mellers

[mdior]

hi there
i was shopping in a pet store for crickets for my bearded dragon, when i stumbled upon an adult mellers in a crappy set up. i had kept chameleons in the past, many different varieties with success. however never picked the mellers, due to size and level of difficulty.
i could not leave this chameleon in that environment. he was in a 20 gallon aquarium with a dish of water. and this place had chickens, and birds and dogs, and it was flithy, only in los angeles!
i scrambled to order an pre made cage online ( because i did not have time to construct one), i purchased the uvb lighting and a heat source, a misting system and plants. he hung out in a tree in my living room for a day.
he has been eating well, and drinking from misting and sometimes from the drip. today he did begin to behave oddly. he has climbed to the top of the enclosure and is hanging upside down. sometimes pushing with his nose against the screen. the cage is 2ft wide by 3 long by 5ft tall. i do have an appointment at the vet on friday for a fecal culture. my question is can anyone shed some light on some of the behaviors of this breed. i am just concerned.

 

[AndrewH]

they do best in free range enclosures. But all chams do this, He will need a bigger enclosure sooner or later. but as long as he doesnt rub it raw, i would just try to have him settle in his cage for now. which pet store did you get him from? thank you for rescuing him

 

[mdior]

meller

thanks for your reply. did assume he would need more space, it was the largest thing i could get next day air at the time. it was this little hole in the wall dump in korea town in los angeles. like i said, i would never in my life have gone in there, but i needed crickets and it was there. they also had 3 veileds, like maybe 6 months old. also not in the greatest enclosure, but better than this guy. you can't save them all right.
ps reported to the human society.....any suggestions on where i can purchase a large enclosure? like one you assemble,i could find nothing online

 

[Brad Ramsey]

http://www.melleridiscovery.com/index.html

-Brad

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Congratulations on this newst member of your family.

Yes, it is normal for them to hang from the ceilings and walls at first. Be watchful for damage to the toe nails and that he/she doesn't rub its face raw. They do better in free range, but we had Hercules in a 24x24x48 cage before we freeranged him and he didn't have a problem with the cage at all. He did have a problem with loneliness, however (wanting a mate). That caused some issues, but once we got his mate he was fine. They are social creatures. Plan to interact with the cham. Also, they benefit from showering. If you don't shower, then plan on misting for longer periods than you would for other chams. 10-20 minutes. Be sure he drinks, but even after he's done drinking he still needs misting for his skin. Their skin can get like parchment if they don't get enough moisture and humidity.

A 2x3x5 foot cage is nice and big. How big is your Melleri?

 

[FooL111394]

congrats on your saving

 

[Dave Weldon]

...any suggestions on where i can purchase a large enclosure? like one you assemble,i could find nothing online

Howdy,

I read that you are using a 2x3x5 enclosure right now. How much bigger were you planning on going? The more readily available pre-made enclosures are only 2x2x4. LLLReptile still has that size on sale for $80 which is a reasonable price.
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...een/-/24-x-24-x-48-inch-aluminum-screen-cage/
I think it's going to be tough to go a lot bigger than that in an aluminum screen enclosure without going custom-made. https://www.chameleonforums.com/mellers-13771/WWW.CAGES.NET can make them bigger than 2x2x4 but I'm not sure how much bigger. If I missunderstood about your 2x3x5 and a 2x2x4 is what you are looking for then try LLL and in the meantime I have a spare 2x2x4 loaner for emergencies. I'm off work this Fri-Sun and you can either come by here or I can go there if you want to borrow anything (Need dubia roaches?). (I'll be in Bell Saturday morning doing a fecal on Ocelot357's Rudis .) I'll be checking posts again after work ~6pm.

What part of Los Angeles are you located?

What vet did you find?

 

[mdior]

meller

he or she is about 9 to 10 inches long, wc for sure. he does have some healing wounds, small one on his spine. no infections, they look like very old injuries, probably due to his past set of circumstances. how in the world i am going to find him or her a mate? we you say free range, what is the set up. i had him out the first two days i had him due to lack of enclosure. i have several tall potted tress in my home. he would climb them but then end up on my curtain rod, and would just stay up there. i was concerned about him getting a lack of uvb if he were just hanging out. also it isn't a very private area he was chillin in. watering and feeding were also very difficult.

