find him in odd places.

[alil]

Hello, Lately my male veiled seems to be in odd places in his cage. By odd places I mean roaming the cage floor every so often. (I over reacted the first few times I seen him walking around on the floor thinking he fell but I never heared a thump and he seems to not be hurt). I see him climbing the side of his walls. and sometimes I will see him go to the bottom of his tree. I am guessing he is just exploring his new tree since I swapped out his tree since it was getting droopy so its outside getting some light. I wonder if hes hungry since I put his crickets at the bottom of the tree but I feed him twice a day. Anyone else's chameleons tend to wander the cage randomly like mine does.

 

[maya2]

My guy does that every day around 1030-1130am lol.
I suspect it's hunger or he wants the exercise because he doesn't linger there after eating and letting him out.

 

[alil]

I left my cage open today to see if he will have any interest in exploring. I went back to his cage and looked for 5 mins in his tree and got startled to see him at the end of my couch by his cage. So I did a little rearranging in his cage and about 5 mins later he was gone and I was startled again to find him at a brass fake plant stand on the opposite corner of the living room trying to climb up to the fake plant but kept sliding down the fake surface. eventually he got in it. I let him sit there for a few mins then I had to corner him to get him on my hand to put him back. He had quite the adventure today.

 

[Simon1986]

what are the temps in the viv they may be to hot

 

[Nemesis]

My cham wanders around the cage all the time. I have a vine that droops from top and loops around the bottom and i see him walking around that top to bottom frequently. I figure he's looking for food and exploring his cage.

 

[maya2]

I left my cage open today to see if he will have any interest in exploring. I went back to his cage and looked for 5 mins in his tree and got startled to see him at the end of my couch by his cage. So I did a little rearranging in his cage and about 5 mins later he was gone and I was startled again to find him at a brass fake plant stand on the opposite corner of the living room trying to climb up to the fake plant but kept sliding down the fake surface. eventually he got in it. I let him sit there for a few mins then I had to corner him to get him on my hand to put him back. He had quite the adventure today.

Haha that's crazy! I've arranged various sticks around his cage so he has a kind of route to follow, and not end up lost. Also I can pick up the sticks if I have to leave the room for a while or take him outside
I hope you guys had fun and your little dude can get some more outdoors time he'll probably love it.

Simon has a good point about the temps.
If you have time for it, you should post a picture

 

[alil]

his viv temps are under his light on his perch were 85 according to the laser temp gun. I did lower his stick while he was out. He never stays on the ground The few times I see him on the floor he is always moving like hes looking for crickets. The old tree had a lot of leaves fall off and the crickets would hide under the leaves but those are gone. The bulb he is using is a 40 watt basking bulb with a uvb 5.0 tube. I am about to swap over to a mvb for space saving since his cage is so high up the extension cords seem to drag the lights down. The pic im about to link his stick is now lower from the bulb which i believe was too close. I did not realize how much he grew.

 

[vgaines]

Have you thought about making him a mini free range that he can roam around on while he is out. I set one up on the dresser that is beside his enclosure. I put some cham safe plants on top of the dresser. I'll try and see if I can find a picture to post. He loves hanging out on his little free range and he has not gotten down yet. ( I never leave him alone while out of his cage.)

 

[alil]

I have thought about free ranging him a lot in the past month. I bought a condo that is reptile safe. I let my beardies roam from time to time. Any advise on a free range set up would be great.

 

[maya2]

He's so cute
I bet he's just excited and curious. Some more vines might help also, or additional plants.

 

[Lathelia]

Are you sure he is a he?

 

[vgaines]

Here is how I sat mine up. I have a Ficus tree with no leaves. a Hibiscus tree, a Desert Rose and the hanging plant is a Wax Plant. Nothing fancy but I am a plant nut and I moved into an apartment with no outdoor space so I use my bedroom window which gets morning sun.

 

[alil]

I want to get more vines but i don't have a lot of choice when it comes to my pet supplies. I only have 2 pet stores but neither carry a whole lot of reptile items. I do have a reptile show coming in early October.

 

[alil]

its a boy. ill have to try the free ranging more often. But I don't want him to think he owns the house and hisses at me about everything, hes kind of moody and territorial but does eat from my hand from time to time.

 

[rpgamer97]

Odysseus is living the life now with his cage open. For the past month and a half I have had his cage completely open and his tree sitting out side of it so he can go from that to his vines inside with his basking spot at will. He has never left the cage/tree and I always see him sleeping out on his tree. Just to be safe I always close the door to his room in case, but never had an issue with him roaming so far. I find it amazing to be able to let him do that and know he likes it not being so cooped up.

 

[maya2]

its a boy. ill have to try the free ranging more often. But I don't want him to think he owns the house and hisses at me about everything, hes kind of moody and territorial but does eat from my hand from time to time.

Haha well hopefully with some plants near his cage he won't want to own the whole house. Hand-feeding is great!

 

[maya2]

Odysseus is living the life now with his cage open. For the past month and a half I have had his cage completely open and his tree sitting out side of it so he can go from that to his vines inside with his basking spot at will. He has never left the cage/tree and I always see him sleeping out on his tree. Just to be safe I always close the door to his room in case, but never had an issue with him roaming so far. I find it amazing to be able to let him do that and know he likes it not being so cooped up.

That's too cool I'd like to have a similar set up in the near future. What type of tree is it?

 

[rpgamer97]

Its a schflura (spelling) just over 4 feet tall

 

[ChameleonMom]

Are you sure he is a he?

Haha! I was wondering exactly the same thing!

I would suggest adding more vines or other climbing sources. You have a beautifully huge cage but not near enough vines, sticks and exploring space and since there's little choice of where to climb, it's either the stick close to the basking bulb or the floor!

 

[maya2]

Its a schflura (spelling) just over 4 feet tall

Cool I have a schefflera inside my guys cage. I was hoping to get him something different for outside, but maybe not. Everyone likes them and they're so easy to care for so why not, right?