Posted by:
Carlton
at Fri Jun 24 12:09:35 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Carlton ]
Hi,
You definitely got terrible keeping information for chameleons! Its a good thing you found us, as just about everything you were told to do for him needs to change. Hmm, let's see, where to start:
He's much too big for a tank, he's trying to get out, and the reflections he sees in the glass surfaces are stressing him out. You need to buy or build a screen cage right away. A quick and not too expensive alternative is a Reptarium (by Apogee) you could mail order from a reptile supplier. You'll want at least the 100 gallon by the time he's full grown. You don't need substrate and it can be dangerous. Paper towels or an easily cleaned smooth surface is much better.
You will need to measure the temperature and air humidity of his setup, as chams need a fairly specific range of temps and humidity levels to stay healthy. There are lots of digital temp/humidity gauges available. If you get one with a remote probe you can move it around the cage to check the range of temps. The cage will need a gradient of temps...warm under the basking spot and cooler and moister away from it. He needs a basking spot (can be an ordinary lightbulb) temp of about 95 F. The UV light brand is important...you've got to find out what kind it is, as most brands of "full spectrum" lighting are not adequate. If the tube says "ReptiSun 5.0" its OK. Anything else is not great. The lights should be on for at least 12 hours a day. Run them on plug in lamp timers so you don't have to remember. The setup should have live bushy potted plants for him to travel around in his cage to regulate his temp by himself and for security. Another reason he's digging around is that he is in plain view all the time and that is unnatural for a cham. The live plants will also catch and hold misting water droplets for him to drink and help keep the air humidity over 50%. Depending on the humidity in your room you will need to spray him with hot water (cools to warm during spraying) at least 2 times a day. Longer periods of gentler misting are better than short heavy blasts. If you use an air conditioner in summer or forced air heat in winter you may need to run a room humidifier to keep the cage at the correct humidity level.
At this age you should be dusting his crix with a mineral dust (RepCal or MinerAl are good ones) every other day, and a vitamin dust (Herptivite is fine) once a week. When he's a year old you can cut back the mineral to once a week and the vitamins to once a month. Dusting with vit C is not a good idea. Give your crix some chunks of orange in their tank instead.
There is more, but this should get you started. Also, here are good sources of cham keeping info you should read, as they will explain more in detail what you need to know.
http://www.chameleonnews.com
http://www.adcham.com
http://chameleonjournals.com
Very good luck!
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RE: Digging and moving substrate?? - Carlton, Fri Jun 24 12:09:35 2005