Cham Growth - Pics

[Bartman]

I was in a picture taking mood.

I searched out an old pic, pretty much the day I got him. He was all green and his veil was so small
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/BartmanReptiles/comparisonpics.jpg

Now, dont know exactly how long - got him at the newmarket show which was? - hes getting in some great colors that you can see now. He just finished shedding in this picture

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/BartmanReptiles/comparisonpics1.jpg


And I did a little color changing experiment I guess you could call it :p I placed him, after being green from being on a tree, onto a leopard curtain where after about an hour he almost looked identical! How COOL! :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/BartmanReptiles/greentoleopard.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/BartmanReptiles/greentoleopard1.jpg

[Solomon]

What's his overall length? One of his brothers is 16" + now. I'm just curious to know if there's any other monsters out of this clutch - He looks great!

[peterm15]

ya it looks great... your really lucky you at least get to hold yours... mine just hisses... was he always really calm....

[HeatherRose]

Cool picture...

But are you saying that you left it hanging there for an entire hour until it got mega-stressed out?

[Drew S]

Yeah, that is definately neat. But unfortunately chameleons do not change colours to reflect the backgrounds they are on. Chameleons are actually reacting to a variety of environmental conditions, including light, temperature and emotion. The quick-change mechanism involves special cells that contain tiny little granules of pigment, therefore allowing the chameleon to change colours.

So, the reason your chameleon changed that colour is because he was super stressed out after being left hanging there for an hour :D

[Bartman]

was he always really calm

Yep, since the day I got him.

But are you saying that you left it hanging there for an entire hour until it got mega-stressed out?
So, the reason your chameleon changed that colour is because he was super stressed out after being left hanging there for an hour


Oops! Now I feel like a prick :p He seemed to be enjoying it as he was climbing around for quite a while. I couldnt get him down, so I figured id leave him and see if he changed colors. Wont happen again :(

[Bartman]

What's his overall length?

Im not sure, at all. How exactly could you measure a chameleon. There body shape and how they sit all the time makes it pretty hard to measure. Ill try to get a measurment out of him :D

[peterm15]

mine is always a dark colour..... i think hes just generally ticked.... hes only happy when hes sleeping..... or eating.... otherwise hes brown..... the cage and everything is fine so i dunno the reason..

[JeffT]

Nice cham, great colors and pattern.

[Manitoban Herps]

Originally posted by peterm15
mine is always a dark colour..... i think hes just generally ticked.... hes only happy when hes sleeping..... or eating.... otherwise hes brown..... the cage and everything is fine so i dunno the reason..

What are the temps of his cage?

[galad]

yea i highly doubt the cage and everything is fine if your chameleon is always dark. There must be something you are doing wrong. HE will have a very short life span if you do not change something quick.
Can you desribe your husbandry and cage?
Maybe someone on here will be able to tell you what you are doing wrong.

ws

[Collide]

I have to say that if a cham is always dark checking all setup is a must, but this dont mean your doing something wrong i have worked exteremly hard trying to make one of my guy bright with no luck the only time i get to see him like that is to get him uber mad or when he is sleeping, mabey the odd time i catch him but as soon as he know im there it is insta pised. So keep trying to make setup better, I seem to have found one after 4 years that makes that guy happy the key with him seems to be lots of cover. so check setup always try to improve upon what u have, and if after trying all u can u might just want to deal with the fact that u might just have a pissy fellow.

[Dani33]

Here's a cham that I got from you off the KS classifieds. I'm thinking that he is Adam's brother. You dropped him off at my place in Newmarket. He's the pissiest cham ever. Even when I try to feed him he lunges at me - LOL. I love him anyway :)

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/512/3313pissy_cham_2-med.jpg

Here a pic with my arm in it for reference. He's a pretty big guy. I'm 6' tall, so maybe you can tell. I dare not try to measure him...

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/512/3313pissy_cham.jpg

[Bartman]

Hey he looks identical to mine. Yea I got mine from the newmarket show. Im assuming solomon was the person selling it?

[galad]

try and obvserve your cham without it knowing. Its hard to do with theyre amazing eyes, but its worth the shot. AS Colide said she needed to add lots of cover to make him happy. MAybe he just really hates people.

good luckwould still like to know cage set up though

peace

ws

[peterm15]

oh he just really hates ppl... im gonna add more cover in a few more days but at one point, when he was really small.... i had hem in a 10 gal with LOTS of cover and he was still dark... i think hes startin to grow out of it now though cause just as i said it on here he only turns dark when i open the door... he stopped hissin and everything.... i can even get my hand withen 1" of hem and he doesnt hiss... hes in a part of 150( hes still small) and will soon be in the full thing with real plants and stuff.... so prob boxing day hell be in the full 150.... i know it sounds like bull but i swear its true.... ill give it a week after xmas and if hes still not cool ill add more cover and stuff... i also recently added a few more degrees to my room ( space heater) so maybe that helped... i dunno... ill keep you updated..

[Solomon]

Dani33 - They would be from the same clutch - that guy looks great!

They way I measure my chams is from snout to vent - considering their tails are approx the same length as their bodies - double the measurement.

I've got two left from the clutch of 50 and neither of them are remotely friendly. They even stopped feeding from my hand - which is basically the only interaction I'd like with them.

