This week has been rather awful. Mostly for personal reasons. I'm struggling to keep up in school and feeling down over it. And, of course, this week was the week I got my new male panther, and the week my female panther decided to lay. Most of my friends could not care LESS about chameleons, so I am going to write about the week I had with them here.
My new boy (nameless so far, will be referred to as "New Pig" until he has a name) is from Scremeleons and I picked him up at the LI Reptile Expo. He has a pre-existing tongue injury which makes it difficult for him to shoot at his prey. He still shoots, but his tongue doesn't extend very far and his accuracy is off. He has, however, taken well to cup feeding. I used a small container since his tongue doesn't extend far. It's a used easy mac cup, with a plastic cup glued on top. I cut a side out of the cup so it is open and glued a screen inside. This week he has eaten crickets and superworms, and I believe he's gotten the two hornworms I put in there, although I haven't seen him eating them so they might have escaped. I looked around the cage after both feeding and didn't see them. They were pretty chunky so I think I would have noticed. He's schedule for a cage cleaning though and I hope I don't find too many escapees hiding. I've been really happy thinking he's eating well all week.
Priscilla is a different challenge in that she rarely drinks in front of me (newpig does) and really hates eating when I am even in the room. Since she just laid eggs (I'm assuming her first and that they're infertile but I've only had her a month so I'm keeping them just in case) I've been trying to make sure she eats well. She also doesn't like eating out of a cup. Right after laying I fed her a hornworm which was large and she spit it out, so I tried a smaller one which I THINK she ate. It was gone when I came back in the room and she was doing that lip-smack swallowing thing. I put three crickets in the cage after that and saw her begin to persue them so as far as I know they're gone. Today I stuck a hornworm to the cage next to her basking spot along with a super and when I came back they were gone. She was eyeing them before I left.
I'm really trying to get these hornworms fed because they're getting huge, I have two pupating in a box with dirt right now. Also, since Priscilla spent two days digging (one in a potted plant which she abandoned and one in a laying bin) I want to ensure she gets enough moisture. She drank in front of me right after she came out of the bin but otherwise is shy about that and eating so I can't sit there and see her drink. Newpig eats and drinks when I'm there so it's easy to tell when he's had enough.
I mean, to some extent when I am having a bad week like this it's kind of good to have them. They preoccupy me and give me something to worry about to take my mind off of worrying about other things, LOL
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I also weighed them today. Priscilla, at around 8 months and just post laying, is 4.5" stv and 47g, and NewPig is 4.5" and 42g at 6 months.
Poor NewPig is still in a cage with towels at the bottom. Tomorrow I'm getting another cabinet to make my drainage system and I'll be good. Otherwise the interior of the cage is about what I want it to be (I have another vine for him) and he seems okay with it so were all good there.
So yeah. A pretty bad week, with a new slightly disabled chameleon and another who spent two days trying to birth and making me super nervous. It's like they knew!
My new boy (nameless so far, will be referred to as "New Pig" until he has a name) is from Scremeleons and I picked him up at the LI Reptile Expo. He has a pre-existing tongue injury which makes it difficult for him to shoot at his prey. He still shoots, but his tongue doesn't extend very far and his accuracy is off. He has, however, taken well to cup feeding. I used a small container since his tongue doesn't extend far. It's a used easy mac cup, with a plastic cup glued on top. I cut a side out of the cup so it is open and glued a screen inside. This week he has eaten crickets and superworms, and I believe he's gotten the two hornworms I put in there, although I haven't seen him eating them so they might have escaped. I looked around the cage after both feeding and didn't see them. They were pretty chunky so I think I would have noticed. He's schedule for a cage cleaning though and I hope I don't find too many escapees hiding. I've been really happy thinking he's eating well all week.
Priscilla is a different challenge in that she rarely drinks in front of me (newpig does) and really hates eating when I am even in the room. Since she just laid eggs (I'm assuming her first and that they're infertile but I've only had her a month so I'm keeping them just in case) I've been trying to make sure she eats well. She also doesn't like eating out of a cup. Right after laying I fed her a hornworm which was large and she spit it out, so I tried a smaller one which I THINK she ate. It was gone when I came back in the room and she was doing that lip-smack swallowing thing. I put three crickets in the cage after that and saw her begin to persue them so as far as I know they're gone. Today I stuck a hornworm to the cage next to her basking spot along with a super and when I came back they were gone. She was eyeing them before I left.
I'm really trying to get these hornworms fed because they're getting huge, I have two pupating in a box with dirt right now. Also, since Priscilla spent two days digging (one in a potted plant which she abandoned and one in a laying bin) I want to ensure she gets enough moisture. She drank in front of me right after she came out of the bin but otherwise is shy about that and eating so I can't sit there and see her drink. Newpig eats and drinks when I'm there so it's easy to tell when he's had enough.
I mean, to some extent when I am having a bad week like this it's kind of good to have them. They preoccupy me and give me something to worry about to take my mind off of worrying about other things, LOL
.I also weighed them today. Priscilla, at around 8 months and just post laying, is 4.5" stv and 47g, and NewPig is 4.5" and 42g at 6 months.
Poor NewPig is still in a cage with towels at the bottom. Tomorrow I'm getting another cabinet to make my drainage system and I'll be good. Otherwise the interior of the cage is about what I want it to be (I have another vine for him) and he seems okay with it so were all good there.
So yeah. A pretty bad week, with a new slightly disabled chameleon and another who spent two days trying to birth and making me super nervous. It's like they knew!
