Care for chameleon hatchlings will have most of the same components as for the adults. They grow up in the same conditions that the adult lives, of course! But there are some special requirements that hatchlings have and here are the five commandments of hatchling care!
1. KEEP CHAMELEON HATCHLINGS IN THEIR OWN CAGE FROM DAY 1
All chameleons get their own cage from day one. We all know chameleons should be kept separately, but some people wonder if hatchlings are an exception. The fact is that hatchlings want to be separate and the longer they are together the more the stress grows. One of the growth items the chameleon community is going through right now that has the greatest increase in quality of life for chameleons is the recognition that hatchlings should be kept separately from day 1. If you want to go into working with chameleon babies (or are thrown into the deep end with a gravid Jackson’s chameleon) just go into it planning to keep all the babies in separate cages.
2. VERIFY YOUR CHAMELEON'S LOCATION BEFORE OPENING OR CLOSING THE CAGE DOOR
ALWAYS verify the location of your chameleon when opening and when closing the cage door. The most dangerous event in a hatchling chameleon’s life is the opening and closing of the cage door. They can be half on the door and half on the top panel when a door opening can break their legs. They can drop at any time and be crushed in a closing door. If your door locking mechanism is on the inside both opening and closing the door can be deadly. Thus you must make it a black and white commitment to ALWAYS identify where your chameleon is (or isn’t) BEFORE opening or closing the door. In a gesture of extreme irony, I was filming a segment about being careful about closing the door on your hatchling and as I was closing the door the hatchling, on camera, dropped from his perch at the last second and got closed on by the door. Luckily, I stopped the door quickly and he was unhurt. But it goes to show that this can happen to anyone. This isn’t about your skill, it is about their ability to be anywhere in the cage and be unpredictable in their actions. If you cannot find them in the cage before opening or closing then make a meticulous check of all edges of the door - especially the hinge side. Little tails love to wrap themselves around that opening and get kinked as the door closes. I cannot stress enough how dangerous opening and closing a door is to baby chameleons. DO NOT REPEAT THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST. LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES and do not get lax! I almost want to make the 6 commandments of hatchling raising and retreat this commandment again at the end just so you know how serious this is!
3. INCUBATE YOUR EGGS UNTIL THEY HATCH OR MOLD
Don’t give up on your eggs! When eggs go beyond their expected hatch date, keepers are justifiably nervous that something is wrong. Well, eggs are on their own timeline and we can only estimate when they will hatch. Experienced chameleon breeders know that you never give up on an egg! When it is dead it will mold over. So your egg will either hatch or mold over. Your job is to keep incubating it until one of those two happens!
4. RAISE YOUR HATCHLING IN THE LARGEST CAGE POSSIBLE
The bigger the cage the better. Yes, bigger is better for adults and bigger is better for hatchlings. The only reason for having a grow out cage is for our insecurities in being able to put together a cage. The irony in this is that it is actually easier to set up the adult size cage than it is a smaller cage because with the adult size cage you have much more space to create microclimates for your chameleon hatchling to take care of themselves! They will have no problem finding any food you put out and they will not fall. There are some well meaning concerns about using a larger cage, but they are not based in reality. Ideally, you would start your hatchling in the adult size cage for that species!
5. ALWAYS HAVE FOOD AVAILABLE
All food all the time. Give your hatchlings access to food all the time. This doesn’t mean there are crickets and fruit flies crawling on every surface. It means that there is always food in the feeder run cup. The babies will know where to go to find food. Their job is to grow as fast as possible to adulthood and your job is to give them the food, water, heat, and sense of security to do it! So, until they reach the end of their race to adulthood, make sure they have ample food to fuel that race.
CONCLUSION
Of course, hatchling chameleon care is a study rich with detail. Just keep these five commandments in mind as you go through your experience!
Are you looking for more?
If you would like to dive more deeply into this topic you can view a video that goes into more detail or be part of a live workshop on YouTube this Saturday (also available for replay after Saturday).
Watch the Video
Watch the Workshop
Saturday Chameleon Workshop
Full Blog Post
5 Commandments of Chameleon Hatchling Care
To Join in the discussion about this topic, scroll to the top of the post and click on the "Discussion" tab or just click here: Blog Discussion!
