BostonBill3371
New Member
He was nasty today tried to bite me because I was working on his cage so I gave home some wax worms without dusting and he ate around 6 of them
Sign of MBD or typical baby behavior?
- Thread starter ConfusedHornwormGuy
- Start date
DeShawni Green
Established Member
I lol'd looking at your name when i read this.
ConfusedHornwormGuy
Avid Member
Confused about hornworms, not chameleons. Glad you were able to find some irony though. Any other input?
ConfusedHornwormGuy
Avid Member
Just another update. New lighting is here. My first batch of crickets died pretty quick, the new girl at the pet store gave me like 200 crickets and I asked for like 100 and they all died because they trampled the hell out of eachother. I picked up new cricket cages and cleaned out the old ones, apparently the dead bodies of crickets give off pheromones that kill other crickets that are still alive. New batch of crickets is doing much much better, 3 days and none dead and half of their food is already gone and drinking lots of water. Also gave my veiled some hornworms to help with hydration. Been catching both my veiled and panther hunting for crickets and dusting the crickets hasn't been much of a problem. Everything is going much better and my panther has stopped the behavior of resting off the branch with both of her legs hanging, as far as I've seen she seems to be using all of her legs and has plenty strength. She's been going through a shed the last few days and is a little grumpy and eating less because of it, but still eating. Overall they are both doing well and seem healthy, their droppings are also healthy and seem hydrated. Looking forward to seeing how big of a difference this new UVB lighting will make. How often should I be replacing these lights? Thank you again everyone for the help and advice.
chamoflage
Member
If you have the zoomed reptisun T5HO bulb, it should be replaced every 6 months and the Arcadia 6% bulbs can be replaced once a year. If you have a solar meter you can better track the UVI levels and replace based off that. That's what I've learned from the more experienced keepers here 
Klyde O'Scope
Chameleon Enthusiast
Both of those bulbs are good for a year.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/uv-lighting-question.179887/#post-1626144
chamoflage
Member
I remember reading that thread it was very interesting and do remember it coming across as fairly heated. I don't have the same experience level as many of the keepers here and was just sharing the information that was given to me (although eventually plan on getting a solarmeter to help ensure the bulbs are working appropriately to put my mind more at ease).
Thank you for re-linking it, tons of good info so newer keepers can make more informed decisions.
chamoflage
Member
That's really helpful information as it comes from your personal experience. Thank you
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
Granted that was a few years ago when Zoo Med used to recommend 6 months per bulb, but I think they’ve switched manufacturers and now recommend once a year. I haven’t tested them since but I’d rather be safe than sorry, and $20 twice a year for peace of mind is a good trade off for meThat's really helpful information as it comes from your personal experience. Thank you
Klyde O'Scope
Chameleon Enthusiast
I assure you it wasn't heated on my part, and still isn't.
Personally, I don't generally find anecdotal evidence persuasive—even my own, but if you do, that Reptisun bulb I spoke of back then in mid-December is still running at near full strength after 18 months.That's really helpful information as it comes from your personal experience. Thank you
So would I; that's why I bought a UVI meter, and believe they should be as standard equipment in this undertaking (keeping reptiles) as thermometers, hygrometers, and UVB lights & calcium supplements to prevent MBD.
ConfusedHornwormGuy
Avid Member
I think ill go with 12 months as that seems to be the average census. I'm sure over time as you say their effectiveness goes down, so it's probably best for me to pick up that meter so I can check proper levels later on when the lights begin to show their age. Thank you everyone.
chamoflage
Member
Thank you! Great to hear your personal experiences as well. Always good to hear from all the experienced keepers in my opinion.
Klyde O'Scope
Chameleon Enthusiast
We all have (access to) the experience(s) of everyone who's ever posted to this forum—55,343 members & 1,650,936 posts (not including blogs, other forums, websites, books, periodicals, scholarly articles, and more outside of this forum).Thank you! Great to hear your personal experiences as well. Always good to hear from all the experienced keepers in my opinion.
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
Just some cage tips here!
- Take the substrate out of her cage unless it is bioactive.
- She needs tons more live plants, tons more branches of multiple species and diameters (just none from toxic or sap-producing trees), and lots of vines (just no moss or Exo Terra vines)!
- Here are two great cage set-up links: http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2012/04/how-to-set-up-proper-chameleon.html and https://chameleonacademy.com/setting-up-a-chameleon-cage/
ConfusedHornwormGuy
Avid Member
Went easy on plants for now because she is still so small and the cage is large in size comparitively so I need it to be easier for her to find food until she's large enough to properly hunt for any crickets. I plan to add more shrubbery once she gets a bit larger, plus the live money tree which I have in there will grow quite large, I plan to add more flukers vines as well in the near future. As you can see my veiled has a good bit of shrubbery in there with minimal fake plants, I plan to go that route with the panther as well. Since she's a female I plan to put large rocks at the bottom of her cage with a little bit of substrate mixed in and then a lay bin with the play sand with a live plant in there for her to get in and also lay her eggs next to the roots. Hopefully that offers some clarification on my intentions for her setup, but right now I'm trying to be mindful of her age (still a baby, probably hatched like a month or two ago tops) and her size (pretty tiny).
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
Also, the waterfall needs to come out ASAP!
There's still space to add many more plants, branches, and vines. Her food bowl needs to be moved up into the upper third portion of her cage, as well.
ConfusedHornwormGuy
Avid Member
Waterfall does have a water filter and water is changed out frequently to avoid bacteria buildup. The other watering devices I was using off of amazon kept having the pumps burn out and it was honestly a fire hazard.
ConfusedHornwormGuy
Avid Member
Now if you have a recommendation for something better or different or if you can advise why this one I have now wouldn't work, maybe it'd give me more reason to switch it out with whatever you may recommend, but I can't see bacteria buildup being an issue with regular cleaning. Both chameleons I've seen drink from them.
chamoflage
Member
I use a little dripper and then fog at night for hydration. However I know a lot of other suggestions have been to make your own dripper by putting a small hole in a container where 1 drop per second comes out. The little dripper works okay in my opinion but you do have to tweak it fairly often. I clean mine typically once a week when I also clean my fogger. Hopefully that helps a little or at least gives a possible option.
