Most time consuming part of your routine?

[azrael]

Hi all,

Wad thinking tonight about how many times I see chameleon's listed for sale or a new home with the reason of "don't have time to take care of it anymore".

This baffles me because I work 10-12 hour days, have a home, a dog and a husband to care for and still find plenty of time to care for our 3 chams. Now, I'm fortunate enough to have a pretty automated system but honestly the most time consuming part of caring for the chams is filling their dripper (haven't figured out how to automate that one yet, if you have I'd love to hear how) and the daily wipe down of their cages. You could count the time I take once every 6 weeks or so to make my cricket puree wet gutload (about 1.5 hours) but that's nothing in the grand scheme. It helps that I have a routine of how I do things every day but it's not an obscene amount of organization.

So I'd love to hear others chime in as to what the most time consuming part of your cham care routine is? How have you automated your care? Etc. ?

 

[Sanababit]

My most time consuming chore is just watching them, lol

Sana

 

[MeruJack]

Definitely watching them, especially when they're out of their individual enclosures, is the most time consuming....but I wouldn't call it a chore by any measure. They're such amazing little critters.

 

[eat2muchrice]

a dog and a husband to care for and still find plenty of time to care for our 3 chams.

A husband? That is cold . We'll I'm in care of "a wife", dog, aquarium, 3 year old boy, 1 year old boy, snake, 1000's of insects, own business, two houses and 90% of chors and cooking. Sometimes it’s hard to find time to care for my “Wife’s” Chameleon, but consider all the other things I should be doing I consider his care time a “mental break”. Besides daily water check, mist and cleaning I spend most of my time hunting down the fattiest plump crickets. It takes me about 15 minutes to catch them with my alligator clamps, I like to make sure they are freshly gut loaded and the perfect size. On pet day Sundays, I spend a good 2 hours on everything chameleon, making everything spotless and fresh.

 

[ChamDE86]

My little guy just started feeding in front of me, so watching him eat has been the most time consuming for me . Before that I was overly-obsessive about checking on whether he was drinking or eating. In regards to owners not being able to care for their chameleon...the worst I've seen is on craigslist, when I was looking to adopt. The Petco/Petsmart horror stories does not compare to what happens to these beautiful creatures after they leave the stores with ignorant owners

 

[Jdean300]

For me it's usually catching and dusting crickets to put in their cages. That doesn't take that long though. I'd say the time-sinks can arise when you have health complications though. My year old veiled has had various health issues over the past few months (so many vet visits!) and we have had to force feed/water him for most of that time, and give him oral medicine or injections. I take it slow to reduce the stress on him so it often takes up to an hour.

 

[junglefries]

Poop scoops (insect, cham, dog, kid) (don't have the time = lost interest)

 

[azrael]

Definitely watching them, especially when they're out of their individual enclosures, is the most time consuming....but I wouldn't call it a chore by any measure. They're such amazing little critters.

I agree that I spend an inordinant time watching them. I'm always slightly paranoid that there is some underlying health issue that i'm missing. This was probably exacerbated by Shiva having some health issues for the first couple months we had him.

It is enjoyable to just watch them be them and try to comprehend what it's like to be them and see how they change and interact with their environment. By no means a chore! That's the best part, in my opionion.

 

[azrael]

A husband? That is cold ... On pet day Sundays, I spend a good 2 hours on everything chameleon, making everything spotless and fresh.

I by no means meant this to be derisive. I take pride in caring for my husband and making sure he's happy!

I know what you mean about pet day sunday. That's when the entire chameleon room gets clean and any adjustments to their enclosures are made and when the cricket bins are cleaned.

 

[azrael]

Poop scoops (insect, cham, dog, kid) (don't have the time = lost interest)

I think you hit the nail on the head with the lost interest being the motivation behind many rehomings. And as another poster mentioned, craigslist is often the worst offender, for other pets as well. However, on a positive note, I've had good experiences with craigslist chams. One being our most recent addition, Kaiju. It helped that he was a forum member and took great care of his pal.

My heartstrings get pulled when I see a cham on CL that is obviously in poor condition but I just don't have the resources to bring in the issues that accompany them.

 

[bigant25]

im in nyc and its cold and dry right now for the forseeable future (till april) my most time consuming part is filling the dripper, and refilling crane humififier (holds 2 gallons) which i need to have running directly into the cage 24/7 for any hopes at keeping up the RH and also having to mist with warm water a minimum ! of 5 times a day to keep up the RH. its a pain in the arse but its worth it i guess. also i havent taken a roadtrip or a weekend since i got him because not of my system is automated, i need to (A) build drainage system at the bottom of cage and (B) but a mist king, then i can perhaps leave him for a day or two

 

[reptileguy112]

My most time consuming thing is feeding because she won't eat everyday and she is VERY picky.She won't eat from a feeder cup so I just have to put a bug on a branch and hope it doesn't wriggle off onto the floor of the cage so I usually have to repeat this process multiple times a day.

 

[zlew]

im in nyc and its cold and dry right now for the forseeable future (till april) my most time consuming part is filling the dripper, and refilling crane humififier (holds 2 gallons) which i need to have running directly into the cage 24/7 for any hopes at keeping up the RH and also having to mist with warm water a minimum ! of 5 times a day to keep up the RH. its a pain in the arse but its worth it i guess. also i havent taken a roadtrip or a weekend since i got him because not of my system is automated, i need to (A) build drainage system at the bottom of cage and (B) but a mist king, then i can perhaps leave him for a day or two

You don't even need a complex draining system. I have both of my cages sitting on top of wire shelving, I drilled a hole in the bottom of the cage, put a bin under it and Voilà! Ace drainage system, lol. Just make sure it isn't big enough for you cham to crawl through