Handling/making sure everything's right

[SimonTheCham]

Your Chameleon - Veiled, male, 3-5 months old (about 3-4 inches long w/ tail and maybe an inch around) I've had him for about a month

Handling - We try to hold him once every 3 days

Feeding - Pinheads, about 10 a day (although he doesn't eat them all, also dusting every other with non-d3 calcium) no gut loading

Watering - foggers about 1-2 times a Day and spraying about 3 times a day, I never see him drinking

Fecal Description - Brown with white, I don't believe he's been tested for parasites

History- bought from pet store, when the worker held him he was bright green, but when we do he's spotted and sometimes aggressive to get on to hand.



Cage- screen, 2ft by 4ft

Lighting - Reptisyn 5.0 and a 70-75 watt basking. Basking spot never exceeds around 90F turning off at night and on at 7:00am

Temperature - about 50F at night, using a thermometer on side of cage and a temp probe.

Humidity - Humidity seems low ( not always foggy in cage) we have 2 foggers, not sure of humidity

Plants - Live plants and 1 silk, 4pothos, 2spider.

Placement - Located in a bedroom with a guinea pig and bearded dragons, we placed boxed near the beards as not to scare him. Not near air vents, but area is typically warm.

Location - southern Wisconsin

I'm worried that something's wrong with little simon, he seems unhappy to me and I would really like to know why. We love holding him but it's such a hustle and he always backs up to a corner and gets dark(we don't mess with him after that) also, he will hiss when we come at him and we do it relatively slowly. We do keep his cage door open when we're in the room and he moves to the side of one of his vines until he's vertical with the ground. We could really use some handling help! The worker at the pet store did it so we'll, I just don't understand. I also would really like to make sure everything's ok with his setup! Thanks!

 

[Kath44]

The pet store employee possibly just grabbed him up. Back off from handling him, he's still new to you and his home. Try hand feeding, take it slowly. He may eventually get used to your hand as something good, or he may never want to get handled.
Can you post a pic of his set up? Kath.

 

[Denverbug]

You should gut load,your feeders don't have all the nutrients he needs. I also own a veiled and he does not want me touching him either. My guys already about a year old. I ve only had him about six months. I'm hoping he'll come around. Im taking it slow with him but he is also aggressive. He hisses and gapes if I get to close with no food but he will eat from my hand. Just keep trying. Some will never willingly let you hold them so I don't force it. Maybe one day they'll understand we're not here to hurt them.

 

[Jaden]

You should gut load,your feeders don't have all the nutrients he needs. I also own a veiled and he does not want me touching him either. My guys already about a year old. I ve only had him about six months. I'm hoping he'll come around. Im taking it slow with him but he is also aggressive. He hisses and gapes if I get to close with no food but he will eat from my hand. Just keep trying. Some will never willingly let you hold them so I don't force it. Maybe one day they'll understand we're not here to hurt them.

I agree, it very important to gutload. Especially if your only feeding crickets, your cham will not get any nutrients. As for handling, I've read it's good to start by hand feeding. Once you have him hand feeding, you can try to take your chameleon out with a stick. Gently tap his back leg onto the stick. If he runs away, you can try again the next day. Eventually, most chameleons will begin to trust their owners.
Jaden

 

[SimonTheCham]

I know I should gut load them,but what with?

 

[Tyaeda]

I personally have two types of gutload - dry and wet. They are both a mix of nutritious stuff.

Dry:
Oat flour
Dried Kelp
Sesame seeds
bee pollen

Wet (blended together and frozen for convenience):
Dandelion greens
orange
collard greens
butternut squash
carrots

I also mix in a small amount of my powered multivitamin to the wet gutload.

 

[SimonTheCham]

I personally have two types of gutload - dry and wet. They are both a mix of nutritious stuff.

Dry:
Oat flour
Dried Kelp
Sesame seeds
bee pollen

Wet (blended together and frozen for convenience):
Dandelion greens
orange
collard greens
butternut squash
carrots

I also mix in a small amount of my powered multivitamin to the wet gutload.

So I can just mix all that stuff together and feed it to the crix?