade salad (mix of approved veggies and fruit), Cricket Crack, Dubia Chow. Every day she eats about 10-12 crickets - or 10 small roaches and 10 nutrigrubs.
  
• Supplements - I lightly dust all feeders with ReptiCalcium without D3 every feeding (except the nutrigrubs, I read on the website they were already high in calcium??). Once a month, I dust her feeders with Repashy Superfoods Calcium Plus. I have a calendar to help me remember when her lights will need to be changed, her weight every week and when to give her vitamins. She currently weights 107g.
  
• Watering - The Monsoon Rainfall system cycles every 2 hours for 30 seconds. I manually mist her 2x day 3-5 mins.
  
• Fecal Description - From what I have read on the Poop 101, her poop looks normal and healthy. She poops every other day.
  
• History - I do not know much about her history. I got her from Petsmart in Dec 2016. She has seemed healthy, active and happy. She does appear to be gravid at this time.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Zoomed Reptibreeze 18x18x36
  
• Lighting - The lighting is on a timer: on at 7:30am and off at 7:30pm. I have a ZooMed dual dome fixture that sits outside the cage on the top of the screen. The highest spot (branch/vine) is about 6 inches below the actual bulbs. One is the ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 UVB and the other is ExoTerra SunGlo 75w. They were both purchased in December.
  
• Temperature - I have two thermometer/hygrometer - one at the top and one at the bottom. The top temp is 80-85f with a fluctuating humidity between 50-70% (higher when the fogger is going, but no lower than 50%). The one at the bottom is 70-75f and the humidity is always right around 70%. Over night, the temp of the room stays around 70f, but I have a ceramic heater that is on just as a precaution.
  
• Humidity - See "Temperature"; I have a ReptiFogger that is runs for several times a day.
  
• Plants - I have several real branches, three store-bought vines, and 2 pothos.
• Placement - Her enclosure is in my bedroom. The bottom of her enclosure is 3.5' off the ground and her basking area is another 3' up, so she is higher than I am when I stand next to her area. It is set next to a window - no vents, the ceiling fan is on only occasionally and it is not a high traffic area.
  
• Location - Torrance, California

 

[Nursemaia]

Well you're off to an excellent start and I'd only tweak a few things.
1. The suppliments. The Repashy you're using is an all in one and can be safely used everyday so you can quit using the plain calcium and just use that all by itself. Or quit using the Repashy and use the plain calcium everyday, and a calcium with D3 and reptivite 2x a month on alternate weeks.
2. My preference for UVB bulbs are linear tube bulbs, you get better coverage with that kind. I'd make the switch to that type if you can
3. The Monsoon doesn't offer long enough misting times. Get a timer off of Amazon and plug the Monsoon into that timer, that way you can program whatever times you want. That's what I did when I had a Monsoon. I mist my veileds 3x a day 5 mins each time. When it breaks, it will, upgrade to a Mist King or a Climist misting system.
4. Unless the room gets below 55°F at night no heat is needed. The drop in temp is good for them at night. Helps them regulate metabolism.
5. Get a laybin set up and just leave it in her enclosure. She'll use it when it's time. I use a 5 gallon bucket for my girl. It needs to be deep at least 10-12 inches. I think she sits in the window because she likes it, not because she is looking for a place to lay.
6. I don't know what her enclosure looks like but in my opinion you can't have too many climbing branches and coverage. Make it look like a jungle.
7. That poop looks yellow which can be an indication of dehydration. Was that the entire poop?

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Thank you for your input!

1. So the daily calcium without D3 every day, but I need to add in a Reptivite WITH D3 every other week.
2. I can switch out to a linear bulb.
3. Monsoon on timer set to mist 3x a day for 5 mins... will do.
4. no need for the ceramic heater.
5. 5 gal bucket
6. here is a pic of her enclosure
7. yes, the entire thing. USUALLY, the yellow part in the pic is the brown fecal matter. The white part (urate) is always there and in the pic it looks white without much yellowing. But the brown part is not brown today... it's orangey.

 

[Nursemaia]

1. I wouldn't go out and buy more supplements. I would just use the Repashy every day and that's it. I was trying to explain the 2 ways people choose to supplement sorry if I didn't explain it clearly.
2. The longest you can set a misting for on a Monsoon is 2 minutes so to do it for 5 you're going to have to get a programmable timer from Amazon or Walmart. Then plug the Monsoon into that, turned off, and use the settings that you program into timer to turn it on and off.
3. The laybin should be half and half organic soil and either play sand or crushed walnut shells. I use the shells because I can buy a big bag cheap at Petsmart. It should be moist, not soaked, and tunnels should hold their shape when dug, put a stick in it for her to climb in and out of it. Fill it almost all the way and once she is ready to lay leave her alone and give her complete privacy. Do Not Disturb. She's looking a little round but she may not be ready to lay for awhile. She'll quit eating a few days before she does. It's hard but don't stress over it. I would get the bin ready asap so she has it when it's time.
4. Setup doesn't look bad. I'd personally still add more branches and coverage.
5. Did she have superworms or mealworms? That could explain the yellow. It could be undigested worm exoskeleton. One strange poop isn't too concerning though.

