PenelopeGarcia
New Member
First, thank you so much to anyone taking the time to read this! Here is our form!
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Penelope Garcia, is a veiled chameleon who is approximately 4 months old (grain of salt based on the fact that she came from Petsmart) She is suppose to be a female but I am not sure about that and she is approximately 4.5-5.5 inches long from tip of nose to start of tail
Handling - We just brought her home on Saturday, December 21, 2013 so we placed her in her habitat and I have made minor adjustments having to move her one time. She is not at all aggressive and yesterday we attempted to have her leave her branch for my hand but she didn't want to and we didn't force the issue as we are trying to help her through the adjustment phase.
Feeding - We tried to feed her for the first time on Sunday, by placing 10 crickets from Petsmart in her cage. At the end of the day before her light was due to go out, we removed all 10 crickets. On Monday, the same situation. On Tuesday, after reading details on this site (looking for assurance that her not eating was normal for a new chameleon in a new environment), I dusted her crickets with Calcium (no D3) and placed 10 crickets in her cage. They were gone by noon (placed inside at 7:00am), so we added 5 more and she ate those also. That was the first day we saw feces too, and according to the poop sticky, her poop is normal. Today we added 15 calcium dusted (no D3) and she ate those and around 2:00 this afternoon she was on the bottom of her enclosure (we had never seen her do this before) very dark green in color with almost a few blackish stripes. She was just prowling around. As she crawled back up, her color got lighter and she is perched up on a higher branch as I type. I added 5 more crickets under the theory she was looking for food. She had a normal poop today also. Tomorrow I plan on placing some blueberries and apples in her enclosure along with the crickets but am unsure how small to cut these pieces. About the crickets, we buy them at Petsmart and I put some orange cricket cubes in the cricket keeper and today, based on what I read I put in some squash and some blueberries along with those cubes. I have been reading the gut loading articles and will start to incorporate that into our cricket care. I do have some meal worms but based on what I have read, that is the McDonalds of food, but is it okay to offer that once a week so she does not get bored?
Supplements - Right now we only have Calcium and Calcium with D3 which we have not used yet but are planning on using on the 15th and last day of each month. Dusting her daily feed with just calcium and the brand is ExoTerra. Definitely could use additional guidance in this area of chameleon care.
Watering - We are using a zoo med misting system set for every 6 hours and spraying for 60 seconds. When this happens the humidity increase to around 50%. So I also hand mist three times a day and the humidity increases to 70% during that time, but the leaves do dry out and the humidity will dip in the mid 20s to low 30s in the hours following the "non" spray times. This is a huge concern for me as I think the air in our home is dry and I tried a cool mist vaporizer the first few days by the enclosure but it made zero difference, which is why I went to hand misting. (Morning, afternoon and before light goes out)
Fecal Description - as stated in the feeding sections, this seems normal
History - I made my daughter (she is 11) research for this chameleon since August before allowing her to make this purchase. We set up the habitat and made sure all systems were working before the chameleon was brought home. It was my desire to purchase one from a breeder but she saw one at Petsmart on Saturday and I let her get it since the habitat was already established
Cage Info:
Cage Type - She is in a Reptibreeze 18 X 18 X 36 screened cage
Lighting - we are using a ZooMed Combo Deep Dome light for her lighting. She has one infrared light that we use all the time for warmth (it is pretty cool in the room she is in) and we had to tinker with the bulb on that side for the first two days to get it right but she has a 50w bulb in and it stays on all the time. It does have a deep purple glow at night....does this bother the sleep cycle??? It does not seem too, she sleeps the whole time, (I have been quietly checking on her the first few night). The second light is a ZooMed Repti-Sun UVB 5.0 Mini Compact Florescent. This is on a timer and comes on at 6:15 AM (our sun up) and goes off at 6:15 PM. The room she is in also has 4 very large windows and the room gets a ton of light.
Temperature - Middle of cage temp is around 72 with the top 1/4 staying at 74-76 and her basking spot is at 88. The bottom of the cage is around 68. At night, I do take a small metal lid and prop up the infrared side of the lamp about an inch and it cools down the temps about four degrees at the middle and top but the bottom is consistent as it is the room temperature. I am measuring those temperatures with two digital thermometers that is mounting 6 inches below the lamp (it is on the basking spot branch) and one about 10 inches below that. I moved the thermometers around the first few days until I was getting consistent readings.
