The Fryman
New Member
Hey all,
I'm new to this forum and new to chameleons, and about a month ago I received my baby male veiled chameleon, Clint Eastwood, through FL chams. He seems to be a happy fellow, I keep him in an all mesh enclosure that is 2 feet by 2 feet at the bottom and 4 feet tall.
Link to pic > http://flic.kr/p/dhTUm5
I built this over the summer out of pine that is treated to be water and sunlight resistant. He's got a long fluorescent bulb in the back, and two regular bulbs for heating in two separate basking spots (the left one is burnt out currently). The plants are phobos on the right, and cronos on the left. He is on a steady diet of crickets (dusted once every few weeks) with the occasional wax worm. I've tried giving him bananas, apples, and carrots, but he has always left these untouched. Like I said, he seems pretty happy but I do have two concerns:
1. He really doesn't like me so far, he usually is perched on the tall stick in the back corner and will try to run down it if I get close to the cage, even to bring in food or mist, and hisses at me if I get my hands anywhere near him. I understand that chameleons are generally asocial but is there anything I can do to get him to at least understand that I'm friendly?
2. I live in a crappy student rental house (I'm a student) that has poor insulation. I live in Wisconsin and fall has hit pretty quick and it is a lot chillier in the house. I went home Saturday morning this past weekend and put about 6 legless crickets in his feeder bowl before I left. He still hasn't touched these, I haven't seen him go up to his basking spot yet, and I'm worried that the temperature drop may be affecting him. Obviously my roommates and I are going to turn on the heat soon, but I am worried it still won't be warm enough in my room. Is there anything I can do to boost the temperature in his cage? Should I place heat lamps on the sides? Get a space heater?
I'll post pictures of him once he comes out of hiding and gives me a good shot. Thanks for reading, I'm excited to be a part of such a cool chameleon community.
Ryan (The Fryman)
I'm new to this forum and new to chameleons, and about a month ago I received my baby male veiled chameleon, Clint Eastwood, through FL chams. He seems to be a happy fellow, I keep him in an all mesh enclosure that is 2 feet by 2 feet at the bottom and 4 feet tall.
Link to pic > http://flic.kr/p/dhTUm5
I built this over the summer out of pine that is treated to be water and sunlight resistant. He's got a long fluorescent bulb in the back, and two regular bulbs for heating in two separate basking spots (the left one is burnt out currently). The plants are phobos on the right, and cronos on the left. He is on a steady diet of crickets (dusted once every few weeks) with the occasional wax worm. I've tried giving him bananas, apples, and carrots, but he has always left these untouched. Like I said, he seems pretty happy but I do have two concerns:
1. He really doesn't like me so far, he usually is perched on the tall stick in the back corner and will try to run down it if I get close to the cage, even to bring in food or mist, and hisses at me if I get my hands anywhere near him. I understand that chameleons are generally asocial but is there anything I can do to get him to at least understand that I'm friendly?
2. I live in a crappy student rental house (I'm a student) that has poor insulation. I live in Wisconsin and fall has hit pretty quick and it is a lot chillier in the house. I went home Saturday morning this past weekend and put about 6 legless crickets in his feeder bowl before I left. He still hasn't touched these, I haven't seen him go up to his basking spot yet, and I'm worried that the temperature drop may be affecting him. Obviously my roommates and I are going to turn on the heat soon, but I am worried it still won't be warm enough in my room. Is there anything I can do to boost the temperature in his cage? Should I place heat lamps on the sides? Get a space heater?
I'll post pictures of him once he comes out of hiding and gives me a good shot. Thanks for reading, I'm excited to be a part of such a cool chameleon community.
Ryan (The Fryman)
Hello and welcome to the forums. Glad to meet you and Clint.
