Some informations about my little mate Rango

[Dominik H.]

Date: 23.11.2019!!!

Because some people asked for more informations about Rango, I thought it would be easier to make a new post than posting it in the comments
If there are any questions or constructive critisicm, you guys know where to put them
So here are some general informations about Rango:

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Rango is a veiled chameleon and about 5 months old now and lives with me since 3. I have him from a licenced breeder near my home.
• Handling - I try to handle him not too often, only when he wants to walk on my hand by himself, i do not grab him or push him to come to me. So i would say i handle him 1 time a day for like 2 Minutes minimum, sometimes more, sometimes less. I sometimes just pet him very gently, barely touching him to make him know my hand is not a threat and he never seemed to be nervous because of it so i think he at least tolerates it.
• Feeding - I feed Rango mostly crickets because its very hard for me to get other feeders. Sometimes superworms but just as a treat. I feed my insects carrot and apple and sometimes a green bean. He eats up to 10 crickets a day, he has a bowl where he can catch them whenever he wants so he gets 5 in the morning before he wakes up and 5 after i come home around 16:00. Sometimes the bowl is empty, sometimes some crickets are remainig so i think its the right amount for him.
• Supplements - I dust the insects with calcium every second day and with D3 every second day, so basically every day changing the vitamins. I dont know if this is to much of the D3, some of your guys opinions about that would be great.
• Watering - I mist the cage once everyday and sometimes i dont do it for one day... So I would say 6/7 days. I mist with a normal "sprinkling bottle" (i dont know how it is called) for up to 2 minutes. I let Rango drink from a pipette that i give to him and he always drinks from it. And sometimes i see him start drinking from the leaves until I come with the pipette.
• Fecal Description - Rango never got tested for parasites. His faeces are brown and his urine is white. Sometimes its a little more dry and sometimes its a little more moist.
• History - Rango has no history before me I bought him from a breeder who breeds a lot of reptiles and i am absolutely sure this guy is doing a great job.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Rangos cage is 1meter long, 0,60meters wide and 1,2meters high. I built it myself and all sides are made out of "Water proof wood" except the front that is a sliding glass door.
• Lighting - The lamp in his cage is a "Lucky Reptile: Bright sun flood jungle 70W" and lights the whole cage well and gives some nice heat at his basking spot. He gets light for 12 hours from 9:30 to 21:30.
• Temperature - On his basking spot i would say he gets up to 35°C and at the bottom of the terrarium it gets around 22°C. He walks around everywhere in his cage so i dont think its too cold for him at some spots.
• Humidity - I have a hygrometer in the middle of the cage and it normally show a humidity of 50%-60% and right after misting it goes up to 80% and sometime higher.
• Plants - In his cage is a benjamins fig and an Ivy plant but i dont know the exact english name. In german its "Efeutute" I plan on getting much more plants into his cage so if you have any nice tips for good plants, I am happy to hear them.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? The cage stands in my bedroom so i spend pretty much time with him in the same room. The cage stands on a shelf in a height of 0,8meters so it goes up to around 2meters.
• Location - I live im "Schwobaländle" in Germany Germans reading this post will know its an area in the south of Germany in Baden-Württemberg.

Thanks for reading my post, if you have anything to add please let me know in the comments.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Bulb needs to be moved to the exterior of the viv immediately.

The floor should be bare or bioactive, nothing in between.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Extreme overdose of D3 and multivitamins in your near future. Immediately discontinue all supplements except for the plain calcium for the next month. Run as much water through him as you can.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Where is your UVB?

 

[Reptofreak]

The way you have your basking light is a recipe for fried chameleon. Also, looks like you could use some more plants for cover.

Bill

 

[Brodybreaux25]

You need a real gutload, what your currently doing is insufficient. Reccomend Repashy LoD or Cricket Crack.

 

[Lennoncham]

Where is your UVB?

You need a real gutload, what your currently doing is insufficient. Reccomend Repashy LoD or Cricket Crack.

the basking bulb is also a uvb bulb. And yes it should be outside the terrarium.
I believe you meant repashy bug burger or superload.

 

[Jack135]

How long would you say he is in inches, and do you know his weight?

 

[Dominik H.]

How long would you say he is in inches, and do you know his weight?

No i dont know his weight, his Body length is around 15 centimeters without his tail.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi Dominik. I just want to give you some care sheets that I think can help you in addition to the advice you’ve already been given. With gutloading, it isn’t about keeping your feeders alive as much as it is about passing the nutrients on to your chameleon. I hope all of this helps.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

the basking bulb is also a uvb bulb. And yes it should be outside the terrarium.
I believe you meant repashy bug burger or superload.

