New chameleon advice.

[Dollarz81]

Hello everyone, I have a few questions about our newest family member Yoshi. He is a male Graceful Chameleon we purchased at a local pet store. I've done my homework and supplied him what I think a great home.

We purchased him on Saterday and the pet store employees could not tell me his age. Can anyone give an estimate? I am sure he was wild caught. He drinks very often and today was the first day I've seen him eat a few tiny crickets. He does not hide often, and is always roaming around his home.

I have a reptile-fogger and I mist his cage often with dechlorinated water, but I am actually worried that there is too much moisture in the substrate. It consist of coconut fiber and is always very moist/wet. I would love to add live plants, would this help keep the excess moisture under control?

Any replies and advice is very much appreciated.

 

[meleondollars]

Hey there. I like the decor of that enclosure! It is very easy to look at peeks curiosity.
Not real sure of the age, sorry. I can offer some other advice if you dont mind.Couple of things that I would consider.

1. Looks like you have a water dish. The consensus is that those are not favorable for our chams. They are a place for bacteria to grow and get nasty really really fast. Chams get their hydration from misting or dripping water, which sounds and looks like you know already.

2. Do you have a hygrometer in your enclosure? I did not see one, and you will want one to monitor the %humidity in Yoshi's home. This will tell you if it is too wet or not. Will also let you figure out how to get your wet and dry cycles figured out. Sorry if you already have one.

3. Substrate material such as coconut fibers are not preferred for cham enclosures. They can cause impaction and cause deification issues. Not to mention the PITA they are to clean and keep properly moist but not moldy. Most use either nothing or paper towel at the bottom. I find nothing works for me. It does not look as nice but function over fashion.

 

[Dollarz81]

The waterdish has been taken out. It was used to put small mealworms in but it quickly fills with water and drowns them. Humidity has been at a constant 80% and 75 degrees. If the substrate becomes an issue, I will quickly remove it but I love the idea of live plants. I think thatwould help with the excess moisture. Thank you for the advice.

Can you explain the wet and dry cycles? I was under the assumption thatthere had to be a consistent high humidity environment.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Also you'll need alot more plants, they need places to hide. I recomend shefflera, pothos, ficus, and hibiscus.

 

[ChameleonNerd]

i'm not sure if it's the same with flapnecks, but a lot of chameleons really don't require a special humidity setting. humidity helps in avoiding hydration, as there is science behind that, but it's more of a rule of thumb. high humidity = less chance of dehydration.
also, as KarmaChameleon said, more plants is preferred. i really like how it looks though, great job!
oh, and you can replace substrate with paper towels - you don't really need to change that now, you can wait a month or so until you would be doing a full cleaning anyway

 

[meleondollars]

It is preferred to let the enclosure "dry" inbetween misting cycles. This will help prevent respiratory illnesses and infections caused by constant wet saturated environments. Also it aids in shedding.
I am not saying bone dry, just dont keep it soaked and saturated if you are worried about the issues i mentioend.
Sorry, on my phone or i would explain in more detail.

 

[Hoj]

just a quick thought if you loose the substraight i wouldnt use anything on the bottom, ( no paper towel jmo ) i use a dark green indoor ooutdoor carpet, it looks better that a bare bottom and that chams cant eat it at all and it makes cleanup a breeze..
jmo
hoj

 

[Carlton]

The waterdish has been taken out. It was used to put small mealworms in but it quickly fills with water and drowns them. Humidity has been at a constant 80% and 75 degrees. If the substrate becomes an issue, I will quickly remove it but I love the idea of live plants. I think thatwould help with the excess moisture. Thank you for the advice.

Can you explain the wet and dry cycles? I was under the assumption thatthere had to be a consistent high humidity environment.

Undrained wet substrate will produce molds and fungus over time. Most live plants won't like the wet soil either. You also don't want the humidity to be constantly 80%, but need cycles of higher and lower humidity through air exchange. If you are dead set on live plantings try planting in shallow pans that can drain to a percolation layer of hygroton or are connected to a bucket below the cage instead. There are hydroponics pans you can get that have drains installed.