help a desperate chameleon virgin

[amaeleo0821]

Hi my name is April and my husband bought me my first chameleon for Christmas (Dec 6th it was an early gift) for the first 2months with us he was In a small Glass terrarium w screen top (this is what the petstore recommended) it's about 18" tall and has no ventilation except the top which had his heat bulb & drip system on it. Through research of our own we decided it was all wrong & we've been buying things little by little and setting up a new cage. We now have a 3ft cage a heat bulb on the side (outside) of the cage we also added a 5.0 UV bulb (which the store associate said nothing about) the new setup is completely screen instead of the glass one the ambient air temp is 78-82 his basking spot is 90-100 isand his humidity is usually 47-60 he's always eatten 10-15crickets a day but we moved Amaeleo to his new cage yesterday morning and its been a little over 24hrs and he still hasn't. eaten and I haven't. Seen hi drink he moves around but seems 2 not b exploring there are plenty vines and leaves no branches though. Should I worry about him not eating? Does anything in Amaeleo:s setup need changed? I really love my chmaeleon and I want to do this right so I would super appreciate any advice!
Thanks
Ape

 

[camimom]

it sounds pretty good.
hes probably just adjusting to his new home, so give him some time, he may not eat right away, or even for a few days.

since the petstore gave you bad/missing info..
do you have supplements for him?

and you are feeding live bugs correct?

also, his basking spot is way too hot, please either move light farther away, or ge tlower watt house bulb.
85 tops is where you want it for a baby.

and welcome!
pics are welcomed and encouraged.

 

[absolutbill]

Also, if you get a couple of the bendable vines they sell in petstores, you can create "highways" for your new little cham. That is a more secure way for him/her to explore. I wind one under the basking spot, and spiral it down the cage, then add a second and even a third to allow the cham to more easily walk around the cage. You can attach the vines to the sides of the cage using floral wire, or even the zip ties, just make sure the ends of each are on the outside of the cage so your new little one won't get poked. Good luck!

Michelle

 

[amaeleo0821]

Thanks so much for the help, he is moving around more in the past hour and I noticed he is chasing the crickets, haven't seen him eat yet but I'm waiting patiently. What size heat bulb. Should I get? Is 25 ok? I think my roomtemp is too high that's y my. Cage temp is high if I need a lower bulb I'LL get one 2nite. Also we r only dusting.crickets with calcium but I know now that I need a multivitamin also. Should he be moved from my snake room?
Thanks again

 

[camimom]

It really depends on the temps. start out with a small bulb, and see what your temps are, go up or down in wattage to get a basking temp of 85, no higher, and make sure the cage gets a bit cooler towards the bottom.

only move him if he can see the snakes... other animals can stress them out.

as for supplements, get repashy all in one calcium plus. its easy. it has everything needed and is used on every feeding. no schedule required.

 

[carol5208]

even if he sees the snakes and does seem stressed then he is ok. My cham is not stressed out in the least by my bird which he has plain sight of everyday. We just got a new puppy and he freaks out over it. So just use your judment. A snake would be a preditor so he might not like it. My bird is the same size of him so maybe that is why he does not get upset. He is scared to death of the large hawks outside however.

 

[laurie]

Hello, welcome to the forum. We all love our chams and will help you make sure yours is well set up. Any questions just let us know. Here is a form that will tell us lots about your cham, if you fill it out we can make sure everything is good.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/