I want a cham!

[Susy]

Hi everybody!
I have been searching a lot about chams and how to take care of one. I've learned a lot in this forum and other websites and think I know enough about pretty much everything: the right cage, size of cage, ventilation, temperature, humidity, plants, the proper lights, the driping system, the spray bottle, etc. But I still have a few questions and concerns:

1. I have two cats, is this a problem? Does anyone of you have a cat and a cham?
2. How to know the amount of bugs a cham should eat? How many bugs do I need "in stock"?
3. Do I have to "breed" my bugs? Can't I just buy them?
4. I don't think I have acces to a vet with enough experience with chams or reptiles.
5. What to do with your cham if you go out in a trip for a week?
6. I know the cage should be in a quiet place. How quiet? If I place it in my bedroom, would the TV be a problem? Where do you guys place your cham cages?
7. I live in Monterrey, México. The weather is similar to Laredo or McAllen, in Texas. Some days SO hot! Some days SO cold..... Some days SO humid, and others SO dry!

Well, thanks in advance. You all seem to be so nice, friendly and helpfull!!!

Susy

 

[MegaS13]

You Will Have To Be Super Carefull W/ The Cats I've Heard Stories & Personally Seen My Friends Cat Try To Get Mine!

-Kenny

 

[Heika]

There are currently three cats in this house with the chams, and there used to be four. None of them bother the chams when they are in their cages. I don't leave them unsupervised when they aren't in a cage. There is one cat, a bengal, who is an incredible hunter. (Scary, in fact.) She has never even given the chams a second look. I think it is because they move so slowly. One of the cats.. she doesn't care one way or the other. A few years ago, I accidently locked her in a room with several open brooders of chicks, ducklings, quail and goslings and went to work. I came home and she was sleeping INSIDE a chick brooder under the lamp, with chicks snuggled up to her like she was their mama. Weird cat, not a single one was missing so much as a bit of fuzz.

The amount of bugs a cham should eat is a pretty hotly debated point, and it really does depend upon the type of cham you get and its age. When my panther was a little guy, I fed him whatever he would eat. Now that he is an adult, I still feed him whatever he will eat. He isn't a big eater, so it works out alright. I suppose if he ate whatever I put in the cage, I would reconsider that. Your "stock" should be a good variety of different types of bugs, and the amount would be based upon how often you want to order them! An adult cham will eat 6 or 7 bugs every other day or so, or a bit more. Or a bit less. A growing baby will eat a whole bunch, like 20 or so appropriately sized crickets a day or more.

I keep collections of bugs, but of course you can order them in. One of the benefits of keeping bug collections is that you can feed more than just the one life stage of the particular bug you have. Gives the cham a bit more of a variety.

You will probably eventually need to see a vet for your cham. You should call around and then, when you find a vet that you like or has some experience, warn them that you are getting a chameleon and what type it is. My vet has done a lot of studying over the time that I have had my cham. What he lacks in knowledge, he certainly makes up for in enthusiasm..?

If you go out of town for a week, you should arrange for someone to care for your cham while you are gone, just like any other pet.

My cham cages are in a bedroom, and there is activity. It is a lot less activity than, say, the living room. They seem to do fine.

Weather.. the challenges of providing an appropriate range of temps for your cham. Heating up a cage is a lot easier than cooling one down.. do you have air conditioning? There really isn't such a thing as too much humidity for a cham, but it is tough when it is really dry. The live plants in the cage, the continuous mistings, the dripper, etc. all help when it is dry, but you can use a humidifier if you really need to boost it. I used one at full blast all winter because the heater killed the humidity completely. Now that it is spring, the humidifier isn't even coming on anymore.. it is designed to come on when the humidity in the room goes below a certain level. It has been nice, having one less thing to fill every day!

Heika

 

[MegaS13]

My Friends House Had Something Like 10 Cats ( They Love Em! )

So There Was Bound To Be A Lizard Hunter In The Group!

