arh10869

[andy10869]

hi guys. i have a yemen about 12-14 months old called lotus (named by my daughter)
lotus is housed in a viv at present its quite large 2.5x2.5x4 ft temps in the viv correspond with reccomended temps day and night.
when she was bought from my local reptile shop which gave me hoppers and black crickets as feed, lotus will only eat hoppers and im a little concerned about this i vary the diet which includes 5th gen hoppers wax worms meal worms some salad and cress etc. aswell as feeding issues she spends a lot of time on the viv floor just milling about ive supplied a box with some material for egg laying if this is what she is visiting the viv floor for but to be honest she does not show any signs of digging in either the box provided or the viv floor. i would like some help and advise maybe she just is very active idk.
i have included a couple of pics for your reference.
if ya can shed any light on lotus for me i would be appreciated many thanks.

 

[Manik6]

i omly see one pic. anyways, take out the subtrate on the floor. your cham might try to eat it. (not a good thing). floor roaming is usually not a good sign. could you post better pics. maybe u need more foilage.

 

[cantgetagoodsn]

hi guys. i have a yemen about 12-14 months old called lotus (named by my daughter)
lotus is housed in a viv at present its quite large 2.5x2.5x4 ft temps in the viv correspond with reccomended temps day and night.
when she was bought from my local reptile shop which gave me hoppers and black crickets as feed, lotus will only eat hoppers and im a little concerned about this i vary the diet which includes 5th gen hoppers wax worms meal worms some salad and cress etc. aswell as feeding issues she spends a lot of time on the viv floor just milling about ive supplied a box with some material for egg laying if this is what she is visiting the viv floor for but to be honest she does not show any signs of digging in either the box provided or the viv floor. i would like some help and advise maybe she just is very active idk.
i have included a couple of pics for your reference.
if ya can shed any light on lotus for me i would be appreciated many thanks.

please fill this out for us to get a better understanding what's going on. Yes, all of it is necessary...

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[andy10869]

hi again guys heres a few more pics

 

[andy10869]

hi guys ok lets start again.
cham is a yemen female 12-14 months old owned for three weeks.
feeding only eating hoppers but has been served with wax worms meal worms black crickets and salad leaves cress etc. she did eat the cress though.
i dont handle her much once a day tops.
suppliments calcium every other feed.
misting three or four times a day, but i have never seen her drink the shop owner i got her from said she drinks from a dish but i find this hard to believe but supply it anyway.
poo is brown in colour with a bit of white in there too.
history sorry cant give any three weeks is too short a time, shop mentioned she had laid eggs about 6 months ago, clutch was fertile all was good.
cage is a vivarium size 2.5x2.5x4ft
lighting is a repti glo 5.0 and one 100watt heat light these both go off at night, they provide a top temp of 96 degrees f under the light with an ambient temp of 80 degrees f.
my room temp is such that no heating is needed for night time and the temp falls to a min of 77 degrees at night. measured with a digital temp gauge.
humidity is around 50-60 percent achieved by misting.
plants are all artificial at the moment no real plants but i do intend to get some sorted.
cage is placed by window there is no draught at all but area is nice and quiet.
geographically i am in the midlands uk.
as mentioned earlier lotus is spending a lot of time on the viv floor please refer to my earlier post.
im looking for any help and advise you guys can give and open to any suggestions. i have for years kept snakes and decided to try something a bit special and chose a yemens cham so i am not completely in the dark with reptiles so to speak but by no means do i know everything.
please help ive already become quite attached to the little critter.
cheers andy

 

[Manik6]

like i said pls take out the subtrate. the laying bin is not nearly big enough. and stop handleing so often. give her time to adjust to her new home. set up a dripper probably but if her urates are solid white then she is good with hydration. alot of times chams will not drink infront of u. (shy) she is probably roaming the floor looking for a laying bin. if she has laid a fertile clutch before they can have retaind sperm and possibly lay another clutch and also lay infertile clutches. pls look up misslily threads for more info. i dont kknow how to post up links yet but look for the thread ''raising kitty the veiled'' for info.

 

[andy10869]

hi manik6 many thanks for your input gratefully recieved. substrate now out cheers. i had provided a larger laying bin it had been in the viv about a week but the shop i got her from suggested a shoe box as this was what she had laid in previously so i down sized with the hope that would do the trick new one onlybeen present from this morn. your point of being shy really fits lotus she does seem rather shy maybe she does need to settle first i will certainly take that on board im not really interested in breeding at present but obviously dont want my cham dying on me (it would be my fault and thats cruel i think) please any further suggestions eagerly awaited thanks again folks.

