Starting to worry
- Thread starter boosh96
- Start date
boosh96
Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon-He is a male bearded pygmy chameleon.I'm not totally sure how old he is, but he's about 2 inches long. He's been in my care for 19 days.
Handling-Once or twice a week. The last time I held him, I was taking him outside for some natural light.
Feeding-I feed him crickets right now, and he'll be fed fruit flies if I can ever get some. I let him eat as much as he wants to, as I've heard chameleons don't tend to overeat. Right now, the crickets are gut-loaded with spinach. I offer him food every day, and I remove the crickets if he doesn't eat.
Supplements-I supplement his crickets once a week with Rep-Cal powder with D3. As I said before, I take him outside for some natural sunlight when I can.
Watering-I give him his water by misting him. I mist for one minute, twice a day.
Fecal Description-His droppings have been firm-looking, all dark brown with a little yellowish-white thing at the end. I have not had him tested for parasites, but the guy isolated them for 3 months before introducing them to the rest of the group.
History-He is wild-caught. I know. I just asked the guy I bought him from, and I cringed when he told me. That was probably a mistake.
Cage Info:
Cage Type-He lives in a 10-gallon glass tank with a screen top. It is 20 inches long, 10 inches wide, and 12 inches high. The short sides are covered with construction paper on the outside to give him some extra privacy.
Lighting-Since he is a pygmy, he does not have any special lighting.
Temperature-The cage temperature is between 71 and 77 degrees. I let it fluctuate on its own, messing with the thermostat if it gets undesirable. The night temperature never drops below 67 degrees. Since he's a pygmy chameleon, he does not have a basking spot. He has a thermometer and hygrometer in his cage.
Humidity-The humidity stays at a consistent 85 percent. I maintain this level by misting twice a day and using coco fiber substrate. As I mentioned before, he has a hygrometer in his cage.
Plants-I use a pothos. The leaves are positioned to create hiding places for him.
Placement-The cage is placed nowhere near any vents. It is placed several feet off the ground, in a fairly low-traffic area.
Location-I live in Gladstone, Missouri.
Current Problem-I've seen him close his eyes a few times.
Your Chameleon-He is a male bearded pygmy chameleon.I'm not totally sure how old he is, but he's about 2 inches long. He's been in my care for 19 days.
Handling-Once or twice a week. The last time I held him, I was taking him outside for some natural light.
Feeding-I feed him crickets right now, and he'll be fed fruit flies if I can ever get some. I let him eat as much as he wants to, as I've heard chameleons don't tend to overeat. Right now, the crickets are gut-loaded with spinach. I offer him food every day, and I remove the crickets if he doesn't eat.
Supplements-I supplement his crickets once a week with Rep-Cal powder with D3. As I said before, I take him outside for some natural sunlight when I can.
Watering-I give him his water by misting him. I mist for one minute, twice a day.
Fecal Description-His droppings have been firm-looking, all dark brown with a little yellowish-white thing at the end. I have not had him tested for parasites, but the guy isolated them for 3 months before introducing them to the rest of the group.
History-He is wild-caught. I know. I just asked the guy I bought him from, and I cringed when he told me. That was probably a mistake.
Cage Info:
Cage Type-He lives in a 10-gallon glass tank with a screen top. It is 20 inches long, 10 inches wide, and 12 inches high. The short sides are covered with construction paper on the outside to give him some extra privacy.
Lighting-Since he is a pygmy, he does not have any special lighting.
Temperature-The cage temperature is between 71 and 77 degrees. I let it fluctuate on its own, messing with the thermostat if it gets undesirable. The night temperature never drops below 67 degrees. Since he's a pygmy chameleon, he does not have a basking spot. He has a thermometer and hygrometer in his cage.
Humidity-The humidity stays at a consistent 85 percent. I maintain this level by misting twice a day and using coco fiber substrate. As I mentioned before, he has a hygrometer in his cage.
Plants-I use a pothos. The leaves are positioned to create hiding places for him.
Placement-The cage is placed nowhere near any vents. It is placed several feet off the ground, in a fairly low-traffic area.
Location-I live in Gladstone, Missouri.
Current Problem-I've seen him close his eyes a few times.
boosh96
Member
If I didn't already make it clear, he only sinks his eyes in a little bit when he closes them. I've only seen him do it twice, and afterwards, his eyes brighten and go back out.
boosh96
Member
Could you point a few people who know about pygmies to this thread?
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
I know of a few but I have not seen them on here for a few days for whatever reason. You might want to start a new thread and call out for help from fellow Pygmy owners. If you use that for a title you might get more attention. Sorry I cannot be of more help to you!!!
I don't use D3 more than twice a month lightly. Here is some information that I hope will help to explain supplements and a few other things to you.....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.
Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.
Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).
If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).
Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)
Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)
Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.
Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.
Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).
If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).
Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)
Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)
Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.
