Cedric Diggory Cheshire

[Chamgels of Avalon]

So I got my first chameleon on October 7th, 09. He is a 4 month old ambilobe panther cham. His name is Cedric Diggory Cheshire.
He is already showing a lot of colors for his age from what I hear, I look forward to watching him get more!

I have only taken him out of his cage once since i've had him and that was only for about 5 minutes, took him outside to get some REAL sunlight, of course he crawled straight up to the top of my head and just hung out there haha

I want to measure him because he seems to be growing fast but I also want to give him some time to adapt to his new cage before I start handling him.
Phil hand fed him some phoenix worms today (a treat he loveeees) unfortunately I was working when this happened so I was not able to watch it :[

I bought a mist king system for his cage last Friday since the humidity level seems to not want to go above 40!! I do live in AZ which i'm sure isn't helping one bit. Along with the pothos in his cage, I also mist his cage constantly and use a dripper, hopefully once the mistking comes in it will help with the humidity levels a lot, other wise I will probably have to get a small humidifier.

I also bought some cricket crack from Steve today (thanks!) so I should have that soon.. Have been giving my crickets baby greens, carrots and banana peels.

Diggory aka Mr. Pissy Pants Mcgee gets his usual cricket diet, and also here and there some phoenix worms or meal worms.

I am trying to do everything correct to make him grow up healthy and happy (all though he is always PISSY!), does it seem like I am doing every thing correct?

Chris (chambabysitter1) gave me a lot of helpful tips with the cage set up and everything, I thank him for that.

Don't know anyone else in AZ that has a cham.

Anyways, here's some pix of my little man, hope you all enjoy!

MR. PISSY PANT MCGEE!!!

and like I mentioned, he went straight up to my head, my stupid camera phone flash ruined the picture though, but it was pretty funny because I had to put my head in his cage to get him off! But like I said, this was the only time I took him out, think I will give him a few more days to adjust before I do start taking him out more.

 

[LBonawitz]

he looks great! i think the cage looks good. and a pissy attitude is what you want. that means he's feeling good, strong, and healthy. Variety in food is a must and calcium, calcium +d3, and gut loading.

stick with this forum and you and your chameleon will do great!

 

[Syn]

You aren't the only one in AZ w/a cham. I have two, Sang has two, hmm.. who else? *forgot* Bay687 (something like that), umm..

 

[Gluuvan]

Awesome to see you here and welcome. He looks stunning and that fiesty attitude to go with it is good sign also. Sometimes you will get one a little more mellow than another but they generally do not like being handled. The cage looks great. Keep offering him water and food and he will grow strong. Good luck and keep us updated.

Chris

 

[SRTtoZ]

What a badass name...he reminds me of my lil guy whos just over 3 months, but my dude is blue...and sadly has NO name yet lol.

 

[warpdrive]

Avalon,

that's a realy nice ambilobie you got there.

I do have a few ideas for you tho...

about the humidity, you could use a room humidifier to add humidity to your room's air that the cham lives in, or a swamp cooler if you also need to lower your room temps as well as improve the humidity.
there is nothing wrong with an extra misting or two when you need it, but if you need it all the time then you need to emprove the room's humidity levels in some way.
if the room already uses central air or an AC unit in a window, I would just get a room humidifier for around $40-$60 and call it a day.
you will have to refill it maybe once or twice a day, but in the end it's well worth it.

the reason extra mistings each day is bad is that your cage needs to dry out so bacterea doesn't start to grow and get out of hand.
even with great drainage on the bottom of the cage, you'll have growth on the solid parts of the cage and the plant pots.
yes, you'll still have to clean the cage anyway, but by keeping it dry as much as possable you'll be able to clean it less and thus stress out your cham less.
without drainage, you'll always have alot of water on the bottome of the cage regardless, and extra mistings means extra wipe it down with paper towels to keep it dry every day or two.
extra mistings also kills plant leaves by keeping them wet. plant leaves need time to breath, and without this they slowly die. at least you are using a pothos and they are quite stong against heavy misting, but they can still have problems over time.
a cool mist humidifier solves both problems as it adds humidity to the surounding air and doesn't make your cage or plants wet inbetween mistings.


my next thought is gutloading.
you say you use baby greens...not sure what that is.
some good gutload is Kale, Dandelion, Bokchoi, romaine, for calcium...and carrots, orange slices, sweet potato, for moisture.
mix it up and add some cricket crack sometimes when you get it.

your boy is looking realy good. keep up the great work.