Humidity - This is where we are struggling. The humidity with the auto misters grows to 50% around the time of misting, the leaves dry and the humidity drops to the 20-30s. So I started to hand mist also and this creates and even greater increase, but it is not permanent. She does not care for the hand misting and tries to hide...lol. I have the misting system nozzle about 6 inches below the top of the cage (opposite her basking spot) and direct it down so it does not go outside the enclosure. Is this fluctuation ok or should I cut panels of shower curtain on 3 sides to keep is moister all the time?
Plants - I have 4 pots of live plants in the bottom of the enclosure. I am embarrassed to say I do not know what kind they are but I did buy them from Petsmart and the girl there (who I have been discovering as we correct mistakes may not be as knowledgeable as I thought she was) said to just make sure they said "subaquatic" I am 100% open to replacing all of these, they are in clay pots and they are planted in coconut fiber but placed smaller rocks on the top so she would not get any in her mouth. I have two long twisty vines that are also covered with artificial vines and I gave her two really good hiding places and her basking spot is shielded also so she is not exposed when there. I do not use anything on the bottom other than a single layer of paper towels, which stay wet all the time.
Placement - The cage is not in a high traffic area (a loft of an upstairs but on a wall that she can't see people go up and down the stairs) It is not under a vent and the top of the cage is about 6 feet from the ground as it sits on a 3 foot tall cabinet. There are 4 large windows in that room and I open the blinds during the day for warmth and sunlight and the window have tree view only. (like being in a tree house) We live in Austin, Texas. Everyone wants to watch her, but in an attempt to get her to eat we have had a "no viewing" policy in place the last few days and that seems to have worked
Current Problem - We don't have any direct problems, but just a few "not sure if this is right" issues that we are trying to work out before we do have a problem. I am also at a loss about the egg laying thing and when I should expect that and what I should offer her to make her happy during that time.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Penelope Garcia, is a veiled chameleon who is approximately 4 months old (grain of salt based on the fact that she came from Petsmart) She is suppose to be a female but I am not sure about that and she is approximately 4.5-5.5 inches long from tip of nose to start of tail
Handling - We just brought her home on Saturday, December 21, 2013 so we placed her in her habitat and I have made minor adjustments having to move her one time. She is not at all aggressive and yesterday we attempted to have her leave her branch for my hand but she didn't want to and we didn't force the issue as we are trying to help her through the adjustment phase.
Feeding - We tried to feed her for the first time on Sunday, by placing 10 crickets from Petsmart in her cage. At the end of the day before her light was due to go out, we removed all 10 crickets. On Monday, the same situation. On Tuesday, after reading details on this site (looking for assurance that her not eating was normal for a new chameleon in a new environment), I dusted her crickets with Calcium (no D3) and placed 10 crickets in her cage. They were gone by noon (placed inside at 7:00am), so we added 5 more and she ate those also. That was the first day we saw feces too, and according to the poop sticky, her poop is normal. Today we added 15 calcium dusted (no D3) and she ate those and around 2:00 this afternoon she was on the bottom of her enclosure (we had never seen her do this before) very dark green in color with almost a few blackish stripes. She was just prowling around. As she crawled back up, her color got lighter and she is perched up on a higher branch as I type. I added 5 more crickets under the theory she was looking for food. She had a normal poop today also. Tomorrow I plan on placing some blueberries and apples in her enclosure along with the crickets but am unsure how small to cut these pieces. About the crickets, we buy them at Petsmart and I put some orange cricket cubes in the cricket keeper and today, based on what I read I put in some squash and some blueberries along with those cubes. I have been reading the gut loading articles and will start to incorporate that into our cricket care. I do have some meal worms but based on what I have read, that is the McDonalds of food, but is it okay to offer that once a week so she does not get bored?
