Baby cham will be here next week. Last minute questions

[Beman]

I apologize for how long it took me to respond.

I have looked into GoVee temp gauges, and am considering getting one to use in conjunction with my thermometer/hygrometer probes. I’ve currently got a timer set to kick the basking lamp on at 8 AM, stays on for two hours and goes off at 10. UVB/grow light set to come on on at 7:30 AM and go off at 7:30, and the Sansi LED grow light is set to go off at 9 AM and go off at 6. Should I change this up?

I bought my cham from Framschams, but may not be getting this specific cham after all due to a setback with some unexpected medical issues. I’ve currently got doctors appointments scheduled throughout this month and into August. Don’t know how comfortable I feel with leaving such a young chameleon several times throughout the month (a unless a relative stops by during the day to feed him, but that’s a lot to ask). If not him, then I’ll be getting a different baby that won’t be ready until November or so from the same breeder.

I’ll definitely drop the 12 PM mist and plan to run a dripper during the day, but am thinking I’ll go ahead and change the misting duration from one and a half minutes to 2 full minutes. My cage still isn’t exactly set up, but ambient humidity in the room I’d be keeping my chameleon in ranges from 39% to 41%. I’d definitely need to cover my cage walls, just trying to figure out if I should do it with window film or coroplast (im also trying to protect my walls from overspray).

Again I so appreciate the advice!

So sorry to hear about your medical problems. If it helps I would wait until you can be around and healthy for baby. While you are not holding them you do need to watch them for screen climbing to ensure there are no issues and then there is the intense amount of eating they do the first few months. I think it would cause you more stress to not be available and there during this period.

Time for lighting sounds good. You may have to play with this a bit though. Say have the heat bulb go off from 9-12 that way you feed prior and baby has a few good hours with the basking fixture. They do bask quite a bit more as babies. So this is just something you need to monitor. Having the heat fixture reduced may mean more of 9-2pm. Basically all they do as babies is eat, bask, and poop. If they do not have the heat they want they will seek it out and try to get closer to it, meaning climbing to the top screen. Sansi kicking off at 4-5 will help cage start to cool for the evening. I believe you have a dual T5 so if that is the case then you would run UVB and grow light for the full period of time. If they are singles you can switch these up having the daylight bulb kick off say at 6.

I stagger my lights on and then my lights off. So it is a quicker warm up in the morning with each one kicking on 30 minutes after the other then they kick off an hour apart in the evening. This is how I get the cage to cool before the evening misting sessions. I mist in the morning 5 minutes before the first T5 kicks on.

With misting... Do not be afraid to mist with longer sessions. While 2 minutes seems like a long time to you it can take them 2 minutes just to trigger a drinking response. Depending on humidity this you will want to play with this. Throwing in a longer misting session in the evening will also help pull temps farther down.

I use the PVC foam sheeting from Home depot. I wanna say I got the 3/8 of an inch. But I do not remember it was one of the thinnest they had. You buy it in 4x8ft sheets. Can be cut easily with a razor blade to cut the 2x4 panels for the back and two sides. Then you can attach with either 1/4 inch screws or if you want them easily removable you could do velcrow. Which is nice because you can take them off to clean if needed. Or if your humidity is higher during one part of the year you can remove one side panel for more air flow.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I’ve currently got a timer set to kick the basking lamp on at 8 AM, stays on for two hours and goes off at 10. UVB/grow light set to come on on at 7:30 AM and go off at 7:30, and the Sansi LED grow light is set to go off at 9 AM and go off at 6. Should I change this up?

I would time the grow light for 12 hrs on/12 hrs off; anything less may force some plants to flower or go into "winter mode".

UVB can be reduced a little. When the Sun comes up and goes down, the atmosphere it has to penetrate is much thicker than when the Sun is overhead, and virtually filters out UVB. I have my UVBs all set to turn on an hour after "Sunup" and an hour before "Sundown". This can also extend the life of a UVB bulb by approx. 2 months.

