First timer and need help

[Vinmonte]

Hi Everyone, or anyone

This is my first time to own a cham, I have a hokake chameleon( it's in Japanese but I think they are flap necked chams based on photos). He/She is my profile picture, btw. If anyone can clarify this for me, it would be greatly appreciated.

I just bought him/her(don't know the gender yet as it's still young/per the breeder) last Sunday at an exhibit here in Tokyo. This was May 17, 2015. This is a mistake which I willingly admit, I bought him/her impulsively because I was enticed by the beautiful chams at the exhibit. All of my equipment now was put up at the last minute so I don't have the best ones available yet. Any suggested would be greatly appreciated.

Here are the details:

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?

Full screen mesh type 45cm width x 45cm depth x 89cm height. 1 side is clear plastic that continues until the bottom. 3 sides are open mesh type.


Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?

lights are on basically for when I leave for work until I get back which is around 8am to 8pm give or take.
UVB: reptisun 10.0, 13 watt desert mini compact fluorescent item #FS-C10ME
100 watt repti basking spot lamp item#SL-100J
I have both this under a mini deep dome lamp fixture by zoo med Item#LF-19(I think)

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?

I do not have enough equipment as of the moment to measure gradient temperature. I have a combined thermometer and humidity gauge located at around the upper middle/backside of the cage. I am still not sure but with what I saw earlier is that it might be the level that he/she is making as his/her basking spot as he/she situated right exactly at that level when I checked earlier this morning. It registered at around 75F-80F.

I just ordered an Exo Terra Timer Thermostat RTT-1 so I can regulate the temperature better. Link here: http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/chanet/item/186702/

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?

It was measuring around 50-60% during the day but I have to make sure again tomorrow.
I used a dripper which I just improvised with an old broken cup that drips when there is a lot of water and a paper cup bowl on top that has a toothpick size hole. It works like a stopper for the water so it does not drip continuously. Based on my observation, the water will run out in an hour or so.
I have a normal house humidifier that I can use but it does not have a timer. Any suggestions on what equipment I can buy to have a better regulator?
I want to follow per the instruction here to keep the humidity at 70%.

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

I have 1 live plant, which I don't know the name, I just bought it due to it had a long trunk and lots of leaves on top. I also bought an exo terra large vine, 2 long plastic vines and one plastic leaf stick with lots of leaves.

I plan to change over to dracaena fragrans over the weekend or sooner when I have time as all the plant shops close at 7pm here.

Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?

Bedroom, low traffic except at night when I get back home, no fans or airvents unless, only air conditioner, I open a window when I am out and close when I get back. The cage is at the floor at this moment until I can get the steel frame that I bought. Hopefully I can get it on this weekend. I plan to raise the cage to at least eye level which is around 5ft. Is this OK?


Location - Where are you geographically located?

Northern Hemisphere where we experience 4 seasons

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?

Flap necked cham, unknown, the breeder informed me that it was only a month old so they do not know yet. I will try to check and respond here when I find out. I have had him/her for 3 days now.

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

Only handled him/her a couples of times now when I let her out of the container and placed him/her on the cage. I also tried to hand feed her to see if she will do it.

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

I only have crickets for now which the breeder gave me for free. I fed the crickets an apple the first night before trying to feed him/her, and now I have a carrot in there. I don't have much, about more than 20pcs.

I am very open to what else I can feed my cham. Advises would be very welcome.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?

I only have Repti Calcium without D3. I dust the crickets with this. Any advice for any other vitamins that I would need?

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

I used a dripper worth about a cup which lasted an hour or so. I will add the humidifier from tomorrow.

I saw him/her drink yesterday and today but not sure on how much. I don't stare at him/her, I feel like he/she gets stressed when I am around.

Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings.

I have not seen any poo.

Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

No

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

No issues that I know of.

Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

I am worried as he/she is not eating. When I first saw him/her, he was eating at the exhibit and was a bit feisty moving around his/her small enclosure that was why I thought he/she was the best out of all of the chams there but yesterday and today, he/she did not eat anything. If you look at him/her(profile picture) she is so skinny that I can see her ribs which is why I am very worried that he/she is not eating. I tried giving her food a couple of times but she did not eat.

1st I placed a cup with small crickets, I took out the 2 back legs so they would not jump and be easier for her to catch. She showed some interest but did not eat and based on the stuff I read(not sure if here or elsewhere), I should only leave food inside the cage for 45 minutes and let her eat. She did not eat anything. Next I tried hand feeding her. I picked one cricket and placed in in front of her but she did not do anything for 2 minutes. Then today I took her out of the cage and in my hand and placed the crickets in a cup but she just turned away.

