Normal behavior?

[saucydragon]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon
  • Species: YBBB Ambilobe panther chameleon
  • Age: 5mo, have owned him for 3 months
  • Sex: Male
• Handling
  • Every day to put him back in his enclosure because he tries to get out
• Feeding
  • Daily: 4-6 ½ inch crickets, placed in the terrarium in the morning
  • Gutload: cricket crack, bee pollen, carrots
• Supplements
  • 5-6 days a week: Rep-cal calcium with no D3
  • 2x a week: Miner-all outdoor version
  • Per 10 days: Zoo med reptivite
  • Per 15 days: Rep-cal calcium with D3
• Watering
  • Mistking, one rain nozzle on top and one nozzle aimed in the enclosure
  • 5min sessions
  • 3x per day (changes based on trying to control humidity/temp tradeoffs in Northern cali)
    • 8am
    • 1:30pm
    • 5pm
• Fecal Description
  • Medium to small poops
  • Cream-colored to slighly yellow urates
  • Has not been checked for parasites yet
• History - Got him from http://www.chameleonparadise.net/

Cage Info:

• Cage Type
  • Screen
  • 24"x24"x48"
• Lighting
  • UVA - 12-inch Zoo med HO T5 tube lamp
  • Heat - 1-2 100w incandescent bulbs
• Temperature
  • Basking spot: 85-90F
  • Range: 85-90F at basking spot - mid-high 70s on the floor
  • Lowest overnight temp: 67F
  • Combination of heat probe between the basking level and the floor, and a heat gun
• Humidity
  • Ranges from 50% to 80% throughout the day based on how recently the terrarium has been misted
  • Measured with humidity probe
• Plants
  • Currently: Dwarf umbrella tree and cinnamon tree
• Placement
  • Currently under our loft stairwell
  • Relatively high traffic during mornings and after work
  • Not near any vents
• Location - San Francisco, CA

Current problem:

Per some really great advice on this forum, a month and a half ago we upgraded Ridley's enclosure to the large Reptibreeze (2'x2'x4'), and he seemed to adjust well to it after settling in for a couple weeks. He was eating loads of crickets in the morning, had white urates, and was climbing all over the trees. A few weeks ago, I was wiping off some stuff in his enclosure, and he decided to come out toward me for the first time ever, and that was the first time I let him do a mini free range in a potted pothos I had.

Since then, he has tried more and more to come out whenever we open the enclosure to the point of him basically ignoring the crickets I'm putting in there in front of his face and coming for the door. He used to eat a ton of crickets in the mornings and then maybe some later, but now it looks like he just grazes some throughout the day and ignores the morning crickets while I'm giving them to him.

My concern is that he is not eating as much as he used to, and he might not be getting enough supplementation if he's not eating the dusted crickets immediately. I could use some advice on how to get him to eat immediately and in front of me instead of just trying to come out, or if there's something I can do with the enclosure to make him not want to come out as much. He is just really active and doesn't seem to care as much about eating crickets when we are around.

Another issue is, we had a pretty intense heat wave last week, and I reduced his temps to the mid-80s to account for it during the day. He ended up having a more yellow urate and the color never really returned to white. I added another two smaller mists in yesterday, but the color is still not as white as it was before. Is the poop in the range of what's normal? I haven't reduced the amount of misting I've been giving him. Does he look dehydrated?

 

[ChamLB]

Boosting your overnight humidity may help him stay hydrated. Where you are an open window might do the job or you can use a humidifier.
Feeders Like hornworms or silkworms can help. Misting for a longer time can get them drinking more.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

This is perfectly normal behavior, and he’s definitely older than 5mo. It’s around this time that some of his hormones are changing as he matures. He is simply feeling the need to explore/patrol his territory and find a GF. They also start eating less at this age. All normal.

... and no, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it except to build him a big free range, but even then it would just take the edge off of his drive and not eliminate it.

 

[Gingero]

Agreed with what the others above me said. Poop looks normal to me. As they get older, it’s more common for urates to be a slight cream color instead of a bright white.