Husbandry review to ease my mind

[Peppered]

I've started second guessing lately if Pepper might be unhappy in her cage for some reason, rather than just being a bottomless stomache that knows I'm the food-bringer and demands my attention whenever she sees me so I just want to make sure everything still looks good and maybe get some reassurance that she's just oddly curious/demanding of me!

Nearly every time I walk into the room she will start wall climbing or sometimes "sky walking" as I call it (climbing across the ceiling of the cage lol) like she's trying to get my attention/get out, and as soon as I get the cage door open she will come scampering out and usually climbs right up my hand/arm with no apparent fear or hesitation. I just want to be sure it's not because there's something off about her cage/care!

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - female veiled, possibly around 9-10 months old. I've had her since June of this year, about 5 months or so
• Handling - as often as she chooses/allows, but rarely longer than 15 minutes at a time. It's most often when I notice she's "begging" to come out, as described above
• Feeding - I feed her 3 times a week now, recently I've only had BSFL and crickets but I have an order for more Dubia coming in Friday. I'm using repashy bug burger in general with water crystals, and gut loading with repashy superload and veggies before feeding
• Supplements - Repashy calcium NoD almost every feeding, and Repashy LoD 2x a month for D3/multivitamin
• Watering - mister set to go off on a schedule daily (2 minutes in the AM, 2 minutes just before lights out in the PM, and a 30 second mid-afternoon mist in case they want a drink). I haven't seen her drink in my presence recently but I did when I first got her
• Fecal Description - good large brown turd log with a smaller amount of white, and minimal orange/yellow color in between

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - screen cage with back and sides wrapped with a shower curtain, front and top are fully open screen. Cage is 2x reptibreeze mediums put together, about 32" wide by 16" deep and 30" tall
• Lighting - lights are on from 9am to 9pm, uvb is reptisun 5.0 T5HO and basking is a zoo med halogen basking bulb
• Temperature - I have digital thermometers with probes, one is zip ties to her basking branch (most days it's 80-80.5 F, but it's getting colder here lately so the temp is slightly lower some days while I get the indoor temps more evened out) and another is placed on the opposite end within the lower branches, it usually is 72-74 F.
• Humidity - digital hygrometers reading up to 50% during the day around misting time but usually between 40-45%. At night it gets to about 55-60% usually.
• Plants - ficus Benjamina, pothos, tradescantia, previously had some croton too but I removed it in order to put more tradescantia in instead.
• Placement - in my spare bedroom (basically the reptile room at this point ), her cage is visible from the hallway and she'll usually see me when I walk past. Her basking branch is just at eye level for me (I'm 5'5" for reference)
• Location - Midwestern US, Illinois
• Other - the larger black plant pot on the left half of the cage is filled just under halfway with a 50/50 mix of sand and top soil in case she ever needs to lay eggs. There are some sticks coming out of it for her to climb in/out and holes and screen on the bottom to drain excess water.

I'll attach some updates pics of her cage showing the plant placement as well as the lights above the cage, I have thought of 2 possible things that maybe contribute to her acting so 'antsy' if she is actually uncomfortable:

- her uvb is due for replacement next month, I have a new bulb arriving with my feeder order. I don't have a UVB meter but perhaps her bulb is weakening too much already? I think reptisun t5ho need replaced every 6 months, correct?

- could it be that the cage is too densely planted the way I have it setup and she feels exposed? I've been trying to brainstorm ideas for setting it up where the plants can bush out and even flow down from above (like the tradescantia) but so far my attempts at hanging the pots haven't worked well, they get too heavy after misting and the side starts to now inwards?? Any thoughts?

Edit: whoops, forgot the pictures

 

[Sherbertsmysunshine]

Hello! I went over your husbandry briefly.

See my feedback in bold

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - female veiled, possibly around 9-10 months old. I've had her since June of this year, about 5 months or so
• Handling - as often as she chooses/allows, but rarely longer than 15 minutes at a time. It's most often when I notice she's "begging" to come out, as described above.
• Feeding - I feed her 3 times a week now, recently I've only had BSFL and crickets but I have an order for more Dubia coming in Friday. I'm using repashy bug burger in general with water crystals, and gut loading with repashy super-load and veggies before feeding along with the crickets, BSFL, and Dubia, try offering other feeders as well, I will include a list at the bottom.
• Supplements - Repashy calcium NoD almost every feeding, and Repashy LoD 2x a month for D3/multivitamin Great! Keep these vitamins but try to dust with NoD every feeding.
• Watering - mister set to go off on a schedule daily (2 minutes in the AM, 2 minutes just before lights out in the PM, and a 30 second mid-afternoon mist in case they want a drink). I haven't seen her drink in my presence recently but I did when I first got her do you have access to dripping water allday? Poking a hole in the bottom of a plastic jug and placing it on top of the enclosure will help her get water all day.
• Fecal Description - good large brown turd log with a smaller amount of white, and minimal orange/yellow color in between

