Please help with Tobias... + Cage Critique

[RunCode3]

*see picks too*


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, FORUM think its a FEMALE (several threads about it) think it was born around 11/11, had since 1/12

Handling - 1-3 X a week, cleaning and inspecting

Feeding - I feed him daily at night Tu-Fri, Tuesday night he gets extra crickets left over in his cup because I work until 10PM on wed. Sat, Sun, Mon he is fed in AM

staple crickets loaded with Bug Burger and those blue water crystals, Superworms with same gut load as treats mayby 3 a week. I cup feed about 8-12 medium to med-lrg dusted with Rep Calc Plus and sometimes Rep SuperPig. Usually leaves 2-3 crix left in cup

Supplements -See Above. I also for the past 3 days have been attempting to give him Reptaid

Watering - I have a Exo Pump style mister, I distill my own water at home. Mist the cage at 0515hrs (leave at 0520 for work), and avoid him. His plants always are moist to help with humidity. Mist again at 630PM for apprx 5 min. 1 week ago for about 2 weeks he would drink from the mister, now he wont (almost afraid of it.. I blame the GF who said she accidently sprayed him while drinking and scared him)
Gets a shower 1X a week on the Ficus for about 10-15 min.

Fecal Description - black/Brown poop. White other part *have noticed on occasion a little orange with small orange crystals* Poop smells like poop. Never been tested for Parasites.

History -Store Bought at Sandbar in Costa Measa, UNK breeder.

Cage Info: exo terra ? with wooden rods wrapped in faux vines and exo vine for basking branch

Cage Type - Screen 2X2X4'

Lighting -CLF 5.0 X2, 2.0 X1 (all in hood) this brand.... http://www.amazon.com/Repti-Glo-Com...l-Terrarium/dp/B00101JI2Y/ref=pd_rhf_sc_shvl8
1X 30W Indoor Sunshine, OVer the Ficus on the left - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KYU5MS/ref=oh_o03_s00_i00_details

lights on for 12hr starting at 0730


Temperature - basking with 50W ceramic in center of cage, gets between 85-90, always had a needle themomitor and checked with digital
bottom of cage low/mid 70s' Ceramic thing turns off with the lights at night ( for past 1 week)

Humidity - lowest has been 20%, stays around 40-70% throughout the day checked with needle gauge which stays in center of cage

Plants - 1 big real ficus, 1 real coffee tree 3 small safe plants 1 fake bush above feeding cup, 1 11"X11" plastic pottery with washed play sand kept moist in the event eggs need to by laid.

Placement - top of cage 6'9ish from floor. low traffic area (live alone), by front door, no draft.

Location - Coastal Orange County, CA

Current Problem - Well I have noticed he sometimes breaths through his mouth, not when basking. He will take a large breath in like when he is a little stressed. I dont think its a hiss because its going the wrong way. I dont see any bubbles on mouth area, popping or wheezing when he breaths. I sometimes can hear a little queak if i listen super close. Ive heard the squeak like 3 times in the past 2 weeks. *95% done with shed from monday*

Also, How do I administer the oral ReptAid with the provided syringe? I havent had any luck until i get him to open his mouth for a second then I quickly try and get the head of the syringe into his mouth.

 

[rhenry2424]

Funny you labeled him Tobias the angry veiled. I call my Jackson Chameleon Mr. Grumpy!

 

[RunCode3]

Funny you labeled him Tobias the angry veiled. I call my Jackson Chameleon Mr. Grumpy!

It's funny how they have such interesting personalities!

 

[camimom]

you give the reptaid, by getting him to open his mouth and you stick the syringe in.



i just hold my guy in one hand, grab his chin with my thumb and index finger, and gently tug, this gets him to open (bc he gapes at me cuz hes pissed) and down it goes.

 

[RunCode3]

you give the reptaid, by getting him to open his mouth and you stick the syringe in.



i just hold my guy in one hand, grab his chin with my thumb and index finger, and gently tug, this gets him to open (bc he gapes at me cuz hes pissed) and down it goes.

I feel so bad tugging on its little mouth!!!


Anyone else want to look at my setup? thoughts?

 

[camimom]

I feel so bad tugging on its little mouth!!!


Anyone else want to look at my setup? thoughts?

its very gentle, normally pisses them off to gape so you can give the meds. it wont hurt him.

and i hate it too, but it has to be done.


set up is great! very very nice.