 

[Chamgirl]

Heilka, I love cats and I enjoyed reading about your cat asleep with the chicks snuggled up next to her - awww bless

I did read an article once though about why you should never keep chameleons and cats together. Not sure where I read it but I can imagine what most cats would do if they saw a chameleon.

 

[Heika]

Yes, I agree. Noah has a good (bad) story about cats and chameleons. I have been surprised that Lucy Lou (the bengal) hasn't shown more interest in the chams, but as of yet, I haven't had any problems. I keep the cats away from the cages.. no jumping on them, no laying on the tops, etc. because it stresses out the chameleons and because close proximity may make them more noticeable to the cats. It has worked out well here, but I am sure that cat personality has a lot to do with it.

Heika

 

[Susy]

Heika, thanks a lor for your comments....

Now I just have to save a little money and PROCEED!
I want a panther chameleon, I would like an ambanja or blue bar ambilobe... or a cross between these two.... hehehehe

 

[Brian S]

Allright, here's my $.02. Whenever your cats are looking conspicuous and eying your cham, take your handy-dandy spray bottle, adjust the nozzle, and let the cats have it!!! They'll attempt to do it maybe three times more, but after being squirted so frequently they'll get tired of getting wet and leave him alone.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

In theory that is a great idea Brian.
My cats, however, just squint their eyes and wait for the water.
They get in the shower too.
I hate that the spray bottle disciplining doesn't work here, but every cat (like every chameleon) is different and offers it's own set of challenges.


-Brad

 

[wslinky]

The other thing to watch out for with the cats is the Crickets, last night my cat saw the crickets in the plastic box and decided they would be fun to play with. So she climed on top where the screen was siliconed to the lid, the screen didn't hold. Luckily I heard her and got her out before the crickets were all running around the house.

Moral of the story is to keep the bugs out of cats reach as well as the chameleon.

Will

 

[wow]

The other thing to watch out for with the cats is the Crickets, last night my cat saw the crickets in the plastic box and decided they would be fun to play with. So she climed on top where the screen was siliconed to the lid, the screen didn't hold. Luckily I heard her and got her out before the crickets were all running around the house.

Moral of the story is to keep the bugs out of cats reach as well as the chameleon.

Will

my cat loves crikets so i let 2-3 out for here to play with, but she is smart and lokes to nock the contaner over so now i use a looking contaner.

 

[kinyonga]

Susy asked..."Do I have to "breed" my bugs? Can't I just buy them?"...you can just buy them if you don't want to breed them....but either way they should be gutloaded....and before they are fed to the chameleon, they should be dusted appropriately too.

 

[Lenny]

My girlfriend's cat is very interested in Lenny, but we taught him to look and not touch. And Lenny rarely sees the cat...so it's working out for me. Cuz I like 'em both!

 

[Jordan]

Does everybody know that this thread is almost a year old.

 

[curly]

I realized that...its why i didnt post anything.

 

[niki]

hi there

ya my kittys(3) would love to have a good snackin on my bobbers. They claw at his cage every chance they get. I had him out once to clean his cage and my cat Spencer launched himself at me and the cham. its so funny cuz i have birds and a hamster and they couldn't give to hoots bout it, i even let them out with the cats. I guess they are just not use to the "weird lookin guys" ha ha.

 

[Scrappy]

LMAO .... my 3 cats could care less about Bubba but they do like to watch the bugs in the cage. Especially the roaches! Guess that's okay since Bubba don't care for them.

 

[gimmedanger888]

ur questions

well cats arent really problems for my cham, ive got two of them, if you dont have acces to a vet with good training you pretty much have to work your butt off to make sure its as healthy as a horse. If you do go off an a vaca make sure you leave a VERY DETAILED list of how to take care of it to the person who is, as far as heat goes it depends on what cham you want, same with humidity. I keep my cham in my bedroom, i dont have a tv so it really only hears my computer and fan. hope i helped.=]