DAY ONE! First day with my new chameleon- THANKS for the past 2 months of help!!!

[Franquixote]

What a drama- first USPS lost the shipment and he was nowhere t be found- with the kindness of a local post office worker (a big thank you to the Oak Ridge NJ Post Office) she got in around 6 this morning and called me-woke out of a dead sleep to the phone ringing saying come get your critter. Dragged myself the 20 minutes to the post office and got buzzed in the back door - to "Karma Chameleon" playing on the radio inside -the universe works in mysterious ways : ).
Got him back and he drank and drank for what seemed like a half hour. Dark brown and stressed, sunken eyes, really felt bad. He perked up in an hour and I got his enclosure up to around 80. It's really too big for him right now but he chilled out on the Madagascar jasmine plant all day. Right off the bat I got him to take 3 dubias. He grabbed a fourth but it was a little big and he dropped it but probably got some juice out of it. I was surprised that he wanted to be handled, he made an effort to get over to me when I opened the cage- hats off to Ryan Woodbury the breeder for obviously spending time with his hatchlings. Later in the day I caught some flies outside and he gobbled them up- one that looked like a pine sawfly or small housefly and a large male mosquito. To top it off he took a big dubia around 6pm dusted with calcium and vitamin A (Reptomin). Not going to make a habit of that but wanted at least 1 feeder in him tat had some vitamins and calcium.
I'm totally wiped out. I spent all day monitoring the enclosure and observing him, his color is more of a light grey now and he seems to be moving around looking for a place to rest for the night. Since he ate late I am going to keep the enclosure at 82 or so for the next hour before calling lights out.

He is between 3-4 months old,I don't have a camera handy (my phone sucks and wife is away with the camera down the shore for a few days with the kids) but will post pics in a few days.

I ordered silks, blue bottle fly spikes, and am going to try and treat him to a few waxworms tomorrow or another feeder (except crickets),

All together he had 2 flies and at least 4-5 dubias- that's a good start, right?

I'm thinking of ditching the snail colony if anyone is interested- it'll be a year before he is big enough to take them and they are a bit of work. Dubias seem heathy, I put them in a sterilite 40 quart with egg carton type material - 4 cup coffee cup holders you get at convenience stores. Egg cartons would reach the top and I want to avoid escapees. The dubias have fresh water, carrots, grapes, oranges, and the Repashy tortoise mix which has all kinds of different powdered veggies that are supposed to gel up when moistened.

Do you think he has eaten enough for today and would today's diet be a good baseline in terms of quantity for now? I'm thankful I dragged myself out of bed in the dark this morning to go grab him but I'm so tired.

Tomorrow I am going to order some of the Reptology vines to provide more horizontal options for climbing and start looking into some live air plants to fill the enclosure with for moisture control and air quality.

Also thinking of a magnetic feeder dish for feeding, he ate from a 1 oz medicine plastic cup tday because I can't (won't) let insects wander free range except for the blue bottle flies.
Also, while I am waiting for my ordered feeders to arrive what is the safest bet for buying from big name pet stores to avoid parasites- I know crickets are a bad choice, superworms good with the waxworms for a junk food treat?

Lots of work ahead but I a grateful he drank and ate today!

Thinking of names- wife wants "Karma"(cliche, no?), and the kids like Pigment. I like Hue and Merlin.

Thanks for all the help you all provided this summer while we prepared!

 

[Andee]

He has eaten fine for his first day he will likely get better in the next couple days. I 100% do not recommend catching flies and feeding wild ones. Most wild caught insects as long as they aren't poisonous are safe, but I am never ok with flies. Only certain species in my opinion are ok like certain pollinating species and BSF.

Currently I would go with small super worms, crickets are ok... *makes face* as a absolute nessecity but you may need to get his fecal done in a few months just to be on the safe side after feeding them. Wax worms are fine to feed, just don't over do it. I do at most 2 a week.

 

[Scottsquatch]

Congrats on getting your new guy. The USPS sucks. Even when I pay for overnight packages NEVER arrive on time. If UPS and FedX can do it I don't see why they can't. Anyway, I'm glad your guy is OK. @Andee , why would you need to get a fecal done if he ate crickets? Are they THAT bad? Perhaps I'll just get some eggs from some and then destroy them. Hatch out new ones and start a colony from there.

 

[Andee]

No from the majority of large pet stores, which is what he is talking about, most crickets carry parasites of some sorts. Often pin worms or something similar. It's the only time from any feeder my chams have gotten parasites. Anything I raise myself they have never contracted anything. It's why when I start raising crickets I will only ever do it on a small scale (I have often been tried to be convinced to do it on a farming scale) but I would have less control... and I am very obsessive with my different animals' needs. Certain one's of my enclosures when I post pics may seem "dirty" or unorganized but it's because of how I have found they do best at and almost always have a cleaner crew or don't have to worry about it with that species ^^

 

[Scottsquatch]

So if I ordered some and put in dirt trays for eggs and then removed the eggs and hatched them out and threw out the dirt immediately, would they be clean and ready to start a new colony or is there a better way?

 

[Franquixote]

Andee I always appreciate your input.
I know where you are coming from with wild foods but my family relies on lots of wild food for our table. For example I hunt deer and that's the only meat we eat- we haven't bought meat from a grocery store in 15-20 years (Can't say we get to eat meat more than 1-2 times a week though!). We also eat wild mushrooms, berries, and fish. We live in a pretty rural area where there is no agriculture so I feel herb/pesticides would be minimal. Also in a watershed, kind of a swampy area where much of NJ relies on for its drinking water so the state is very careful what they allow to go on up here as far as industry- we don't have factories or even a gas station around here because they try to keep the area pristine. Anyway, it's not like any insects I catch around here would have been near a dumpster and though there are natural reserves of parasites in the wild, I'd imagine the ones that would utilize reptiles as an intermediary would be few and far between. I've only ever seen garter snakes, box and painted turtles up at our elevation and an occasional copperhead 20 minutes south and 1000 feet or so lower. Never seen any skinks, lots of amphibians. Anyway, yesterday at least I wanted him to eat as much as possible and I only have dubia on hand so weighed the pros and cons and went with a fuller belly as most important on day one!
Thanks!

 

[Andee]

Yeah but house flies and most other flies are attracted to feces and rotting meat. Just so you remember.