Harry

 

[SS4Luck]

your guy is real cute!!

on a side note, what size are your plugs? I have 1" and i swear i have thoe opaque plugs too lol

 

[Chamgels of Avalon]

he looks great! i think the cage looks good. and a pissy attitude is what you want. that means he's feeling good, strong, and healthy. Variety in food is a must and calcium, calcium +d3, and gut loading.

stick with this forum and you and your chameleon will do great!

Thanks for the info! I have heard that a pissy attitude is good :] I just don't want him to bite me, I am not too interested in finding out what it feels like! haha!

 

[Chamgels of Avalon]

You aren't the only one in AZ w/a cham. I have two, Sang has two, hmm.. who else? *forgot* Bay687 (something like that), umm..

The other day when I went to the petsmart on val vista and guadalupe a girl that worked there said she had a veiled, but I don't know her. It is nice to know that there are a bunch of others! How do you keep your humidity level up in this dry hell!? haha

 

[Chamgels of Avalon]

Awesome to see you here and welcome. He looks stunning and that fiesty attitude to go with it is good sign also. Sometimes you will get one a little more mellow than another but they generally do not like being handled. The cage looks great. Keep offering him water and food and he will grow strong. Good luck and keep us updated.

Chris

Thank you :]
Yeah they seem to like it when their left alone more. Which makes perfect sense. I accidently woke him up last night when I was misting, man he was mad!! Think he is starting to warm up to me though, starting to realize that "i'm the giant that feeds him and provides him water!" hahaha

 

[Chamgels of Avalon]

What a badass name...he reminds me of my lil guy whos just over 3 months, but my dude is blue...and sadly has NO name yet lol.

Thanks! It took me awhile to think of a name for him, I wanted something that fitted him, but at the same time something that would stand out haha

Diggory right now is a light blue, with brighter blue bars (that turn black when he's pissed or stressed), he is starting to get some red under his chin I have noticed. His full name is "Cedric Diggory Cheshire", Cedric Diggory is from Harry Potter, and Cheshire like the cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland that changes colors. hahaha

Is yours a nosey?

 

[Chamgels of Avalon]

Avalon,

that's a realy nice ambilobie you got there.

I do have a few ideas for you tho...

about the humidity, you could use a room humidifier to add humidity to your room's air that the cham lives in, or a swamp cooler if you also need to lower your room temps as well as improve the humidity.
there is nothing wrong with an extra misting or two when you need it, but if you need it all the time then you need to emprove the room's humidity levels in some way.
if the room already uses central air or an AC unit in a window, I would just get a room humidifier for around $40-$60 and call it a day.
you will have to refill it maybe once or twice a day, but in the end it's well worth it.

the reason extra mistings each day is bad is that your cage needs to dry out so bacterea doesn't start to grow and get out of hand.
even with great drainage on the bottom of the cage, you'll have growth on the solid parts of the cage and the plant pots.
yes, you'll still have to clean the cage anyway, but by keeping it dry as much as possable you'll be able to clean it less and thus stress out your cham less.
without drainage, you'll always have alot of water on the bottome of the cage regardless, and extra mistings means extra wipe it down with paper towels to keep it dry every day or two.
extra mistings also kills plant leaves by keeping them wet. plant leaves need time to breath, and without this they slowly die. at least you are using a pothos and they are quite stong against heavy misting, but they can still have problems over time.
a cool mist humidifier solves both problems as it adds humidity to the surounding air and doesn't make your cage or plants wet inbetween mistings.


my next thought is gutloading.
you say you use baby greens...not sure what that is.
some good gutload is Kale, Dandelion, Bokchoi, romaine, for calcium...and carrots, orange slices, sweet potato, for moisture.
mix it up and add some cricket crack sometimes when you get it.

your boy is looking realy good. keep up the great work.