 

[RunCode3]

no body else? Ive been a cham owner form 4 months and now Im the cham whisperer? lol

c'monnnn give me some feedback!

 

[brandon1]

no body else? Ive been a cham owner form 4 months and now Im the cham whisperer? lol

c'monnnn give me some feedback!

Give me a few minutes and I'll give you feedback on the entire form you filled out at the beginning. Just looking at the set up it looks very nice.

 

[brandon1]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, FORUM think its a FEMALE (several threads about it) think it was born around 11/11, had since 1/12

That would be sweet if it were born on 11/11/11. If it is a girl be sure to provide a proper laying bin for her and giving her more calcium than you would a male. Check with someone like jannb for specifics on both matters.

Handling - 1-3 X a week, cleaning and inspecting

Feeding - I feed him daily at night Tu-Fri, Tuesday night he gets extra crickets left over in his cup because I work until 10PM on wed. Sat, Sun, Mon he is fed in AM

Don't feed at night. I wouldn't go past 3 o'clock so that he/she can have plenty have time to be basking with the food in his/her tummy.

staple crickets loaded with Bug Burger and those blue water crystals, Superworms with same gut load as treats mayby 3 a week. I cup feed about 8-12 medium to med-lrg dusted with Rep Calc Plus and sometimes Rep SuperPig. Usually leaves 2-3 crix left in cup

Feed as much as he/she will eat while young. One that age could eat 15-30 pinhead crix a day or around 12-20 in the 1/4-1/2" range. Personally I would do the Repashy Calcium Plus every other feeding. Not really necessary for all feedings, and it allows for it to last longer. For the other supplements I think they're fine to continue using with RCP but are certainly not needed because of the use of the "all in one" supplement. But like I said before, if the Veiled is female I am pretty certain she needs extra calcium without D3 to prepare her for having eggs.

Supplements -See Above. I also for the past 3 days have been attempting to give him Reptaid

Watering - I have a Exo Pump style mister, I distill my own water at home. Mist the cage at 0515hrs (leave at 0520 for work), and avoid him. His plants always are moist to help with humidity. Mist again at 630PM for apprx 5 min. 1 week ago for about 2 weeks he would drink from the mister, now he wont (almost afraid of it.. I blame the GF who said she accidently sprayed him while drinking and scared him)
Gets a shower 1X a week on the Ficus for about 10-15 min.

Misting him/her can be tricky. You want to do it several times a day for a long period of time, but you have to make sure that the cage can dry out for a short period of time to discourage the growth of bacteria. And to keep the humidity from blowing through the roof. But with the Veiled being young it is fine for the humidity to be a little higher than what you would keep an adult at. Another way to give him water is through a dripper. Either poke a small hole in the bottom of a clean bottle or purchase ZooMed Big or Little Dripper. Hint-get the ZooMed Big or Little Dripper because they are cheap at around 5-8 bucks and they hold lots of water(small one holds a little over half a gallon and the big one holds a gallon exactly); beats having to continually refill a bottle with a hole in the bottom of it everyday. Maybe don't shower him/her as often. Especially if he/she shows signs of stress during or afterwards. Whenever you put him/her back in the cage after a shower does he/she ever run to the bottom of the cage as if to hide, or run to anywhere else in the cage to try to disapper from you? If not then the showers can stay as frequent as he/she likes.

Fecal Description - black/Brown poop. White other part *have noticed on occasion a little orange with small orange crystals* Poop smells like poop. Never been tested for Parasites.

If his urate (the part that is supposed to be pure white) is ever the least bit orange you should get him more water. He is by no means about to die from dehdration if there is a little orange but you should strive for his urates to be completely white with no traces of orange whatsoever. The rest of his poo sounds good, but if it ever tends to smell really bad you should do a fecal. Really smelly poo generally means parasites. And I have personally never had my Veiled checked for parasites, he is almost a year, but I got him from a very reputable place. Never heard of "Sandbar in Costa Measa, UNK breeder" before, but if they are reputable you could shy away from checking him for parasites as I did if you want. But if you don't know much about them, or if they aren't very reputable I would have him checked for parasites. I just have never gotten around to having my guy checked, but still plan to do so sometime in the future just to be safe.

History -Store Bought at Sandbar in Costa Measa, UNK breeder.

