Posted by Sarah on September 1, 2009
Someone recently found the blog by searching for this question, and I thought that it was important enough to address here.
Sometimes heat bulbs can get too hot and burn reptiles – chameleons are notorious for sitting near bulbs that are burning them, so it’s important for the owner to take steps to ensure that the reptile won’t be burned, because you can’t count on the reptiles to protect themselves.
1. Make sure that you are using the right type of heat bulb and fixture.
Certain fixtures, especially those with reflectors, can increase the amount of heat that is being given off.
2. Measure the amount of heat given off at the bulb, and at the closest distance to the bulb that the reptile can get too after the bulb has been on for awhile.
3. Each time you change brands and watts of bulbs, measure again. Different bulbs can give off different amounts of heat.
You might want to measure each time you change a bulb, even if it is the same wattage and brand as what you’ve been using.
4. Make sure the temperatures are right before you put the reptile in the cage.
Yes that means that the cage has to be set up for a day or two before you bring the reptile home, but his safety is worth it, isn’t it?
5. If your reptile does get burnt, move the bulb farther away from the reptile, or try a bulb with lower watts.
You may need to play around with it for a while to find the settings that are right for you, but make sure that you’re reptile doesn’t get burnt again while you are doing this.
Your reptile may need to see a vet to make sure that infection doesn’t get into the wound.
If you have any tips on how to keep your reptile from getting burned by it’s heat bulb, leave a comment and let me know.
Posted by Sarah on May 19, 2009
David just left a comment with a very good question, which I edited a bit for clarity.
“My chameleon is a youngster and eats medium crickets.
Now I looked at him just a moment ago and the crickets have been eating just belowe the spikes on his spine.
Can someone help me please as i cannot figure out what to do.
My e-mail is ***deleted to prevent spam*** thanks and help is needed urgently.”
David, the easy answer is don’t leave crickets in the cage with your chameleon if he isn’t going to eat them very soon.
If there are extra crickets running around, there is always the chance that they will get bored and start crawling on or biting your chameleon.
We keep our crickets and other chameleon foods in separate tupperware containters.
Instead of gutloading the batch we are going to feed the next day, we gutload the entire container, and then we can just grab a few when we are ready to feed the chameleons.
Jeff feeds crickets and mealworms from a cricket feeder cup, and he justs dusts them before he feeds them.
He uses tongs to feed Sully roaches one by one (we really don’t want roaches loose in the house), and he takes a sprinkle of whichever mineral powder he is using that day, and dusts it over each roach before he feeds it.
This way we can see exactly how much each reptile eats, we can make sure they eat the supplements before they come off of the food items, and we can make sure that none of the food escapes from the reptile cages, or stays in the cage long enough to harass the reptiles.
When we do use crickets we will occasionally let one loose in Sully (the panther chameleon) or Tiger’s (the leopard gecko) cages so that they can hunt and get a little bit of exercise, but only when we can tell that they are still hungry, and will be pretty likely to hunt the cricket down before the reptiles go to sleep.
I have heard of people who use a bowl full of crickets wrapped in wire so the crickets can’t climb out of the bowl and eat the reptiles, but with that method you still can’t be sure that your pets are getting proper supplementation.
Your chameleon should also be seen by a vet to make sure the bite wounds below his spikes aren’t infected, and to see if he needs any medications to prevent are treat infections.
Good luck, and let me know how your chameleon is doing.
Thank you.
If you have a reptile question let me know about it! If I don’t know the answer I’ll do my best to find it.
You can see David’s original comment at What do you feed your crickets?