Yes, good catch, bug burger

 

[The Wild One]

You definitely need to add WAY more coverage, I would get a lil or big dripper for a constant source of water.

 

[Jack135]

No i dont know his weight, his Body length is around 15 centimeters without his tail.

Ok, when have you had him since?

 

[Dominik H.]

Ok, when have you had him since?

I have him since 3 months.

 

[Dominik H.]

Bulb needs to be moved to the exterior of the viv immediately.

The floor should be bare or bioactive, nothing in between.

Where is your UVB?

The way you have your basking light is a recipe for fried chameleon. Also, looks like you could use some more plants for cover.

Bill

First of all, thanks for giving me advice.
But sometimes, some answers in this forum bother me a little bit and i see this quite often in some other posts.
People are often very "passive aggressive" with their answers and i feel like they think from one single picture they know exactly the situation of others and stop advising and start to order around.
One example is my Lamp Cage:
I worked a lot with chameleons in Africa and they ALL had their light bulbs in their cage, sometimes it was even their favorite spot to hand on the lamp cage.
So everybody tells me from one picture of my terrarium that it has to be removed immediately and its gonna "fry" my boy...
The fact is, the lamp cage is not getting hot at all... It gets pretty warm of course but after having the light on since 8 hours i can touch the lamp cage everywhere and i dont burn myself even after like 30 seconds.
So maybe as a tip four you gys, maybe sometimes think about that some ways of holding a chameleon that are different to yours can also be good ways.

But still thanks for trying to help me!

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi again. So sorry that you feel that you’ve received negative responses. Having been on the forums for about 6 months now, I’ve gotten some idea of various members personalities and I don’t believe they intentionally attacked you.
While my experience is lacking, I would like to comment on those things I do know about in your husbandry.

• Your Chameleon - Rango is a veiled chameleon and about 5 months old now and lives with me since 3. I have him from a licenced breeder near my home.
• Handling - I try to handle him not too often, only when he wants to walk on my hand by himself, i do not grab him or push him to come to me. So i would say i handle him 1 time a day for like 2 Minutes minimum, sometimes more, sometimes less. I sometimes just pet him very gently, barely touching him to make him know my hand is not a threat and he never seemed to be nervous because of it so i think he at least tolerates it. Generally chameleons see us as a predator and avoid us. It is wonderful that you’ve built trust with him. Just be watchful for signs of stress and respect his cues.
• Feeding - I feed Rango mostly crickets because its very hard for me to get other feeders. Sometimes superworms but just as a treat. I feed my insects carrot and apple and sometimes a green bean. He eats up to 10 crickets a day, he has a bowl where he can catch them whenever he wants so he gets 5 in the morning before he wakes up and 5 after i come home around 16:00. Sometimes the bowl is empty, sometimes some crickets are remainig so i think its the right amount for him. It is best to feed once in the morning to allow proper time for digestion. Your Cham looks a little thin so you could give him a few extra feeders. I already gave my input about gut loading. I understand it’s difficult to find other than crickets. You may be able to find other bugs on line...eBay and Amazon just to name a couple. If you can find commercially available roaches, they are very easy to breed and much cleaner than crickets.
• Supplements - I dust the insects with calcium every second day and with D3 every second day, so basically every day changing the vitamins. I dont know if this is to much of the D3, some of your guys opinions about that would be great. There are a couple of different ways to supplement. Some use Repashy brand Calcium with LoD at every feeding and no other supplement is needed. The other way is Calcium without vitamin D at every feeding and then Calcium with D one feeding every other week, alternating with multivitamin one feeding every other week. Make sure your calcium does not have phosphorus.
• Watering - I mist the cage once everyday and sometimes i dont do it for one day... So I would say 6/7 days. I mist with a normal "sprinkling bottle" (i dont know how it is called) for up to 2 minutes. I let Rango drink from a pipette that i give to him and he always drinks from it. And sometimes i see him start drinking from the leaves until I come with the pipette. It is usually recommended to spray at least twice daily for 2 minutes each time. You really don’t want to skip any days.
• Fecal Description - Rango never got tested for parasites. His faeces are brown and his urine is white. Sometimes its a little more dry and sometimes its a little more moist. I would suggest most definitely to have his feces tested for parasites.
• History - Rango has no history before me I bought him from a breeder who breeds a lot of reptiles and i am absolutely sure this guy is doing a great job.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Rangos cage is 1meter long, 0,60meters wide and 1,2meters high. I built it myself and all sides are made out of "Water proof wood" except the front that is a sliding glass door. The only comment I know enough to make is that you could add more live plants and more sticks and vines. Quoting another member, empty space is wasted space.
• Lighting - The lamp in his cage is a "Lucky Reptile: Bright sun flood jungle 70W" and lights the whole cage well and gives some nice heat at his basking spot. He gets light for 12 hours from 9:30 to 21:30. Again, I am unfamiliar with your lighting so can’t comment. I know that here in N America we use the long T5 ho bar with a 5.0 uvb bulb. Our screw in uvb bulbs are not adequate. Most use just a regular fluorescent light bulb for basking. I do know that many chameleons have gotten seriously burned from the bulb being inside their enclosure...leaving it at that.
• Temperature - On his basking spot i would say he gets up to 35°C and at the bottom of the terrarium it gets around 22°C. He walks around everywhere in his cage so i dont think its too cold for him at some spots. Your basking temps are on the higher side of what is recommended, which leaves little room for error.
• Humidity - I have a hygrometer in the middle of the cage and it normally show a humidity of 50%-60% and right after misting it goes up to 80% and sometime higher. Humidity is a bit high. 40-50% is good for daytime and can increase up to 100% at night. If your enclosure is not bioactive, it would help lower humidity if you remove the substrate. Higher daytime humidity is closely associated with upper respiratory infections in chameleons.
• Plants - In his cage is a benjamins fig and an Ivy plant but i dont know the exact english name. In german its "Efeutute" I plan on getting much more plants into his cage so if you have any nice tips for good plants, I am happy to hear them.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? The cage stands in my bedroom so i spend pretty much time with him in the same room. The cage stands on a shelf in a height of 0,8meters so it goes up to around 2meters.
• Location - I live im "Schwobaländle" in Germany Germans reading this post will know its an area in the south of Germany in Baden-Württemberg.

