Is my chameleon adjusting to his new environment normally?

[mae_day]

I immediately went and bought more plants! I am going to get the lightbulb upgrade tomorrow. Thank you all so much for your help, I truly want Petrie to have the best life ever so whatever I can do to make that his reality, I'm here for it!

Excellent! When you get your new plants in Petrie's enclosure, do take a picture so we can double check your cage layout!

 

[aurora_sophia]

Excellent! When you get your new plants in Petrie's enclosure, do take a picture so we can double check your cage layout!

Will do!!

 

[JoshD49]

Here is my veileds pajamas. Always the cutest thing when they sleep.he is in the middle of a shed but the colors are still showing through.

 

[aurora_sophia]

Okay here is his enclosure! Is this enough foliage? Is it too much foliage? LOL. He loves his Pothos, it's the best for drinking water. Any suggestions for improvement?

 

[JoshD49]

I think the pothos up higher to one side would be better but I use a pothos that has a stick to help it grow upwards. You just need more horizontal sticks and it should be good.

I found the attached pothos at home Depot. When I had on like yours I draped the vines on the branches.

 

[mae_day]

Okay here is his enclosure! Is this enough foliage? Is it too much foliage? LOL. He loves his Pothos, it's the best for drinking water. Any suggestions for improvement?

View attachment 216026

It's difficult to have too much foliage! I would suggest adding more horizontal branches all over the place! If you think about it from your chameleon's perspective (and especially as he gets bigger and heavier), there is a lot of the cage he simply can't access! The middle of the cage, especially, is literally out of his reach. Dowels work well for this-- you can support them in the cage by putting screws and nuts through the screen or thumbtacks (depending on the size and weight of the dowel/stick).

You can use natural branches, too. Make sure you wash them well! Some people will sanitize branches through bleach solutions and/or baking in the oven-- just how intense you want to be is up to you. The bird toy works (though be sure to check it periodically to make sure the rope isn't rotting). If you want to go that route, some people (like me!) put parrot/bird ladders in their enclosure.

But definitely a LOT more branches so your cham can make use of all the space in his cage! He needs to be able to travel so he can regulate his temperature and humidity levels.

 

[mae_day]

Enclosure Close Up 1

• mae_day
• Oct 6, 2018

Enclosure

• mae_day
• Oct 6, 2018

To give you an idea, this is Paisley's cage. I have since added MORE horizontal branches and am eyeing a few places to stick more!

 

[aurora_sophia]

Enclosure Close Up 1

• mae_day
• Oct 6, 2018

Enclosure

• mae_day
• Oct 6, 2018

To give you an idea, this is Paisley's cage. I have since added MORE horizontal branches and am eyeing a few places to stick more!

Omg this is beautiful! I need way more horizontal sticks! Are you just using those little wooden pegs from hobby lobby or michael's?

 

[mae_day]

Omg this is beautiful! I need way more horizontal sticks! Are you just using those little wooden pegs from hobby lobby or michael's?

I have a mixture of faux vines, bamboo plant stakes, natural grapevine, and wild-caught sticks. Dowels (which I think you're calling wooden pegs) are a good, cheap alternative to natural branches

 

[ERKleRose]

Not all the branches and vines have to horizontal, just most

 

[Decadancin]

Okay here is his enclosure! Is this enough foliage? Is it too much foliage? LOL. He loves his Pothos, it's the best for drinking water. Any suggestions for improvement?

View attachment 216026

The one thing I would do along with adding a few vines up higher and getting some additional foliage up there is to swap out the vine that is in there with a different type. It looks like one of the ones Exo-Terra Jungle Vines. I don't like to use them because they often have small particles that can come loose and get ingested or worse, get in the eyes. If you rub on the vine and anything comes loose than these are the ones I don't use. Perhaps I'm just being overprotective, but that's my thinking .

 

[Decadancin]

Also, think of the enclosure in terms of how the animal will use it. They will tend to stay up higher and right now most of the decor in the enclosure is not usable space. Also, the lights loose intensity very quickly as you move farther away from them so if there isn't much area for the chameleon to spend time up near the top it wont get much of the benefit from them.

 

[aurora_sophia]

Great point! Okay I will try and find better foliage for up top, I just wanted to make sure I got more than I had in there so I just grabbed as much as I could. He is really loving those top vines though so I definitely think I need to add more!