First cham arriving this morning

[jamest0o0]

Hey guys so my first cham should be here any minute(4month male panther). I'm anxious not knowing what to expect and want to do everything right. Was hoping someone could help me with a few questions and give me some advice on things to do/not do immediately. I have planned this for almost 8 months and have done a lot of reading so i might be obsessing a bit hah.

Anyway here's some questions:

1) should i mist as soon as i put him in, feed as well?(was going to try to cup, i'd imagine the crickets this small would get lost?) also in general should he be misted or fed first in the morning? I'm hand misting until i move him into his larger cage.
2) i read misting water should be warm, if i'm using purified water, how do you guys warm it up? I was thinking the microwave?

I'll probably have more questions, but just want to post this for now, i'll put a pic up later to show you the enclosure.

 

[Remkon]

If you planned it for 8 months I bet you are just nervous and actually do know what you should expect.

1. If he looks healthy on arrival I would focus on giving him his time to adjust to his new surroundings. Don't go stare at him, leave him be and give him time to explore his new surroundings.... If he seems to have settled a bit later in the day you can mist him.... But mainly give him rest and privacy for the next few days.
You can offer a cup of feeders but I would place those before you place the cham so you won't disturb him and it's not really a necessity either, you can also try feeding him tomorrow.
2. Water on room temperature is fine many of us have automatic misters with a container for the water that get's no heating.... If you want to use warm water I would go with lukewarm water.

Asking and answering is what we are all here for, enjoy your new chameleon and welcome to the club!

 

[Solid Snake]

Oh joy! Oh happy day!

Dont warm the water. Room temp is fine. Just get the animal out of the box and in to the enclosure. Dont rush, just enjoy it and be careful. It should climb right into/onto something in the enclosure without much effort or waiting. Give it 10 min or so and then yeah, spray the crap out of it. Not the animal, well not directly. Just spray until theres water droplets on everything and the animal. Youre looking to replicate rain.

Enjoy!

 

[jamest0o0]

Thanks! Just put him into his cage, was blue, but is now stretched out dark on the vine i his basking area. From reading seems to be regular stress response and heat absorption. Hes shedding a bit too. For 4 months he seems big, bigger than i expected. Body is probably the length of my palm or so. Giving him his space though.

 

[jamest0o0]

He's been staying a dark brownish color with bits of bright blue/green coming through all day, still normal? I was going to feed him tomorrow morning, i only have gutloaded crickets atm, should i free roam them or cup feed? And any recommendations for cup feedings if i should go that route? I was thinking of taking a plastic take-out soup container and putting duct tape around it so it's not clear(for the time being).

 

[Nursemaia]

I'd free roam. It let's them hunt and try not to use or put tape in his enclosure. Accidents happen and if tape gets stuck to his tongue it can cause severe injury

 

[Angelwolf]

He's been staying a dark brownish color with bits of bright blue/green coming through all day, still normal? I was going to feed him tomorrow morning, i only have gutloaded crickets atm, should i free roam them or cup feed? And any recommendations for cup feedings if i should go that route? I was thinking of taking a plastic take-out soup container and putting duct tape around it so it's not clear(for the time being).

Yes. He's scared to death right now. So he feels like he is vulnerable and is trying to remain low key. Just keep your distance, and you should see more color every day. Imagine if you were on the inside of that box.

 

[jamest0o0]

Okay thanks very understandable. When i took him out of the box he was bright colors and then quickly turned brown, colors are a little more out today, but still brown. Seems normal though from everything i gather.

I fed him dusted crickets this morning, i just let them loose in the cage. saw him eat about 4 or so (probably put around 10 in). They get everywhere, how do you guys keep them from hiding all over the place? And how long should i leave them in before removing them? I've heard horror stories of them chewing on chams so i'll definitely remove any remaining, i just wanted to give him time alone to hunt because he's still scared with me around.

I was going to mist 3 min 2x a day, but i feel like that'll drown the feeders i have in there right now, any thought on this? I'm having problems with drainage in my cage too, i drilled a lot of holes in the bottom, but the water just seems to puddle up so i gotta do something about that, just using paper towels for now though.

Lastly(for now lol), should i be cleaning my entire cricket container everyday? I know to take out dead ones and replace food that looks bad, but their poop seems constant, didn't know how meticulous i had to be? I planned on washing it out at least 1x a week. Does food need replaced if it still looks fine, for example i have carrots and a few greens in there that aren't moldy just seem to be drying out, plus dry gutload and cricket quencher. Everything seems fine still but didn't know if i should just replace it all anyway.

Sorry for all the questions, it just helps to ease my mind. Appreciate any and all feedback.

 

[Angelwolf]

Well, you came to the right place for answers. I don't worry about crickets hiding in my cage. My cham is a pretty good hunter, and usually gobbles them all up in a few hours. If there are any left, I see them usually hanging out around the top corners of the screen. For some reason, the crickets always climb up. If he doesn't eat them all, they're always gone by the next day. As far as feeder/cricket care. I wait till the veggies I put in get dry, then remove them. I don't usually have feeders around long enough to really worry about having to clean out the container. I just dump out all the poop and dead bodies before adding new crickets. About weekly or so. Make sure you are getting banded crickets. They are WAY better to keep than the common brown house crickets. Check them out on www.ghann.com. I usually order the 250 qty, which lasts me almost a month, with very little die off. I don't worry about drainage/pooled water in my cage. As long as it doesn't get all over the floor of the house, it evaporates quickly enough, and by the time I am ready to spray again, it's all dried up. Aim most of your spray towards the top of the cage, so that the water gets caught by all the leaves, etc, an you shouldn't have too terribly much reaching the bottom.

 

[jamest0o0]

Thanks for the reply, funny i checked the cage after you said that, no crickets left(unless they escaped somewhere)... just one drowned one on the bottom. I just tried to hang his dripper up, but i think i was there too long and freaked him out, he started climbing the top of the screen so i let him go and left the room. I'm going to post a picture in a bit to see if theres anything i could do differently for his set up.

Btw thanks for the link to those crickets, i've been looking around for banded. Are they all banded crickets on that site?

 

[Angelwolf]

yes. that's all they sell, is banded crickets. he will get spooked any time you are getting too close to him in his cage, or move something, like your dripper. It should ideally be placed on top of your cage, and allowed to drip down through the screen. I let mine drip into a small plant (keeps it from splashing) which is propped up on a mesh material stretched over a bucket. Crickets can't get in. Cham can't drown. Plant gets water. And no flooding! Can't wait to see your setup and your cham pics!

 

[ZacharyLeesWife]

Congratulations on the new baby and welcome! It sounds like you are off to a good start and questions are always welcome! I get crickets a thousand at a time, but I order them small so they are pretty much fed off before they start chirping. I have only used Joshs frogs for crickets, they're banded and always great looking. I have very little die off, but don't confuse sheds with dead crickets! I could not figure out how I had so many "deaths" when I first started, especially because the population never really dropped. Turns out they were just she'd exoskeletons... Doh.