 

[Nursemaia]

That's my girl's setup. Laybin in the corner

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

Thanks for clarifying... that reptivite was in my amazon cart ready to go lol Repashy everyday, then. That's easy enough! Thanks

Yeah, it's a bummer that the monsoon max is 2 mins. Ophelia and I love it so much, we will be saving to get a MistKing.

No superworms or mealworms (she vomited the first week I had her from mealworms and I haven't given her any since). Usual feeders are BSFL and dubia roaches. I hate crickets - they are gross and messy to keep as feeders, imo but I just gave her some... maybe she ate too much, too fast? Well, I'll keep an eye on her poop. If one doesn't raise anyone's red flag, I won't worry.

I got this enclosure off Craigslist - I don't think it will hold a 5 gal. container I will figure something out asap. How long do I have... in your best estimate?

 

[Nursemaia]

I think if you move the plant over to the corner the bucket will fit into the other corner. She's only 5 months so I think you have a least a few more weeks if not a couple more months but I wouldn't hold off on getting it ready. Some lay as early as 4 months.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

I will try to make it fit - tomorrow's task Thank you thank you for your help/input

Do you think she is 5 mos? Based on what the pet store said, she should be 7 mos?

 

[JaguarShark]

I second that you are off to a great start. I think you have time before egg laying, she shows no sign that she is gravid (she is well fed though ). 7 months old is around about the time they will become receptive, sometimes earlier, sometimes later (depends on how hot and how much food, etc.).
She does look healthy, but I think cutting down her food just a little is a good idea - like start to feed her every other day soon. This will help her to have a smaller clutch when she does eventually lay.

 

[Nursemaia]

I thought I saw you say she was 5 months, my mistake. She does have big girl colors so 7 months does make sense. I don't think laying is imminent but it's still prudent to be ready

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

I second that you are off to a great start. I think you have time before egg laying, she shows no sign that she is gravid (she is well fed though ). 7 months old is around about the time they will become receptive, sometimes earlier, sometimes later (depends on how hot and how much food, etc.).
She does look healthy, but I think cutting down her food just a little is a good idea - like start to feed her every other day soon. This will help her to have a smaller clutch when she does eventually lay.

Here's a picture that shows more egg definition (possibly?) and less chub She always eats everything I give her and looks for more - she's a little piggy. But I did read that it could/would increase her clutch size. I'm the mom that just hates to see kids hungry But thanks for that suggestion. I'll try feed 2 days, 1 day off, feed 2 days...?

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

I thought I saw you say she was 5 months, my mistake. She does have big girl colors so 7 months does make sense. I don't think laying is imminent but it's still prudent to be ready

I might have been my mistake. I wish I really knew her age! I have been focusing on getting her new (current) enclosure set up so that, once the laying bin was in place, she wouldn't have to be moved to a new home. But now we are (adding in more branches/foliage) and it's time to do the bin! Oh... while we wait for her to get ready, I assume I will need to add water on occasion to keep it at an optimum moist/density?

 

[Nursemaia]

Hahaha she's angry. I love it. She's looking a little lumpy so she probably has some eggs developing. Yes, you'll have to moisten the laybin every so often.

 

[JaguarShark]

Yes that might (possibly) be an eggy bulge I guess ......... yeah no need to reduce food drastically, 2 out of 3 days for a while is fine.

 

[broderp]

For someone who bought this animal on an whim with nothing prepared, I think you are doing a great job. She looks very healthy and it shows that you care because you are putting the time and resources into making her habitat perfect. You also got up to speed on husbandry pretty fast.

"Thank you" is what she would say if she could talk!

She does look like she may be developing eggs. It gets easier once your use to the daily routine and care and have the things you need. Best of luck, please keep this thread updated. She's off to a good start.

 

[Nursemaia]

I wish more people were like you! More often than not they come here after a problem has developed but I think you're going to make an excellent Cham mom.

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

For someone who bought this animal on an whim with nothing prepared, I think you are doing a great job. She looks very healthy and it shows that you care because you are putting the time and resources into making her habitat perfect. You also got up to speed on husbandry pretty fast.

"Thank you" is what she would say if she could talk!

She does look like she may be developing eggs. It gets easier once your use to the daily routine and care and have the things you need. Best of luck, please keep this thread updated. She's off to a good start.

You just made my day - year! thank you.... I was definitely unprepared, that's for sure. I had no idea that they eat live things, develop eggs (without a male) and everything else but she was in a tiny cage and they were going to just give her away. What if someone took her and WASN'T willing to learn on the run? It made me so sad. And now, I'm breeding roaches and handling fly larvae! :shudder: :lol:

Thanks for the kind words and support this is her the night I met her... she's trying to get out

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

I wish more people were like you! More often than not they come here after a problem has developed but I think you're going to make an excellent Cham mom.

Thank you!!