What does it mean?

longlostlotrelf

New Member
No not a double rainbow XDDD....if any of you have seen that video.


I wanted to know if there is any meaning to the tail curling up in a neat little spiral when they sit somewhere? Does it mean they are content? Or does it have no meaning at all?


Little Pascal has been with me since December 4th. I posted a thread on here and you guys have been very helpful. So here's my stats so far...

Baby sized cage. I know it's about 15" across. and it is a tall screen cage.
Bonsai Tree and two fake Ficus plants, until I can get the real stuff.
60 W Day Blue Basking Bulb, that keeps the basking spot at 82 degrees.
One 3 foot vine wrapping around the top.
Little Dripper
and a Habba Mist machine set to go off every 3 hours for 30 seconds.

Now I went through a ton of drama with the UVB bulb...first I bought a non spiral one...but it was a light that had a fixture specially made for it. I bought both I don't remember what brand it was now....so I was told it was bad...I took it back and picked up a Zilla bulb and was told that was bad...so now I'm waiting for my Repti Sun 5.0 tube in the mail which will be an 18 inch bulb which I'm going to pop in the Zilla fixture.

The Chameleon is without UVB till the 14th of December but I was told that would be alright. I did give a D3 vitamin on the 4th with the first feeding in it's new home. I did put crickets in and they have been disappearing so I'm pretty sure she eats but just not while I'm in the room.

This has become another issue with worms. She focuses on my hand and not on the worms and won't eat them though the first day she ate a wax worm right out of my hand. If anyone has any ideas on how to get her interested in worms? That would be awesome. Unless she'd be better off without them.

She goes and drinks on her own and while she turned brown a few times on the first day now she is always green. Is this a good color for a Senegal? Is brown an indicator of stress?

I'm taking her sample in next week to be checked for parasites. I don't get paid till next week and I blew all my money on her multitudes of UVB lol.
 
First off, you can feed her worms, just do so in moderation. Treat it as a snack every now and then... because if you over-do it, it can cause impaction. Not too sure about how to get her interested though.

Secondly I am pretty sure darker colours are an indicator of stress. IMHO her being green is a good sign.

Don't rely on my answer alone though, I'd wait for a more experienced keeper to chime in before you take my advice -I'm still new in the world of chameleons.

Good luck,

Steve
 
First off, you can feed her worms, just do so in moderation. Treat it as a snack every now and then... because if you over-do it, it can cause impaction. Steve

Soft bodied worms such as silkworms, butterworms, and phoenix worms would not cause impaction although mealworms and superworms could. supers should be fed once in a GREAT while as treats. mealworms should not be fed at all.

Chams can be fed a diet consisting of all worms but just make sure you offer different types of worms. Certain worms have a much better calcium-phosphorus ration than your average cricket, roach,etc. (which is why we dust them.)

If i may suggest, try feeding her a nice green and wiggly hornworm. That has yet to fail to get my chams to eat. :)
 
Soft bodied worms such as silkworms, butterworms, and phoenix worms would not cause impaction although mealworms and superworms could. supers should be fed once in a GREAT while as treats. mealworms should not be fed at all.

Chams can be fed a diet consisting of all worms but just make sure you offer different types of worms. Certain worms have a much better calcium-phosphorus ration than your average cricket, roach,etc. (which is why we dust them.)

If i may suggest, try feeding her a nice green and wiggly hornworm. That has yet to fail to get my chams to eat. :)

Any idea why they curl their tails in that nifty little spiral when sitting in one spot?
 
In my experience, the Senegals and to a certain extent my F1 critters don't recognize many of the captive produced worms like the supers and silks as prey. Maybe it's because they haven't come across them in the wild before? Who knows. Initially she probably ate that wax worm because she was probably just plain hungry. The collection, shipping and dispersal of these WC specimens is deplorable. Senegals do like crickets, roaches and house flies. In fact most chameleons can't resist a good fly. Perhaps my American friends can suggest a good place to buy the maggots. Another thing I've noticed with WC's is they will take green bugs. You can try dusting the worms in Spirulina power. Spirulina is chock full of vitamins and minerals which are also good for the chameleon and once a week I do a feeding dusted solely in Spirulina. You should be able to find the powder in health food stores and the like. It's very inexpensive and you don't need a lot. And one final thought on the Senegals and feeding and I think I said this before to you, they don't have big appetites so you don't have to feed large amounts of bugs every day. They can self regulate.

To me the curly tail means relaxed. Same deal with the plain overall green. An overall darker colour means they are basking and warming up; you may even see one side darker than the other to absorb the heat. Brown or black spots on green is mad or stressed. Green mixed with yellow dots and/or a general bright overall yellow means receptive. They look like a walking banana!

While I'm sorry you had to buy so many UV bulbs, waiting on the fecal is good. The stressors of the importation process is difficult. Adding the deworming meds (which are basically a poison) right away can negatively turn an acclimating chameleon to a dead one. The meds go in, the worms die, and create a toxic soup in the intestines and a stressed, non-eating animal can't pass that. I like to let the animals settle into captivity are feeding and drinking well and then a few weeks later hit them with Panacur. They are seemingly stronger and can handle the medications better if they are healthier, relaxed and acting normally. Until it's time for the fecal I make sure they get plenty of water every day by extra misting sessions and showers. Hydration is key and the extra water does not hurt. Handling should be kept to a minimum.

Have fun with little Pascal.
Cheers,
T

FWIW; I have not seen the double rainbow video.
 
"double rainbow all the way across the sky!!! ohhhhhh its so intense"

thanks for the coloration explanation trace. give me more insight on my little guy's moods.
 
I'd assumed it was to keep the tail close to the body so it was less likely to be mistaken for a vine by another animal. I'll note that I recently bought a captive bred fischers and he rarely has a substantial curl to the tail. It's only curled when it's wrapped around something. I doubt that means much but I thought I'd toss it out there.
 
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