Thanks for reading my post, if you have anything to add please let me know in the comments.

Going back to your use of substrate...it really serves no purpose for your chameleon and is keeping your humidity a bit too high. It does look nice, but I would say to take it out. A bare floor is much easier to keep clean and healthier. You will need to provide a way for excess water to drain. Most drill holes in the bottom and have a bucket underneath. It doesn’t sound pretty, but there are ways to hide it if you are creative.
I hope at least some of this helps you in keeping you little guy happy and healthy.
You seem quite fluent in English so you may want to check this out.
https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/
There’s a tremendous amount of information all over the forum. Again, I’m sorry that you feel you’ve had a bad response and hope it won’t keep you from asking as many questions as you may need.

 

[Jack135]

I have him since 3 months.

Sorry, but do you know the date you got him?

 

[Dominik H.]

Sorry, but do you know the date you got him?

Thats funny because I just looked it up on my "Keepers licence" (I have no idea if those words even make sense) and i Have him since exactly 3 months now.
So the date I got him was the 24.08.2019

 

[Jack135]

Thats funny because I just looked it up on my "Keepers licence" (I have no idea if those words even make sense) and i Have him since exactly 3 months now.
So the date I got him was the 24.08.2019

 

[snitz427]

First of all, thanks for giving me advice.
But sometimes, some answers in this forum bother me a little bit and i see this quite often in some other posts.
People are often very "passive aggressive" with their answers and i feel like they think from one single picture they know exactly the situation of others and stop advising and start to order around.
One example is my Lamp Cage:
I worked a lot with chameleons in Africa and they ALL had their light bulbs in their cage, sometimes it was even their favorite spot to hand on the lamp cage.
So everybody tells me from one picture of my terrarium that it has to be removed immediately and its gonna "fry" my boy...
The fact is, the lamp cage is not getting hot at all... It gets pretty warm of course but after having the light on since 8 hours i can touch the lamp cage everywhere and i dont burn myself even after like 30 seconds.
So maybe as a tip four you gys, maybe sometimes think about that some ways of holding a chameleon that are different to yours can also be good ways.

But still thanks for trying to help me!

Its not so much the lamp cage getting hot, as it is the ability for the cham to stay in close proximity to the bulb for extended periods and suffer thermal burns. Put your thermo right under the light and on the side of the light on the light cage and see what the temps read. If its higher than the max recommended basking temp then you will end up with burns from the heat from the bulb, not the holder.

Unfortunately there are lots of burn cases on here, it is very common and burned off areas do not grow back.