Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In order to see if Charlie's teeth and mouth are alright i wanted to put him up to a mirror so he would hiss and i could look into his mouth. I do not have a hand mirror, so a tried a couple of other things. First, i took a jewlry box that had a mirror on the inside lid and put it in the cage. Charlie looked at it for a second, made one small lunge, than started acting like he was going to grab some of the jewlry for a snack. sooooo, i put a stop to that. The only other mirror i have is a bathroom mirror. I took him out if his cage gently and carried him over to the mirror. He looked at it, than at me, than at it, than tried to climb up the mirror. He didn't his, he didnt make any agressive or defensive actions, he just ignored it for a minute than tried to climb the mirror (maybe because he could see the reflextion of the shower curtain in the mirror and wanted to get up higher, or maybe he was trying to grab the other chameleon in the mirror. Either way, i have a chameleon that somehow missed to intelligence geene that says he sould be afraid of things, or i have one that FEARS NOTHING... except a sprey bottle. Hes either dumb or dominant.... haha.

jeff

nah, he's just a woos! lol! After a few times, Luna stopped doing it. When I took her to the bathroom for her shower I would sometimes hold her in front of the mirror if I needed to see her mouth. After a few times she either ignored it, or as you said, began to climb it!

Good thing you got him away from that jewelry..."Hello Dr. Cham Vet? Yes, I was wondering if you could advise the best way to get my, now deceased, grandmother's wedding ring out of my chameleon?" "How did it get in there? Well, we're not really sure, but he somehow made it out to my jewelry box, and can you believe this? Opened the lid, too! Bad Cham!"

here's Charlie with a belly full of jewels

-----
Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she's back!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

haha thats awesome

anyway the only way to flare dexter up (enless you scare him by reaching into his cage) is a camera lens. He goes absolutely NUTS at the sight of my camera lens..and if I put it close enough, he will bite and lunge at it, keeping his mouth wide open the whole time.

Dexter doesn't respond to ANY mirrors. I've tried a ton. He doesn't respond to anything but a camera lens..

weird huh ?

-----
1.0 Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter
1 year old

Yeah, mine wasnt too fond of the camera, but he doesnt really appear to be too afraid of anything. I think the water makes him skittish, but like i said, he might just be too dumb to be afraid of stuff. He' so docile that i am giving consideration to free ranging him, but i have to look into a few things first. He has alot of personality also. I can tell when he is frustrated esspecially because his movments get more frantic in whatever he is doing. (See my topic about the feeder cup for a really funny example). Oh yeah, he also isnt too fond of my fience. While cleaning his cage i wanted her to hold him for a second and he shy-ed away from her hand and tried to escape up my arm. Afraid of Bathing and women... its like owning a todler.

Jeff

i think that wouldn't be as hard as explaining to my fiance where he ring went.... Speaking of bathing and showering, do you have a correct way to wash him, correct time frame, and correct stuff. I guess i need... and i cant believe im about to say this... a chameleon bathing care sheet....

Hehe, thanks,
Jeff

ha - fiancé’s ring! Even more important than grandma’s
Luna loved her shower - once she got there.

I had a large schefflera that I would put her on and place it in the far end of tub (away from faucets). I run the water to get it to a comfortable temp (better too cool than too hot, just figure if it's comfortable for you it should be OK for your cham) and slowly move the plant into the spray. I do not have a wall on any side of the tub but I aim the spray toward the inside curtain to reduce the force. I continue to slide the plant until about half of it is being hit with water. I then leave it there and let Luna find her own comfortable place. Sometimes she would be right in the midst of it and other times under leaves so her eyes weren’t hit but she could still get the benefits of drips.

I regularly checked the temp and left her in there for about 20 minutes (longest my hot water heater will hold out!) I deleted the pics of her from this gallery but will upload some on webshots if you want to see. All in all, it worked great. Btw, if there is any chance he will fall or jump place towels in the tub just in case. A porcelain or metal bathtub floor is a very hard surface!

lele

here she is loving the mist in her cage

-----
Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she's back!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Is this the king of thing i should do periodically for health reasons, or just for a treat for the chameleons with the added benifit of waterering the plants as well?

Jeff

It sort of depends where you live. I live in NH and the insiode air in the winter months is very dry. Luna was never very good about drinking unless I hand water (rodent bottle) or she would sit under her dripper. When she was gravid (often) she seemed to enjoy it. If you live in a naturally humid area (FL) then it would just be more of a treat. IF you put him in a sunning cage outdoors int he summer months you can put a fine mist sprayer ont he hose a give him a shower - just make sure the water isn;t ice cold! I would let the sun wamr up the hose and then test the temp. So it's really a personal choice but helpful during dry times.

here is a pic of her gravid in the shower and the other peeking out from the leaves of a croton.

-----
Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she's back!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet