SENEGAL questions. HELP!

[seahorse0210]

I am new at owning a chameleon, i have a senegal and am aware of everything it needs to survive and be healthy. I am just having problems doing this in a convenient way. First off I have a terrarium glass on sides, opens in front, and screened on top. I know this is not the ideal cage for it, but it is a baby and I will get a better one soon. The problem with this is the excess water at the bottom of the cage. I don't know what would be the best way to go about managing it. I don't even understand how you do manage it with screened enclosures. I don't want to cause my cage to become a breeding ground for bacteria, please someone help me think of a solution to my problem. Thanks. Also my senegal is eating crickets all the time, how many is normal a day???? Thanks

 

[Tygerr]

Go to Watering and drainage strategies
and read Heika's post here https://www.chameleonforums.com/people-using-utility-sinks-1676/

 

[seahorse0210]

thanks now does anyone know how many crickets a day to feed an 8 month old senegal????

 

[kinyonga]

I would feed her as many as she can eat in a minute or so....and then leave a couple of extras in the cage for a snack. Once she is approaching full-grown size, you can feed her less and every second day.

 

[stevereecy]

I am new at owning a chameleon, i have a senegal and am aware of everything it needs to survive and be healthy. I am just having problems doing this in a convenient way. First off I have a terrarium glass on sides, opens in front, and screened on top. I know this is not the ideal cage for it, but it is a baby and I will get a better one soon. The problem with this is the excess water at the bottom of the cage. I don't know what would be the best way to go about managing it. I don't even understand how you do manage it with screened enclosures. I don't want to cause my cage to become a breeding ground for bacteria, please someone help me think of a solution to my problem. Thanks. Also my senegal is eating crickets all the time, how many is normal a day???? Thanks

My first chamleon was a Senegal that I bought at a flea market. I then put it into an aquarium. A textbook case of doing everything wrong...buying a wild caught from an unknowledgeable seller, using an aquarium, etc. The weird thing is that he lived for a long time, and thrived. FWIW, I gave him enough food that I thought would have the volume to fill his belly every day...I visualized the size of his stomach.

I set him up with a soil floor about 3 inches deep, and I watered him by misting him with a pump sprayer. Never had any problems with fungus...maybe due to the microorganisms in natural soil and because I would always let the "cage" dry out before I turned it off at night.

What was odd about this set up was that the crickets started to lay eggs in the soil, so I would put dogfood down in there so the crickets wouldn't chew on the Senegal at night. Well, over time, the baby crickets hatched and ate the dogfood, and would go through their life cycle and lay eggs. Eventually, it was self-sustaining...so I only had to add water and cricket food.

Like I say, there was a lot of stuff I did wrong there...the aquarium, the dogfood, etc., but he lived a long time...I think almost 2 years.

The thing about aquariums is I swear by them for raising baby chams as a method for maintaining a good density of pray items and keeping the humidity up. I've never lost a baby ever if I put it into an aquarium while using certain parameters, and I can't be convinced that its improper for baby chams with the proper care. Go ahead and try to convince me.

Steve

 

[seahorse0210]

thanks so much, i am trying really hard to keep her healthy so positive feedback is definitely reassuring. She is 8 months old though I guess not really a baby about 2.5 inches long w/o her tail. So hopefully I feed her enough I just don't want to overfeed her! I also heard that Senegals drink lots of water and I try and try but I don't see her drinking! Is it just not that noticable or am I going to have to make her drink? I see her eat, i just don't see her drinking.

 

[Cherron]

I have a female veiled that is a secret drinker. She is almost 2 and I have seen her drink one time. Her urates are bright white though, her poop looks moist and her eyes are big and round, so I am sure that she has never been dehydrated. Sometimes they are just sneaky about things.

You probably aren't overfeeding her at all. She is still growing at 8 months. Just feed her as much as she will eat in a few minutes or until she loses interest.

As long as her poop looks good and there are no other signs of dehydration (sunken eyes, saggy skin) then she should be fine.