 

[lbesok]

Good luck with your new purchase. I always hate hearing about the horrible conditions that pet stores keep chams in. He is EXTREMELY luck to have had you rescue him! When mine first came in to the country my primary concern was HYDRATION, HYDRATION, HYDRATION. We put potted plants for them to hang out on in the shower, misted frequently, and made a drip system out of a milk jug. In no time they both learned to accept water from a dropper and to cup feed!! This was the step that made MY life easier. It always makes me happy to see my babies eating and drinking
I'd like to share with you both my previous and current melleri enclosures:
This cage is on my parents porch on the other side of the state, and housed two WC melleri before I lost the larger of the two earlier this summer. RIP She-ra

Now over in Tampa, this is what we have going on for Rambo.

Most recent (last week).

We also experimented with this bird style cage, with little success. I only kept one in here at a time, but found them frequently rubbing on the metal. I think it's a bit small, but could be utilized as a good travel cage b/c it breaks down well. You can see our panther Mufasa enjoying it in this pic.

This cage is 4x3x5, and has the lights and dripper and everything. I leave the doors open for him and set up plants for him to wander out on, and he LOVES it. This way he can regulate his own UVB, I am/was skeptical about getting a mercury vapor for above all the plants. I'd like to also mention the danger of fake plants (if you have any), if accidentally ingested, you could have a serious problem on your hands.
I was reading also that yours pushes against the screen. Mine will do this sometimes too. I have read the most likely cause for them trying to retreat from their environment is to find something that they don't have. Most of the time after I witness this behavior, I'll either feed or water him and everything is alright

 

[AndrewH]

Hey mdior. http://www.screencages.com/ this place can build you a custom size with large mesh wiring. It is big enough to be easy on their toes, but small enough so that adult sized crickets cannot escape. It is harder to keep humidity in, but i just keep a humidifier next to my panthers cage.

 

[summoner12]

Congrats on your new melleri. Get in touch with Kristina at MelleriDiscovery. her username on the forum is Studiocham.

If you'd like to meet other cham keepers there is the South Bay chameleon Keepers meetin coming up in about a week. Ask Dave Weldon for details or keep an eye out on the forums for a thread about the meeting.

 

[chamlover]

Seems to be a busy week for melleri rescues. Good for you to picking him up. Considering you know he is w/c, have you made an appt w/ a vet yet? You sound like you know quite a bit about chams so i would imagine you know that being w/c he is most likely going to have creepies/ie/ parasites. Make sure to at least get a fecal done asap. That seems to be a huge issue when getting a w/c. I also rescued a melleri this week but mine is extremely thin and dehydrated. Have you weighed yours yet? I know you said he was 9-10" long, but didn't mention whether he is thin or not. If he is you can contact Mulberry Farms to get him some Hornworms, silkworms, and butterworms to fatten him up. I'd love to see a pic of him, do you have one?

As far as the rubbing on the screen, give him a few days to calm down. I have another melleri that actually seems to prefer tobe in a smaller cage. Don't know if it because of security or not but when i had him in a bigger cage he went nuts and when i put him in a smaller one he loved it. Go figure. Good luck trying to find out if it is a girl or boy. lol. Maybe when you bring it to the vets they can do an ultrasound and let you know.

Debby

 

[mdior]

meller

i am so grateful for all your suggestions. it is really great. he seems to be doing ok. after the vet tomorrow hopefully nothing too crazy will arise. i will try the shower trick and see what he thinks about that. so it says life span is 12 years? how does one really determine age? vet only?

 

[dante8858]

I am so glad that you took the guy out of that situation...I just got a Mellers about 3-4 weeks ago from somewhat similiar situation. He was caged outside (I live in Bakersfield where it has been 111 degrees) in a cage full of water dragons, a couple of Veilds and a bunch of iguanas. When I took him home he was very dehydrated and hungry. That first day he ate about 20 med crickets! He seems to be doing fine in his new home but now that I have found out what he is I am trying to get him in a larger cage, since he is only 9 and 1/2 inches and they can get to 10-14 inches. I wish you the best luck with your new guy/girl? They are very social....mine loves to just sit on my shoulders or walk along my couch....but I can't keep him free range (to many other animals...1 Macaw, 5 dogs, 2 cats, 1 ferret, 1 rabbit )
I have a question for anyone out there with a Mellers cham:
Every photo that I have seen of a Mellers about the same size as mine has yellow....mine doesn't. I am concerned about the fact that he shows no yellow colors at all. Anyone know what that can mean? He has the deep green when basking and the almost sea green when relaxing. He eats (he loves to eat!!), drinks, poops, sun soaks, and sleeps so I believe that he is healthy. His few wounds that he had have healed and he is looking pretty good. Anybody have any thoughts on the lack of yellow coloration. Can that be normal?

