Introducing Bob!

[Allan]

It's been a few days since i rambled on about Bob so thought I would provide a quick "poops and all" update (they're still brown with white urates).

Bob appears to be in good health. He's found a sleeping spot (the first 2/3 nights he moved around but appears to have settled on sleeping on a specific leaf stem every night now.

I was told when I purchased him that he would only eat 3 locusts a day, however I have read several posts and articles that seem consistent in saying that for the first 6 months they have a voracious appetite so I feed him 5 in the morning (hand feed 1 or 2 then let him hunt the rest) then and then another couple in the afternoon.

I attempted to coax him out yesterday (as it had been a week), moving my hand slowly towards him, I got within about and inch and he started to move his head from side to side with his mouth open clearly warning me "enough is enough human, I have teeth and they ain't just for loci".... Point taken Bob, you need more time, maybe next weekend, meanwhile i'll wallow in my grief about stressing you out a bit.

Today I was late in feeding him as i had to pick a friend up from the airport and didn't get home to him until about 10:30. Bob was not amused by my tardiness in providing him with food. He made quick moves towards me when I opened the door (A good thing??? I'm guessing (more hoping, hoping hoping hoping) so, lets hope he's associating me with bringing him his food, therefore I pose no threat and in time can be used as a mobile tree)
but then stopped a few inches away and I swear I could see the thought process he was going through on his face....
"The hand brings food, the hand is good.... but the hand is big... but it brings food... but it's big"

Bob did get a new present installed today. A Mistking system (oh my aching spray hand ). It's Jerry rigged into the front left corner where the door opens with some garden wire. It was clear yesterday he wasn't ready for handling so i did the bear minimum in disturbing him.....
Set my mistings to 3 times a day at the moment 8am, 12pm, 4pm - 20 seconds a time and will monitor the humidity and adjust as required)

Boy is bob a curious fella!
He sat watching as I spent 10 minutes installing it, no swaying or change in color and when I was done and sat back (I left the door open but sat not even 2 foot away) he made a beeline to straight underneath it and sat there giving it a good eyeball for 5 minutes, decide it wasn't worth his time (or he didn't like it and wants that nozzle outta his house!) and moved off. Again no swaying or change in colour.

 

[Twitchet]

Sounds like Bob is doing very well and you are utterly smitten with him, they certainly are wonderful little characters and great time wasters.
Glad you got your mistking, isn't it great? I ordered another from Paul too, should be here tomorrow!
Good luck with him, maybe soon you can get some more pictures of Bob to post , if he doesn't mind too much.

 

[Allan]

Sorry, busy week with friends over from America and a wedding to attend this weekend.

Yes, this Mistking is brilliant. I can't imagine not having one they are so handy and help alleviate any worry is going out for the whole day (I.e having to ferry Americans from London to York one day from the next). I use a 9 litre, rectangular, clip lid storage box as the the reservoir and it's working brilliantly.
Even Bob likes it now, not long come home and he's got a few droplets on his body from his 4pm misting so appears to have not run away from it like he had been earlier in the week.

Bob's doing really well and his extra week settling in has done wonders for his personality. He now makes quick moves (as quick as a Cham can) towards the door when he sees me coming, he's clearly associated me with something good and isn't bothered by my presence anymore.
Considering I only go into his cage with either locusts or anti bacterial wipes for cleaning his base i'm pretty sure he has come to the conclusion, "The hand bring food, the hand is good"

Question: Do other peoples Chams always poo in the same spot? Bob does! His poops always hit the same 4 to 6 inch square area on his cage base (always the base, never on the plant or vines) kind of below the basking area so i'm guessing it's more to do with the Food + good heat = good digestion & poops than him having a favourite spot!

We had our first very brief and unexpected handling session this morning. I clearly wasn't feeding Bob as quick as he'd have liked and he was stretching out of the door area towards my right hand with locust in. I moved my left towards him and after a few seconds consideration decided i'm as good a branch as any for him to reach his goal and away he went..... He made quick moves back to his branch though as i kept him near his cage.

I tried the same again about 40 minutes ago and he didn't even think twice about coming out of the cage onto my hand. Like a whippet from the traps he was along the vine, onto my hand and munching his prize. We had like 3 minutes staring at each other (enough time for a quick photo) and i went to put him back and he even took his time climbing back into the cage which is encouraging that he isn't "bolting for safety" so to speak.

