Set-up Help?

[nickmas]

Oops, as soon as I read your post I rushed to get her in the shower and yea, she didn't want to wake up. It was like she was sleep-walking but eventually opened her eyes and grabbed on with all four legs.

She hated the shower at first, was grabbing at the air trying to get something. She then calmed down in an area that was receiving a little more spray. She held on to the leaves nose down and closed her eyes for a while. At then end I put my hand near her and she came right over to me and climbed up.

I'll look up some vets in my area and schedule something as soon as possible.

 

[dodolah]

if she poops, put her poops in a ziplock bag and give it to the vet for fecal test

 

[Julirs]

Never disturb sleeping chams unless it is an emergency.

 

[Trace]

Do you really think it's much harder to keep this type than the veiled?

I've gone back and read thoroughly the posts at the beginning of this thread. Juli and Liz gave excellent advice on what to buy and use. Stay with that stuff.

Ultimately you can keep your girl the same way as a Veiled. The basking and ambient temperatures are pretty much the same. Humidity could be a bit higher for the Senegal than the Veiled. Brad Ramsay has an excellent site on the Veiled if you need a refresher on husbandry. http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

For now, don't get upset about the situation. Take things a step at a time. Start with the shower tomorrow, followed by regular misting sessions in her cage. It's great that she's eating crickets, feed her as much as she wants for now, she's probably hungry from her trip. Eventually you will want to limit her food intake, but for the next few weeks it's fine. Make sure her crickets are gutloaded and dusted. A trip to the vet is a good idea within the next week or two. Bring a fresh poo sample with you. She probably needs to be dewormed.

All of those black marks and scratches will disappear after a good shed.

I've seen much, much worse looking wild caught chameleons than your girl, so she stands a good chance of making it. Get her hydrated, get her to a vet for a check up and go from there.

Trace

 

[nickmas]

Lesson learned.

I noticed she pooped the first day, but I haven't seen or really looked for any since, but I will now.

 

[kinyonga]

I have kept quite a few WC Senegals in the last 15 years. I have found that generally they are not as difficult to keep as most people say. One of the main things is to make sure that you water them WELL. I have always kept them with a basking temperature in the low 80's and the rest of the cage in the high 70's during the day.

When I said "generally" not as difficult as most people say...this explains it a little better. They are almost always WC's still and most of them acclimate well and thus are not that difficult to keep. However, there are some that just don't seem to cope well with captivity and are thus, very difficult to acclimate. Hopefully you have one of the ones that do acclimate well.

Although many people say they have a heavy parasite load, I haven't found that to be true...at least, not in my experience...although I have seen a few that have worms under their skin.

I have never had a female produce eggs while in captivity...so you don't have to worry about them being on as restricted a diet like I do with veileds...but I still don't feed them to excess.

Good luck!

 

[nickmas]

Thanks Kinyonga. What is your watering routine for your Senegals? If you've successfully kept them it can't hurt to borrow from your formula.

Nick

 

[Kent67]

I have never had a female produce eggs while in captivity...so you don't have to worry about them being on as restricted a diet like I do with veileds...but I still don't feed them to excess.

That's good to know. I've got a female that will just eat and eat which had me worried about that possibility. I try not to overfeed her, but it's hard to resist sometimes.

 

[nickmas]

So I took my chameleon to a vet. I found a vet close by (Loving Care Medical Clinic in Illinois) that was recommended on another site by someone. It was pretty much a waste of time and money. Although the lady worked with lizards at a zoo previously, she was unable to identify my chameleon. She didn't even give me some possibilities. My cham got weighed, checked for mouth rot, and that was pretty much it. I mentioned that people believe it was wild caught and imported and she replied by saying there is really no way to tell. She didn't suggest doing any tests at all, for example a stool sample check. One very discomforting thing she said was that they don't see chameleons in too much because they often die. To me it felt like she was passing my cham off as insignificant. She also told me that using a mesh cage may not be a good choice because it is difficult to keep the temperature up and that I should mist three times a day for 15 minutes. It seems as if everyone on this website is in unison about the importance of mesh/screen cages and that misting does not need to be so long, so I'm skeptical about my visit. I feel like I didn't learn anything from her, a vet, and learned more on this website. After $60 and a half day of vacation down, I was on my way home with my cham.

