how's he lookin?

[danTHAman152000]

Meet Foley. I purchased him a little over a month ago from Lance. I am excited to say that he is typically a nice bright green color and has a mighty strong grip to him. I have yet to see him drink though. Up until yesterday, I had a dripper on the cage and I would mist him a couple times a day (which he runs away, even with nice warm water). I set up his MistKing with rain attachment and it runs for 5 min every couple of hours. Anyways, here is some info and pictures. I appreciate any feedback!

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - male veiled, born I believe about 3 months ago, had him for a little over a month
Handling - Held him for the first time today, with exception of moving him from his small reptibreeze to large zilla cage about 10 days ago.
Feeding - I throw in several crickets each morning. He ignored the silkworms I purchased, and they all died. I wait about an hour after the lights turn on and throw them in. There are usually a couple crickets that are still around by the end of the day. Oranges, carrots, collard greens, raw BugBurger
Supplements - ZooMed Ca w/o D3 daily, Ca w/ D3 twice a month, Herptivite multivitamin twice a month
Watering - He had a dripper that was filled a couple times a day, now has Mistking set up for 5 min intervals 5 times a day. I have not seen him drink; i mist him for a couple min straight but he hates it
Fecal Description - formed, solid, brown, urates appear light in color. He drops a deuce everyday
History -

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 30x18x30 Zilla
Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 linear; 60 watt bulb for basking; UV lights on at 6 and off at 6; basking bulb on 30 min after UV turns on and 30 min before UV turns off
Temperature - It's hard to say the accurate temperature because I do not trust my ExoTerra thermohygrometer. Currently it says about 72 degrees about 6 inches below basking spot. Night time temps drop to about 60 so far (located around Los Angeles)
Humidity - anywhere between 45-60%
Plants - ficus, pothos, schefflera
Placement - garage; virtually no traffic; top of cage is about 7 feet off the ground
Location - Los Angeles

Current Problem - Well I have not seen him drink! Other than that, he seems to be very lazy! He is living a sedimentary lifestyle lol.

 

[danTHAman152000]

 

[deadhd5]

Well he certainly looks well hydrated! I never see any of my three chams drink, I just keep an eye on their poop (no orange urate) and their eyes (not sunken) to keep myself from worrying. I also feed a lot of silkworms to ensure hydration!

By the way, Foley is a great looking veiled... I love his facial expression!

 

[emiahs]

yeah I agree. It took me forever to spot my guy drinking. as long as the urates are not orange you are good.

I really like your enclosure btw, your guy is spoiled haha as they all are. I was wondering did you make that rain dome or is that something you can buy?

 

[Lancecham]

Boy, has he grown since you got him. He looks great!! The adult coloration should start coming in soon. He does nook dehydrated. Veileds don't drink as much as panthers. So I am sure he is drinking while you are not looking at him...

 

[danTHAman152000]

Thanks for the compliments! It is amazing how fast they grow!

That "Raindome" alternative is an accessory sold by MistKing. I think it was like 17 bucks. It actually would be really easy to make one with parts from home depot. I am not sure what the quality is compared to MistKing's misting nozzle. The actual "Raindome" is sold by Aquazamp, I believe, and accomplishes the same task. I just preferred the tubing instead of the white plastic piece.

How active are veileds usually? I swear he just camps up in one spot the whole day.

I have a 10" clamp lamp that is about 5" above his basking spot. Should I keep the 60 watt bulb in there or up it to the 100 watt? I know that adults can handle higher temps so I am wondering when a good time would be for that. I really do not trust my thermohygrometer because it will say its 100 degrees if its in the sun when its only 78 outside.

It's funny someone mentioned his facial expression. He basically has an "EFF YOU" attitude with me lol. I even grabbed a couple silk ficus type trees to put in front of his cage so I can watch him incognito status. Every time he is close enough that I can see his eyes, they're staring at me through the trees lol.

BTW Lance when I moved him to his original large cage, he wanted to bite my fingers off and I couldn't take your advice to not be afraid lol. I ended up using a towel over my hand and he wasn't nearly as aggressive.

Also, how do you feed your silkworms? He was not interested and they just sat there and hardly moved. I was pissed because I bought them and chow and they all died and now I have open powdered chow. Can I feed the prepared batch to my crickets?

Thanks again for the comments!

 

[danTHAman152000]

Here is my camouflage I must use to spy on Foley

 

[danTHAman152000]

It's not every day I am able to take Foley out without chasing him around the cage until I finally corner him. This time I caught him crawling on the screen door and swooped in and grabbed him. He just shed a couple days ago and his colors are so vibrant now! He stayed calm and nice and green while I had him out for about 15 minutes, instead of being pissed and black like he usually is.

What you guys think? I think Stryder Jr would be proud!

 

[DavidBuchan]

He's looking great - good work you could try lots of different insects to get him used to a more varied diet - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
I even fed a couple of wild caught things like spiders, woodlice and flies per week at that age.
There is no need to wait half an hour before putting on his basking bulb. When he opens his eyes he will probably want to warm up as soon as he can

 

[carol5208]

I think I would up that wattage as 72 seems very cool for a basking spot. Another 10 degrees or so would be good IMO.

 

[Lancecham]

He looks great. His coloration is simPly gorgeous for his age. It looks like he will have a lot of yellow mixed in with adult coloration.
For the next several months you will see a transformation to his adult coloration.
His daddy, Stryder Jr. is proud of him.

 

[Decadancin]

He looks great! I would get some thermometers that you can trust! This is the best way to make sure you do not burn your boy. Also, don't take readings in direct sunlight. This will usually give an elevated reading.

 

[jandie]

it is so awesome to see some of those babies' babies! loving the yellow! pretty sure stryder would be a proud papaw!