 

[summoner12]

I am so glad that you took the guy out of that situation...I just got a mellers about 3-4 weeks ago from somewhat similiar situation. He was caged outside (I live in Bakersfield where it has been 111 degrees) in a cage full of water dragons, a couple of veilds and a bunch of iguanas. When I took him home he was very dehydrated and hungry. That first day he ate about 20 med crickets! He seems to be doing fine in his new home but now that I have found out what he is I am trying to get him in a larger cage, since he is only 9 and 1/2 inches and they can get to 10-14 inches. I wish you the best luck with your new guy/girl? They are very social....mine loves to just sit on my shoulders or walk along my couch....but I can't keep him free range (to many other animals...1 Macaw, 5 dogs, 2 cats, 1 ferret, 1 rabbit )
I have a question for anyone out their with a mellers cham:
Every photo that I have seen of a mellers about the same size as mine has yellow....mine doesn't. I am concerned about the fact that he shows no yellow colors at all. Anyone know what that can mean? He has the deep green when basking and the almost sea green when relaxing. He eats (he loves to eat!!), drinks, poops, sun soaks, and sleeps so I believe that he is healthy. His few wounds that he had have healed and he is looking pretty good. Anybody have any thoughts on the lack of yellow coloration. Can that be normal?

Check the link that Brad Ramsey has posted. It takes you to Melleri Discovery. This is a great resource for those keeping Melleri. As for the size you mentioned, is that nose to vent? or nose to tail?

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Dante8858- You have probably seen this site (linked here below), but this page has some interesting notes concerning coloration. Our male is normally 2 shades of blueish green, with some white. He shows yellow when wearing his breeding attire. Our female is generally green and yellow. There are so many color variations with this species. He sounds like he's adjusting very well. Congratulations.

http://www.melleridiscovery.com/index.html

 

[dante8858]

Check the link that Brad Ramsey has posted. It takes you to Melleri Discovery. This is a great resource for those keeping Melleri. As for the size you mentioned, is that nose to vent? or nose to tail?

I measured him from his/her nose to the start of the tail (not sure what you would call that?) I'll check out the link..Thanks

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

I measured him from his/her nose to the start of the tail (not sure what you would call that?) I'll check out the link..Thanks

It's called Snout to vent "s/v". You measure from the tip of the nose, to the crease where the poop comes out.

 

[dante8858]

Dante8858- You have probably seen this site (linked here below), but this page has some interesting notes concerning coloration. Our male is normally 2 shades of blueish green, with some white. He shows yellow when wearing his breeding attire. Our female is generally green and yellow. There are so many color variations with this species. He sounds like he's adjusting very well. Congratulations.

http://www.melleridiscovery.com/index.html

Yes I have seen this site, I looked around it after I first found out what my cham was. I do think that he is healthy but I just worry about the pale white with light green colors that he sometimes shows. I want to make sure I am doing everything right. I had my other cham (veiled) for almost 3 years and then one day I got up and found her in her cage with her legs basically backwards! The vets couldn't figure out what had happened to her, said it could have been a bone deformation. I ended up having her put to sleep since I wasn't sure if she was in any pain (and she was having a really hard time climbing and catching her food). I really don't want to go through that again and I keep reading how hard Mellers are to keep alive....I just want to make sure he is normal, healthy and not to stressed. Thanks for the advice and having me revisit the link! I feel a bit better about his no yellow coloration.

 

[dante8858]

It's called Snout to vent "s/v". You measure from the tip of the nose, to the crease where the poop comes out.

Thanks....that is what I did. I measured from his snout to the crease and he is 9 and 1/2 inches long. What size cage should he be in? I know that he is in one that is too small, (2x2x4) but I have read several different sizes for a Mellers. I want to get something that will be big enough for when he is full grown. Any suggestions?