I hate typing...but I've seen it happen too many times on this forum where people end up with problems that could have been avoided if the time had been taken to give them certain basic husbandry information....and I love chameleons enough to not want to see people have their chameleons end up with problems.



You said..."thanks for all the good questions and pointers"...you are welcome...sorry it was overwhelming....but like I said in my reply to Will...prevention of problems is easier than the cure in most cases.



The only thing that matters concerning Slick's sex is the egg-laying concerns.



You said..."I have noticed the three remaining crickets eating the pear and greens"...a "bonus" to feeding the chameleon is that it also keeps the crickets fed!



You said..."I am still nervous about whether or not Slick is eating the crickets or if they are simply hiding extremely well in some place. Or are just dead"...if he/she is pooping then he/she must be eating.



Concerning the drip system...while you decide...take a deli container and punch a very small hole in the bottom so that the drip rate will be about 2 drips per second and allow it to drip on the plant leaves. It can be done more than once a day.



For an adult, the basking area can be in the high 80's to mid 90's. I start babies off in the mid 80's but once they have a good body size, they can have adult temperatures. At night, my cages drop to about 70F this time of year, but I know that they can accept somewhat cooler temperartures than that...and 73F should be fine too. Your ambient temp. sounds fine.



There is a good gutload on the ADCHAM site that I sent you. Yours needs improvement IMHO.9



You said..."am dusting them with vitamin supplements before release into the habitat"...I keep my chameleons under artificial light almost all year and I dust the insects with calcium (most insects have a poor calcium to phosporous ratio) a couple of times a week, and I dust lightly with a D3/calcium dust twice a month, and a vitamin/mineral powder twice a month too. Babies and females need more calcium to grow their bones and eggs, so they can be dusted a little more with calcium. D3/UVB play a part in this too...they can't use the calcium unless they have enough D3/UVB. (If they are outside in the sunlight, the D3 can be dropped.)



You asked..."Is there anything else I should consider? I'm sure there is, but my checklist is long and my cageside-calendar crammed. Heh"...hopefully you have enough information for now to keep your chameleon healthy. I always worry that I have missed something though.



Once again, sorry for giving you so much information at once...but its always given out of concern! I hope you will have your chameleon around to enjoy for many years to come. Both male and female veileds can live to be over 7 if the husbandry is good!

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