Question

[ChelseaFC]

Ok im about to order a sambava panther chameleon and I was wondering about feeding and sleeping.

I know when they are young they eat 4-5 crickets a day, do you just put all of them in there alive in the feeding cup or are they dead? or is it one at a time?

Also with sleeping if the guy is gonna be in my room how am i supposed to sleep with his lights on? do you turn them off or put a blanket over or something?


I have done research and read about these guys for a long time just cant find any specifics? or maybe im dumb, any help would be appreciated

 

[jojackson]

Your lizard wont likely be intrested in dead insects. They must be live.
Low or no lighting at night, its diurnal. Unless its freezing where you are, dont use a blanket, ventilation is very important.

 

[pr3mo15]

You should do a bit more research....they are hungry little lizards when they are young. and may eat up to 20 crickets a day

 

[ChelseaFC]

wont the crickets jump out of the cup?

 

[Syn]

Not if the cup is tall enough. They jump lengths, not heights.

 

[ChelseaFC]

man I feel dumb

 

[Syn]

Just do more research, you'll get there in time! Don't feel dumb.. we all make mistakes.

 

[jojackson]

I personally find they do jump out of cups, I dont like pulling legs off or using huge ugly containers, so I just let crickets loose myself. Cups are good for other insects though.
If you use a screen cage, you can let the crix crawl up the screen, seems to attract the lizards attention.

 

[kinyonga]

You are definitely not ready to get a chameleon yet. You don't even know the basics...
You said..."I know when they are young they eat 4-5 crickets a day, do you just put all of them in there alive in the feeding cup or are they dead? or is it one at a time?"...chameleons don't eat dead insects. The size of the crickets must be appropriate for the size of the chameleon...and a hatchling should eat a lot more than 4 or 5 crickets a day.

You said..."Also with sleeping if the guy is gonna be in my room how am i supposed to sleep with his lights on? do you turn them off or put a blanket over or something?"...do you think that a chameleon would sleep with the lights on in the wild?? They need darkness to sleep just like other diurnal generally animals do.

Please learn about UVB lighting, supplementation, gutloading, appropriate temperatures, etc. before you buy a chameleon.
Here are some good sites for you to read....
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://adcham.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...als.com/vet/index.php?show=8.Gout.Basics.html
http://chameleonnews.com/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

 

[Nicodemayo]

You are definitely not ready to get a chameleon yet. You don't even know the basics...
You said..."I know when they are young they eat 4-5 crickets a day, do you just put all of them in there alive in the feeding cup or are they dead? or is it one at a time?"...chameleons don't eat dead insects. The size of the crickets must be appropriate for the size of the chameleon...and a hatchling should eat a lot more than 4 or 5 crickets a day.

You said..."Also with sleeping if the guy is gonna be in my room how am i supposed to sleep with his lights on? do you turn them off or put a blanket over or something?"...do you think that a chameleon would sleep with the lights on in the wild?? They need darkness to sleep just like other diurnal generally animals do.

Please learn about UVB lighting, supplementation, gutloading, appropriate temperatures, etc. before you buy a chameleon.
Here are some good sites for you to read....
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://adcham.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...als.com/vet/index.php?show=8.Gout.Basics.html
http://chameleonnews.com/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

Patrick, please take Kinyongas advice. Do alot more research before making your purchase. Visit those links she linked, and feel free to call me if you have any other questions.

 

[ChelseaFC]

oh i mean im not saying i know all of that but i have read, There needs to be different temperatures from top to bottom, gotta have the basking vine, and i know about the gutloading and the humidity Ive read the treads on here about chameleon care and every other breeders website numerous times i just only posted what i wasnt sure about cause none of it really talks about specifics.

 

[tkilgour]

Your so right JOJackson

I personally find they do jump out of cups, I dont like pulling legs off or using huge ugly containers, so I just let crickets loose myself. Cups are good for other insects though.
If you use a screen cage, you can let the crix crawl up the screen, seems to attract the lizards attention.

Everything you said I totally agree w/ Jojackson

 

[Jared355]

i have a sambava panther that i got from screameleons. he is about 6 months old now but let me tell you that when there babies 5 crickets a day is starving. My guy had a highscore of 26 1/4 crickets in one day, they eat like crazy. Get a timer with a 12 hour light schedule.


you will love the sambava morph

 

[tkilgour]

I also, have Sambavas from screameleons, that eat like monsters. Vincent is the nicest guy. He gives me great support. Also, the genetics I get from him are some of the best. I am introducing his gentics to some others I have and they should make more amazing sambava panthers. Some of my older panthers have slown down a lot on their food consumption thankfully.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Ok im about to order a sambava panther chameleon and I was wondering about feeding and sleeping...

