New and Need Help

[hagmegsis]

Hey guys. I got my 1st chameleon about 2 months ago. I did a lot of research before hand, but I'm worries I'm missing something. I don't know anyone else with a chameleon so I'd love all the help you can give.

During my research I found that I should give my chameleon calcium with d3 only twice a month and calcium with out d3 all the other days. The same goes for his vitamins. I use spray for the non d3 ans powder for the d3.

It's winter here in Ohio so his diet currently consist of crickets, meal worms, and flightless fruit flies. He mostly eats meal worms though. There are free range crickets and fruit flies in his terrarium, but he really seems to prefer eating from a bowl. The crickets and flies won't stay in the bowl, naturally. His meal worms are sprayed even day. His crickets are fed a calcium based cricket food. I tried super worms; but he won't way them.

He eats about 6 meal worms a day, and any other crickets or flies he catches. My concern is his size. At 4 months old he's hardly 3 times the size he was at 6 weeks. He's only shed once. Do you guys think he is okay? Anything I should change?

If water is a concern, he has a dripper; and I mist multiple times a day to keep the humidity around 50.

The pics are of 1/31/16 his 1st shed. I had to hold him in order to get a decent picture. He hates my phone and hides when he sees it. And 2/3/16 because it's my most recent.

 

[hagmegsis]

Also, how do I fix typos? My phone made so many. To clarify on the vitamins, he gets a vitamin spray 2x a month.

 

[carol5208]

He does look small, but some are just smaller and some just grow slower. Does he have the little bumps on the back of his back heels? The males haves these and the females do not. The females are much smaller than the males. It looks in the pics like he has some bars developing in his coloring which suggest he is a male. I don't know if I would use the liquid spray. I don't know how long it lasts and if he does not eat the food right away it might wear off. I could be wrong, but the majority of us use the powder for all of the supplementing.

 

[carol5208]

Also, how do I fix typos? My phone made so many. To clarify on the vitamins, he gets a vitamin spray 2x a month.

Hit the edit button below your post and it will let you go in and make corrections.

 

[hagmegsis]

He is a male. He has heel spurs. I also specifically ordered a male from the breeder. My local pet stores don't carry powder with out d3. I've checked every time I buy feeders. He eats his meal worms right away though. He knows when he gets fed, and where from, and meets me there every morning.

This is the best image I have of his spurs.

 

[carol5208]

Oh yeah he is a little boy! I have a panther that was very tiny when he was young. His name is Peewee.
Actually he is still small, but is healthy and beautiful and that is all that matters. You can get calcium with no d3 online. I get mine from LLL Reptile. I like the Sticky Tongue Farms Minerall Outdoor formula which is calcium and minerals. Make sure if you get it, that it is the outdoor one with no d3. They also carry several other brands of plain calcium, but this is the brand that I prefer.

 

[macyb-vancouver]

I would try to minimize the amount of meal worms you are giving him, too many can be hard to digest for your cham (or at least make sure you are using the smallest sized worms). I have a panther who is almost 6 months old, and he is currently eating 15-20 crickets a day, and a small meal worm every other day.
If he doesn't like the crickets free-ranging, one way you can keep the crickets from getting out of the bowl is to use a plastic cup and tie or fasten it to the side of your cage. I have seen a lot of people use a red solo cup. I use a thumbtack on the outside and a piece of cork on the inside to hold it in place.

Your cham is on the smaller side, but I would expect a growth spurt in the next couple months! As for the calcium, I have heard great things about the Sticky Tongue Farms formula that carol5208 mentioned

 

[guanagator]

Double check and make sure your basking temps are dialed in, too cold and he won't feed as much.

 

[hagmegsis]

Thanks guys. I actually bought him, and his terrarium, from lll reptile. I live in Ohio and they're in California so shipping is high. I was going to order supplies from them originally. I will see if I can find it on Amazon. If not, guess I'm paying more for shipping than the calcium.

He is eating very small meal worms. He won't touch anything much larger. We have a hedgehog who eats larger worms and he has no interest in them right now. I'm really looking forward to spring so I can find new bugs.

 

[hagmegsis]

Also, thanks for the cup tip. I will try it and see how it works. I've been using the bowl he came in during shipping because it makes him happy.