I set my basking light for the same times as the UVB; it may not be needed for 10 hrs., but my chameleon does occasionally bask for short periods later in the day, especially if he eats later.

 

[PlanetRemulak]

So sorry to hear about your medical problems. If it helps I would wait until you can be around and healthy for baby. While you are not holding them you do need to watch them for screen climbing to ensure there are no issues and then there is the intense amount of eating they do the first few months. I think it would cause you more stress to not be available and there during this period.

Time for lighting sounds good. You may have to play with this a bit though. Say have the heat bulb go off from 9-12 that way you feed prior and baby has a few good hours with the basking fixture. They do bask quite a bit more as babies. So this is just something you need to monitor. Having the heat fixture reduced may mean more of 9-2pm. Basically all they do as babies is eat, bask, and poop. If they do not have the heat they want they will seek it out and try to get closer to it, meaning climbing to the top screen. Sansi kicking off at 4-5 will help cage start to cool for the evening. I believe you have a dual T5 so if that is the case then you would run UVB and grow light for the full period of time. If they are singles you can switch these up having the daylight bulb kick off say at 6.

I stagger my lights on and then my lights off. So it is a quicker warm up in the morning with each one kicking on 30 minutes after the other then they kick off an hour apart in the evening. This is how I get the cage to cool before the evening misting sessions. I mist in the morning 5 minutes before the first T5 kicks on.

With misting... Do not be afraid to mist with longer sessions. While 2 minutes seems like a long time to you it can take them 2 minutes just to trigger a drinking response. Depending on humidity this you will want to play with this. Throwing in a longer misting session in the evening will also help pull temps farther down.

I use the PVC foam sheeting from Home depot. I wanna say I got the 3/8 of an inch. But I do not remember it was one of the thinnest they had. You buy it in 4x8ft sheets. Can be cut easily with a razor blade to cut the 2x4 panels for the back and two sides. Then you can attach with either 1/4 inch screws or if you want them easily removable you could do velcrow. Which is nice because you can take them off to clean if needed. Or if your humidity is higher during one part of the year you can remove one side panel for more air flow.

You’ve been so kind and helpful since I first started posting around here. Thank you, @Beman! This community is lucky to have you.

I had to give up my Nosey be x Boraha cross over it. It was a really tough decision and I absolutely did not want to have to do that, but ultimately I knew it was what was best for the chameleon. It’s not all bad - I’ll be getting a pure Ankify baby (does anyone even know how to pronounce that?? Is it ayn-kif-fee? Any-kid-fye? Ann-kif-fye?)

is PVC foam sheeting the same as coroplast? I like the idea of magnets but am really considering actually screwing the pieces into the cage frame.

thank you so much for the helpful info!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

(does anyone even know how to pronounce that?? Is it ayn-kif-fee? Any-kid-fye? Ann-kif-fye?)

https://www.howtopronounce.com/french/ankify

is PVC foam sheeting the same as coroplast?

No. Sheet PVC is a foam form of PolyVinyl Chloride pressed into sheets, while Coroplast is "Fluted Polypropylene Sheet"—Polypropylene mfd. similar to corrugated cardboard.

They have different properties.

 

[Beman]

You’ve been so kind and helpful since I first started posting around here. Thank you, @Beman! This community is lucky to have you.

I had to give up my Nosey be x Boraha cross over it. It was a really tough decision and I absolutely did not want to have to do that, but ultimately I knew it was what was best for the chameleon. It’s not all bad - I’ll be getting a pure Ankify baby (does anyone even know how to pronounce that?? Is it ayn-kif-fee? Any-kid-fye? Ann-kif-fye?)

is PVC foam sheeting the same as coroplast? I like the idea of magnets but am really considering actually screwing the pieces into the cage frame.

thank you so much for the helpful info!

What klyde said lol. If you screw them in you want 1/4 inch stainless steel screws. Predrill through the sheet half the size of the diameter of the screw and then you want to predrill a tiny hole for the screw in the frame. Just large enough for the tip of the screw so it grabs really well. You have to pay attention to where your cage screws together too.