how’s everything looking

[jadeloveschams26]

I'll put my comments in blue.

- my chameleon, marley She is a lovely girl. You are right she could use some calories.
• handling - only when needed Good they are shy and it does stress them.
• feeding - wax worms, meal worms, crickets keep bowl full of 2-3 at all times so she can eat when she pleases. Meal worms are a poor feeder more keratin than digestible food you can substitute super worms but only use them for about 10% of her diet. I'm guessing the wax worms are to fatten her up phase them out when she bulks up. Crickets, silkworms, Phoenix worms & flies, hornworms and a feeder roach species are all good choices to rotate for variety.
• supplements - repticalcium with D3, throw a scoop in a bag and shake up the worms & crickets in it
There are two good schedules that people have had long term success using. "Feeder insects should be lightly dusted with powdered supplement before being fed to your chameleon. As a montane species (native to higher altitudes) Jackson's have decreased supplementation requirements compared to tropical species due to metabolism differences. Use calcium (without D3 or phosphorus) twice a week, a multivitamin once a month, and calcium with D3 once a month." Or you can get Repashy Calcium Plus LoD I use it lightly weekly in my growing or pregnant Jackson's (Monday) or every other week for the adult males. Then they get plain calcium two other times per week (Wednesday & Friday).
• watering - little dripper, shell drink straight from the dripper or the bark it’s dripping onto, i don’t have a mister yet so i’ve been hand misting to keep the humidity above 60 - 70 Day time humidity can hover between 35-50%. Night time should be 80-100% when it is cool. Combined heat and humidity leads to infections, respiratory and temporal gland primarily.
• fecal - whiteish, clear urine. followed by a solid brown poop, not exactly sure what to look for. poop has not been tested. A fecal would be a good idea after she settles in.
• history - petco cham, she’s been finicky about eating even when they had her, loves wax worms & crickets. doesn’t care too much for meal worms. Likely she's a little toxic from all the D3 they have been giving her and the stress of being on display and possible parasite issues.

• cage - it’s a glass, half circle. the center of the cage gives about just under a foot in width. about 2 & 1/2 feet deep and about 1 & 1/2 ft long. It is a beautiful cage but as mentioned above it will become to small for her quickly. I think it would be more appropriate for frogs or other amphibians. Controlled ventilation is important for chameleons. Glass cages are used by people in your area for the reasons you mentioned but they all have some vents down low so that a chimney of ventilation is produced by the heat from the lights. Without the lover vent it is going to be stagnant in her cage. If the cage was larger you might save it with a small computer fan but you are already having space problems at the top. A 18x18x36 is the minimum size for her as an adult with 24x24x48 being optimum. Height is key because it allows you to create more options of heat light and humidity for her to self regulate. Screen cage with plastic covered sides or glass Exo Terra of suitable height could work for you. DragonStrand has some excellent options as well.
• lighting - 75 watt night blue heat lamp (exo-terra) 75 watt day basking light, 75 watt uvb
Chameleons need darkness at night to sleep properly for metabolic function. Jackson's also need a temperature drop into the 55-65˚F range to power down at night. You will want all lights off at night and daylight for 12 hours daily like they would get near the equator. Sadly the coiled UVB bulbs don't make enough to keep a chameleon healthy. Linear T5 bulbs are the best thing available currently to imitate the sun. I recommend getting a 2 bulb fixture one T5 6% bulb and one plant light (6500K) plenty of UVB and will keep you plants alive. Basking bulb depends on heat needed 40, 50 or 60 Watt is usually enough to create a 78-80˚ basking spot and retain the 72˚F ambient for the rest of the cage. Varies by house hold and season adjust accordingly.
•temp - temp stays at about 80 degrees That is a little warm for a sub adult I try to start around 78˚basking until they are a year old. I hope the rest of the cage is cooler or she will dehydrate quickly.
• humidity - this is where i’m having trouble, i don’t have an automatic mister yet so i hans mist her everytime i see it drop below 60. sometimes at night i wake up and it’s as 40, which i know is too low, saving up for an automatic mister. You can be around 40-50 daytime I would start with a cool mist humidifier directed by hose into her cage for the night time boost.
• plants - no live plants yet, she loves her fake pot leafs lol Live plants create pockets of humidity that will help you out. Pothos is cheap and hardy and available at any Lowe's or Home Depot and most grocery stores. rinse the leaves well and cover the soil with large stones, too large to eat by accident. There are many other choices if you want. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/plants/
• placement - cage is on my desk about 3-4 feet from my window, top of cage sits about just under 5 feet from the floor.
• location - mile high city, denver colorado VERY DRY ALL THE TIME HERE !!
I know this is a lot to take in but you have come to a very supportive community and there is a ton of help here. Feel free to ask as many questions as you need. Here is a link to a collection of Jackson's articles etc. it includes a very good care sheet. Jackson's Chameleon Articles and Studies

i hope i included enough information about marley and her habitat, please let me know if i should change anything

i updated her cage, she has calcium without D3 & the t5 line UVB, i need to get her more vines and live plants.

 

[jadeloveschams26]

i’m having a hard time keeping the humidity between 80-100 at night time with the all screen cage. even with the reptifoger at max. this also creates the problem of the water consumption for such a small water container. it will run out in 5 hours on the max setting (which is what’s needed to be even come close to 80). during the day, this isn’t an issue but i’m sure there’s something to do to not set alarms in the middle of the night to refill her water. i was wondering if adding some sort of plexi glass on the sides would offer a way to keep some humidity in? any thoughts would be appreciated

 

[Tihshho]

The best option I've seen for screen cages are the 'press and seal' style window insulation kits that can be used during the winter on interior windows. If you do the two sides and the back, you should be able to keep the humidity up. During the season change, you can remove additional sides as needed.

