mellers pictures

[HmC]

Mellers pics!!!

Time to share my baby!
This is Cheery. Hes almost 1 years old!!
Those crazy eyes are soo cute!!
Also, his spine is a little crooked. It has become more prominent within the past few months. (weve only had him since march) It doesnt affect anything he does. I hope it doesnt affect anything in the long run!!
But we have a 30x30x71" reptarium for him. And we have all sorts of sticks and plants/trees in there for him. So he doesnt have to worry about space. He looks soo tiny in his big cage. He just recently shed but his yellows came out of nowhere. haha. I cant believe how much hes grown since we got him!
Thanks for looking!!

-Holly-

http://hollymcruz.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Very nice, Thanks for sharing. I just recently picked up a mellers. They are so fun . Mine is in a free range 3.5ft x 5ftx 8ft. I just love him/her.

 

[AndrewH]

wwooahhh, i went through your album, hes gotten huge since youve had him, are you using the right supplements and lighting? hope theres nothing wrong with his spine. hes a pretty big boy now!

 

[HmC]

yeah he has grew. well we use a repta glo 10.0 (his cage his huge though) and for supplements we use gut loaded crickets dusted with calcium and reptivite w/d3 a couple times a week. we also feed him silkworms and lateralis roaches which we read is like candy for chameleons. but he is still kind of small...hes only about 3.5 inches from nose to base..ill post a before and after picture of him side by side so everyone can see the difference!!

 

[beeze]

Beautiful animal!!!!! You should use calcium without D3 at just about every feeding. Only use the D3 twice a month. You should also dust with a vitamin such as Rep-Cal Herptivite once a month. Have you had a vet check out the spine?

 

[HmC]

we just recently found one thats about 50 miles from where we are. but we do plan on making a vet visit within the next couple weeks. our last vet we went to suggested the reptivite to us...we only use it by instructions (only going by what the vet said). we do feed him the calcium every day (sorry i didnt really make that too clear) but when i take him to the vet, we will definitely update!! thank you very much for the advice!!

 

[Eric Adrignola]

Melleri dorsal crests DO have a tendancy to be wavy - crenulations, I believe, is the technical term - or is that for the wavy, "scalloped" view from the side... I can't remember. As long as his spine is straight, it should be fine. The back "spines" start to take on a look very similar to Godzilla (up close).

 

[Sepioteuthis]

Hey Holly!

Cheery is looking great! And actually he isn't almost a year old, his birthday was last month! Here is the first picture of cheery, taken on September 25, 2007. How time flies...

He can't have been more than 2 days old in this picture.

I don't know what could be behind the sagging of the dorsal crest. Cheery's half-sibling Rincewind has it too. Like Eric said, as long as the actually spine is straight it shouldn't be a problem.
Still though, when you take him to the vet please let me know what he had to say about it. And I'll do the same when I take Rincewind to the vet.

 

[HmC]

AHHH!!! HE IS SOOOO CUTE!!!!
I was mixing up the months of when when we got Dinosaur and Cheerys Birthday.
I cant believe how much hes grown!!!
But yeah...his spine is straight. And i will definitely let you know!!

 

[lbesok]

Beautiful animal!!!!! You should use calcium without D3 at just about every feeding. Only use the D3 twice a month. You should also dust with a vitamin such as Rep-Cal Herptivite once a month. Have you had a vet check out the spine?

Awww he is sooo cute. I hope to see my baby Rambo grow and progress as yours has over the next year. Great work!
I hate to be contradictory, but as you probably already know Melleri's supplementation schedule differs quite a bit from your typical panther or veiled chameleon. It is recommended after the year old mark to successfully control their ditary needs with a nutritious gutload. Melleri are hyper sensitive to over supplementation and can easily develop edema if supplemented in excess. Here is a quote from Melleri Discovery pertaining to this issue:

Manmade Mineral and Vitamin Supplementation

If a balanced gutload (a nutritious feed for prey insects) is being used, over-supplementation of mineral dust and vitamin liquids can cause deadly edema (swelling on throat or chest) in chameleons. It is better to properly feed all prey, then supplement only as the lizard's growth or reproductive condition require. Up until the first year of age, young melleri can be supplemented with calcium dusting on prey, two days a week. Gravid females can be supplemented with dusting once a week, and daily drops of Neocalglucon the last week of gestation. Calcium is required for making egg yolks and shells, and is needed by the muscles involved in labor contractions. Without enough calcium, the female’s bones will become brittle and the contractions will be weak and lead to dystocia (eggbinding).Melleri in general are sensitive to prepared supplementation. Stop all supplement use when edema appears, or if ataxia or seizures occur.Halt the progress of edema by exposing the chameleon to long hours of natural unfiltered sunlight, good hydration, and switch to undusted prey fed a nutritious gutload. Edema takes months to reduce; it is a signal of irreparable and accumulative kidney damage. Renal failure has no cure, so avoid it by providing a quality prey gutload and minimal supplementation.

For more information about the rasing and care of Melleri please visit Christinas site at http://www.melleridiscovery.com

 

[HmC]

Thank you all so much!!!