His cage has a natural sun area (Albeit filtered through double glazing and through luck as i didn't plan his sun spot), and he's taken to catching the last of the days sun on the edge of the branch in the corner of the cage

 

[Twitchet]

Hi Allan, glad you.. or should I say Bob is enjoying the mistking, they are great aren't they,
Sounds like Bob is doing very well and adjusting, my veiled would eat and eat, I'd almost think he was eating too much! and yes he pooped in the same place everyday which seemed to be right in his food bowl much to my annoyance so I changed things so he couldn't.
Mine adores the sun, absolutely laps it up, he goes outdoors either on a shrub or in his glasshouse but they certainly do love a bit of sun,
Love the last picture, he look a real cutie.

 

[Allan]

Hi Allan, glad you.. or should I say Bob is enjoying the mistking, they are great aren't they,
Sounds like Bob is doing very well and adjusting, my veiled would eat and eat, I'd almost think he was eating too much! and yes he pooped in the same place everyday which seemed to be right in his food bowl much to my annoyance so I changed things so he couldn't.
Mine adores the sun, absolutely laps it up, he goes outdoors either on a shrub or in his glasshouse but they certainly do love a bit of sun,
Love the last picture, he look a real cutie.

It is a brilliant piece of kit, i'd highly recommend one to anybody.
My sisters and her partner have geckos and after seeing my one in action is already debating throwing out his misting system for a Mistking.

I'm hand feeding and letting the locust free roam so don't have the food bowl issue. I've been trying him with some veggies but he hasn't touched them. I gut load the locust with the same stuff (Water cress, round lettuce and grated carrot) so either way he's getting his greens.

I've thrown out the dripper for now and just have the Mistking, thing was more trouble than it's worth. It either dripped too much and i was having to sponge.wipe up excess water or not enough and i'd be lucky if it dripped once every 15 - 30 seconds, I also spent far too long each day getting it to drip "just right". I tried modding it with a hospital/veterinary drip, slightly better but similar problem.
I'm taking the position 'If his poops and urates look fine then the misting is enough'.

So far his worst urate has been an off white / slightly tinged yellow, He'd done it in the AM (conveniently after his morning check!) and was a few hours old by the time i'd gotten it cleaned around 2:30pm.

Currently bob's having his first shedding experience in his new home. I don't think there's a square inch of his cage he's not crawled/climbed around in order to get his shed off.
I've given him an extra misting today to help as he looks to be struggling a little with his head skin as he's doing lots of rubbing (Just like a cat) against the plant stems.
I'll clear out the shed skin later, he appears to be enjoying eating parts of it, which i thought was weird at first and maybe I wasn't feeding him enough (even after 9 medium locusts today). Turns out it's perfectly normal behavior.

 

[Twitchet]

Hi Allan, sounds like Bob is a lucky fellow, mine won't eat greens easily but as he is happy to be fed by hand I tear off little pieces of greens and offer them from my fingers, he seems to enjoy eating them like that.
Do have a look in resources under food and feeding and check out the gutloading list, I would ditch the round lettuce as it's nutritionally zero and maybe get some ideas for substitutions for the lettuce from the other gutloading options.
I agree on the dropper, I spend hours twisting the valve, I will be getting rid of mine very soon too.
This is my veiled when he was younger and shedding, I think that expression says it all on how shedding must feel!

 

[Allan]

Yup. Saw a few yawns today and LOTS of rubbing.
He wasn't in a good mood. He came out onto me during feeding but went dark and stripey almost straight away.
Even gave me a hiss and couldn't wait to get back to his plant.
Didn't even like me cleaning up his mess today, he normally just sits there watching but made every attempt to get as far away from me as possibly.
It must make them feel very vulnerable.

He's done a good job though, his head, body and limbs are clear and only has a bit left on his tail.

The greens is worrying me, probably more than it should. He isn't eating the plant so i wonder if he doesn't know what greens are.
I'll try hand feeding him and see if he takes.

Might even make him a locust wrap..... pigs in blanket style lol

Here's bob towards the end of his shed.