Chameleon arriving tomorrow!

[Wowbango]

The day has come! After weeks of research, weeks of putting cage together and taking 401k loans out to buy everything...he's finally coming tomorrow! The Sire is a Red body Blue bar ambilobe Panther Chameleon! i'll be posting pictures soon as he arrives as long as he's not too shy at first I want to give him a while before I even attempt at handling him. Let him settle in...get to know his new cage. I will definitely be eyeing him like a hawk!

One quick question, he's 5-6" currently. What size crickets should I be feeding him? I heard small Dubia roaches work well right now as well. And about 10-12 crickets a day correct?

THE EXCITEMENT!

 

[JlaPinska]

either pinheads or medium crickets. they should be no bigger than the space between his eyes i believe

 

[Devokid]

Pinhead crickets will be too small. I would start with small crickets and go up from there once you know for sure what size he can eat. Make sure that they are properly gut loaded. As for the rest of the diet, Dubias are great as are silk worms. I would also throw in some stick insects horn worms, etc. The key is variety and gut loading.

The amount varies with age, but the amount he can eat in 3-5 min or so should be good. I would be careful with leaving excessive crickets in the cage with him as they can attack your cham. We tend to overfeed, so don't go nuts.

 

[Tyzoone]

"What size crickets should I be feeding him? I heard small Dubia roaches work well right now as well. And about 10-12 crickets a day correct"

Read through this excellent care sheet for information on feeding/housing and generally anything your cham needs to stay happy. Make it your chams bible!

I've always heard gutloaded/dusted crickets should be the staple supplemented by everything else including dubias/worms etc. I'll let one of the senior people chime in on this however

Oh, and congrats on the new red body. I'm sure he'll be beautiful (do post pictures or I'll end up at your doorstep wanting to see him).

caresheet:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

 

[TheEricJ]

Exciting stuff! How old is this Cham? You're probably going to want to start with small crickets if he is a young in. Make that your primary source of food for your Cham for now. I dust mine with a calcium supplement ever other feeding. This along with gut loading and proper UVB you should be good to go. I also use superworms and dubias as snacks in the afternoon. Just continue to do your research as you'll learn something new every day. Good luck!

 

[Mothego]

When you go into the pet store, ask to see their sizes of crickets! There have been times where I go to different shops I'm not familiar with and when asking for smalls, I get medium to large. However, there have been other stores where I have the exact opposite problem. Start with smalls. You don't want them to be too small, but you want them about the exact size as the area between both of their eyes. A good gauge on what size they should be should be based on how well they are able to chew and swallow them. Good luck!

 

[carol5208]

They are eating machines when they are young. They can eat upwards of 25feeders a day. I would give him some in the morning and try later on in the day and if he is hungry he will eat! It is so exciting waiting for them to arrive! Good luck with everything!

 

[Wowbango]

HE IS HERE! I'd like to introduce you to Sir Nigel (Googly Eyes....I have a 5 year old). He's so much bigger than I was expecting! Which is good for me I think...and he's already showing color! He went straight to his dripper and is drinking water. Should I wait a little while before I throw in some crickets are give them to him now? I do notice he's a little wobbly...could that just be because he's stressed from the shipping?

I got medium crickets and was scared they would be too big...turns out they're perfect I think.

 

[TheEricJ]

No, you should feed him. You don't know when the last time he has eaten. Make sure you have your heat lamp and uv light on him right away too. He's a good looking boy. And yes, I was thinking if he wasn't already on medium crickets he prob would be soon so you should be good with those. Good luck man!

 

[Wowbango]

He's already drinking and eating very well! He's a bit shy and won't eat while I'm watching, but I've seen him nab about 4 crickets and 2 roaches so far.

 

[Tyzoone]

Very good looking lil guy! Thanks for posting pictures and keep posting! Did you mention which breeder you got him from? Do you have pics of his sire?

 

[Wowbango]

I got him from Bruce at Chameleonparadise.net. Here's a picture of the sire.

 

[Tyzoone]

man what a beaut! Super jealous friend!

 

[Wowbango]

man what a beaut! Super jealous friend!

Thanks! Beyond excited!