Dexter’s Mom
Member
I haven’t been here for a long time, but I need some help. I’m asking a lot, so appreciate anything anyone can help with. You will see some practices I use that conflict with a lot of the norms on this forum (especially UVB) due to the recommendations of other groups I’m in. If I'm honest I can never figure out how things can be so different with the basics for the same kind of cham, so I’ve been conflicted on which to follow since I first brought Dex home. I know what’s good for some isn’t good for others, but as you know the effects of some of these changes aren’t seen for years so it can be confusing sometimes.
Due to the issues below I need to get my temps and humidity back on track. Please let me know of any changes you think I need to make while he’s recovering, but also for when he’s hopefully back to normal. Complete transparency, I was struggling to get a handle on both humidity and temp for 2-3 weeks leading up to him being sick (which means when I took him to the vet the FIRST time I knew what we were dealing with), but I digress. If anyone can help get me on a good schedule it would be so helpful! I’ve read so many threads here on the topic, but I see so many people whose weather mostly stays either dry or humid most of the time.
Cleveland Ohio’s weather is a mean b$&!#. It’s ALL over the place ALL the time. If anyone else is in the Midwest, by a large lake that causes everything to change on a dime, teach me your ways. The humidity and temps have been up and down. My issue is that I don’t think I’m getting sufficient temp drops at night, so any misting or fogging I do is too much, but obviously not enough and I’m not getting those humidity jumps at night. Because the AC is always on in summer and heat is always on in winter, our house is soooo dry. I need advice on how to get better air circulation as well.
Current Issues:
Diagnosed with pneumonia today 8/8/23: It’s a long sad story of me having to go to the vet a few times starting on 7/25/23 to get them to do actual diagnostic testing. The vet is a member of ARAV so I trust him, but sadly I was dismissed a few times. X-Ray confirmed pneumonia. He is being treated with Fortaz (1 injection every 72 hrs/ 6 injections). 1st one administered today.
He is and has been eating and hydrating completely as normal the entire time, so all food and supplements below are accurate. During this 3 week period he was spending a lot of time at the bottom of his enclosure. The last 3 days before the vet he was only up at basking for about 1-3 hrs per day, and was only up there because I put him there. He was mostly sleeping in a plant pot or on the bare floor. He never lost grip or became unsteady, but he would climb back down to the bottom regardless. His fecal and urates were very small during most of this I assume due to not basking and therefore not digesting correctly
Today on the way to the vet he left a nice healthy one in the box though (fecal wet and float were clear)
Luckily he ended up spending most of the day basking so I gave him a hornworm and super for treats.
Dexter Melillo’s Husbandry (as of 8/8/23)
Currently I’m at home because I'm a teacher so I monitor this stuff constantly. That will not be the case in a few weeks.
-Nitrate: 0
-Nitrite: 0
-Alkalinity: 150ish
-Chlorine: 0
Due to the issues below I need to get my temps and humidity back on track. Please let me know of any changes you think I need to make while he’s recovering, but also for when he’s hopefully back to normal. Complete transparency, I was struggling to get a handle on both humidity and temp for 2-3 weeks leading up to him being sick (which means when I took him to the vet the FIRST time I knew what we were dealing with), but I digress. If anyone can help get me on a good schedule it would be so helpful! I’ve read so many threads here on the topic, but I see so many people whose weather mostly stays either dry or humid most of the time.
Cleveland Ohio’s weather is a mean b$&!#. It’s ALL over the place ALL the time. If anyone else is in the Midwest, by a large lake that causes everything to change on a dime, teach me your ways. The humidity and temps have been up and down. My issue is that I don’t think I’m getting sufficient temp drops at night, so any misting or fogging I do is too much, but obviously not enough and I’m not getting those humidity jumps at night. Because the AC is always on in summer and heat is always on in winter, our house is soooo dry. I need advice on how to get better air circulation as well.
Current Issues:
Diagnosed with pneumonia today 8/8/23: It’s a long sad story of me having to go to the vet a few times starting on 7/25/23 to get them to do actual diagnostic testing. The vet is a member of ARAV so I trust him, but sadly I was dismissed a few times. X-Ray confirmed pneumonia. He is being treated with Fortaz (1 injection every 72 hrs/ 6 injections). 1st one administered today.
He is and has been eating and hydrating completely as normal the entire time, so all food and supplements below are accurate. During this 3 week period he was spending a lot of time at the bottom of his enclosure. The last 3 days before the vet he was only up at basking for about 1-3 hrs per day, and was only up there because I put him there. He was mostly sleeping in a plant pot or on the bare floor. He never lost grip or became unsteady, but he would climb back down to the bottom regardless. His fecal and urates were very small during most of this I assume due to not basking and therefore not digesting correctly
Today on the way to the vet he left a nice healthy one in the box though (fecal wet and float were clear)Luckily he ended up spending most of the day basking so I gave him a hornworm and super for treats.
Dexter Melillo’s Husbandry (as of 8/8/23)
- Dexter: 4 yr. 2 mos. Old Male
- He is a very fit 259 grams He was up 6 grams from our vet appt 2 week ago, which the vet seemed to like a lot.
- He’s been in my care since 3 mos. Old
- He is a very fit 259 grams
- Handling: He’s always been very tolerant of ME handling him except for a few angsty months in his teens. I only handle when necessary for cleaning, taking him outside, or continual trust building. I have never just grabbed him. I allow him to come out on his own terms. I have been picking him up off the floor a lot lately, but he didn’t put up much of a fight since he’s not been feeling well. I can reach in and do things in his enclosure and he is not aggressive. He eats from my hands etc. This only applies to me.
