Help please

[RangoYoshiMtz]

We are new parents to this baby. He is a senegal cham named Rango. Today we noticed his tail has about 3/4 of an inch covered in white scales and it looks like there is skin underneath. Do chameleons shed skin? Excuse the ignorance but we are new at this and my son is worried rango may be sick. Can anyone help clarify this for us and thanks in advance

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Yes they shed, do NOT pull on it or you could rip his skin off. They'll shed every month for about 6 months of life then every 3 months. I have a male Senegal too.

 

[RangoYoshiMtz]

thanks for the info my son is so worried but now I can tell him its normal. I have a question for you if you could also give me some advise please. I want to say Rango is about 3 months old (he is 4 inches long). How many crickets is too many crickets to eat a day?

 

[OrionMyChameleon]

Baby chamelons wont over eat, so as much that he wants is fine.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Senegals are alot smaller than more favored chameleons like Panthers, Veiled, and Jackson, so four inches could easily be 9 months. Do you mean head to tail or head to end of tail?

 

[kinyonga]

Senegals are "water hounds" so its important that they get enough to drink.

Is it a male or female?

Here's some information that will explain supplements, gutloading and a few other things....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it. Until its sexually mature you can feed it as much as it will eat in a couple of minutes at each feeding.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium). Not sure how to tell you to dust WC insects if that is what you will be doing.

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

 

[RangoYoshiMtz]

thanks everyone for your help and guidance we really appreciate it

 

[RangoYoshiMtz]

the 4 inches are just the body by itself

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

4 inches in just body itself could easily be 9 months. Tail adds a good 2-3 more inches, so he's 5-6 inches total?