Cage Info: exo terra ? with wooden rods wrapped in faux vines and exo vine for basking branch

Make sure he has several highways to walk on and lots of foilage. Live plants are great because they keep up humidity, and I personally think they look better than fake ones. Always check a plant to make sure it's safe; the Plant Database is a great resource. A few safe ones are: Schefflera arboricola, pothos, hibiscus, Ficus benjamina, and a normal Dracena (corn plant). I would recommend the Schefflera, pothos, hibiscus(if you can keep it alive because it tends to not do so well under artificial lighting even if you have a 6500K plant light), and the Dracena. First off I'll say that I don't recommend the Ficus as much because I have heard that theres a little sap that can come from breaking branches off or from tearing leaves, and I have heard of people having bad experiences with the leaves constantly falling off with no apparent reason. Still a great plant, but I think the other four are better. I think the Schefflera is the most visually appealing and the larger Schefflera arboricola's have sturdy branches capable of holding even an adult male Veiled. Pothos is a good leafy plant that can collect a lot of water and is great for them to eat from time to time, and you can place it in a hanging pot at the top of your cage. The hibiscus is the best for a Veiled because they can gorge themselves on the leaves, as well as the flowers and not have any problems because the plant is highly nutritious and has lots of vitamin c, but like I said above is normally hard to keep alive under artificial lighting. And finally the Dracena: it has very stout stalk and very large leaves that look great and the top of the plant where the leaves come out of are a great place for chams to perch themselves. Sorry on the overload with the plants, I got a little carried away .

Cage Type - Screen 2X2X4'

Do you have a drainage system? These really help to keep from water getting everywhere when you want to do a lot of spraying. And this will help if you have a drip system as well. Search the forum to get some ideas if you haven't already.

Lighting -CLF 5.0 X2, 2.0 X1 (all in hood) this brand.... http://www.amazon.com/Repti-Glo-Comp...d_rhf_sc_shvl8
1X 30W Indoor Sunshine, OVer the Ficus on the left - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...00_i00_details

lights on for 12hr starting at 0730

Not completely sure what the lights you are stating are, but so long as you have a 5.0 UVB and a regular house bulb, or you could buy a basking bulb if you'd like, you are good to go. And the timing is perfect: 12 hours on, 12 hours off.


Temperature - basking with 50W ceramic in center of cage, gets between 85-90, always had a needle themomitor and checked with digital
bottom of cage low/mid 70s' Ceramic thing turns off with the lights at night ( for past 1 week)

Daytime ambient should stay around 70-85 to allow him/her to move to where she wants depending on her temperature, and a basking spot of higher 80s(90 degree basking spot is fine so long as he/she can get to places to that are a lot cooler). No need for a nightime heat source so long as your house doesn't get into the lower 50s. Temps in the 60s or low 70s are good for them.

Humidity - lowest has been 20%, stays around 40-70% throughout the day checked with needle gauge which stays in center of cage

With him/her being young, the humidity should stay higher than you'd want with an adult. 40-70% is good, and just make sure you allow for the cage to kind of dry out for a while from time to time.

Plants - 1 big real ficus, 1 real coffee tree 3 small safe plants 1 fake bush above feeding cup, 1 11"X11" plastic pottery with washed play sand kept moist in the event eggs need to by laid.

Crap, I wrote things about this up above where you have cage info. Oh well. So long as these are all safe they can stay.

Placement - top of cage 6'9ish from floor. low traffic area (live alone), by front door, no draft.

Great location. Probably couldn't be better.

Location - Coastal Orange County, CA

Current Problem - Well I have noticed he sometimes breaths through his mouth, not when basking. He will take a large breath in like when he is a little stressed. I dont think its a hiss because its going the wrong way. I dont see any bubbles on mouth area, popping or wheezing when he breaths. I sometimes can hear a little queak if i listen super close. Ive heard the squeak like 3 times in the past 2 weeks. *95% done with shed from monday*

Also, How do I administer the oral ReptAid with the provided syringe? I havent had any luck until i get him to open his mouth for a second then I quickly try and get the head of the syringe into his mouth.

Post more pics of his/her setup with him/her in it, and close ups of just him/her

 

[laurie]

Hello new person. You won't be new for long, as you spend lot's of time on here you will get to know all of us. I do have one question, you said you use a cermeric heater, is that for your heat light? If it is I would which to a regular household bulb for heat. She will see the light, & feel the heat as she would from the sun. As long as she is active in the day I would not worry too much about her sleeping in the pot, unless you have the ceramic heater on at night. Where you live, I doubt you need the extra heat at night, unless it gets down below 60.