Female wants out!

[blaisn8or]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 9 mo. old female Nosy Faly
Handling - Rarely
Feeding - Crickets mainly but occasional wax worm or super worm as a treat. Cricket gut load is very varied! Kale, oranges, apples, banana, etc, etc. She eats very well both from a cup and "on the hunt" (I try to mix it up for her) Usually no more than 5 crickets early in the morning after she gets a good misting and drinks
Supplements - Calcium (w/o D3) daily and Herptivite/Reptivite each twice weekly. D3 twice a month (I think I'm going to cut back her Herptivite/Reptivite since she's older, I just wanted to make sure she was getting what she needed since she came from a store, thoughts?)
Watering - She drinks like a fish! I mist everything down really well and drippy to get her moving then I lightly spray whatever spot she finds to give her a good few minutes of water.
Fecal Description - Normal, brown/black and white, daily, no significant changes or irregularity
History - I've only had her about 2 weeks now, she came from a well known and respectable reptile store in the area that was going out of business. She has been in her enclosure at the store for approx 3 months according to the owner. They had no previous health issues with her.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen, large, zoo-med
Lighting - 12 hrs, on a timer, UVB and ceramic heater (on very low)
Temperature - High (basking) in mid to upper 80's, low (bottom) in the low 80's
Humidity - Auto mister (every 2 hours) plus morning and afternoon hand misting, humidity averages around 70%
Plants - Live Pothos and fake foliage (I have a small container, 12" around and maybe 6" deep for her to scratch around if she becomes gravid, I don't think she is yet. I'll move her to a large container if she becomes gravid)
Placement - On counter of unused spare bathroom, zero traffic
Location - PNW...Portland area (I put her out in the sun for about 2 hours this past weekend for the first time, temp got into the 90's, she was still very happy and comfy, turning to get "tan" on all sides)

Current Problem - I posted previously that she seemed eager to "escape" when I open her cage. I know it can be the conditions she's trying to get away from but I don't know what I might be missing. At first I thought perhaps she was just very friendly having been on display and in front of constant traffic for several months so I left her alone except to feed and mist. Then I thought perhaps my new male was exciting her (he's about a foot away) so I put up a barricade so she can't see him anymore. IMO her temps and humidity are fine, she's eating perfect (hand, cup, or hunting), she got all her vitamins and has no indication of being gravid yet. My concern: She's too big to grasp the screen anymore and falls. I put extra sticks up thinking maybe she just likes that corner spot and to keep her from falling but that doesn't work. ALSO, when she's alone (I just peak through the crack in the door) she's perfectly calm and cozy. What can I be missing? Is it possible that she may really just want to hang out with me?

 

[jannb]

When she sees you, she wants you to take her out. Do you have a safe area where you can put up a free range for her? It would need to be free from all other pets and children. You can see some of my free ranges here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/photos-some-free-ranges-137228/

 

[blaisn8or]

She can't free range. I don't have the space for one but I also have a dog. Do any of her housing conditions seem "off" to anyone?

 

[kinyonga]

Please post a recent photo.

Does she have a place to dig in her cage to show you when she's ready to lay eggs?

 

[jannb]

Kinyonga is right about the laying bin. After 4 to 5 months old they need a laying bin in the enclosure at all times. If not provided a proper laying bin they can become egg bound and die. If FR is not an option then I recommend you line the inside of her cage with plastic chicken fencing. This will give her something to hold on to beside the screen and hopefully keep her from falling and pulling out her nails in the screen.

 

[SocialNumb]

Kinyonga is right about the laying bin. After 4 to 5 months old they need a laying bin in the enclosure at all times. If not provided a proper laying bin they can become egg bound and die. If FR is not an option then I recommend you line the inside of her cage with plastic chicken fencing. This will give her something to hold on to beside the screen and hopefully keep her from falling and pulling out her nails in the screen.

Sorry to bump in here but I wanted to ask about the laying bin. When you say "they need a laying bin in the enclosure at all times", do actually mean having a bin at the bottom of the enclosure with exposed dirt/sand/whatever mix? If so, what is the purpose of covering the pots/plants soil with rocks/river rocks/ect in the first place? Is this just a thing for young Chams? or, I don't get it.