...My financial aid for school is coming in and i would like to get one within the next two weeks...

Howdy Chelsea,

Have you had a chance to read some of the threads about how expensive it is to keep a chameleon? (I hope someone will post those links again.) Many a keeper posting on this forum has been financially sunk by unexpected vet bills and other unplanned expenses . The combo of school expenses and a chameleon can be overwhelming for some. Go into this with your eyes wide open .

There is an old phrase: "You don't know what you don't know" .

Combine that with: "The more you know about chameleons, the more you realize that you don't know much about chameleons" .

P.S. Even chameleons from the best breeders will need to have a fecal done to check for parasite problems. Your first visit, along with parasite drugs, will likely be $100. Let's hope you have a competent chameleon vet within 50 miles. Many keepers don't and their chameleon dies simply due to lack of transportation . Sorry to sound so negative, but once again - "eyes wide open" . If there is anything I can do to help just let me know.

What part of the world are you located? If you are within driving distance, stop by!

Free Dubia roaches (local pick-up only) for beginners! (Oh yes, I hope you like roaches because your chameleon will ).

 

[reyesjoshuacruz]

Howdy Chelsea,

Have you had a chance to read some of the threads about how expensive it is to keep a chameleon? (I hope someone will post those links again.) Many a keeper posting on this forum has been financially sunk by unexpected vet bills and other unplanned expenses . The combo of school expenses and a chameleon can be overwhelming for some. Go into this with your eyes wide open .

There is an old phrase: "You don't know what you don't know" .

Combine that with: "The more you know about chameleons, the more you realize that you don't know much about chameleons" .

P.S. Even chameleons from the best breeders will need to have a fecal done to check for parasite problems. Your first visit, along with parasite drugs, will likely be $100. Let's hope you have a competent chameleon vet within 50 miles. Many keepers don't and their chameleon dies simply due to lack of transportation . Sorry to sound so negative, but once again - "eyes wide open" . If there is anything I can do to help just let me know.

What part of the world are you located? If you are within driving distance, stop by!

Free Dubia roaches (local pick-up only) for beginners! (Oh yes, I hope you like roaches because your chameleon will ).

great post dave, good form. A very mature collected response.

i dont think anyone can mistake your comments as an attack, thus increasing the chances of the op regarding your advice instead of just blowing you off, which will ultimately benefit the chameleon more than anything else.

wish you would have posted the first reply.

i agree with everyone above, you will make mistakes, make sure you dont make the ones that will have long term consequences.

 

[ChelseaFC]

thanks to all of you, I did make it seem like i was just gonna like put the little guy on a shelf or something, but on screameleons the directions werent to clear on how many to feed,(not bashing them at all great website). And yeah my financial aid is like 5500 dollars and my school is already paid for this semester so I should be able to cover it. Is there any competent vets in the columbus Ga area? Also when I order the little guy im going to get the start up kit from kammerflauge a ficus tree and some fruit flies to start. Anything thing else i should get ready before i start besides a lot of crickets?

 

[xanthoman]

no matter how many times i see it, it never ceases to amaze me

 

[ChelseaFC]

no matter how many times i see it, it never ceases to amaze me

what does? ignorant new chameleon owners?

 

[tkilgour]

thanks to all of you, I did make it seem like i was just gonna like put the little guy on a shelf or something, but on screameleons the directions werent to clear on how many to feed,(not bashing them at all great website). And yeah my financial aid is like 5500 dollars and my school is already paid for this semester so I should be able to cover it. Is there any competent vets in the columbus Ga area? Also when I order the little guy im going to get the start up kit from kammerflauge a ficus tree and some fruit flies to start. Anything thing else i should get ready before i start besides a lot of crickets?

My recommendations are as follows- keep in mind others have their opinions as well. However screameleons will agree w/ me on this feeding rule of thumb as he provides this info. on every owners manual. You will have to find what works best for you.

Babies (up to 3 months) feed daily 8-15 1/4"crickets, also fruit flies & small silk worms.
Juveniles (4-6months) feed daily 8-15 1/4" -1/2" crickets, also other feeders and insect treats.
Sub-Adults (7-12months) feed daily 8-10 1/2"-3/4" crickets, also silkworms and other feeder insects.
Adults (13months +) feed every other day adult crickets, at this stage you can begin offering as much variety in the diet. However, females that are either gravid or have recently laid eggs continue to feed daily.

Also remember supplementation is a key in health here. I use rep-cal calcium w/ D3 for chams indoors and dust the food source every other day for juveniles and twice a week for adults. Then I dust food source w/ Herptivite twice a week.