Worried about MBD with my new Chameleon

[cwarfield]

It scares me that you don’t know what that walk is. That’s like chameleons 101. They walk that way because chams are aborieal anamals, meaning they live in trees. They walk that way to mimic the movement of branches/leaves blowing in the wind. It both helps them hide from predators and helps them sneak up on prey.

This is all still very new to me, and I'm doing my absolute best to learn all that I can. It's a massive relief to know that my chameleon walking like that is normal behavior. Thanks so much for clearing things up for me.

 

[cwarfield]

Your supplements and gutloading practices need an overhaul:

Gutload-
you said you will switch to cricket crack, good move.You can get it for $25 a pound on amazon, should last you at least a year. Add some water to the crack until it is a little thinner than peanut butter and serve to feeders. No other water source required.

Calcium/Vitamins-
should be getting calcium dust without D3 at every feeding. Also should be dusting with calcium with D3 twice a month. also needs a multivitamin twice a month.

Okay that's exactly what I'll do. Just ordered the cricket crack and picked up some calcium with D3 and a multivitamin at the local pet store. =)

 

[cwarfield]

Handeling WAY too much, chams are not pets, they are a hobby.

How often do you recommend I handle her? Obviously I don't want to cause her undue stress, but I would like for her to be at least comfortable with me when she matures into an adult. Currently she seems terrified of me and runs and hides whenever I approach her cage. That's likely due to my handling her too much.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

If I were you I would not handle her for at least a month. I know that sounds crazy but you have to remember that chameleons are not pets, they are a hobby. They are solitary anamals that will do everything they can to avoid contact with any and every thing that isn’t food! You have to think about these types of things from the chams point of view. Right now she is thinking “o my god, I’ve been captured by some giant bald monkey and I can’t escape!”

Right now your goal is to just let her settle in and explore her new world with the least amount of stress possible. If your not feeding or watering her stay away from her viv. Once she gets use to you and realize your not a threat she will relax and quit running away every time she sees you. When that happens we can start trying to earn her trust. Best way to do this making her associate you with positive experiences, easiest way is through hand feeding. Slowly open her viv and hold out a treat like a super worm or horn worm. Let her shoot it from you hand, over time this will teach her that if she tolerates your presence she will get a treat. Once this trust has been established you can start trying to lure her out of her viv and onto your hand by getting her attention with a treat and then pulling it back towards you just out of her toung range. This will force her to take a step forward to get in range. When she steps forward you pull the treat back the same distance she walked forward. The goal is to get her to willingly walk into your hand without noticing it. It takes a lot of patience and there will be day when all you get in return for your efforts is frustration and a tired arm!

The key is to let the Cham dictate the pace, if you try to force her she will never trust you, it’s just how they’re wired. There are even some chams who simply will not tolerate any handeling whatsoever, and you have to be ok with that, they are the pace setters.