1. KEEP CHAMELEON HATCHLINGS IN THEIR OWN CAGE FROM DAY 1
All chameleons get their own cage from day one. We all know chameleons should be kept separately, but some people wonder if hatchlings are an exception. The fact is that hatchlings want to be separate and the longer they are together the more the stress grows. One of the growth items the chameleon community is going through right now that has the greatest increase in quality of life for chameleons is the recognition that hatchlings should be kept separately from day 1. If you want to go into working with chameleon babies (or are thrown into the deep end with a gravid Jackson’s chameleon) just go into it planning to keep all the babies in separate cages.
2. VERIFY YOUR CHAMELEON'S LOCATION BEFORE OPENING OR CLOSING THE CAGE DOOR
ALWAYS verify the location of your chameleon when opening and when closing the cage door. The most dangerous event in a hatchling chameleon’s life is the opening and closing of the cage door. They can be half on the door and half on the top panel when a door opening can break their legs. They can drop at any time and be crushed in a closing door. If your door locking mechanism is on the inside both opening and closing the door can be deadly. Thus you must make it a black and white commitment to ALWAYS identify where your chameleon is (or isn’t) BEFORE opening or closing the door. In a gesture of extreme irony, I was filming a segment about being careful about closing the door on your hatchling and as I was closing the door the hatchling, on camera, dropped from his perch at the last second and got closed on by the door. Luckily, I stopped the door quickly and he was unhurt. But it goes to show that this can happen to anyone. This isn’t about your skill, it is about their ability to be anywhere in the cage and be unpredictable in their actions. If you cannot find them in the cage before opening or closing then make a meticulous check of all edges of the door - especially the hinge side. Little tails love to wrap themselves around that opening and get kinked as the door closes. I cannot stress enough how dangerous opening and closing a door is to baby chameleons. DO NOT REPEAT THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST. LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES and do not get lax! I almost want to make the 6 commandments of hatchling raising and retreat this commandment again at the end just so you know how serious this is!
3. INCUBATE YOUR EGGS UNTIL THEY HATCH OR MOLD
Don’t give up on your eggs! When eggs go beyond their expected hatch date, keepers are justifiably nervous that something is wrong. Well, eggs are on their own timeline and we can only estimate when they will hatch. Experienced chameleon breeders know that you never give up on an egg! When it is dead it will mold over. So your egg will either hatch or mold over. Your job is to keep incubating it until one of those two happens!
4. RAISE YOUR HATCHLING IN THE LARGEST CAGE POSSIBLE
The bigger the cage the better. Yes, bigger is better for adults and bigger is better for hatchlings. The only reason for having a grow out cage is for our insecurities in being able to put together a cage. The irony in this is that it is actually easier to set up the adult size cage than it is a smaller cage because with the adult size cage you have much more space to create microclimates for your chameleon hatchling to take care of themselves! They will have no problem finding any food you put out and they will not fall. There are some well meaning concerns about using a larger cage, but they are not based in reality. Ideally, you would start your hatchling in the adult size cage for that species!
5. ALWAYS HAVE FOOD AVAILABLE
All food all the time. Give your hatchlings access to food all the time. This doesn’t mean there are crickets and fruit flies crawling on every surface. It means that there is always food in the feeder run cup. The babies will know where to go to find food. Their job is to grow as fast as possible to adulthood and your job is to give them the food, water, heat, and sense of security to do it! So, until they reach the end of their race to adulthood, make sure they have ample food to fuel that race.
CONCLUSION
Of course, hatchling chameleon care is a study rich with detail. Just keep these five commandments in mind as you go through your experience!
Are you looking for more?
If you would like to dive more deeply into this topic you can view a video that goes into more detail or be part of a live workshop on YouTube this Saturday (also available for replay after Saturday).
Watch the Video
Watch the Workshop
Saturday Chameleon Workshop
Full Blog Post
5 Commandments of Chameleon Hatchling Care
To Join in the discussion about this topic, scroll to the top of the post and click on the "Discussion" tab or just click here: Blog Discussion!