 

[guanagator]

Do you use a thermostat to control temps/ heat gun to check them? Mid to upper 80s may be on the hot side for a female. My girl doesn't like it much more that 82-84 basking and spends most of the time in the area that's mid to high 70s. My girlfriend uses a ceramic heat emitter for her Python and without the thermostat or dimmer it would cause hot spot spikes up to 10 degrees over the target that our static thermometers barely registered as minuscule changes but the gun picked up. Just a thought, hope things work out for you! Also a dog doesn't necessarily mean you can't free range, a nice potted shufflera on a table or counter is all you need to keep them Cham out of dogs reach, train fido to ignore the chams and they will get used to eachother. I've got 3 cams and 3 dogs and only one young male panther that thinks he can puff up and scare a bull dog the other two rarely give more than a passing glance now maybe move up a branch if somebody is sniffing to close. They are funny, intelligent creatures and she will adjust to her new home, sounds like your doing the right things just keep at it!

 

[Wowbango]

Sorry to bump in here but I wanted to ask about the laying bin. When you say "they need a laying bin in the enclosure at all times", do actually mean having a bin at the bottom of the enclosure with exposed dirt/sand/whatever mix? If so, what is the purpose of covering the pots/plants soil with rocks/river rocks/ect in the first place? Is this just a thing for young Chams? or, I don't get it.

A female will need her laying bin to dig to lay eggs. It's an open container with nothing but dirt/sand mix in it. Crickets will try and hide anywhere they can if you free range feed. This includes down at the bottom where your plants are coming out of your pots as there is leaf/stem cover for them. The idea is that if you cover the soil in your plants' pots, if they shoot at a cricket that may be down there, your chameleon won't ingest any dirt. It is highly unlikely that a cricket would be hanging out in a laying bin as there is no cover/hide spots for them, they'd be out in the open.

 

[SocialNumb]

A female will need her laying bin to dig to lay eggs. It's an open container with nothing but dirt/sand mix in it. Crickets will try and hide anywhere they can if you free range feed. This includes down at the bottom where your plants are coming out of your pots as there is leaf/stem cover for them. The idea is that if you cover the soil in your plants' pots, if they shoot at a cricket that may be down there, your chameleon won't ingest any dirt. It is highly unlikely that a cricket would be hanging out in a laying bin as there is no cover/hide spots for them, they'd be out in the open.

So it's for accident's. I thought they might go and eat the dirt for whatever reason. Gotcha, thanks.

Sorry for the temporary highjack.

 

[blaisn8or]

There's a pic of her in my other thread, I can't re-attach it I guess. Here's a recent pic of her enclosure. You can see the shallow basin in the bottom. Like I said, I'll move her if she shows signs. The front is the issue, it's not like she's trying to get out from anywhere. She specifically goes to the door when I open it. She doesn't pace or act odd. She doesn't seem restless or anything. She just seems to want to climb around on me for a bit and then she goes back in. To keep her busy I removed the feeding cup to let her hunt instead. That occupies her somewhat. I ended up putting a few extra branches to break her fall. I like the chicken wire idea. Aside from aesthetics can anyone think of something or relate? Do I just have a sweet and friends Cham? I'm totally OK with that!!

 

[kinyonga]

I would like to see a couple more recent pictures of your chameleon closer up.

IMHO you're giving her the vitamins too often...you should feed/gutload the insects better and cut down to twice a month once for herptivite, once for Reptivite). I feed/gutload the insects with a wide assortment of greens such as collards, escarole, endive, mustard dandelion greens, kale, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc.

It's recommended that you have a suitable bin of washed playsand in the cage so you don't have to worry about missing the sometimes subtle indications that the chameleon needs to lay eggs. Since she has seen the male she likely is producing eggs.

SocislNumb...its important to cover the soil in the plants because some soils can lead to impaction. If you use the right sand in the laying bin it will not cause an impaction. The best sand is produced by Kings and comes in a white bag with blue and white and red sandbox toys on the front of it. Chameleons not only ingest the soil by accident but do it on purpose too.

 

[SocialNumb]

I have Quikrete play sand on hand that I use in my plants. That would do right?

I still have a month+ but just asking.