Jono
New Member
Hi all, here are some tips and suggestions that I wanted to share which I've picked up or developed that I feel really help in keeping my guys in top condition but are not commonly known.
Increasing chameleon activity: Chameleons are cautious by nature, even when they feel safe and comfortable in their surroundings. We all know their comical 'leaf walk' used to mimic leaves disturbed by wind. So if the leaves around them are actually being disturbed you will find that they will move around a lot more. A simple swiveling fan setup during the day can do this nicely (although I understand this can be difficult in enclosures that struggle to keep temperatures and humidity at optimal levels). The bottom line is an active chameleon is normally a much healthier chameleon and adding a bit of foliage movement can really help in this aspect. If you have a cham that spends 90% of its day hiding in the back of its enclosure, add some foliage movement and see the difference. A side effect is it will help dry out the enclosure after each misting which helps eliminate bacteria and mold growth.
The dropper: Get yourself a medicinal dropper from your local drug store (the little glass tube with a rubber squeezer on the one side) and get your chameleons drinking from them as young as possible. The earlier you can start this the faster they will take to it. I managed to get all 8 neonates in my latest clutch drinking from one within 8 days of birth without much effort while it took my 2 year old veiled much longer to get used to the idea. Any chameleon that drinks from a dropper can be given exact amounts of food, supplements or medicine without any stress and obviously will have no problems with hydration. I have kept a very small runt alive solely by mashing up a cricket everyday with two drops of water and then feeding him from the dropper. He finally ate his first solid meal (fruitflies) at around 2months.
Feeder insects die exponentially: Its unavoidable that some of your feeders will die and like all creatures they will start to decompose once they do. The longer these decomposing bodies are left the more chance there is that they will cause other feeders to die. This can quickly snowball until you are left with a box of dead or dying feeder insects. Feeding sick insects to a chameleon is a fast way to make it sick. Be dedicated and keep your feeders enclosures clean and remove any dead ones ASAP! Its easier to remove one or two dead crickets everyday than 10 or 12 every 4 days.
Cod liver oil : A tiny amount once a month. Full of so many naturally occurring trace elements that are great for your cham. If you are not convinced try it once and look at what it does for their skin, especially chams that spend a lot of time basking. Incredible source of retinol!
The sucker: I've made a simple device that saves me hours each week when dealing with smaller feeders. Get a jar size container (see through plastic works best) with an air tight lid, some mesh, 4 feet of tubing and a hot glue gun. Cut the tubing in half so you have two lengths and then cut holes for them in the lid (NOT the container). Glue them in so they stick a couple inches into the container. Then glue the mesh onto the end of 1 of the tubes to act as a filter, I had to fold my mesh a few times to make it effective. Done! You now have a simple bug vacuum. Put the lid on and suck on the end of the filtered tube and use the other tube to suck up bugs. Pop off the lid and tubes and you have a jar of bugs that you can easily pour into your feeding dish or release into the enclosure. It really helps with catching stray bugs or collecting bugs in the wild as well as easily selecting the right size bugs from a whole mass. As you eliminate having to touch them, the more squeamish (like my girlfriend) will now be able to sort out feeding times when you cant. I've included a pic.
Anyway hope these help some of you! Please add your own little tips and tricks if you have, I would be keen to hear them.
Increasing chameleon activity: Chameleons are cautious by nature, even when they feel safe and comfortable in their surroundings. We all know their comical 'leaf walk' used to mimic leaves disturbed by wind. So if the leaves around them are actually being disturbed you will find that they will move around a lot more. A simple swiveling fan setup during the day can do this nicely (although I understand this can be difficult in enclosures that struggle to keep temperatures and humidity at optimal levels). The bottom line is an active chameleon is normally a much healthier chameleon and adding a bit of foliage movement can really help in this aspect. If you have a cham that spends 90% of its day hiding in the back of its enclosure, add some foliage movement and see the difference. A side effect is it will help dry out the enclosure after each misting which helps eliminate bacteria and mold growth.
The dropper: Get yourself a medicinal dropper from your local drug store (the little glass tube with a rubber squeezer on the one side) and get your chameleons drinking from them as young as possible. The earlier you can start this the faster they will take to it. I managed to get all 8 neonates in my latest clutch drinking from one within 8 days of birth without much effort while it took my 2 year old veiled much longer to get used to the idea. Any chameleon that drinks from a dropper can be given exact amounts of food, supplements or medicine without any stress and obviously will have no problems with hydration. I have kept a very small runt alive solely by mashing up a cricket everyday with two drops of water and then feeding him from the dropper. He finally ate his first solid meal (fruitflies) at around 2months.
Feeder insects die exponentially: Its unavoidable that some of your feeders will die and like all creatures they will start to decompose once they do. The longer these decomposing bodies are left the more chance there is that they will cause other feeders to die. This can quickly snowball until you are left with a box of dead or dying feeder insects. Feeding sick insects to a chameleon is a fast way to make it sick. Be dedicated and keep your feeders enclosures clean and remove any dead ones ASAP! Its easier to remove one or two dead crickets everyday than 10 or 12 every 4 days.
Cod liver oil : A tiny amount once a month. Full of so many naturally occurring trace elements that are great for your cham. If you are not convinced try it once and look at what it does for their skin, especially chams that spend a lot of time basking. Incredible source of retinol!
The sucker: I've made a simple device that saves me hours each week when dealing with smaller feeders. Get a jar size container (see through plastic works best) with an air tight lid, some mesh, 4 feet of tubing and a hot glue gun. Cut the tubing in half so you have two lengths and then cut holes for them in the lid (NOT the container). Glue them in so they stick a couple inches into the container. Then glue the mesh onto the end of 1 of the tubes to act as a filter, I had to fold my mesh a few times to make it effective. Done! You now have a simple bug vacuum. Put the lid on and suck on the end of the filtered tube and use the other tube to suck up bugs. Pop off the lid and tubes and you have a jar of bugs that you can easily pour into your feeding dish or release into the enclosure. It really helps with catching stray bugs or collecting bugs in the wild as well as easily selecting the right size bugs from a whole mass. As you eliminate having to touch them, the more squeamish (like my girlfriend) will now be able to sort out feeding times when you cant. I've included a pic.
Anyway hope these help some of you! Please add your own little tips and tricks if you have, I would be keen to hear them.
