What's wrong with Kami? Please help!!

[DavidBuchan]

Thanks for the schedule I wasn't following this but I will now. Calcium with d3 am I supposed to dust one cricket twice a month? And for the multivitamins whats the brand name? How do you check humidity and what should it be at? And thanks, I hope she's just jumpy cause of the earthquake.

Dust one days worth of crickets, twice a month. Any shop that sells reptiles will have some kind of multivitamin for lizards, most will be good for chams, just don't get one especially for carnivores.
To check humidity and temps you need digital thermometer/ hygrometer (the analogue ones are generally useless). I'm not sure on the exact details for a senegal, but you will be able to find the info on the forum somewhere........

 

[Carlton]

Thanks for the schedule I wasn't following this but I will now. Calcium with d3 am I supposed to dust one cricket twice a month? And for the multivitamins whats the brand name? How do you check humidity and what should it be at? And thanks, I hope she's just jumpy cause of the earthquake.

I doubt an animal that evolved to live in constantly moving bushes and trees would even notice an earthquake. Even if low frequency sound waves resulted I doubt a cham could detect them if above the ground.

 

[OliviaM]

lets make sure you are using the correct lighting. Neither one of your lights should be purple. A ordinary white housebulb for basking, say a 40 watt or so(not sure what senegals bask at, so maybe research that). We need to make sure the UVB light you have is correct and not a desert series or something. See if you can find out exactly what you are using. Your UVB should be a white light also. So which one is purple?

Ok so here's the lights i use (I have never owned a cham before so this is what the reptile store reccommended):
50W moonlight; it says night glo on the box and the brand is exo terra.(this is the purple one)
13W desert terrarium lamp; repti glo; and its also exo terra.
I read the box a few minutes ago and the moonlight is supposed to stimulate natural moonlight, and provides tropical night time temperatures. So i'm thinking mayb I should use this one and this one only at night, and the other during the day.

 

[OliviaM]

You also shouldn't be feeding her many mealworms. They're a bad staple choice. They're low in nutrition and their shell can cause constipation, get crickets or dubia roaches.

Yea I realized that the other day and was freaking cause i've been feeding her more of them than I should. But no worries, I wont ever make that mistake again. Btw I love your picture

Heres a picture of her tail. I'm thinking she's actually a boy cause her tail is wide and her splotches have triangle shapes (I read somewhere that males often have the triangle shapes on them). But she's been my Kami since I got her and that's not going to change. You don't think she could be mad at me for calling her a girl do you? XD My friends bird gets depressed if called a boy. But then again chams aren't birds.

 

[OliviaM]

I have read everything I know at least twice, probably more than that. Thank you all sooo very much! This is my first cham, and I don't want it to be my last so I want to make sure i'm giving her the proper care.

 

[OliviaM]

I doubt an animal that evolved to live in constantly moving bushes and trees would even notice an earthquake. Even if low frequency sound waves resulted I doubt a cham could detect them if above the ground.

You may be right, i don't really know on this issue. Don't you think that she might be able to detect it if she hasn't been in moving bushes or trees her whole life.

 

[OliviaM]

Thank's everyone, she seems to be ok now. Although I will make changes in the way that i'm taking care of her. Can someone tell me why d3 is bad for them if they get to much? Another question, what (besides roaches I refuse to touch them) would be a good change in food source. I know crickets can get old, and I would like to change up her diet every other day or something.

 

[SonTigerPantherCham]

Olivia, turn off ALL lights at night, even the "moonglo" one
Kami needs...total dark, let her chill at night and get some sleep

keep making your changes, Im really happy to see you taking the advice and doing something about it. In no time you will have everything set up right and your "girl" will be fine

most chams love silk worms, horned worms, butterworms. the butters are super easy, just put them in the fridge, i take them out and let them warm up for a bit, they wiggle more!
anne

 

[OliviaM]

Dust one days worth of crickets, twice a month. Any shop that sells reptiles will have some kind of multivitamin for lizards, most will be good for chams, just don't get one especially for carnivores.
To check humidity and temps you need digital thermometer/ hygrometer (the analogue ones are generally useless). I'm not sure on the exact details for a senegal, but you will be able to find the info on the forum somewhere........

Alright, thanks!

 

[OliviaM]

Olivia, turn off ALL lights at night, even the "moonglo" one
Kami needs...total dark, let her chill at night and get some sleep

keep making your changes, Im really happy to see you taking the advice and doing something about it. In no time you will have everything set up right and your "girl" will be fine
anne

Ok I will start tonight What exactly is the moonglo light for if not to be used at night? Wont she get cold?

