WC Melleri assistance please

[AJA]

I recieved my girl this past weekend and unable to contact the Melleri Discovery website to get some basic questions answered.

She looks okay, though a bit beat up. I free range her as much as possible but noticed that she has skinned herself up and was planning on getting some neosporin for her small abrasions.

The inside of her mouth is black (not the tongue) is this normal?

How often to you provide showers. I gave her two 15 minutes showers with tempid water. She didn't move around so I am assuming she is satisfied with them.

Her weight is 210 grams

Her coloring is usually green with yellow slashed with black dotting. However she has gone solid green - is this a happy color? She did this while in the shower.

She is 'lazy' when she eats. She waits until the menu item just about walks into her mouth. She looooves roaches and crickets are okay.

I will get photos up this week, but she has black smudges under her eyes like the paint a football player usues to deflect the sun. I haven't seen anyone else's photos with these on them? Damage to the skin?

I would be happy to call you on my time if you wish to discuss further care, just send me a PM.

While away, she is in a 6'x2'x2 enclosure, otherwise she enjoys free range outside.


I will continue to read more threads in this forum regarding their care, but was hoping to get these questions quickly answered.

Thank you

Edit: added one photo but I have better ones, will upload later. Can kind of see black markings under her eye

 

[Carlton]

Some melleri have black inside the mouth some don't. It may be normal coloration. The dark around eyes may be lingering signs of low level dehyration and stress. As she recovers her eyes should plump out and the dark "bruising" should lighten up.

Polysporin without pain reliever will help heal abrasions. I've read that Polysporin is a bit more compatible with herp skin than Neosporin. But, either should keep any infections under control.

"She" sounds as if she's going through normal acclimation. It will take some time to settle, so you are not seeing completely normal activity and behavior yet. Being quiet and not moving around much is a sign she's being cautious in her new space. If she's alert and watching everything and she's not showing a black pattern of spots over the green, and if moving her in and out of the shower doesn't stress her too much, she's doing OK. Melleri show black spots that spread to an overall dark color when they are extremely stressed. With newly imported melleri a really important thing is hydration...keep up the showers for as long a time as you can. Melleri can be slow to start drinking and drink slowly for a long time. Once you see her start swallowing and licking her lips, you can help things along by dripping water directly on her snout with a dropper. When their stomach is full they tend to tip their noses straight up and turn away from the water. But, they have small stomachs so will need drinks several times a day especially when they are recovering from the stress of travel, relatively poor care before you got her.

When she gives you a fecal, have a vet check for parasites. You'll want to know what is present so you can make an informed decision on what if anything to treat. You can't necessarily get rid of every type of parasite or drop the count to zero, but you can reduce something that is obviously out of balance.

There is a lot of great information on melleri coloration as a sign of health on the Melleri Discovery site. If you can, try to read through it.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

EDIT- ONE MORE THOUGHT: I was told they should have to move to get their food. Place it where she has to travel a bit to get to it. When she is hungry enough, she will. They won't necessarily eat right away. And they won't necessarily want to eat every day.

Here are a few answers, Amy, just taken from our experience. I just tried to call you and left a message.

Looking a little beat up is normal for newly imported WC.

Black mouth is completely normal for Meller's. I was shocked when I saw the interior of our first Meller's mouth.

Our's showed dark smudges under eyes from stress. At least that's what it appeared to mean. These should disappear as he/she is acclimated. If they appear again take it as a warning sign and try to determine what may be causing stress. (I agree with Carlton- dehydration may contribute to the black eye smudges as well)

We put Nolvasan on the raw rub marks, but prob any antibacterial will do.

Her/his colors look good. The solid green is prob a relaxed color while he/she is showering.

Ours don't generally move in the shower once they relax. We have auto misting shower heads in their free range. If I see them under these each day then I don't shower. If not, then shower a couple times a week. Meller's drink while showering, but also need the moisture on their skin. You can shower them for much longer than 15 minutes for initial hydration.

