Chamaeleo Fuelleborni

I purchased a Chamaeleo Fuelleborni on saturday! I put her in a fish tank lxhxw 40"x20"x12" It has a meshed roof, bark substrate, basking light, 30%uva 5%uvb fluorscent tube, fake plants, branches! It is 80oF at the hot end and 65oF at the cool end! Is this setup ok and including temps? Should i make any changes? I put in 2 locusts on saturday and they are still in there she never ate them, what is wrong with her? I mist various times per day!

Howdy,

Read through these sites to get an idea of what you'll need to do to care for your chameleon for starters:

http://www.chameleonnews.com/ Especially the "Article Reference" tab.

http://www.chameleonjournals.com/husbandry/

Originally Posted by chameleonmad

I purchased a Chamaeleo Fuelleborni on saturday! I put her in a fish tank lxhxw 40"x20"x12" It has a meshed roof, bark substrate, basking light, 30%uva 5%uvb fluorscent tube, fake plants, branches! It is 80oF at the hot end and 65oF at the cool end! Is this setup ok and including temps? Should i make any changes? I put in 2 locusts on saturday and they are still in there she never ate them, what is wrong with her? I mist various times per day!

This is most likely a WC animal as feulleborni are not commonly bred in captivity. You need to have a fecal done asap to determine her overall health. Also your temps are pretty warm on the hot end. Prolonged exposures to temps above 80 can cause some problems. More than anything you are probably just seeing the stress of being sold and moved. Give it a few days to settle in before you try to feed it and see how it goes. I would definitely get it to a vet for a checkup though.

and u should take hte bark substrate.bc when feeding if the go for a cricket roach on the floor and they will most likely get a peace of bark and it isnt good for their digestive track...so just use plain old paper towels.

I have removed the heat lamp to reduce the heat! It still has not ate any of the crickets i put in with it and i got it on saturday!!! how long will it take it too eat the cricket??? I mist the tank regularly!!

Sometimes it can take several days for a cham to settle in to a new environment. Try again in a day or two and see how it works.

Although I am new at chameleons and thus don't have much experience, I have read a lot of good information on habitats. Francois LeBerre in The Cameleon Hand Book reports that C. Fuelleborni should live in a habitat that has a temp gradient of 61-80 degrees F with a humidity of 85-100%. Make sure you are monitoring these things so you know they are in the correct ranges. I have also read that it is important that your chameleon has a warmer area and cooler area in the cage so that she can regulate her temp. I also read that if you use a glass enclosure, you should have a fan that blows across the top of the screen lid, (not blowing air into the cage, only across the top) to improve air circulation.

I think what others posted about making sure your cham is healthy is also very important. Is she spending lots of time on the ground? Does her skin look healthy? Do her eyes look dull or sunken at all? If she seems unhealthy or doesn't start eating in the next couple of days I would take her to a vet to rule out medical reasons for her lack of appetite.