I noticed though that she was maybe looking at me the same time she was looking at the crickets which led me to think that I may be the cause of why she is not eating but I left the crickets inside her cage for more than an hour to no avail as she only stared at them and did not eat. Finally, I took them out. I read in a thread here that it is normal that chams won't eat the first 3 days but I am worried as I can see her ribs which is why I am freaking out. Could it be because of the height of her cage? Or the temperature or humidity? Any word of advise will be useful for me.

I am attaching some of the photos for you guys.

Thanks

 

[Carlton]

I just bought him/her(don't know the gender yet as it's still young/per the breeder) last Sunday at an exhibit here in Tokyo. This was May 17, 2015. This is a mistake which I willingly admit, I bought him/her impulsively because I was enticed by the beautiful chams at the exhibit. All of my equipment now was put up at the last minute so I don't have the best ones available yet. Any suggested would be greatly appreciated.

UVB: reptisun 10.0, 13 watt desert mini compact fluorescent item #FS-C10ME
100 watt repti basking spot lamp item#SL-100J
I have both this under a mini deep dome lamp fixture by zoo med Item#LF-19(I think)

Watch the temps...the 100 watt basking bulb may get too hot for your cham, especially a juvenile. It is safer to start off with a lower watt bulb or move the current one farther away from the top of the cage and adjust the distance once you have a better thermometer. The UV level may be too intense for such a young cham.


It was measuring around 50-60% during the day but I have to make sure again tomorrow.

The analog type humidity gauges are not very accurate. If you can find a digital type it will probably work better.


I used a dripper which I just improvised with an old broken cup that drips when there is a lot of water and a paper cup bowl on top that has a toothpick size hole. It works like a stopper for the water so it does not drip continuously. Based on my observation, the water will run out in an hour or so.

I have a normal house humidifier that I can use but it does not have a timer. Any suggestions on what equipment I can buy to have a better regulator?
I want to follow per the instruction here to keep the humidity at 70%.

Actually you don't want a constant 70% humidity level. There should be drier and wetter cycles during the day to prevent mold in the cage. Can you plug your house humidifier into an appliance timer? You could set the timer so the humidifier cycles on and off to create wetter and drier periods.


I have 1 live plant, which I don't know the name, I just bought it due to it had a long trunk and lots of leaves on top. I also bought an exo terra large vine, 2 long plastic vines and one plastic leaf stick with lots of leaves.

I plan to change over to dracaena fragrans over the weekend or sooner when I have time as all the plant shops close at 7pm here.

Live plants will also help maintain your cage humidity levels. Flap-necks are not a species known to eat their cage plants so which ones you use may not matter as much. You do want plants that hold water droplets well and have enough structure so the cham can actually reach them to drink.


Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?

Bedroom, low traffic except at night when I get back home, no fans or airvents unless, only air conditioner, I open a window when I am out and close when I get back. The cage is at the floor at this moment until I can get the steel frame that I bought. Hopefully I can get it on this weekend. I plan to raise the cage to at least eye level which is around 5ft. Is this OK?

The height should be fine. Also, control your cage lighting with timers as well. You won't have to worry about the light cycle every day.

Only handled him/her a couples of times now when I let her out of the container and placed him/her on the cage. I also tried to hand feed her to see if she will do it.

I would leave "her" alone for a while. Chams in new surroundings rarely eat right away. She may be intimidated by handling at this time. Make sure she has a lot of visual cover in her cage so she feels safer.


I only have Repti Calcium without D3. I dust the crickets with this. Any advice for any other vitamins that I would need?

You will need a calcium dust that does contain vitamin D3. Dust the feeders with this once every two weeks. Also get a reptile multivitamin dust and use it once every 2 weeks. Gutloading your feeder insects well is most important. You can use pieces of dark leafy green vegetables, chunks of fruit, bee pollen, and vitamin fortified cereal grains.


I used a dripper worth about a cup which lasted an hour or so. I will add the humidifier from tomorrow.

Hand spraying the cage will provide a lot of water droplets for her to lick off the leaves. Not all chams decide to use a dripper reliably.


I saw him/her drink yesterday and today but not sure on how much. I don't stare at him/her, I feel like he/she gets stressed when I am around.

I am worried as he/she is not eating. When I first saw him/her, he was eating at the exhibit and was a bit feisty moving around his/her small enclosure that was why I thought he/she was the best out of all of the chams there but yesterday and today, he/she did not eat anything. If you look at him/her(profile picture) she is so skinny that I can see her ribs which is why I am very worried that he/she is not eating. I tried giving her food a couple of times but she did not eat.

She is settling in to her new situation. It is normal for them not to eat right away. They can easily go a week without eating much at all. Its more important that she is drinking. When you offer her food, don't put too many feeders in all at once. All the motion can confuse younger chams who are also preoccupied by your presence. Leave her alone more.


Juvenile chams often look skinny depending on how they are moving. It's OK to see ribs as she moves around. A very thin cham's tail will show the tendons and muscles clearly. A fat cham's tail will be completely round in cross section.


I am attaching some of the photos for you guys.

Thanks[/QUOTE]

 

[MorganC25]

Welcome to the forums Vinmonte/Calvin! Congrats on your new little baby, it sounds like you've got the right idea and gear, besides what Carlton has suggested.

 

[Vinmonte]

Thanks MorganC25, I am excited to be here and thank you Carlton, for all of your advise. I actually just received the timer thermostat today and installing now.

A little update, I saw she pooped for the first time, it was darkish, maybe dark brown or black but I did not see any urate... should I be worried? Maybe she is not getting enough water. I bought a spray bottle today and plan to spray early tomorrow morning with the dripper. I think she is responding to the dripper as I see her travel from where she is up to where the water is dripping. I also noticed that she really liked the mist that my humidifier is spewing. I already bought a timer for the humidifier but still waiting for delivery. Hopefully I can receive it by tomorrow night so I can set it the next day.

I changed the plant today to a ficus benjamina, I got lucky and saw one with just the right height for my enclosure, around 66cm. I replaced the earlier one I bought right away but seems she still needs to get used to the new plant because I saw her move away from the plant and into a vine to sleep. But I hope this one would make her feel safe., it has lots of leaves so better for coverage.

I have some more pictures for you guys. Actually need your thoughts too on what type of cham she is. At first I thought she was flap necked but after looking through a few more pictures, I think she/he looks more like a panther chameleon, what do you guys think?

 

[MorganC25]

I don't exactly what kind it is, but based on the prominent back ridge, and no complete ridge outlining the top edges of her nose area, I'd say she's not a panther, but I could be wrong!

 

[MsCham]

Congrats on entering the world of chameleon keeping! I've only had mine a couple months, but it is honestly one of the best creatures I have ever kept! And it looks like you have a cutie! My cham certainly doesn't eat every day, so I wouldn't get too worried yet!

 

[Vinmonte]

Thanks for your input morganc25. Hopefully i'll get to know when she gets bigger.

Thank you too mscham, i'm both excited and nervous. I have been looking into getting chams for a while now and been reading quite a lot of material both on the internet and some books. I even bought reptiles and amphibians for dummies. I'm still reading a lot but taking care of one so suddenly gave me a shock and got me on panic mode. Finding this forum was very good for me as most of my questions got answered and at least got me to pipe down and relax.

I still even don't have a name for her yet as I don't know the gender. I'll try to get to that soon.

Thanks again

 

[nickypav]

Hey hows it going? ive had a flap neck for over 2 years now and ill give you a few tips. FIRRST! dont only leave food int here for 45 minutes just leave the food until she eats it, i never do cup feeding just throw them in there and let her work for her food, hunting is pretty cool to watch as well lol

also i reccomend you get get repashy calcium plus, it has D3 in it and ive been dusted my crickets every feed and my cham is doing fine.

You can aslso feed them wax worms, meal worms and fruit flies and small super worms. they arnt a big breed so i dont reccomend super worms that are large

Flap necks are pretty skinny chameleons, look them up in their natural habitat. shell probably only need 3 or 4 a day to be honest and make sure to spray cage once or twice a day.

If you have any other questions please message me

 

[nickypav]

Also how hot is the basking spot? i use a 100 watt basking bulb and keep the basking spot over 95 degrees

 

[DragoLikesReptiles]

I use a 100 watt basking bulb, too. My temps are 87-90 for my 9 month old. I keep it suspended off the top if the cage about 6 inches and measure temps with a temp gun.

 

[MorganC25]

Where do you get a temp gun?

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Looks like a T. cristatus. Common name here is crested, or sailfin chameleon.

 

[Carlton]

Where do you get a temp gun?

Lots of herp suppliers carry them. Check forum sponsors who carry herp supplies. They are a wonderful tool for anyone who keeps critters who need specific temps.

 

[Vinmonte]

Hi Nickypav,

Thanks for the response. Actually I went to the vet as I was worried that he wasn't eating and the vet told me that he was healthy, no parasites or anything.

