Brought home my first chameleon tonight..pics of enclosure :)

[skully23]

Chameleons can hurt their tongues that way. You also hold it to the chameleon so it doesn't have to find it. If a chameleon were to come across it while it was on the bottom of the cage and try to shoot at the bugs from below, it wouldn't work.

Is holding it up to it bad then?
If I set mine at the bottom of cage he doesn't go on the floor he goes on the branches above the container and lean down to get crickets. If I do find him snapping from the outside of the container then I can change it.

 

[pssh]

No its not bad. But if you start to leave a dish up higher, like where I keep mine, then a clear dish would not be a good choice.

 

[skully23]

No its not bad. But if you start to leave a dish up higher, like where I keep mine, then a clear dish would not be a good choice.

I keep that in mind when I make my bigger cage. I may just set the crickets out instead of waiting for him to eat in a bigger cage.

 

[jade2122]

So good news Bach already has been eating, put crickets in today and he went to town already (didn't use feeding cup just loose crickets) was soo happy to see him settled in enough to eat already. Still going to wait a little to put the little guy through a photo shoot, lol. Thinking tuesday night he will be settled in enough to take some pictures without freaking him out I am such a happy cham-mom!

 

[Jerm]

So good news Bach already has been eating, put crickets in today and he went to town already (didn't use feeding cup just loose crickets) was soo happy to see him settled in enough to eat already. Still going to wait a little to put the little guy through a photo shoot, lol. Thinking tuesday night he will be settled in enough to take some pictures without freaking him out I am such a happy cham-mom!

Your setup looks great! I'm sure he will settle in pretty quickly. Your feeding cup is deep, just keep your eye on him as he probably won't be able to get out of it on his own if he falls in. The milk carton and screen method is great ( https://www.chameleonforums.com/eating-5711/ ), especially if they aren't used to eating out of a cup yet, and he would have no problem getting out of it. This guy isn't used to cup feeding yet because I was just starting to switch them over to this method when you picked him up. Avoid clear containers for cup feeding! I have seen chameleons with tongue strain and it isn't something that you want to deal with. It can happen if they try to eat the crickets through the cup because they can see them through the clear sides. Also, make sure that the cup stays clean. My chams like to poop in theirs for some reason, so I try to remove it when I'm not feeding them in it, otherwise constantly have to disinfect it. I have a feeling that he is going to grow fast now that he is seperated and has his own amazing home. I know you will make a great cham mom. Keep us updated on his progress!

 

[hallenhe]

Great set-up, and congrats on your new cham!

My two cents on cup feeding: skully23, my first chameleon had a clear cup and never tried to shoot through it; my second one would try to shoot through it, and consequently got an opaque one; a cleaned margarine tub to begin with (couple inches deep), followed by a one pint ice cream container (several inches deep). I hang mine from one of the vines.

 

[jessica]

Your cage is BEAUTIFUL! I love those dried grapevines!!

I use the same exact blue cups to feed, but I cut the bottom off and hot glue screen to it. My Chameleons have no problems with the depth (they range from 5 months to 9 months).

Again beautiful cage!

 

[jade2122]

Thanks everyone, I will switch to a shallower feeding cup didn't even think about how deep it was compared to his size, he's such a little guy. I figure in the next few days when I put crickets in I will throw a few in the cup before adding any to the cage and see how Bach does with it. If he doesn't go for it then will just add some to the cage. Fingers crossed that he will adjust to cup feeding easily, I want to be able to monitor exactly how much he is eating, those baby crickets can hide real well in his cage haha.

 

[pssh]

If you want to cup feed, and he won't eat from it right away, starve him for a day or two and he should start to eat from it. If he doesn't, either give him a few free range or make a milk carton feeder. I found that my female won't touch a cup, only free range or milk carton style. She's a picky girl.

 

[jade2122]

yea I think the milk carton idea is going to be the easiest to trasfer him over too, I don't want to make him go over a day without eating with being still so young. We will see how it goes, I'm in no big rush to get him cup feeding.

 

[SS4Luck]

My feeding cup is only 1 1/2" deep, and it works just fine. Reptar gets teh idea there is fod in the cage, eats whats in teh cup and then goes on the hunt for the escapees