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - screen cage with back and sides wrapped with a shower curtain, front and top are fully open screen. Cage is 2x reptibreeze mediums put together, about 32" wide by 16" deep and 30" tall it is recommended to have a 4’x2’x2’ enclosure, if your able to get a bigger one, it might help with the screen climbing.
• Lighting - lights are on from 9am to 9pm, uvb is reptisun 5.0 T5HO and basking is a zoo med halogen basking bulb these are great!
• Temperature - I have digital thermometers with probes, one is zip ties to her basking branch (most days it's 80-80.5 F, but it's getting colder here lately so the temp is slightly lower some days while I get the indoor temps more evened out) and another is placed on the opposite end within the lower branches, it usually is 72-74 F. These temps seem good, what are your nighttime temperatures? It’s recommended to be around 50 degrees F at night, they need the big drop.
• Humidity - digital hygrometers reading up to 50% during the day around misting time but usually between 40-45%. At night it gets to about 55-60% usually. They don’t need much humidity during the day, around 30% should be good, try to get the night humidity around 80-100% at night
• Plants - ficus Benjamina, pothos, tradescantia, previously had some croton too but I removed it in order to put more tradescantia in instead. I’m pretty sure tradescantia are toxic to Chams, I would replace it with something else. Your other plants seem great!
• Placement - in my spare bedroom (basically the reptile room at this point ), her cage is visible from the hallway and she'll usually see me when I walk past. Her basking branch is just at eye level for me (I'm 5'5" for reference) are there a lot of people or pets that pass near the enclosure? They can get quite stressed when the see people constantly.
• Location - Midwestern US, Illinois
• Other - the larger black plant pot on the left half of the cage is filled just under halfway with a 50/50 mix of sand and top soil in case she ever needs to lay eggs. There are some sticks coming out of it for her to climb in/out and holes and screen on the bottom to drain excess water.how wide and deep is your laying bin?

I'll attach some updates pics of her cage showing the plant placement as well as the lights above the cage, I have thought of 2 possible things that maybe contribute to her acting so 'antsy' if she is actually uncomfortable:

- her uvb is due for replacement next month, I have a new bulb arriving with my feeder order. I don't have a UVB meter but perhaps her bulb is weakening too much already? I think reptisun t5ho need replaced every 6 months, correct? Correct, reptisun uvb bulbs should be replaced every 6 months, I would replace them earlier if you don’t have something to measure the UV. Arcadia bulbs can last longer, and fit in the Reptisun hood.

- could it be that the cage is too densely planted the way I have it setup and she feels exposed? I've been trying to brainstorm ideas for setting it up where the plants can bush out and even flow down from above (like the tradescantia) but so far my attempts at hanging the pots haven't worked well, they get too heavy after misting and the side starts to now inwards?? Any thoughts? She might be receptive, and this is why she is climbing all over the enclosure. If you can, however, add more plants, bushy plants like the pothos, umbrella plants, and dracaena are great to use.

Here are some plant ideas, Feeder choices, Gut loading options, and a laying bin idea.

If I missed anything, other members are on here to help with that! Hopefully this will help for now.

 

[Peppered]

Thank you for your reply!! I just wanted to respond to some of your remarks to clarify and/or answer your questions

Great! Keep these vitamins but try to dust with NoD every feeding.

I just wanted to clarify this, I use NoD every feeding except for the 2x a month feedings that I use LoD I didn't explain that very well haha, sorry.

do you have access to dripping water allday?

Yes I have a dropper on top of the cage!

it is recommended to have a 4’x2’x2’ enclosure, if your able to get a bigger one, it might help with the screen climbing.

I honestly had planned to do this, I had bought 3 of the XL reptibreezes a couple months ago and one of them came with a ripped screen, and for some reason Petco wouldn't let me exchange, only return it to a local store :/ it honestly slipped my mind to re-order it, so I appreciate you reminding me of this

These temps seem good, what are your nighttime temperatures? It’s recommended to be around 50 degrees F at night, they need the big drop.

Night temps I struggle to drop more than about 67-68 F, though hopefully with the colder months finally arriving here it will be able to drop more. I have had a window a/c in the same room as the cages all summer but never managed to get it below 67 F

are there a lot of people or pets that pass near the enclosure? They can get quite stressed when the see people constantly.

No, I'm the only one here + my small elderly dog

how wide and deep is your laying bin?

Off the top of my head it's about 6 inches in diameter and the soil mix is about 5 inches deep, I think. The container itself is 11-12 inches tall. Should I get something with more footprint size?

 

[Sherbertsmysunshine]

I just wanted to clarify this, I use NoD every feeding except for the 2x a month feedings that I use LoD I didn't explain that very well haha, sorry.
Yes, feed with the NoD every feeding except when you use the loD twice a month


Night temps I struggle to drop more than about 67-68 F, though hopefully with the colder months finally arriving here it will be able to drop more. I have had a window a/c in the same room as the cages all summer but never managed to get it below 67 F
I had a hard time with night temps also, I found that using a fogger for around 6 minutes at night helps keep the temperature and humidity where it needs to be all night long.


Off the top of my head it's about 6 inches in diameter and the soil mix is about 5 inches deep, I think. The container itself is 11-12 inches tall. Should I get something with more footprint size?
I’m not completely certain on this, since I have never cared for a female Cham, but I’m pretty sure your laying bin should be 6” deep minimum. Hopefully some other members on here can help with this information.