Crash course

[marisa]

Hello! Well I won't get into the whole story now but my old roomate has decided to give his chameleon Gus to the pet store, I heard this and said "No way!!!! Bring him over here!"

Gus is like 5-6 years old I think...my old roomate didnt give him great care. He doesn't have a white basking spot, he only eats 12 NON-gutloaded crickets per week, he is only less than a foot long, he doesn't get misted, or any variety, and he never gets offered veggies or anything. He has had a UV light for *most* of his life, but I am not sure about now. I harped on him forever until he moved out but it looks like I will be getting Gus this weekend.

I have a couple questions.
1. Will he feel safer if I drape a towel over part of his cage? He has Gus in this crazy hardware cloth circular cage that is totally open. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

2. What about pinkies? A treat only? I really think he needs some serious feeding. I am planning on gutloading all his crickets and possibly picking up either silkworms or mealworms which brings me to my next question.

3. Are mealworms o.k.?

Thanks in advance, I really don't even know if I will be a permanent home for Gus as we aren't really total lizard/cham people but I am planning on at least a few weeks/months of rehab for him! :D

Marisa

[Brock]

First of all, what species is Gus?

1) He is fine in the hardware cloth, that's what most of us who make our own cages use. As long as he doesn't lose fingernails in it or rub his nose on it, he will be fine. He needs a basking lamp of 60watts or 75watts with a UV bulb, calcium supplementation 2 or 3 times a week and vitamin d3 supplementation once a week, vitamin supplements twice a week are ok too.

2)Pinkies are generally used as at treat once a month or to fatten up females that just laid eggs.

3)mealworms are good for fattening them up, but they have very little nutritional value. Stick to crickets, roaches, stick bugs, green grasshoppers (without pesticides), silkworms, and they love praying mantids. If you are choosing between silkworms and mealworms, silkies are ten thousand times better. One silkworm has about the same nutritional value of 10 crickets.

Make sure Gus has a lot of plants/foliage to climb around in his cage and hide in. Basic (minimum) cage dimensions for a veiled is 18x18x36 (LWH"). He should be fed every day or every 2 days depending on his own eating habits.

Chams are very addictive and I bet you'll be hooked soon. :D

-Brock

[marisa]

Gus is a veiled cham :) lol sorry.

Well I despise crickets but I am planning on buying them each week and keeping them in a cricket carrier. But silkworms I know can live for some time before I feed them off so those are a really good idea.

His cage right now is far larger than those dimensions so I guess we are good there. He does need some fattening up though for sure. Last time I saw him he was really thin, although I couldn't see "bones" or anything.

Well thanks for your help so far! I will have lots of questions because his keeper right now knows literally nothing.

Marisa