Okay i wanna clarify that the chameleon that i'm concerned about is the male that i have bred my female with. This chameleon is in the care of my partner and closest childhood friend. so we constantly discuss everything concerning our chameleons. We use the same supplements, we just have them on different but very similar schedules. He's the type to call everyone who he has met to find out info, while i do the same plus i actively refer to this forum for info. while we both do quite a bit of research online... it has been quite helpful for me though he had different experiences when using this forum.
Here is the info we came up with in response to the sticky on this forum:
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male, blue barred red body panther cham. 1.5 yrs. old and he has had it since it was 2months
Handling -He handles cham. twice per week for maybe 5 mins. per session also when cleaning his enclosure.
Feeding -He feeds him mostly crickets bought from local feed store who purchases them from bayou crickets. he gives him 6 crickets per feeding and skips 2 days out of the wk. He gut loads his crickets mostly fruits/veggies such as lettuce or spinach, along with tangerines strait from tree, and cricket crack.
Supplements - he dusts his cricks with Miner-all 2x's per week, and D3 once per month, and rotates Repti-vite and Repashy's Calcium+ every other week.
Watering - He uses a spray bottle to give his cham. water to drink. His cham. drinks directly from the spray bottle every morning first thing in the morning.
Fecal Description - Though he has never had his cham. tested for parasites, its fecal matter is consistantly thick and not runny with white urate.
History - when his cam was approx. a year old it fell directly on to its head from top of three ft. cage and received a concussion(and probably some brain damage if you ask me) He couldn't afford to pay for vet so he rode out the concussion and nursed his cham. back to health himself. He tends to take allot of veterinary practices into his own hands for instance after his cham. had eaten multiple pieces of perilite and weeks later stopped defecating then began to bleed from its genitals he researched and questioned everyone and came to a conclusion that his cham. had received parasites from a batch of crickets he had received from a source that he hadn't usually purchased crickets from and since he was told that it was to the point where a vet couldn't do much he self administered a super diluted solution of antibiotics/water to his cham. using a needless syringe injecting it directly into his chams. genital area which cured his cham. completely (as far as he can tell) At one point his cham. began to climb the metal screen enclosure and would slide down which filed its nails completely and nearly pulled most all of its nails completely out so it hasn't got good gripping abilities though he still climbs as though he does. As a result his cham. will while climbing loose grip and catch itself one way or another. He certainly cares for his cham. quite a bit though he cannot afford to spend $ on vet bills which is why he takes so many of the medical matters into his own researched hands based on his findings. His cham. is brilliantly colored and otherwise healthy....
Cage Info:
Cage Type - The enclosure is a professionally manufactured (aluminum) Metal screened cage that is 3.5'x2.5'x2.5'
Lighting - he uses a 2' Zoo-med uva lighting fixture with the clear plastic light guard removed from the bulb. and a 75 watt day heat lamp to which he doesn't recall the brand ( he said Repti-something) he turns both lights on @ 7 a.m. and keeps them on throughout the day except while he allows his cham. to spend a short period of time (between an hour and two hours) outside basking in the sun.
Temperature - He doesn't have any temperature gauges in the enclosure. He simply sprays the enclosure for roughly thirty seconds with a spray bottle three times per day(morning, noon, and approximately 2hrs. before shutting the lights off for the night.
Humidity -As i said he doesn't measure humidity using any type of gauges.. just uses spray bottle.
Plants - He keeps one live vine like house plant purchased @ the Home Depot though he doesn't recall what kind it is. and he also has artificial vines( the rougher sort) woven throughout the whole cage with proper basking areas for cham.
Placement - Enclosure is located near side door in between his hall way and his bedroom, not a heavily trafficked area and not overly heated or cooled (no air conditioner to cool or heater to heat) usually room temp. he keeps enclosure sitting on top of a milk crate laid flat so the top of enclosure is approx. 4.5' from ground.
Location - He and I are both in Whittier CA.
Current Problem - The current problem is the same as we listed earlier and have come to the conclusion that the cham. is simply doing this in order to release sperm plugs and the fake vines are too rough by which causing his genitalia to become aggravated and begin to bleed. he already has plans to supplement the rough vines with smoother types. Also once again attempt to breed him with my female who has laid three fertile clutches after their first time mating and two further unsuccessful attempts while she was gravid but receptive. Which is when his male began to act out of the ordinary by becoming anxious and rubbing his Hemipene on vines. Which took place bout the same time my female had become gravid but far apart. 1st clutch nearly hatching....