 

[SonTigerPantherCham]

she needs to cool down
that light might be for a desert reptile, but we have rainforest, arboreal chams, so they live high, with humidity, cooler night temps,

I know you asked another question, i will go back and look!

 

[OliviaM]

I see several things you need to check or change.

First, when you first get a new cham they are stressed from the move and don't have a sense of their new territory. Chams are territorial, so once they settle in, they tend to resent YOU more when you invade their space. If she's a juvenile, she's probably reaching that difficult "teen" age when hormones are starting to kick in. Many chams get touchy for a while.

The "orange gutload" is not very complete. It may be easy, but won't provide your cham with good nutrition over time. There are good commercial gutloads available...I like Cricket Crack, available from Tiki Tiki Reptiles, a forum sponsor. Check the ingredients and you'll see what you are missing.

You can overdo the calcium dusting if it's the wrong type. Dust with a plain calcium (no vitamin D-3) very lightly every other day, use a calcium that does have added D-3 once a week, and dust with a herp vitamin dust once a month.

Any cham can carry parasites regardless where the feeder insects come from (wild or not they all have some). They are so common you'll probably never see a cham without any. If her parasite load is light, no problem. You should take a fecal sample to a vet to test for parasites so you'll know what she does have and at what level.

The lights are ALWAYS on?? You should be turning off all lights at night. Chams need at least a 10 degree drop in temp at night, and they have full color vision so any visible light will keep them awake. If your room stays above 60 at night you don't need the heat either. The safest UVB light most of us use is the ReptiSun 5.0 and change it at 6 months. You need to know the type of UV light you have! It is really important! Check the tube for information on the type. You can use any regular incandescent house light bulb for basking. Doesn't need to be a fancy herp heat light.

You need to know the temperatures and humidity level in the cage! Don't guess and don't assume she is "comfortable" without this specific information. Chams are experts at hiding their problems and discomfort until they are really in trouble. Get a infrared temp gun ($30 from a place like ProExotics...really a great thing that lets you measure the surface temp of anything you point it at...like your cham, the basking perch, a cooler area of the cage). Get a humidity gauge or hygrometer to keep track of the cage humidity. This is also very important and you can't guess just by looking.

Live plants are usually a better idea than fakes. They help maintain humidity, help with air quality, provide better places for her to hide, etc. Fakes aren't terrible and you can leave them in the cage, but most of us need the live plants.

What kind of live plants should I use? I'm just trying to make sure I wont put anything in there that might harm her.

 

[SonTigerPantherCham]

ficus and pothos are cheap and easy to keep, the pothos gives her broad leaves to find water to drink and a hiding place, the ficus gives her roaming area

 

[OliviaM]

ficus and pothos are cheap and easy to keep, the pothos gives her broad leaves to find water to drink and a hiding place, the ficus gives her roaming area

Ok thanks, my other question was about the moonglo light. Do you know what its for? I read its for natural moonlight but why would she need that if she dont need any light at all at night? If you cant answer this question someone else please do.

 

[camimom]

Ok thanks, my other question was about the moonglo light. Do you know what its for? I read its for natural moonlight but why would she need that if she dont need any light at all at night? If you cant answer this question someone else please do.

You dont need that light. get rid of it.

 

[Trace]

I'm not sure if anyone definitively answered this but you have a male chameleon and I'm inclined to think it's a Graceful Chameleon and not a Senegal as you have been lead to believe. Graceful Chameleons have a larger lateral stripe and a white shoulder patch both of which are present on your specimen. A few clear shots of the head and neck can confirm which species you have.

 

[OliviaM]

ficus and pothos are cheap and easy to keep, the pothos gives her broad leaves to find water to drink and a hiding place, the ficus gives her roaming area

The fact pothos are poisonous won't hurt my cham?

 

[SonTigerPantherCham]

Olivia, I did answer your question, go up a couple of posts
Its about the difference between desert herps and our rainforest herps.
she doesnt need a night light, she needs to cool down
go look, if you need more help, we are here.

And Trace, nope no one answered about species, and since i am limited to panthers I would not take a guess!. but now I get to go read up on the differences, thank you, I really enjoy reading interesting informative articles
anne


pothos is not toxic to a cham, it is a very common and commonly used chameleon plant

 

[camimom]

The fact pothos are poisonous won't hurt my cham?

they are not posionous. who told you that? also, i have 4 in my cage, and Kink munches them regularly, little v shaped bite marks, and he does just fine.

 

[tearass]

That moonlight bulb is used for other reptiles chams don't need them they like it cooler at night