My first chameleon

[Jxdubs]

Hi all, new to the forums and new to chameleons, I received a Nosy Be male yesterday from a breeder I found on the internet. He seems to be a healthy little guy quite shy but I was expecting that, He's eating but I have not noticed him drinking. For now I'm just misting quite often but going to be getting a dripper later on today. I noticed he had some droppings and read a post on here awhile back about urates and I noticed his was white so he seems to be getting the right amount of water. I will email the breeder to find out his age but he is quite young id say about 4 1/2" so the cage I built for him is a bit too big but he doesn't seem to mind. I try putting the crickets directly in his line of site and close as possible without scaring him so he doesn't have to rummage around his cage all day looking for food. As I said above I am very new to all this that's why I decided to join this forum, I plan on building another cage later on and getting a female and may try some breeding. Anyways I'm a very excited new parent and would appreciate any and all information you guys can give. I will be posting updates pretty regularly on my little guys growth, only have one picture now but will take some of his setup and a few more of the chameleon itself. Looking forward to meeting you all and learning everything I can

 

[Seiryu]

Congrats on the little guy and welcome to the forums!

 

[babyjoe]

Congratulations on the cham and welcome.I'm sure there's a panther care sheet on here somewhere if you search it.I wouldn't worry about seeing him drink as many are secretive about doing it.just keep an eye on the urate.if its not white he needs more water.with the big cage it'd be a help if he had a constant feeding spot.try searching sprite bottle cricket feeder

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello, welcome to the forum Good looking guy you have there....I never kept panthers myself but this will show most of the basic info you'll probably already know - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
I wouldn't worry about the size of cage either, as long as you can monitor his food intake ok that'll be fine.
It's never too early to start introducing a good variety of feeders - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
It's especially fun to watch the little ones hunt fruit flies

 

[Decadancin]

Congrats and welcome to the forums! Can't wait to get to know your Nosy Be!

Thanks David! Beat me to it again .

 

[babyjoe]

Don't worry deca as soon as I figure out how to link stuff ill beat David to the caresheets

 

[Decadancin]

Don't worry deca as soon as I figure out how to link stuff ill beat David to the caresheets

He He He

 

[Ab093]

Congratulations! I just got my first one a week ago too. This is a great place to find all the information you could ever want.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hahaha, people beat me occasionally.......you have to get up pretty early in the am if you want to do it regularly though (and you have to spend more time on the forum than is really healthy .........). I guess it helps that I don't bother with any other rubbish like Facebook, and anytime I'm listening to music on Youtube I have this on in the background........

 

[Decadancin]

Hahaha, people beat me occasionally.......you have to get up pretty early in the am if you want to do it regularly though (and you have to spend more time on the forum than is really healthy .........). I guess it helps that I don't bother with any other rubbish like Facebook, and anytime I'm listening to music on Youtube I have this on in the background........

No fair! You've got a 5 hour head start! Just glad you provide good stuff!

 

[Jxdubs]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and for the info as well, and wow I just had a scare. My chameleon just fell luckily I caught him he fell right in the palm of my hand softly but wow that scared me. I didn't have in mind that he wouldn't be able to climb the corners since I used 2 x 3's to build the cage. He was trying to get a cricket in the top corner and i noticed him on the door of the cage then on the side and i opened the cage door just in time to catch him. I will line the wood with screen to make it easier for him to climb on. Also I just made a little cricket holder out of an old lemonade bottle lined with screen put in the mid corner of his cage to try and help him find his food. But that was quite a scare real glad I just happened to be watching him or else I don't know if he would have survived a fall like that.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Yeah, little chams like to climb everywhere......wait till you see him walking upside down.........
You don't need to panic too much about the occasional fall - many chams use it as a means to escape predators and they puff up. They have cartilage ribs instead of bone so it acts a kind of natural shock absorber.

 

[Jxdubs]

Yeah, little chams like to climb everywhere......wait till you see him walking upside down.........
You don't need to panic too much about the occasional fall - many chams use it as a means to escape predators and they puff up. They have cartilage ribs instead of bone so it acts a kind of natural shock absorber.

Thanks I guess I'm just being a worried first time parent lol. He seems so fragile is all

 

[DavidBuchan]

Thanks I guess I'm just being a worried first time parent lol. He seems so fragile is all

Lol - yeah, we've all been there.......paranoia is just part of the deal with chameleons

 

[ReptileLove18]

welcome to the forums!! try not to stress too bad, they scare us as much as possible lol.. cant wait to read more and see more pics of your new baby!!

 

[Jxdubs]

welcome to the forums!! try not to stress too bad, they scare us as much as possible lol.. cant wait to read more and see more pics of your new baby!!

Thank you for the welcome new pics are being uploaded as we speak and I'll try not to stress lol

 

[Jxdubs]

Not the greatest pics they where taken with my phone but better then nothing, at least u can see what kind of setup I'm working with

 

[Celtics4Lifee]

Nosy be as your first chameleon? Lucky you

 

[Decadancin]

Looks pretty bright in there! What types of lighting do you have? (Only see one from the top view, but looks bright, so not sure if you moved one for the pic?) He looks so cute in there! I'd try to add one vine across the top of the enclosure. This would give him more paths to move around on and allow you to attach more plants for shelter and security. I want a Nosy Be now . (Just don't have a place for him )

 

[DavidBuchan]

Agreed, I think there's room in there for a couple extra horizontal branches and a bit more foliage (live plants help with humidity too) http://www.flchams.com/safe_plant_list.asp .....looking pretty good though!