Jen0413
New Member
My husband and I just got a little 3 month old veiled chameleon this past weekend. His name is Espio (like from the Sonic video game-my husband named him.) We've had him for about 4 days now and have tried feeding him crickets and mealworms. He refuses to eat the mealworms at all. He does eat crickets, but he seems to be really bad hunting them. I've seen him eat a couple over the days, but I feel like most of them just hide down at the bottom. Espio spends most of his time chillin on his fake leaves by his dripper or by his basking light, so I don't know if he even sees the crickets hopping around the bottom.
I've seen him drink water once. I see all these posts about checking the urate in poop to make sure he's hydrated, but I haven't found any poop in his terrarium yet. Is it pretty obvious when he poops, as in will it be big enough for me to notice when I'm misting his cage and emptying the drip bowl that catches extra water.
Is it possible that Espio is just bad at hunting? The couple of times he has caught a cricket, the thing has basically been right in front of his face. I've never seen him go on an all out hunt. It's hard to tell how many crickets he's eating and how many are just hiding around the terrarium. How do I help him get the hang of hunting?? I want him to be a happy, well fed chameleon.
Side note- Espio might be a girl. I really can't tell.
Lets see if I can remember all the info I'm supposed to post with this.
He's in a well ventilated glass terrarium. 18 X 18 X24.
He has the Little Dripper dripping system that I run most of the day.
I mist his cage about 3 times a day. We live in Colorado- water leaves the air quickly.
Humidity is normally around 60. Temp in basking area is normally around 85ish and 75ish in the rest of the terrarium.
He has a UVB light and a basking light.
The people at the store said he's around 3 months old. But they also told me he would only eat about 10 crickets a week. People on here say theirs eat that in a day. I've been trying to give him about 10 crickets a day, but he doesn't seem that interested and most of them seem to hide from him. I try to catch the ones I find and he's not eating so that they don't bother him. I feed him around 6 am before I go to work, it's also when I turn on his lights. He has them on for at least 12 hours every day.
Thanks for your help!
I've seen him drink water once. I see all these posts about checking the urate in poop to make sure he's hydrated, but I haven't found any poop in his terrarium yet. Is it pretty obvious when he poops, as in will it be big enough for me to notice when I'm misting his cage and emptying the drip bowl that catches extra water.
Is it possible that Espio is just bad at hunting? The couple of times he has caught a cricket, the thing has basically been right in front of his face. I've never seen him go on an all out hunt. It's hard to tell how many crickets he's eating and how many are just hiding around the terrarium. How do I help him get the hang of hunting?? I want him to be a happy, well fed chameleon.
Side note- Espio might be a girl. I really can't tell.
Lets see if I can remember all the info I'm supposed to post with this.
He's in a well ventilated glass terrarium. 18 X 18 X24.
He has the Little Dripper dripping system that I run most of the day.
I mist his cage about 3 times a day. We live in Colorado- water leaves the air quickly.
Humidity is normally around 60. Temp in basking area is normally around 85ish and 75ish in the rest of the terrarium.
He has a UVB light and a basking light.
The people at the store said he's around 3 months old. But they also told me he would only eat about 10 crickets a week. People on here say theirs eat that in a day. I've been trying to give him about 10 crickets a day, but he doesn't seem that interested and most of them seem to hide from him. I try to catch the ones I find and he's not eating so that they don't bother him. I feed him around 6 am before I go to work, it's also when I turn on his lights. He has them on for at least 12 hours every day.
Thanks for your help!