[galad]

when you say 150 i hope your not talking about a fish tank. You seem very reluctant to give any information out about your husbandry. Have you done your research on veilds? I also highly doubt he is going to grow that much untill boxing day, maybe of next year.
Please give us more information, humidity, lighting, basking spot temp, ambient temp, night time temps. If your cham is too cold you should raise the temp of the basking spot not the temp of the whole room. Either by moving it closer to the basking spot or buying a higher wattage bulb.

good luck

ws

[peterm15]

150 gal screen upside down L shape 6 f tall 5 wide at top and 3.5 at bottom 2.5 feet wide....50-70 humidity... 1 150w cremic and 100 w tight beam jungle glow... ceremics on 24-7... day time ambiant temp gets up to 85 but mostly is around 83... the high is 88, ( just outside basking spot) and the low is around 78(just above the floor)... and night stays around 75 but sometimes drops to 73 but no lower... the basking is 105-115 max... all temps measured with temp gun... i have a doubble dripper system as well as mst 3-4 times a day.. an exo-terra 8.0 bulb...

he is a little larger now then when i put im in the 50 gal portion but definatly not full grown... not even close... im gonna put the live plants in tomorrow and hope to have him in 100 gal of it by next week... (gotta get proper lights and stuff. for the plants.. i wanna run a uv on a vert so the uv hits the plants....)

he has lots of grape vines of all different sizes to clime most are wrapped in moss and fake plants... it was the ambiant temp that wasnt getting high enough and plus i was really cold... my room in the winter sits at about 50 f.... i did reasearch for about 6 mnths before building the cage but the only thing i didnt reasearch was different ways to get them to allow some type of handleing.... i also should have started with an older one but i got him when he about 1-2" head to butt... he is cb... and im on the com every day looking for ways to improve... i dont know if i have a pic available but ill see...

i hope i gave you enough info on the husbrandy... sorry if it sounded rude it wasnt ment to be... i am gonna add a bit more coverage i just gotta find the plants so hopefully tomorrow...

if you have any suggestions on what can be better feel free to tell...

[peterm15]

sorry for the second post but he is Very fast and moves, eats. ect like a dream... he is also very strong...( judging from the times i can get him to step on my hand) i am able to hand feed but only do it sometimes...

heres a pic... sorry about the quality im still tryin to work out the new cam...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/peterm15/DSC00009.jpg

[Bartman]

That looks like one hell of a set up :D Sweet!!

I find if I miss even one day of spraying my guy turns dark. Is it possible you arent misting enough?

[peterm15]

the humidity stays well but i am looking into the misting machine so there is no chance of missing..... but i usually do it al least 3 times a day if not 4.... plus there is constant access to the dripping water.... so he always has drinking water... do you think theres enough coverage...

[Collide]

wow if i had that many lamps on my cages my chams would boil lol you must have a cold place. there is more then enough humidity for a veild, i just caution that constant wet is not good for veilds they need there enclosures to dry,

[peterm15]

oh it dries.... the drips hit leaves so it spreads.... and misting dries withen half hour

[galad]

thats a really cool set up dude. SOrry for commming down on you, you just never know with some people.
Can i sudjest linning the inside of the screen with some fake plants, this will provide much more cover from the outside.
Also keep the light for the plants on top of the cage. Vertical lighting is not good as it is not natural. we all know most of the time light comes from above. This way you can have a light loving tree that reaches towards the top while having some low light loving pothos on the bottom of the cage, so they can work there way up and around the inside.
other then that its all looking sweet buddy,
good luck

peace
ws

[peterm15]

no no its fine i know about some ppl... i have 2 hibicus that will be on the bottom and a pothos that will be on the side.... i was afraid that the uv's wont hit the hibicus... it should be fine though? i will definatly take the fake plants and line the inside... inside.. i like that idea..... i was also thinking of covering the one side and the back in hopes that it will retain more heat.... it will still have one main side the top and front totally open... what do you think of that? ... im also getting my g-friend to help me, were painting the outside of the cage so it looks like a jungle.. thats just for me though...lol.... if you have any more tips please feel free

[galad]

Well for starters make sure you remove your cham when you are painting the outside. Dont want any fumes in there that my be potentialy harmfull to your cham.
Also yes it would be very good to cover to sides of your cage. My massive cage (6 highx 6.5 longx 3 deep) Has a plastic backdrop and the devider in the middle in like peg board with tiny holes.
As long as you have the front tp and anouther side open it should be great at keeping the humidity and temps up. Now you just have to watch and make sure it doesnt get too hot in there.
As long as your lights are withing a foot and a half of your plants they should be just fine. If they are crawling plants they will start to crawl upwards towards the light if they need more.
I myself have actually painted a jungle theme throughout my whole chameleon room heres a link to my pic site.
The first page except the first and last picture are from my old apartment. the only thing im missing is picks of my new female Aiko.
I hope it works enjoy.
http://groups.msn.com/CRAZYCHAMELEONS/babyrainbow.msnw

peace
ws

[peterm15]

that is one cool room..... thanks for the pics... my prob is that my hibicus wont be withen 1.5 feet of the light and the pothos will be traveling sideways.... i think i might boost the pots up a little to get it close enough to the light.... thanks alot for the help....

[galad]

thanks alot dude. Only took about three weeks, with me being lazy lol. BUt I got a wicked air brush set for christmas so more stuff will be coming soon. Going to be doing some really nice stuff on canzas as soon as i get used to the air brush.
peace

ws

[peterm15]

i have an airbrush.... but im no artist... lol