Feeding and suppliments.

[nosytrish]

Hey everyone.
My panther chameleon Zephyr is around 3 months old, his nose to his vent length is around 2". He/she poops everyday, and we have noticed growth since we got lil Zeph two weeks ago. Zeph does not really pay attention to the smaller crickets, and eats around 1-2 medium size (1/4 inch to 1/2 inch) crickets per day (which we know is still not enough). We have a small cup for feeding, but have noticed that Zephyr prefers to have the option of free range/cup feeding. I saw the milk carton feeder link and my boyfriend and I have decided to make one today to try to increase feeding/appetite. Our crickets are gut loaded with a mix of suggested feeders (such as kale, peppers and dandilions, carrots and zuchini) from the site. We also provide Flukers water gel for the crickets to maintain their hydration before feeding.
Zephyr has a reptisun 5.0 UVB bulb, and a basking bulb. Zephyr also gets some sun from the window everyday, that he loves to bask in, although I am aware that the window filters out the UVB.

My question is that I have recieved a few mixed results from my websearches about supplimenting/ vitamins, and wanted to know if anyone could give me a clear regiment about what I should be using to properly suppliment my cham.
We currently own rep cal without d3 and Minerall with d3. Yesterday at the store, I saw flukers all in one food, water, and vitamin solution for crickets (it was orange chunks in a vitamin bottle), and was wondering what everyone though about the product. Also, Flukers has a dry food mix available, apparently it is what "they use on the farm!" Is this any good? We prefer the fresh food, but want to make sure that we are giving zephyr everything he/she needs.

I have a warm-mist humidifier in my chams room (the former office), which helps maintain humidity in my dry house. I was looking on raisingkittythecham and she advised against this because of mold and bacteria. Unfortunately, i feel like a humidifier is essential to maintaining proper levels in my chams room and was wondering if anyone else had any advice for/against the use of a humidifier. The room is not steamy and I have not seen any mold growing as of yet. The humidifier is off at night and the room does not feel too sticky during the day when it is on.

Thank you all for your time and opinion, I look forward to hearing your responses soon.
Thanks!!!
Trish, Steve and Zephyr!!

 

[sandrachameleon]

I use the rep cal without D3 lightly on all crickets, regardless of the age of the chameleon. Miner-All (I) is light on D3 compared to the product I use. I think you could use Miner-All (I) once or twice a week, whereas I use the rep cal with D3 only twice a month. I also use a vitamin supplement once or twice a month, and gutload well. I would stick to using fresh fruit and veg and things like bee pollen, spirulina and such, rather than the fluckers stuff if I were you.
Have you tried offering different bugs in addition to the crickets?
How are you monitoring the humidity level in the chameleons location? You will need some kind of humidifier if indeed the house is very dry. I use one on a timer for about two hours a day during the coldest winter months. Also live plants and a dripper and frequent misting.

 

[nosytrish]

Hey Sandra,
The only thing that is available around my area is crickets, and we have been advised against worms by the guy we bought zephyr off of because the worms from his store are too big for him to consume. Roughly how much should he be eating around his size? Can you or anyone else suggest any places where we can get feeders online that are canadian?

The humidifier has an automatic turn off switch to maintain a set humidity, and we also have a hydro meter in his tank, along with two thermometers.

Thanks for your input

Trish

 

[sandrachameleon]

Roughly how much should he be eating around his size? Can you or anyone else suggest any places where we can get feeders online that are canadian?

Hi. here are some canadian online feeder stores:
www.canadianfeeders.ca
www.feederfactory.ca
www.westcoastdragons.ca/FeederPriceList.html
www.trinitychameleons.com/
www.bugorder.com
www.recorpinc.com/index.html

The number of insects he will eat will depend on what those insects are, how big each one is, the temperatures he's kept at, and possibly his exposure to UVB. Plus his genetic makeup - some grow slower than others, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But I recall my little ones eating as much as 5-10 small insects twice a day.