slightly freaked new owner

[Ren]

its a shame it takes someone so long to get right to the point, but its a even bigger shame that people obtain chameleons without knowing proper care, I guess there is no way to have a feel for proper care immediately unless you do a lot of research.

What the real shame is that pet shops and stores and such dont know enough themselves and put their opinions out and are not based on any facts and people that buy these animals dont have the facts to take proper care for them, and how would you go about getting directly to the point on a subject if you knew little to nothing about it? And another shame is that someone who may know a little more than others throwing it in someones face.. there is/are other ways of telling someone facts without being like hey dummy your killing your animal because you dont know what your doing, lets use a little sensitivity in the matter. He is probably reacting to information and keeping his chameleon based on what was told to him by teh previous owner and cant hold that against him... same could be to a person who keeps their dog on a chain in the backyard, All that being said, yes please do get her a egg laying site asap.. she needs it yesterday.. and you can modify enclosures to have some solid sides as well as screen to obtain proper humidity as well as heat for your cham as well... lots of stuff you can do, look into DIY enclosures and check some of the things people did in here for ideas and help just ask... good luck and let us know how it all turns out.

 

[pohchunyee]

its a shame it takes someone so long to get right to the point, but its a even bigger shame that people obtain chameleons without knowing proper care, I guess there is no way to have a feel for proper care immediately unless you do a lot of research.

You can't blame him or her for this. Petstore are to one to be blame. In order to make sales, they will sell you all sorts of things that are not needed for a chameleon. As far as consumer, we sometimes tend to listen to petstore owner since they are "more experience" and they should be since they are selling CB chameleons. I have some cheap DIY enclosure if you are interested only cost me $15 to build 1. These are what you need to build this tube cage.

1) 3' X 5' hardware cloth (1/4")
2) Multipurpose Tie
3) 14" plastic sauser
4) 14" surface saver ring

Equipment needed: ( I already have those)
1) Wire cutter
2) Hot glue gun

Unwrapped the hardware cloth and measure the length needed to make a cylinder (a little bit extra so that you can use a multipurpose tie to hold it in place). This is done by placing the 14" plant saucer at the bottom as a guide. Tie the cylinder in place using the muptipurpose tie. [see picture]

Then secure the plastic saucer to the cylinder hardware cloth using the multipurpose tie. [See picture]

Use the remaining hardware cloth and make a imprint of the inner circle of the 14" surface saver ring. Cut out the imprint and glue the hardware cloth onto the surface saver ring.[See picture]

And now just place the surface saver ring on top of the tube cage and you DIY cage is done.

Yeah my place is a mess right now, i am in a process of moving!!!! ARGH!!!!

 

[Tygerr]

Nice post Pohchunyee. What light are you using in that fixture? Is that for basking only, or are you using one of those compact flourescents for UVB as well? That's probably all you'd need for babies and youngsters.

I've done something similar before for creating temporary enclosures. You can also slide dowel rods end-to-end through the holes in the hardware cloth, and secure them with the cable ties to create simple but effective perches for your cham.

 

[kinyonga]

There has been bad information given to iamheavyd, as was already said....but right now its not important where the bad/poor information came from or why....what's important is the chameleon's well-being. That's why I stressed the importance of providing the egglaying place now. If she passes "her time" to lay the eggs she will be in trouble. (She may already be.)

If she is being feisty with you iamheavyd, put a wadded up cloth in your hand and let her bite on that....but don't pull it away from her....you don't want to damage her teeth. While she is busy with the cloth put the container in the cage for her to dig in. When empty the container should be big enough for her to fit into with at least a couple of inches of space on all sides, including above her. It can be filled 2/3rds full with washed playsand that is moist enough to hold a tunnel, but not sopping wet.

Once the egg laying problem is solved, then the cage issues and husbandry can be addressed.

If your other female was looking for a place to lay eggs too, then the same should be provided for her....and she should be in a separate cage.

If you don't have time to get a cage for the second female...go to the store and buy a 65 liter rubbermaid type container with a lid and cut a big hole in the lid and screen it over. Put the rest of the bag of sand in one end and add a branch or two. Put her in it, put the lid on and put a light over the screened part of the lid. Be aware that a closed container will hold the heat, so don't cook her.

If you are having trouble getting close to either of the females, you can encourage them to move onto a branch/stick and move them on that.

If you need any more information about any of this, please let me know.....and I will try post information later on proper husbandry and cage setup.

 

[pohchunyee]

Nice post Pohchunyee. What light are you using in that fixture?

I use the Zoo Med 100 watt Powersun UVB heat bulbs on it. It supply heat as well as UVA and UVB. (caution: I only use it for Veiled Chameleon; it is a very strong bulb.)

 

[iamheavyd]

hey guys and girls!! im happy to report that electra is happy and healthy ill post some new pictures in a few days

Thanks again guys and girls!!

ill be around

 

[kinyonga]

Did she lay the eggs?

 

[iamheavyd]

she layed about 10 eggs... but not in the dirt/sand mixture i put in... she layed them every where else except there...

 

[Will Hayward]

If she did not "lay" them by tunneling, then it is likely that there are still eggs inside her- which is dangerous to her health. One likely reason she is dropping them is because she did not have a place to lay, was holding them in and could no longer, and thus released them to ease the pressure. However its likely that not all the eggs were deposited, but rather just enough to release pressure on her body.

Remaining eggs may be palpated for, and Xrayed.

As far as cham keeping in Canada, There is little that we cannot do in a similar way to what the southerners do. There are plenty of us canucks on the forums to aide you for questions of which the answers may differ.

Keeping her outside this time of year is fairly safe if you assess the location and daily weather correctly.

 

[iamheavyd]

well she layed about 10 more after i quickly changed to the cage around... and then she dug out the hole she just layed the eggs in kickin them all over the place... i was so very confused