TheBriMan23
Member
Hello everybody i need to know everything about meller's chameleons. Please help or guide me to a decent care sheet.
Meller's Cham
- Thread starter TheBriMan23
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rsepiphyte
Established Member
I just had purchased 4 WC Mellers. This is a very tough species to work with as they are soooo easy to stress. The first thing you must know is that they always without exception come in with a heavy parasite load. I start be giving fenbendazole 100mg/kg for three days in a row. I also give one dose of metronidazole 100mg/kg once and then again in 2 weeks time repeat. Give them plenty of hydration, mine receive an 1hr. long misting with warm water in my shower for the first 4 days here. I heavy spray their eclosures at least 3 times a day and install a drip system. I also introduce freshly hatched flies and heavily gut loaded crickets. If they are doing well on those i then introduce superworms. I am fastidious when it comes to cleaning "poop" out of the cages as you just cannot imagine what worms and parasites come out in the stools. If by this time they are eagerly accepting stool and having regular bowel movements that are solid and not diahrrea I feel i am on the right track. I also load mouse pinks with injectible multi vitamins and trace elements (the same ones we use in TPN's at our hospital) and give each Chameleon on of them. So far of the 4 i purchased i feel confident that 3 will thrive and do well. The youngest came in with a broken tail and was severely dehydrated so we did not SQ fluids to help the chameleon but only time will tell if he makes it. I love this species of Chameleon and hope to start my own breeding colony but time will tell. Meller's are heartbreakers. Just when you think you have gotten "over the hump" they then begin to go downhill. I will just have to wait and see and i will be posting pictures and weights on the Mellers soonl Slainte' Ruth
TheBriMan23
Member
How can you tell if they are male or female or can you? Are they very aggressive or just quietly stressed?
TheBriMan23
Member
And what size of cage?
I am a noob with chameleon's so not much help but I did find these care sheets. Hope they help.http://lllreptile.com/info/library/animal-care-sheets/chameleons/-/mellers-chameleon/
http://www.reptilechannel.com/lizards/lizard-care/mellers-chameleon.aspx
http://www.melleridiscovery.com/
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
The biggest you can possibly fit in your space. Some melleri stress in cages and others don't. You can also free range them in a small room very successfully. IMHO, I would not put an adult melleri in any enclosure smaller than 8' on a side. A juvenile can start off with one smaller. The best resource for melleri-specific info is The Melleri Discovery website.
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
You can't sex them reliably. There are various theoretical ways to do it but they don't prove out. I found mine out by watching when they poop. Males often flash their hemipenes then.
Some wcs can be very aggressive (well, if they feel threatened it is really defense, not aggression), and because they are so large and powerful can be pretty intimidating. They have a serious bite, but like most chams will bluff most of the time. Some are timid and some are wonderfully docile, even social. You definitely will want to meet any you are considering buying in person. A nice one will be tolerant of handling from the start. They will show some stress by skin spotting but not puff up, gape, lash their tails or turn blackish green.
Chameleonmaster
Avid Member
All of this info can be found on melleridiscovery.com or chameleonnews I highly recommend these 2 sites.
rsepiphyte
Established Member
They are nearly impossible to sex and that is why i purchased 4 of them. The smallest is doing much better and eating on its own. Mine will spend quarantine time in a 4' x 2' x 2' screen cages in a separate room that i also have several ficus trees, humidifier and climbing ropes. But i keep them in those cages to monitor their individual stools, water and food intake. Once i am sure they are "clean of parasites, bacteria or viral contagions and eating well and gaining weight and confidence in their new surroundings i will begin the complicated process of seeing which will co-habitat in that room. Hoping all will given plenty of time for adjustment. In the warmer months i have built a large outdoor enclosure on the side of my home . Ruth