Furthermore, I placed an order at LLL Reptile for a hood and light on the 7th but the order hasn't gone through although they promptly charged my card immediately. I went to PetsMart and bought a fixture with light and the 3-in-1 Mist'r Lizard. I got home, turned on the light fixture and two minutes later it goes out. I also tried using the Mist'r with zero success. I just went and read reviews, guess I should have done that first but who would of thought someone could fail at making a hand mister/sprayer? It says to just fill and pump 6-10 times. After 10 pumps I got a pfft, and that was it, no water. Maybe I did something wrong, but the directions are not clear enough for me to figure it out.

I'm pretty sure I've never been as frustrated in my entire life at something as I am with my whole chameleon experience. I love the chameleon I ended up with and this website has been a HUGE help, but it seems like nothing can go right for me.

 

[Julirs]

Don't get discouraged. You need to specify to a Vet-maybe not the one you went to, that you need a fecal done. I am suprised the Vet did not suggest it. This should be you next step esp. with a WC cham. Call LLL-I am sure your order will be there today or very soon, they are usually good about that. Return the stuff that you got from Petsmart. For one cham a hand mister will work fine or you can go to Home Depot or Lowes and get a cheap pump up mister-they work great.

 

[dodolah]

Not all vet is experienced with chameleon.
You probably know more about chameleon than her.
So, my suggestion is find another exotic vet that know what he/she's doing.

Don't get discouraged.
My first visit to a vet also ended up in a waste of time since she was just as clueless as I am. But, at least, she was good enough to admit that she knew nothing about chameleon and referred me to somebody that knows.

Take a deep breath
and relax. I'm sure you'll get through this.
I can see that you are a good chameleon keeper.
Frustrations mean you care.

So I took my chameleon to a vet. I found a vet close by (Loving Care Medical Clinic in Illinois) that was recommended on another site by someone. It was pretty much a waste of time and money. Although the lady worked with lizards at a zoo previously, she was unable to identify my chameleon. She didn't even give me some possibilities. My cham got weighed, checked for mouth rot, and that was pretty much it. I mentioned that people believe it was wild caught and imported and she replied by saying there is really no way to tell. She didn't suggest doing any tests at all, for example a stool sample check. One very discomforting thing she said was that they don't see chameleons in too much because they often die. To me it felt like she was passing my cham off as insignificant. She also told me that using a mesh cage may not be a good choice because it is difficult to keep the temperature up and that I should mist three times a day for 15 minutes. It seems as if everyone on this website is in unison about the importance of mesh/screen cages and that misting does not need to be so long, so I'm skeptical about my visit. I feel like I didn't learn anything from her, a vet, and learned more on this website. After $60 and a half day of vacation down, I was on my way home with my cham.

Furthermore, I placed an order at LLL Reptile for a hood and light on the 7th but the order hasn't gone through although they promptly charged my card immediately. I went to PetsMart and bought a fixture with light and the 3-in-1 Mist'r Lizard. I got home, turned on the light fixture and two minutes later it goes out. I also tried using the Mist'r with zero success. I just went and read reviews, guess I should have done that first but who would of thought someone could fail at making a hand mister/sprayer? It says to just fill and pump 6-10 times. After 10 pumps I got a pfft, and that was it, no water. Maybe I did something wrong, but the directions are not clear enough for me to figure it out.

I'm pretty sure I've never been as frustrated in my entire life at something as I am with my whole chameleon experience. I love the chameleon I ended up with and this website has been a HUGE help, but it seems like nothing can go right for me.