Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Rickeezee]

Good thread.

There are so many variables to take into account when raising various baby chams. As allways there are no absolute hard and fast rules, even same species will need at times various housing options and will have to be separated at various stages when babies. Group housing can work at times if the conditions are correct, no hard and fast rules here.

In my opinion being flexible in your approach is the key, be prepared to experiment and try various options. For example in exos, relative humidity can be altered by careful use of heating and controlled hand spraying, also the the room they are kept in plays an important part, again RH and ambient temps of the room. My chameleon room is treated as one big viv, with air conditioning etc and daylight tubes for main lighting. The RH of the room is approx 60%.

With panther babies I now have found that light misting and a lower humidity level has shown better results. Again adjustments need to be made in this area dependant upon the viv set up. This works well for my baby set ups but may not work well for other set ups. My point comes back to the flexibility issue and adapting the environment to get the best results. No hard and fast rigid rules. I have had a much higher viability rate and survival rate since making these adjustments for the baby panthers.

Exo sides can be blocked out to give security, homemade smaller vivs can be used there are many options, some chams prefer high ventilation such as mesh enclosures again you have security issues as mesh enclosures are fully open, common sense to be employed what can the chams view from their viv?

I have raised over 300-500 various baby chams, with varying degrees of success, all I can relay is my own experiences; the main thing I have learnt is, dont be rigid, be prepared to be flexible in your approach and adapt the chams environment as required, let the chams inform you of what they require, achieved though experimentation and observation and checking what works best out of the various methodologies employed.

Obviously there are basic care parameters that are crucial, any prospective keeper would have done their research to cover the basic points. Such as heating , feeding, UV, basking areas and so forth.

It is all to easy to be so worried about getting the care right that you may fall into the trap of following certain methods so rigidly that you never move on from this;
[b][b]this is ok, its because you care and want to get it right. [/b]

Chameleons can be hard work and can react differently to so many variables, be prepared to observe and learn and then make minor adjustments until you get the best results. Every scenario simply can not be put down in writing as before there are far to many variables.

Not saying I am right or wrong , just saying there are different ways of doing things, but my main point is that of being flexible and responsive to the chams needs.

At times I have given, when asked, differing advice to new cham keepers than I would give to more experienced cham keepers. There are good reasons for this, please dont interpret this as a patronising statement to new cham keepers, its just why make things more complex initially when folk are on a new steep learning curve. Introduce more complex matters when confidence and experience has grown. Else it can become a quagmire for the new keeper trying to interpret the chams behaviour when everything is still new to the keeper.

To summarise:
My view is, retain a flexible approach and try new things when you feel confident to do so, learn not only from the success of others but more importantly from when things have gone wrong. [/b]
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[BELIAL]

Flexibilty is so important you are right...you constantly have to adapt to suit the animals individual needs.

I mean some chams will do really well in a certain environment with certain care but an individual of the same species wont'.

Nothing can beat experience. Is THE only way you learn. You can read all the books you want but until you go through it you simply won't get it or understand the animals responses.

I think in with chams people do so many different things that the word 'norm' doesn't really exist. It's about what works...if it doesn't then change it so it does!

[Rickeezee]

Yep spot on couldn't agree more. 42
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[kroakykaren]

Ditto on all counts
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[aidan]

Gary Ive kept mine in the exo Terra 30x30x45 and then they have a bit more space which i was recommended but they Will be split when i get my terry thatchers if he ever replies
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[leigh0101]

Hi,

I threw away my box but i think I have one of these. I bought it when my hatchlings were born and i read that they should not go in anything bigger than 10 gallons so you can keep a close eye on them.

They were only in there for a short while until they got too big. They are very healthy and happy and three of the little blighters just moved to Chester Zoo. They were really impressed with how healthy they are so its not caused any problems for me.

Plenty of air flow is important and i have a fan nearby to keep air moving around the viv but it was perfect for keeping an eye on my hatchlings before they moved into a bigger viv.

You can cut holes in the mesh top to put your light in and leave ice cubes on top as a dripper. I think they are really cool but thats just me.
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[garysumpter]

Ice cubes, thats a pretty cool idea.

Well I have the exo set up, but im hoping to get a young Cham from Rick instead

Gary
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[Johnny D]

actually ice cubes are not the best idea...

the cold water that has just defrosted is probably not what your chameleon should be drinking

in the wild etc, they would never of came accross freezing cold water (would probably be better off using water kept at room temp for a dripping system)

if not, mist using warm water