Again, these are my thoughts based on experience and also from communications with Kristina and info from the Discovery site. I don't know that the Melleri Discovery site is being monitored at this time. But it still has many layers of excellent detailed information, and does have fairly recent updates.

Sandy

 

[AJA]

Thanks Carlton. I did notice last night at the end of her shower she did put her head up and her foot up ( I call it the Kung Fu stance, and other people have referred to it as "leave me alone" stance) I have a two foot fake ficus branch I cart her around on and she takes her showers on to reduce her handling.

I still can not acess Melleri Discovery website...is it just me or is it down?



Edit: Thanks Sandy and Julie.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Thanks Carlton. I did notice last night at the end of her shower she did put her head up and her foot up ( I call it the Kung Fu stance, and other people have referred to it as "leave me alone" stance) I have a two foot fake ficus branch I cart her around on and she takes her showers on to reduce her handling.

I still can not acess Melleri Discovery website...is it just me or is it down?

I can't access the site this morning, either. I sure hope it hasn't been taken down. It's much too valuable. perhaps they are updating it. Anyone have any further information about the site? It was working over the weekend.

 

[Fearaffect]

Just dont put her in an Iguana enclosure......

Did u start/continue with the reptaid??

 

[summoner12]

hey rel quick.... she seems a bit light... but not too bad... give her lots of showers for now so she can drink. It will help her shedding too. Sorry short on time and can't read the whole thread. If you can shower her and feed her a bit she'll give you a nice poop that you can get a fecal with. do that asap and then see what she has and try to treat it.

ill get back after work.. later!

 

[chams1]

Just dont put her in an Iguana enclosure......

I beg to differ. I have been keeping Melleri for quite some time now and when the adults are not free ranging, they are in either an iquanarium/iguana kingdom or a gigantic parrot cage. They are fully loaded with ficus trees and/or schefflera along with large perches and vines. With these enclosures, they have been thriving for some time. As a matter of fact, the one adult female that is in the ginormous parrot cage (Newbie: the one that just laid eggs a few weeks ago) actually prefers the iguanarium over her cage. She often "wanders" over to that cage and picks out her favorite perch.

I'm just saying, you can't count these out as an option.

 

[Fearaffect]

I beg to differ. I have been keeping Melleri for quite some time now and when the adults are not free ranging, they are in either an iquanarium/iguana kingdom or a gigantic parrot cage. They are fully loaded with ficus trees and/or schefflera along with large perches and vines. With these enclosures, they have been thriving for some time. As a matter of fact, the one adult female that is in the ginormous parrot cage (Newbie: the one that just laid eggs a few weeks ago) actually prefers the iguanarium over her cage. She often "wanders" over to that cage and picks out her favorite perch.

I'm just saying, you can't count these out as an option.

And thats why I put her in one......but she continuously rubbed her body between the bars, and thats why she has the black bruising along her outside mouth and dorsal area isnt in the best of shape.
The other one did the same, but I shipped her out b4 she had time to do any damage to herself.
I tried free ranging her on my plum tree, but she quickly made a b-line for the ground and then wondered around my back yard......if the dogs were out, she'd be Chamjerky!!

 

[AJA]

Maybe I should name her Kizzy after the Roots saga; meaning "you stay put".

 

[Fearaffect]

Maybe I should name her Kizzy after the Roots saga; meaning "you stay put".

No doubt!!

How r things goin? everybody settling in ok??

I'd totally understand if u wanna ship the fuelleborni or tempelli back.........real hard to get acclimated........

 

[summoner12]

And thats why I put her in one......but she continuously rubbed her body between the bars, and thats why she has the black bruising along her outside mouth and dorsal area isnt in the best of shape.
The other one did the same, but I shipped her out b4 she had time to do any damage to herself.
I tried free ranging her on my plum tree, but she quickly made a b-line for the ground and then wondered around my back yard......if the dogs were out, she'd be Chamjerky!!