Supplements - Right now we only have Calcium and Calcium with D3 which we have not used yet but are planning on using on the 15th and last day of each month. Dusting her daily feed with just calcium and the brand is ExoTerra. Definitely could use additional guidance in this area of chameleon care.
Watering - We are using a zoo med misting system set for every 6 hours and spraying for 60 seconds. When this happens the humidity increase to around 50%. So I also hand mist three times a day and the humidity increases to 70% during that time, but the leaves do dry out and the humidity will dip in the mid 20s to low 30s in the hours following the "non" spray times. This is a huge concern for me as I think the air in our home is dry and I tried a cool mist vaporizer the first few days by the enclosure but it made zero difference, which is why I went to hand misting. (Morning, afternoon and before light goes out)
Fecal Description - as stated in the feeding sections, this seems normal
History - I made my daughter (she is 11) research for this chameleon since August before allowing her to make this purchase. We set up the habitat and made sure all systems were working before the chameleon was brought home. It was my desire to purchase one from a breeder but she saw one at Petsmart on Saturday and I let her get it since the habitat was already established
Cage Info:
Cage Type - She is in a Reptibreeze 18 X 18 X 36 screened cage
Lighting - we are using a ZooMed Combo Deep Dome light for her lighting. She has one infrared light that we use all the time for warmth (it is pretty cool in the room she is in) and we had to tinker with the bulb on that side for the first two days to get it right but she has a 50w bulb in and it stays on all the time. It does have a deep purple glow at night....does this bother the sleep cycle??? It does not seem too, she sleeps the whole time, (I have been quietly checking on her the first few night). The second light is a ZooMed Repti-Sun UVB 5.0 Mini Compact Florescent. This is on a timer and comes on at 6:15 AM (our sun up) and goes off at 6:15 PM. The room she is in also has 4 very large windows and the room gets a ton of light.
Temperature - Middle of cage temp is around 72 with the top 1/4 staying at 74-76 and her basking spot is at 88. The bottom of the cage is around 68. At night, I do take a small metal lid and prop up the infrared side of the lamp about an inch and it cools down the temps about four degrees at the middle and top but the bottom is consistent as it is the room temperature. I am measuring those temperatures with two digital thermometers that is mounting 6 inches below the lamp (it is on the basking spot branch) and one about 10 inches below that. I moved the thermometers around the first few days until I was getting consistent readings.
Humidity - This is where we are struggling. The humidity with the auto misters grows to 50% around the time of misting, the leaves dry and the humidity drops to the 20-30s. So I started to hand mist also and this creates and even greater increase, but it is not permanent. She does not care for the hand misting and tries to hide...lol. I have the misting system nozzle about 6 inches below the top of the cage (opposite her basking spot) and direct it down so it does not go outside the enclosure. Is this fluctuation ok or should I cut panels of shower curtain on 3 sides to keep is moister all the time?
Plants - I have 4 pots of live plants in the bottom of the enclosure. I am embarrassed to say I do not know what kind they are but I did buy them from Petsmart and the girl there (who I have been discovering as we correct mistakes may not be as knowledgeable as I thought she was) said to just make sure they said "subaquatic" I am 100% open to replacing all of these, they are in clay pots and they are planted in coconut fiber but placed smaller rocks on the top so she would not get any in her mouth. I have two long twisty vines that are also covered with artificial vines and I gave her two really good hiding places and her basking spot is shielded also so she is not exposed when there. I do not use anything on the bottom other than a single layer of paper towels, which stay wet all the time.
Placement - The cage is not in a high traffic area (a loft of an upstairs but on a wall that she can't see people go up and down the stairs) It is not under a vent and the top of the cage is about 6 feet from the ground as it sits on a 3 foot tall cabinet. There are 4 large windows in that room and I open the blinds during the day for warmth and sunlight and the window have tree view only. (like being in a tree house) We live in Austin, Texas. Everyone wants to watch her, but in an attempt to get her to eat we have had a "no viewing" policy in place the last few days and that seems to have worked
Current Problem - We don't have any direct problems, but just a few "not sure if this is right" issues that we are trying to work out before we do have a problem. I am also at a loss about the egg laying thing and when I should expect that and what I should offer her to make her happy during that time.