Harry

Harry,
Thanks for all of the advice.
I was as target the other day and was going to buy a cool mist humidifier but then thought that I would wait until the mistking came in to see how that helps with the overall humidity levels. I only spray his cage 2-3 times a day and then use the dripper. The cage is not constantly wet because I work 10 hour shifts, so I basically spray in the morning and then set the dripper low, when I get home I re spray and refill the dripper. I am just worried of him getting dehydrated so I am trying to provide him with droplets as much as I can. But I do not want anything in the cage to rot like you mentioned so I am always whiping down the bottom and emptying the tray I put underneath his cage that the water drips into. When I get the misking, how often do you suggest I set it off, and for what duration?

The baby greens is a package of fresh romaine lettuce that I bought from Walmart haha. I also use baby carrots and banana peels. I purchased some cricket crack from Steve yesterday so I should have that soon. I will go out and get some sweet potatos and oranges for more moisture, a lotof people have recommended them.

As or supplementing, this is the schedule the Kammers told me to use up until he is 12 months (they said to skit the teenage phase...) what do you think?

We use the following supplement products:

Herptivite (multivitamin with beta-carotene) - Mondays and Thursdays
Rep-Cal Calcium (calcium with and w/out vitamin D3 - depending on indoor or outdoor use) - Tuesdays and Fridays
Miner-All (calcium with essential trace minerals) - Wednesdays and Saturdays


I have been so scared of overdosing him with D3 so I dust really lightly. He is only 4 months old, and they suggested I use that schedule until he is 12 months?

Thanks for all the advice and tips!

Tia

 

[Chamgels of Avalon]

your guy is real cute!!

on a side note, what size are your plugs? I have 1" and i swear i have thoe opaque plugs too lol

Mine are 3/4. I have had them this size for yearrrrrrrrs. Don't really care for them too much anymore but I can't stand my ears looking like buttholes when their out! hahaha

I bought the opal ones from club tattoo (rip off!) when I was a flight attendant and had to have "natural" looking ones.

 

[SS4Luck]

Mine are 3/4. I have had them this size for yearrrrrrrrs. Don't really care for them too much anymore but I can't stand my ears looking like buttholes when their out! hahaha

I bought the opal ones from club tattoo (rip off!) when I was a flight attendant and had to have "natural" looking ones.

haha when i had to get natural ones i got some nice snowflake obsidian plugs. I got the opal ones cuz i thought they were cool lol

 

[Quantum Mark]

Wow, that is sooo much colour for a 4 month old! I thought my little Socs was bright for four months >.<

 

[Chamgels of Avalon]

haha when i had to get natural ones i got some nice snowflake obsidian plugs. I got the opal ones cuz i thought they were cool lol

Yeah the opal ones are pretty BA (that's BAD ASS in Dane Cook lingo! haha)

 

[Chamgels of Avalon]

Wow, that is sooo much colour for a 4 month old! I thought my little Socs was bright for four months >.<

Thank you! He is quite the stud! But I am the only lady for him since I have no other chams and he isn't living in madagascar wildly. He will just have to start liking me! hahaha

 

[Pure]

He will just have to start liking me! hahaha

Don't count on it! LOL

He is a studly lil man that's for sure. Not often do you see them with that much color at his age. Very nice.

Kudos on getting him set up right.

 

[Syn]

The other day when I went to the petsmart on val vista and guadalupe a girl that worked there said she had a veiled, but I don't know her. It is nice to know that there are a bunch of others! How do you keep your humidity level up in this dry hell!? haha

<3 Val Vista, for AJ's fine foods. I don't have AC, I have a swamp cooler.

 

[jamncristian]

if you are scared of over supplementing you will notice a ring of dust like particles around his nose if he is over supplemented

congratulations on your cham he is very gorgeous

if u dont like crickets i reccomend starting a dubia roach colony
they will breed like crazy if it is warm and humid and get 1 to 1 and a half inches long

good luck and good job on your cage