Sounds like she didn't like her range.... or was gravid and needing to lay. My Melleri don't wonder around unless the ambient temp is too high (above 84-86), we are in the living room (lenny likes to be alone so she'll head for the bedroom) or if lenny is gravid, then she wonders a lot. Henry never leaves his range unless its too hot... he pretty much just stays there and keeps an eye on everyone else. The other two melleri I have are in cages because they are juvis. and.... about having cats or dogs..... not good to free range chams in the same house.

Abuot rubbing... I find this to be an issue when the cage isn't set right for the cham.... they like them wide and with horizontal roosting spots. I don't get much rubbing with my two juvis... and when I did it was because they got too big for the cage.

Or maybe I just have perfect Melleri

 

[AJA]

I'd totally understand if u wanna ship the fuelleborni or tempelli back.........real hard to get acclimated........

You wish...you can have them back when you pry them from my cold dead hands....

okay, photos of Kizzy, coming up this week..honest!

 

[PardalisGirl]

Just saw this.....

I haven't been on the forum much. I just saw this. Congrats AJA on getting the Melleri. When you come to my open house you will get to see my six. They are all wild caught. Some are more "roughed up" than others. The five big ones should be living in their new free range by then. I've been going back and forth between housing them together free range or in a large parrot cage. I've had them out socializing for long periods of time together and they got along great. And the cats have no interest in them at all when they are out. I've been super surprised over that. I think their big size makes them less intersting than a smaller chameleon or gecko is to them. So I decided on free range. My lighting supplies, UVB meter and new Manzanita wood is arriving soon. I'm trying the Mega-Ray 100 watt low bulbs and the high lux 48" flourescents for general lighting from the same company. I've still got to buy the plants. And put the fixtures on the ceiling. I'm installing swivel par lamp fixtures for the 100 watt low bulbs. The lamps will be secure and I'll be able to change their position easily.

Your Melleri sounds pretty tame. I've got one that is still very shy about eating when I am in the room. Mine all got Reptaid for the first few weeks and all had parasites of one variety or another. I kept them in cages until they were all treated. Green is a happy color. Black and yellow are unhappy colors. And stress colors. Weigh her regularily to track her progress.

Congrats on getting your new girl. You will be fascinated by her!

 

[AJA]

Here are some photos of Kizzy when she is getting her showers. Melleri Discovery is still down for me...

 

[AJA]

She is 210 grams and 8 inches SVL.

 

[Sepioteuthis]

She is 210 grams and 8 inches SVL.

210 really isn't a bad weight for that size.

Good luck with him/her! I look forward to seeing photos of her once she's acclimated.

 

[Fearaffect]

HOLY MOLEY Amy! Well, Now I DO know not to use the Iguana cage for my next batch of Meller's

So sorry about that.......
I'll free range them in my room next time.........

 

[AJA]

I would like some guidence on the following:

This weekend, Kizzy went off feed. She had her eyes shut the entire weekend unless I bugged her enough to open them. She was eating and moving around previous to this. She has not dropped any weight since I got her, but has maintained.

I thought at first that she had some debris in her eye, but I don't think that is the case now since both eyes appear to be clear. She gave me a nice firm stool sample yesterday that is being tested today.

I am thinking she is depressed ??? I understand while in quarantine with another melleri she enjoyed its company, HOPEFULLY I will be getting a second melleri THIS WEEK. (caps are for emphasis to someone special on this forum...name withheld for propiety sake).

I give her a shower every day, but was told when she tilts her head up she is done with the shower. Sometimes she does this after five minutes or so. I went ahead and ignored her request yesterday and gave her a 15 minute shower until her colors were mellow green.

Is there a better time of day to give showers? I give mine at night.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Fearaffect]

Hmmm, sounds like she misses her cage mate...........I guess u better get on this "person" to send u another.......

I'm sure u'll be getting one soon......

What happened to your female werneri??