Glad to see how quickly you were able to get Marley into new digs with appropriate lighting! As it's been said, a lot of us got caught with the wrong equipment. Just went through something similar for my Jackson's a few weeks ago.

 

[GoodKarma19]

i’m having a hard time keeping the humidity between 80-100 at night time with the all screen cage. even with the reptifoger at max. this also creates the problem of the water consumption for such a small water container. it will run out in 5 hours on the max setting (which is what’s needed to be even come close to 80). during the day, this isn’t an issue but i’m sure there’s something to do to not set alarms in the middle of the night to refill her water. i was wondering if adding some sort of plexi glass on the sides would offer a way to keep some humidity in? any thoughts would be appreciated

Here's an inexpensive option for you to check out that uses window shrink film: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/alternate-clearside-diy.168320/

You could also put up shower curtains on a couple sides to contain spray and improve your humidity levels. Live plants are also a huge help!

 

[jadeloveschams26]

Here's an inexpensive option for you to check out that uses window shrink film: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/alternate-clearside-diy.168320/

You could also put up shower curtains on a couple sides to contain spray and improve your humidity levels. Love plants are also a huge help!

that’s a good idea! i didn’t even think about that, she’ll probably like the privacy of it too. i’m thinking velcro so it can come on and off easy for cleaning

 

[GoodKarma19]

that’s a good idea! i didn’t even think about that, she’ll probably like the privacy of it too. i’m thinking velcro so it can come on and off easy for cleaning

I can attest to velcro working well!

 

[AmandaS]

Youve done well so far! Only use that fogger at night, make sure to not use it during the day, in the heat.

 

[jadeloveschams26]

anyone know what these ‘spots’ could indicate?

 

[Ares05]

You cage is improving. At lot, actually! Maybe ask jacksjill about the spots, she is the Jackson's expert around here. and for your plants, go to a home depot or lowes and find an small umbrella plant (schefflera), or maybe a few Pothos plants. You can look on the flchams website for a huge list of live plants that are safe. Find a plant that allows some area of loose foliage, an open area, but then a area of dense foliage for her to hide in and feel secure and safe. For horizontal branches, the bendy branches are great, but she needs more perches. find some sturdy branches, or just more branches/perches in general to put in there. Your new lights look awesome, much better than the old ones! I would be curious to know in a few days after she adjusts if the new lights and supplements encourage her to eat some more, to see if maybe the coil uvb and way to much d3 could have been a contributing factor.

 

[jadeloveschams26]

You cage is improving. At lot, actually! Maybe ask jacksjill about the spots, she is the Jackson's expert around here. and for your plants, go to a home depot or lowes and find an small umbrella plant (schefflera), or maybe a few Pothos plants. You can look on the flchams website for a huge list of live plants that are safe. Find a plant that allows some area of loose foliage, an open area, but then a area of dense foliage for her to hide in and feel secure and safe. For horizontal branches, the bendy branches are great, but she needs more perches. find some sturdy branches, or just more branches/perches in general to put in there. Your new lights look awesome, much better than the old ones! I would be curious to know in a few days after she adjusts if the new lights and supplements encourage her to eat some more, to see if maybe the coil uvb and way to much d3 could have been a contributing factor.

thank you!!

 

[Ares05]

No problem! And a little tip for you, if you can't get more perches immediately, completely straighten out the branch in there, and connect it and wind it around the cage. you can attach it to the screen cage useing floral wire (its like a twist tie, but wire and not as ugly/noticable) Or, just when you do get more branches, it'll make them more stable for her. depending on the weight of any branches you get, you may have to get some Dragon ledges I believe there called. Beman suggested them to me. great from hanging plants and steadying heavier sticks and branches.

 

[jadeloveschams26]

No problem! And a little tip for you, if you can't get more perches immediately, completely straighten out the branch in there, and connect it and wind it around the cage. you can attach it to the screen cage useing floral wire (its like a twist tie, but wire and not as ugly/noticable) Or, just when you do get more branches, it'll make them more stable for her. depending on the weight of any branches you get, you may have to get some Dragon ledges I believe there called. Beman suggested them to me. great from hanging plants and steadying heavier sticks and branches.

good to know! i saw them twisted together to add more stability i just thought for her size it would make sense to get the most use out of them, she loves those fake vines so i’ll hopefully be able to buy more of those to add more horizontal vines to to across, as well as live plants in her tank. i bought a brand new reptfogger yesterday and it stopped working in the night

 

[Ares05]

Hmm, where did you get it from?

 

[Ares05]

return it and trade it for a new one if you can.

 

[jadeloveschams26]

Hmm, where did you get it from?

a pet store called scales & tales, i’m sure it was by no fault of them, but it sucks she went without humidity all night

 

[Ares05]

Yes, trade it for a new one. If it breaks again, maybe try finding a different brand.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

@Ares05, in the future please check the thread for the completed help form so the OP doesn’t have to repeat himself answering the same questions over and over again. It really slows down the process of getting the keeper the help they need.

 

[jadeloveschams26]

@Ares05, in the future please check the thread for the completed help form so the OP doesn’t have to repeat himself answering the same questions over and over again. It really slows down the process of getting the keeper the help they need.

he’s been super helpful! everyone on this website has, thanks again everyone !

 

[Brodybreaux25]

he’s been super helpful! everyone on this website has, thanks again everyone !

Agreed, I’m not fussing him! Just something we encourage all new members to do, that’s all.

 

[Ares05]

Sorry! (It wont let me see anything on the second page of this forum for some reason, so I may have asked a question already answered in there, oops! )