Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

BELIAL · Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 1:05 am Post subject:

def going with cricket touching him...sounds just like a disturbed cham to me..your lucky he didn't drop and roll..cos they like doing that!

Rickeezee · Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 8:00 am Post subject:

All very good points that have been raised. Baby chams hate being touched by anything so leftover insects in the viv is a big no, even the presence of too many feeder insects can stress baby chams. Crickets are wee swines and know exactly how to perch on a cham without the cham being able to get them of, they will perch on the chams backs half way along on the spine area and will nibble on the cham, at times this can cause a nasty wound on the spine. Black crickets are even nastier than brown ones!

As has been mentioned, use warm water when spraying the chams enclosure, never spray directly onto the baby cham, they can drown easily and also when they feel something touching them may turn and either bite each other (if you group house babies) or bite themselves.

Again as has been mentioned, they have a propensity to dehydrate quickly, the knack is little and often as too much of a soaking can be lethal for baby chams and lead to respiratory tract infections if their enclosure is to damp. When misting their enclosure try to get it so that the viv is dry again in about 30 minutes. Using broad leaved real or artificial plants helps as the cham loves to lick the droplets of the leaves. As stated real plants are even better just clean the soil out with fresh compost that does not contain any plant pesticides etc. To aid with relative humidity levels you can lay moss over the plant top this will retain a nice moisture level without soaking the viv, to be extra safe and prevent any risk of ingestion secure muslin over the entire plant pot so the cham cant get to the moss / soil. This will still allow for the plant to be watered.

One other point; the water in the sprayer, either treat it with reptisafe to take out the chlorines which can irritate cham eyes or leave the water to stand for 24 hours to release any harmful gases then warm it up before spraying.

Last point, enjoy your cham they are superb creatures, not the easiest of herps to keep but extremely rewarding. Good luck! Rick
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aidan · Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:07 am Post subject:

o repti safe who ever invented it is a genius its great i love it
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2.4. beardies
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harrison · Contributing Member Joined: 29 Jul 2007 Posts: 141

Thanks rick, very informal...

we have been misting the enclosure for about 20 seconds 4-5 Tim's a day (i work nights, so i'm about in the day), and have been using water that has been boiled and left for about 2-3 hours to cool a bit...

We have been using the brown crickets, and so hopefully, that's not too bad.

But i will start tanking them out at night from now on...

But it's very annoying, as we're feeding him around 5-6 size 2 Crix in the morning time (around 10-11am), but he's not eating any of them... Which means taking them all out at night, which stresses him a lot..

Took him out into the sun again today to let him climb the palm tree (which he loves), and he ate 3 little flys (no pesticides where i live).

Do you think it might be a case of him not liking the crickets, and if so, which of the many feeding items do you think he might be the most inclined to eat?

Reckon i should feed him in a different tank from the one he's in now? So he can see the crickets?

Just want him to be healthy and happy

Rickeezee · Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 3:09 pm Post subject:

I would suggest if he isn't eating the crickets to try either the next size down in crickets, wee locusts, curly wing flies, fruit flies, wax worm moths in fact any suitably sized cultured insect.

All depends how big your cham is really. As a rule of thumb dont feed anything that is larger than the gap between the chams eyes.
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harrison · Contributing Member Joined: 29 Jul 2007 Posts: 141

ok, have just bought some mini mealworms and a fruit fly culture from livefoods.co.uk

I'll let you know how he gets along...

Rickeezee · Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 4:34 pm Post subject:

Good luck.
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harrison · Contributing Member Joined: 29 Jul 2007 Posts: 141

Fantastic!

The fruit flies arrived today, threw a few in, and he loves them.

He's eaten about 15 in as many minutes...!

Is it possible to feed him on these alone?

Rickeezee · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 7:42 pm Post subject:

I would use as much variety as ppossible, if he is taking fruit flies well then small feeder items required, try either very small 2nd crickets or micros also buffalo worms or even bean weevils.
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