General help please.

[AnneKemp]

Hey eveybody have had my cham for about 3 weeks now and was wondering if anyone could look over what im doing and give me any pointers or help, anything would be great. Also she always seems to be brown during the day, slight colour change when she eats and goes light green when she sleeps, is that normal ?? plus is she ever going to like me ?? Thanks.




Cage Info:
Cage Type - Vented metal, Grilled top. glass front
What are the dimensions? 3ft wide, 2ft deep, 2ft high.
Lighting - Reptiglo 5, 30 inch and Infa Red Heat bulb in Dome.
What is your daily lighting schedule? The lights go on when we get up
that includes basking lamp. then when she goes up to bed the main
light goes of and basking stays on for a little while then all out.
Temperature -
What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? between 70 and 80
in main area and 90 in the basking area.
Lowest overnight temp? Dont know
How do you measure these temps? Temperature Dials .
Humidity -
What are your humidity levels? moderate.
How are you creating and maintaining these levels? misting and dripper
What do you use to measure humidity? Analogue dial .
Plants -
Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? One ficus plant.
Location -
Where is your cage located? In bedroom opposite window, near door.
Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? No.
At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? 4ft

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female, Yemen Veiled, About 6 months.
How long has it been in your care? 3 weeks
Handling -
How often do you handle your chameleon? havent. (am scared to)
Feeding -
What are you feeding your cham? Crickets
What amount? 10 to 15 a day
What is the schedule?morning, lunch and dinner
How are you gut-loading your feeders? Cricket Diet, gut loading supplement
Supplements -
What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you
dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Havent really got one yet but have all the minerals and supplements to hand,
i feed the crickets a gut loading supplement.
Watering -
What kind of watering technique do you use? At the moment misting
and have a dripper system
How often and how long to you mist? Once an hour for 2 minutes
Do you see your chameleon drinking? yes
Fecal Description -
Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings? White, black and wet !!
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No idea
History -
Any previous information ? Was in a pet shop for first 6 months
Current Problem - Just trying to get things sorted.

 

[jannb]

Hello Anne and welcome to the forums! I'm not sure what the lights are that you are using maybe someone else will help out with those. I'm not real sure about your cage either. I do know about the supplements that you should be using. You should use plain calcium at just about every feeding. Twice a month calcium with D3 and once a month a multi vitamin such as Herptivite. On the days that you use the D3 and multi do not use the plain calcium because they already have calcium in them and only lightly dust your feeders....don't make them look like ghost.

Have patience with her and she may get friendly. If you go VERY SLOW with her and give her plenty of time she might come around. Wear a light green color.....sometimes they like green. When you can watch her, leave her door open and sit a tree in front of the door and see if she'll climb out onto it. Try letting her take a worm from you hand. Do that for awhile and then maybe she might get use to you.

I think you need your basking spot a tad cooler.....mid 80's and start feeding every other day. You need to set up a laying bin for her just in case she has eggs. They can have eggs at this age even without a male. Jann

 

[Dave Weldon]

Lighting - Reptiglo 5, 30 inch and Infa Red Heat bulb in Dome.
What is your daily lighting schedule? The lights go on when we get up that includes basking lamp. then when she goes up to bed the main light goes of and basking stays on for a little while then all out.

Temperature -
What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? between 70 and 80 in main area and 90 in the basking area.

How do you measure these temps? Temperature Dials.

Feeding -
What is the schedule?morning, lunch and dinner.

Howdy Anne,

Swap-out the "red" infrared heat lamp for a white floodlight probably around 50W-75W. There are various chameleon mental reasons for a white light. Put the lights on a timer to keep a consistent day/night schedule. Try having them on for 10-12 hours.

Temperature measurements are best made with a simple low-cost digital temp meter that has a remote sensor (~$12). In addition to that, never completely trust any thermometer. Stick your hand at the basking spot and hold it there for a couple of minutes to insure that the temp isn't so high that it can cause burns (very common mistake). A low-cost (~$25) infrared digital temp gun is a good way to measure the chameleon's skin temp.

At 6 months old, you'll probably only want to feed her just one time a day. She may tend to try to stuff herself so don't overfeed her. Mornings work best then she has to rest of the day's heat to digest.

 

[kinyonga]

Here are some sites you might want to look at...
http://www.adcham.com/
http://www.chameleonnews.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...rnals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/