Posted by:
Carlton
at Wed Feb 18 12:25:29 2009 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Carlton ]
I can see several things you should do differently:
Stop using the Zilla shedding mist. No reason for it and one of the ingredients could irritate his eyes. You should be misting a LOT more. The key isn't to drown him with heavy spray for a couple of minutes, but give a gentle shower for a longer time. Chams tend to shy away from the spray if it's heavy and cold (use very warm water...by the time the droplets hit him it will be cooler), but once they get wet they tend to start licking and swallowing the spray as it falls on their head. The water runs down to their lips and they start drinking.
I kept chams at high altitude in Colorado...that's similar to what you are dealing with. It can be done with a screen cage! You'll want to fill the cage with live bushy potted plants such as Ficus alli, Schefflera, Pothos, all of which can be found at most nurseries and home improvement stores. All the leaf surfaces will hold water for drinking and slowly release it into the air during evaporation. Drape some plastic sheeting (I like clear shower curtains as they have hanging holes and look fairly nice too) on the back and/or sides of the cage to hold more humidity in and protect the wall and furniture from overspray. You'll probably have to get an ultrasonic room humidifier. It will really help maintain your humidity between sprayings or while you are away. If you get a type with a round removable spout on the top of the reservoir you can attach some pvc water pipe to it and make a plumbing connection through the cage side. This will direct the fog inside the cage and saturate it. Cycle it on and off with a multiple setting lamp timer. With some trial and error you can figure out how often the humidifier needs to run to maintain the humidity level you want depending on the season. Works great and will pay for itself pretty quickly.
The gutload is probably not too good. Most commercial pet store chain gutloads aren't worth much. Most of us make our own with fresh ingredients such as left over veggies (not broccoli) and dark leafy greens (not spinach), fresh fruit like oranges, fortified cereal grains like Total, some flake fish food, and bee pollen. Also, if you just throw the crix loose into the cage they will lose their gutload fairly quickly and eat shed skin, feces, and other grungy stuff you don't want your cham to eat. They are also pretty voracious and have been known to chew on chams at night if they don't have gutload somewhere in the cage.
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