Posted by:
twinoats
at Sun Mar 27 13:57:25 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by twinoats ]
Handling your chameleon every other day IS WAY TOO MUCH!!!!!! That means every other day he is getting the crap scared out of him. If you had something really scary happen to every other day, something that got your adrenalin up, raising your body's cortisol levels, believe me, eventually this will take a serious toll on your body's many systems. Your little chameleon thinks his world is ending when a big predator (YOU) comes into his world every other day and in his mind, tries to attack and eat him. Try thinking about his point of view. Believing that you're about to be eaten is a serious stress event on a little chameleon. If you want to put that much stress on you chameleon every other day, that's your choice, but me, I only handly my chameleon's once every two weeks, for serial weighing---out into the weighing container, onto the scale, and then right back in the cage---about 15 seconds total. That's it, 30 seconds of handling in one month's time. Even that little bit of activity gets them gaping, hissing, and showing stress colors. I choose not the inflict unnecessary and harmful stress on these little animals. Do whatever you want, but you've been advised countless times to leave your poor chameleon ALONE. Lastly, it has been stated numerous times also that Carpets are much more vulnerable to stress than other species of chameleons. Perhaps you'd be better off with a CB Veiled or Panther. Your relentless badgering of the little Carpet will lead to a plethora of problems, and I almost guarantee you'll see mouthrot one day, as this is a common way longterm stress manifests in Carpets. Mouthrot is no fun, and extermely difficult to treat once it begins.
IMO, calcium from Minerall-I is not enough. You need a separate calcium dust. Crix are inherently high in phosphorus, so you already have an uphill battle just balancing the ca-phos ratio, let alone bringing it to an ideal ratio.
In summary, I am no expert, but I have kept many Carpets, and I will pretty much guarantee that you are slowly killing your chameleon by handling it so much. Anyway, good luck.
~Kerry I., LVT (VTS-ECC)
Licensed Vet Tech, Emergency and Critical Care specialist.
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RE: sounds like too hot - twinoats, Sun Mar 27 13:57:25 2005