 

[pssh]

I would lower the temps a bit so you can try to prevent egg laying (it will help her to live longer) Ambient around 70-75 and basking at 80-83 with a drop below 70 if possible at night. I would lessen the handling to about once a week unless she climbs out to you by herself. The woodchips on the floor aren't the best idea. If she accidentally (or in the case of some veileds, purposely) it can lead to an impaction which is a blockage of the intestines. Should this happen it will very likely lead to either her death, a very very big vet bill, or both.

How often and long does she stay on the floor? Is that picture recent? She looks like she is resting all of her belly on one side of your hand making her look a little pudgey, but I dont see any egg lumps. The blue on her has me inclined to think that she is receptive rather than gravid in which case I suppose she could be looking for a male.

edit:I would put in the larger laying bin. at least 12x12x8 inches. Make sure the soil is moist enough to tunnel in without it collapsing on her. Also be sure to leave her alone if you do happen to see her digging. If she abandons the hole enough times (from you watching her) she can become eggbound and she may end up with the same results as an impaction.

 

[andy10869]

hi pssh yes photos very recent all within 5 days of each other she doesnt really spend time on the floor more like a visit to look around she has been trying to prise the glass to slide open bizzare i know but having watched her she deliberately goes for the edge of the glass and positiones herself in order to pull it open she has managed to get it open a few mm and i now have locks to stop this. she is very active climbing up and down most of the time but not really staying in one place very long not lingering.

 

[pssh]

Oh, that's fine then. If she just goes down for a quick look around it should be fine. When they stay on the ground its a problem. This roaming behavior is characteristic of being gravid though. Make sure you get a nice big laying bin in there.

What a smart chameleon! Sliding the doors open! One of mine goes to the bottom of his cage and tries to push the bottom open. One time I forgot to latch it closed and he got out! I found him trying to court my male panther chameleon (who was not very happy about it!)

 

[andy10869]

lol oh happy days. it may be just me being really over cautious but yeah your description of roaming behaviour fits, ive noted something similar when i kept snakes its almost a sense of urgency but i think ive provided for her needs. at 1st i thought it was me leaving the door open a bit but i watched her when she thought i wasnt there through the crack of the living room door and was gob smacked hoppers getting out not a problem the staffy would eat them but i dont want him eating lotus ya get me lol

 

[andy10869]

oh happy days lol. i think when you say roaming behaviour this is exactly what it is.
she doesnt spend much time actually on the floor as in she cant get back up but is very active up and down top to bottom all the time and has virually given up eating seems to be preoccupied if you know what i mean wood chips are gone replaced with news paper but i am open to suggestions lotus would much rather have something that ressembles forest floor instead of the independent lol any ideas? much appreciate your help.

 

[kinyonga]

Your egglaying container should be a little deeper (12" minimum) and I would advise you to add a branch or something so she can get into it easily. I usually use moistened washed playsand for the egglaying container.

 

[pssh]

Chameleons don't care about the floor, except for females that need to lay. Newspaper or paper towel is the best. Some use that fake grass stuff, but it's not very easy to keep clean. Most chameleons start to pick a place to poop so it makes clean up easier. Throw down a paper towel, pick it up and replace.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

When you buy her a cpl of plants you can repot them and use the cheap plastic pot the plant came in for your laying bin. They work perfect and they are about 10-12" deep. Thats what I use and my females laid in it every time.

As Pssh stated I would def lower those temps. You dont want her to produce infertile clutches and by lowering the temps to the low to mid 80's you can better control the production of eggs and the numbers being produced.

She def needs live plants and add some silkworms and supers to her diet for variety. Hornworms are great but I know you cant get those in the UK. You can try some dubia roaches those are great feeders.

 

[Miss Lily]

I agree with the others - lower her temps - she may be trying to cool off down there. Substrate is also not needed as she may accidentally ingest some whilst shooting her food. This may then cause n impaction (blockage of the intestines) which will require vet treatment. Also it may be that she is receptive and looking for a mate - my female tends to roam and scratch at her door when receptive and she drives me nuts, lol! As soon as I open her door she almost falls out!

It would also be a good idea to weigh her regularly - my female gained approx 20g in the month before lying her clutch.