Crazy Chameleon ?

[rbosley]

So my chameleon seems a little bonkers and is always trying to get out of the terrarium. It's a 2x2x4 foot zoomed mesh terrarium, plenty of vines, live plant, mistking and drippers.

From the day I got him, he was roughly 1.5 to 2 years old, he always jumps right on your hand with zero aggression or prompting to get him.

My concern is that he may injure himself as he doesn't seem to be able to grip the screen very well and he slips. I've gone as far as attaching sticks and placing vines near the front door where he's always trying to come out but he seems to be ignorant of them being there.


Lastly he seems to have lost his appetite the last few days also.

Any recommendations?

 

[ir0k]

Lucky for u to get a nice cham

Maybe drop in appitite could be a possible shed comming up. Maybe others can input more valuble info

 

[Denverbug]

Try different feeders if your feeding him the same thing everyday he may just be bored with it.

 

[Psychobunny]

Could you post a pic of your cage (and your cham to)?

Could you explain how you have your uva and uvb set up and how you are
monitoring the temps?

 

[rbosley]

Pictures of the setup. My bulb just broke and I had to put in a 150 w bulb which goes to roughly 93°, a little higher than I'd like but I moved the light so it's not near any of the higher vines.

He still always want to climb the front although I also changes his inside setup so that everything is closer to the front to give him more coverage and more to grab on to incase of a slip. Pics provided.

 

[Seiryu]

This is why I no longer use screen cages with adult panthers. They simply can't grip the screen properly and can fall. Plus they can rip out nails.

I know it isn't for most people, but you could build a custom 2x2x4 ft enclosure using Poplar wood (or any other wood if you seal it) and Vinyl coated hardware cloth.

Vinyl coated hardware cloth comes in 1/4" or 1/2" holes, is very sturdy and makes it very easy for the chameleons to climb.

You could probably build it for under $100 for something simple.

I attached a picture of mine. These in particular are 24x24x56". I'm not a fan of them getting to the heat or UVB lights so I built mine a little taller so they can't reach the lights. I'm using 6% arcadia for UVB not through screen. These are older pics and the plants have taken over now. I used Luan wood for the sides because I live in Michigan and it's harder to keep up the humidity. But you can see the screen on the door and inside walls.

As for the feeders, try some other things. Dubia, crickets, phoenix worms, silkworms, hornworms are all good things to try out.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

This is why I no longer use screen cages with adult panthers. They simply can't grip the screen properly and can fall. Plus they can rip out nails.



I know it isn't for most people, but you could build a custom 2x2x4 ft enclosure using Poplar wood (or any other wood if you seal it) and Vinyl coated hardware cloth.



Vinyl coated hardware cloth comes in 1/4" or 1/2" holes, is very sturdy and makes it very easy for the chameleons to climb.



You could probably build it for under $100 for something simple.



I attached a picture of mine. These in particular are 24x24x56". I'm not a fan of them getting to the heat or UVB lights so I built mine a little taller so they can't reach the lights. I'm using 6% arcadia for UVB not through screen. These are older pics and the plants have taken over now. I used Luan wood for the sides because I live in Michigan and it's harder to keep up the humidity. But you can see the screen on the door and inside walls.



As for the feeders, try some other things. Dubia, crickets, phoenix worms, silkworms, hornworms are all good things to try out.

I will be building this at some point, perhaps over this summer. Are three side solid wood? Where are the clothe sides? Do you have to coat this type of wood to waterproof?

 

[Seiryu]

I will be building this at some point, perhaps over this summer. Are three side solid wood? Where are the clothe sides? Do you have to coat this type of wood to waterproof?

The 2 sides, back, bottom and top are all "Luan" wood. It comes in 4x8 foot sheets at Home Depot. I want to say around $15 for the sheet. I built a small frame for the vinyl coated hardware cloth sides. If you put the cloth right ON the Luan sides, they could pinch their claws/feet in between.