I tried a lot of things trying to feed him. I leave crickets in a paper cup near his basking area, other side of his basking area, one time free ranging them and one time below the cage in a plastic bowl, I even picked up the cricket to show to him but he was too scared, he just looks at the cricket and then to me and just freezes so he still did not eat. I think free range is pretty difficult for him because the cage is too big that is why I am trying out a whole lot of stuff and finding which one is the best. The crickets that I feed him are still also small so that he won't have a problem choking on them, but on the other hand, I guess they are harder to find.

If I leave his food only for 45 minutes though, I don't think he will be able to eat as I am out most of the day. So all the time I just leave his food inside the cage and just take them out when I get back.

So far, I have only tried giving him crickets. I planned to buy some worms but the store that I went to said that I should best give him crickets for now as worms are considered a delicacy for them and might not want to eat crickets more if I feed him worms now while he is young.

The other day I saw that he was very weak so I brought him out of his cage and into a small plant and hand fed him and he ate from my hand. He must have ate around 5-6 crickets. Yesterday I tried but again but I think he just wanted to sleep so I just put him back when he refused to eat. I will continue to try to find the best way to feed him.

I also learned that he is not a flap-necked cham but a crested chameleon.

I actually already bought both a multivitamin and a calcium with D3 supplement. Both are from Exo Terra. I have yet to use them though. I am only using the calcium from Zoomed without D3 for now. Next month I will dust them with the multivitamin and calcium with D3.

 

[Vinmonte]

Also how hot is the basking spot? i use a 100 watt basking bulb and keep the basking spot over 95 degrees

Hi Nickypav,

I also have a 100watt basking lamp but since my cham is still very small, it might be too hot for him. I also saw him under the basking light but not recently. I also bought a temp gun and it registered the basking area to be around 85-90 F. I added a lot of vines since for cover.

 

[Vinmonte]

Where do you get a temp gun?

Hi Morgan,

I bought mine in Amazon. http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B006CQT7YG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01

 

[Vinmonte]

Looks like a T. cristatus. Common name here is crested, or sailfin chameleon.

Hi SSimsswiSS,

Yes, my vet told me that he is a crested. Thanks.

I have been looking into how to specially care for them ever since. Not too much information on the web though.

 

[nickypav]

Awesome to hear hes healthy. i still recommend you leave food in the cage all day and take it out at night. sometimes when they are young and brought to a new area it takes them awhile to get used to their surroundings and start eating. im glad hes eating out of your hand, thats a good sign of friendliness and trust.

for me the best calcium i have used is repashy. they do a very good job at making the best vitaimin mix you can find, alot of breeders ive talked to swear by it. also my cham isnt the biggest fan of the basking spot either, he likes to be just to the side of it so probably around 85 degrees is his preferred spot.

make sure to keep him hydrated and humidity up and i bet hell start eating. just leave the food in there for him to find and hell start to learn to eat. I wouldnt say warms are a delicacy exactly, its good to mix up their diet but feeding him just crickets for now is perfectly fine. best of luck, let me know if you need help with anything else.

 

[Vinmonte]

Awesome to hear hes healthy. i still recommend you leave food in the cage all day and take it out at night. sometimes when they are young and brought to a new area it takes them awhile to get used to their surroundings and start eating. im glad hes eating out of your hand, thats a good sign of friendliness and trust.

for me the best calcium i have used is repashy. they do a very good job at making the best vitaimin mix you can find, alot of breeders ive talked to swear by it. also my cham isnt the biggest fan of the basking spot either, he likes to be just to the side of it so probably around 85 degrees is his preferred spot.

make sure to keep him hydrated and humidity up and i bet hell start eating. just leave the food in there for him to find and hell start to learn to eat. I wouldnt say warms are a delicacy exactly, its good to mix up their diet but feeding him just crickets for now is perfectly fine. best of luck, let me know if you need help with anything else.

Hi Nicky,

Thanks for the quick reply. I will do just that.

As per the repashy, are you referring to this: http://www.amazon.co.jp/レパシー-スーパーフー...e=UTF8&qid=1432868183&sr=8-2&keywords=repashy

this is the only one I could find here.

 

[nickypav]

no, im referring to their calcium plus.

http://www.chameleonsonly.com/products/Repashy_Superfoods_Calcium_Plus_3_oz_jar-291-22.html

Also just curious, what are you feeding (gutloading) your crickets? repashy also makes a great cricket food called bug burger, i would invest in that! like many other cricket food it acts as a water as well as a food