- Enclosure: 2’x2’x4’ Dragon Strand Screened Enclosure with solid back wall. Plastic hanging on 2 sides to help with humidity was removed about a week ago. It had been there for 3 years (sometimes 1 side, sometimes both depending on season). I leave the ceiling fan in room stays on 100% of the time to keep air moving. I added a fan on top of the enclosure pointing towards the ceiling to PULL air through once he got sick. Any advice on how I can keep air circulating would be very beneficial. I do believe stagnant air is a huge problem for me.
- Placement: He is in a low traffic extra bedroom on our 2nd floor (a bit warmer than the downstairs, but I don’t have a private area for him down there). There is a ceiling fan. The vents are not directly by him. There are two windows in the room. He is next to one, and across from the other. Neither give him any direct sunlight. There are blackout shades I close on really hot days to prevent the sun from warming the room further…I think. The top of his cage is probably 6 ft. off the ground.
Currently I’m at home because I'm a teacher so I monitor this stuff constantly. That will not be the case in a few weeks.
- Lighting: Heat and UVB
- 75 watt (regular not flood) incandescent bulb for heat (this alone does not get me to the temp I need) I have 2 different ones that I am constantly turning on and off to get to temp. What do we use now that incandescent is gone forever. I have a stash of a bunch of these regular ones in 65 and 75 watt, but it’s obviously not working for me.
- Reptisun 24 inch 10.0 UVB T5 HO placed diagonally (last changed in July 2023) It was suggested to me to switch to the 12% Arcadia. I’m not sure why. I thought they were both good. I ordered it anyway but it is not in use yet.
- Plant Bulb 65 Watt incandescent (this is new as of July: does not stay on all day. I randomly switch it on and off in tandem with the basking lights to keep the basking spot to temp.
- All lights are about 10- 12 inches above basking spot (from the top of his casque)
- 12 hrs. on and 12 hrs. off for all lights (7:30 am- 7:30 pm)
- Basking Temp: 83- 86 degrees: I started to raise this today to 85-89 due to his illness. I read some research about chams not getting fevers so raising basking temp can help fight illness. Anyone else? These are measured with a sensor hanging where his casque reaches with digital readout, and temp gun…not a huge fan of the gun since it measures surface temp but everyone recommends it so i use it to at least double check the other one.
- Ambient Daytime Temp: currently about 75ish
- Ambient Night Time Temp: currently only getting down to about 70-75 Ceiling fan remains on at night
- Hydration/Misting
- Tap Water: Used in misting, dripper and fogger; Water sits out for 24 hrs to allow chlorine etc. to evaporate
- Water Test Strip Results: 7/20/23
- Tap Water: Used in misting, dripper and fogger; Water sits out for 24 hrs to allow chlorine etc. to evaporate
-Nitrate: 0
-Nitrite: 0
-Alkalinity: 150ish
-Chlorine: 0
- Mist King: 2 minutes 30 minutes before lights on and 30 minutes after lights out. 5 seconds 3 times a day to add extra drinking droplets for when the Big Dripper inevitably malfunctions.
- Dripper: Runs as long as it decides. I have added a different valve so that helps.
- Hand Misting: When needed to water plants too far down to get water from the misting. I’m talking a few short bursts here and there to add drinking droplets. Nothing substantial.
- Fogger: Currently not running until i get this figured out. Was running 10pm-2am and 4am-5:30am
- Humidity Daytime: currently 10-30% at top, 30-50% at bottom (measured with digital read hydrometer)
- Humidity Night Time: hovers around 80-85% with fogger, 30-50% without
- Nutrition: All except hopper are ordered from Josh’s Frogs
- Food: 3-4 times a week, 5-6 feeders at a time depending on type
- Dubias, silkworms, grasshoppers, BSFL as staples, hornworms and superworms as treats. I gave up on crickets last year. I can’t seem to keep them alive.
- Gut Load: currently escarole, parsley, collard greens, snap peas, and bee pollen (discontinued carrots 7/18/23)
- Supplements:
- Rep Cal Calcium: Every feeding: No Phosphorus; No D3
- Repashy plus LoD : 2x a month. I occasionally add bee pollen to the dusting.
- I just ordered Reptivite to replace the Repashy. It was suggested to me that the LoD has the wrong amounts of most of the vitamins. Like I could be overdosing him? Let me know your thoughts. He’s never been sick or had ANY issues up until this pneumonia, so changing supplements doesn’t make too much sense to me, but I’m open to anything with facts behind it. To clarify, this advice was not from my vet, but admins and a vet in other groups I belong to.
- Food: 3-4 times a week, 5-6 feeders at a time depending on type
- Plants:
- Current: Pothos, Hawaiian Ti, Hibiscus, Rubber Plant (Ficus Elastica), Umbrella Tree.
- Used in The Past: Majesty Palm (removed 5 weeks ago because of gnats), Wandering Dude, Grape Ivy. No fake plants
- Waste:
- Feces: have always been uniformly normal. About 3 weeks ago one sample was about 3x the normal size. Did not see any again until 7-24-23 (small sample brought to appt.) Since then they have been getting bigger and more normal in consistency.
- Urates: white, occasionally with a yellow tinge. Never orange. They have also been pretty small, thin, and coiled up.