If you want to waterproof it, yes you would need to seal it with polyurethane or something similar. I didn't because I had 2 chameleons coming in and had to build something ASAP and I since I have the 2 live plants and all those leaves, I can spray the leaves mainly and the walls don't get too wet. Ideally I would have sealed if I had time.

I used peel n stick tile for the bottom (4 squares) and use aquarium safe silicone to seal it. And then drilled a hole in the floor for excess water to drain into a tub.

Poplar and Luan are safe woods without treatment but are not waterproof.

I attached other pics I had taken.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

So are you saying to not put the clothe on the luan sides because it can pinch their feet? And won't the clothe get soaked with mistings? I'm just trying to understand this as best as possible.. I've never built a cage nor do I have woodwork experience but I can probably build this. As for the frame, what wood did you use and how did you attach the pieces together safely?

 

[Seiryu]

So are you saying to not put the clothe on the luan sides because it can pinch their feet? And won't the clothe get soaked with mistings? I'm just trying to understand this as best as possible.. I've never built a cage nor do I have woodwork experience but I can probably build this. As for the frame, what wood did you use and how did you attach the pieces together safely?

You don't want the Cloth attached right onto the Luan, which is why I built an inner frame so there's a 1" gap between the cloth and wall (so no pinching).

Vinyl coated hardware cloth is rust proof and it's called "cloth" but it's really wire with vinyl coating. The coating prevents rust.

I used Poplar wood for the frame. You can use any wood you want if you seal it.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

Ohh okay.. The cloth part confused me, I did not know this was the wire used. Thanks for clearing that up lol. Thanks rob

 

[rbosley]

Thanks for the input on building a safer in closure, as much as I would love to do it I just couldn't with the fact that crickets could easily escape. As for food I feed him crickets, silk worms, super worms, horn worms. So I can't see him being tired of food.

I live in toronto ontario canada so if I lived somewhere warm where I could out them in a cricket friendly space I would. Also my fiance would probably leave me if crickets could freely escape haha.

 

[rbosley]

As a reply about the lighting and such it's a 150 w bulb at the moment but I have it so he can't get too close to it on any of the vines. This just went in today as my lower wattage one burnt out so this could be part of the issue. As for the UVB there are 2 24 inch UVB 5.0 lights in the hood in the picture.


He has drippers going 1-2 times per day with a 2 minute mist every 2 hours from a mistking setup. His food gets dusted with calcium every day and dusted with calcium with D3 and a multivitamin 2 times a month.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

As a reply about the lighting and such it's a 150 w bulb at the moment but I have it so he can't get too close to it on any of the vines. This just went in today as my lower wattage one burnt out so this could be part of the issue. As for the UVB there are 2 24 inch UVB 5.0 lights in the hood in the picture.





He has drippers going 1-2 times per day with a 2 minute mist every 2 hours from a mistking setup. His food gets dusted with calcium every day and dusted with calcium with D3 and a multivitamin 2 times a month.

150w bulb sounds too high

 

[rbosley]

I meant to say that the higher wattage light cannot be part of the problem since it went in yesterday and he had pretty much always tried climbing out since day one.

Do Chams have times where they just don't eat for a few days at a time ? He used to literally eat the second he saw silks or supers but now he barely looks at them or the crickets. Out of concern for him not eating I have literally been hand feeding him by rubbing the worms or crickets along the seem of his mouth until he gets annoyed enough to take a bite.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

He may be tired of what he is being offered food wise.. If he's constantly climbing around and trying to get out that means he isn't happen with his enclosure. Add more vines for him to climb on

 

[rbosley]

So it can't be vines as there are plenty if you looked at the picture. It's been roughly a week now and still will not eat on his own. I have resorted to hand feeding them by rubbing along his mouth until he opens and sticking the food gently until he bites and takes it on his own from that point. Never forcing down his throat.

Personally I do not want to take to a vet as years ago I believe they caused my cham to die by injecting him with a bunch of crap after which he died. I'm more inclined to let him go without food for a day or two more and then offer food then hand feed directly in his mouth again.