Before treating with anything, I would get a professional fecal test done, and possibly a blood smear to diagnose what if any treatment may be necessary. Chams are sensitive, and many don't respond well to treatments. The black lines/bruising goes away with sheds, and I see yours is shedding in...
I wouldn't feed it mice. You're asking for problems doing that IMO. Breeding is something that more than a few of us are trying very hard to accomplish, but it's not so easy. Good luck with yours, it looks great.
Leland
I'm in southern Indiana, and it's starting to be a great time to catch feeder insects at night. In the grass fields and my landscaping near my house, we've been catching 10+ adult katydids and the same numbers of adult green and brown praying mantis in less than 20min. Cicadas are starting to...
Gorgeous cristatus! I'd be surprised if that melleri stays white, it looks like it's just ready to shed possibly, or the beginning of its gravid colors. It would be interesting to see if it keeps it's colors or lays eggs.
Leland
Yes congratulations! Please do post more pictures of your enclosures! Those juvenile racks look great. I may have to build some copies of those if my melleri turns out to be gravid.
Leland
I've got a few good ones I can still shot from a video, but my phone is my camera. Deb and Olimpia have a higher quality camera so they can probably provide a much higher quality picture.
Leland
Ah yes, thank you. Deb also pointed that out. I haven't had the luxury of having a gravid melleri yet so I'm still rusty on the gestation/incubation time frames. Hopefully I'll be able to change that soon. I caught the tail end of the two "copulating" this morning.
Thanks!
Leland
Deb,
I know the MD site almost from memory, so I've seen the gravid pic there many times. Lol I don't think I've looked at the yahoo melleri archives, I'm excited to check those out. I'd treat your girl like the eggs will be viable, you never know, some or all may be ok. We need to send...
Deb,
Glad you hear your male finally stayed awake! Lol Very exciting to hear your female is gravid. Have you posted a pic of her coloration? I'd love to see it. I thought their gestation period was around 2 months? If so she should be laying soon hopefully.
Leland
Thanks Deb, the chams are great and appear unaffected by the temp high heat, other than being "in the mood" all of the sudden. Lol Hopefully one of us will have a gravid female soon!
Leland
Hey guys, haven't posted much lately but still following daily. I was on vacation last week and due to my own error, my home thermostat didn't have a high temp limit set, and the inside of my house was 87 degrees for at least 3 days. My Cham room's temperature gauge showed the room hit 95...
I feed wild grasshoppers, locusts, cicadas, and mantids to both my melleri with no problems. I always collect them in my dad's pasture that doesn't get any insectacides or fertilizers. I do fecal tests twice a year to screen for parasites. Their health seems to sky rocket during the months I...
The coloration looks like they're sick. When I came into the room my heart sank, because I throught he was dying. When I touched him he opened his eyes and walked away from me. 5 minutes later he was green under the misters drinking.
Very strange,
Leland
My pair have been acting really strange lately too. I thought my male was sick or dying today because he was near the female hanging upside down with his eyes closed, and grayish pale green, just like yours looked. My female has been coming down onto the floor of the room the free range is in...
Wow, they both look great! You know they've settled in and are happy when they get that light green relaxed color.
You still have the best free range, it's a temple for melleri. Lol
Leland
As Olimpia stated, you need a much larger cage. I have a 3'x3'x6' cage that I put my two in outside to get some sun & fresh air, and it is way too small for even a single mellers to be kept inside if it were their only cage. IMO, a 3' wide, 4' deep, 6'-8' tall cage would be the minimal size...