New Cham Owner

[Pdelago]

Hey guys,

I used this forum to do most of my research before I ended up buying my own Veiled Chameleon. Thank you for all of the help because this place answers almost all of my questions. It's nice to see feedback from other owners on questions that I was going to ask anyways!

My little guy is about 4 months old right now and his name is Enrico

He is definitely starting to mature because he just recently started to hiss and growl at me when I put my hand up next to him. When I get him out of the cage he cools off and turns a really pretty lime green. I'm trying to leave him alone but I don't want to give up because I'd like him to get used to me more.

Anyways, just introducing myself to the group here!

Thank you.

-Paul

 

[JacksJill]

Welcome to the forum. Congrats on your new little guy.
He's probably just being territorial or defensive take it very slow and let him get used to you just being in the room doing your own thing. Try not to stare at him as that seems to threaten them the most.

 

[jstart1]

Hi there! Personally, what I did to start getting my chameleon used to me was to feed it some super worms by hand. And what I mean by hand was a small cup. It teaches them that your hand=food! It seems to be working for my cham thus far, but Ive only had her a short amount of time also. Another thing I do is I let her out of her enclosure to climb on my tapestry for a little bit when the sun is shining in my room so she can bask in the sunlight while I do some work in my room which helps her get used to me just being around. Hope this helps!

 

[Pdelago]

I had been feeding him crickets and mealworms that I was feeding bananas/oatmeal; just started to introduce him to hornworms too! I can convince him to eat from my hand every once in awhile but lately I've just been letting him hunt down the hornworms that are crawling around in there. Maybe I will go back to trying to feed him from a little cup instead of my hands. Other then that I think he is pretty happy with his environment and appears to be healthy.

I attached a photo of him crawling around on the curtain in the house

 

[kinyonga]

You need to feed your insects better. Bananas and oatmeal are not the best foods for them. You can feed crickets, roaches, superworms, locusts a wide assortment of greens such as dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, escarole, carrots, zucchini, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, etc and a bit of fruit such as berries, melon, apple, pear.

What supplements domyou use and how often for each? Please be specific.
Do you have a UVB light? Whats the basking temperature?

 

[Pdelago]

You need to feed your insects better. Bananas and oatmeal are not the best foods for them. You can feed crickets, roaches, superworms, locusts a wide assortment of greens such as dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, escarole, carrots, zucchini, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, etc and a bit of fruit such as berries, melon, apple, pear.

What supplements domyou use and how often for each? Please be specific.
Do you have a UVB light? Whats the basking temperature?

I use the calcium and reptile vitamin supplements Repticalcium/Reptivitamin about 3-4 times a week. I do have a UVB light and the basking temperature is 86DEGF and the floor is around 65DEGF.

Thanks for the tips on the bug food.

 

[Pdelago]

Hi there! Personally, what I did to start getting my chameleon used to me was to feed it some super worms by hand. And what I mean by hand was a small cup. It teaches them that your hand=food! It seems to be working for my cham thus far, but Ive only had her a short amount of time also. Another thing I do is I let her out of her enclosure to climb on my tapestry for a little bit when the sun is shining in my room so she can bask in the sunlight while I do some work in my room which helps her get used to me just being around. Hope this helps!

How old is your girl? Have you tried breeding or anything?

 

[jstart1]

I had been feeding him crickets and mealworms that I was feeding bananas/oatmeal; just started to introduce him to hornworms too! I can convince him to eat from my hand every once in awhile but lately I've just been letting him hunt down the hornworms that are crawling around in there. Maybe I will go back to trying to feed him from a little cup instead of my hands. Other then that I think he is pretty happy with his environment and appears to be healthy.

I attached a photo of him crawling around on the curtain in the house

I had been feeding him crickets and mealworms that I was feeding bananas/oatmeal; just started to introduce him to hornworms too! I can convince him to eat from my hand every once in awhile but lately I've just been letting him hunt down the hornworms that are crawling around in there. Maybe I will go back to trying to feed him from a little cup instead of my hands. Other then that I think he is pretty happy with his environment and appears to be healthy.

I attached a photo of him crawling around on the curtain in the house

Thats awesome he looks great! I think letting him "hunt" for most of his is food is best however i feed just the worms by hand as a sort of treat.

 

[jstart1]

I use the calcium and reptile vitamin supplements Repticalcium/Reptivitamin about 3-4 times a week. I do have a UVB light and the basking temperature is 86DEGF and the floor is around 65DEGF.

Thanks for the tips on the bug food.

How old is your girl? Have you tried breeding or anything?

No i haven't, she's still only roughly 2-3 months old so its not time now but i haven't decided if i will!

 

[kinyonga]

It's recommended that you use a phosphorous-free calcium powder to dust the insects just before feeding them to the chameleon at almost every feeding to make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects.

It's recommended that you use a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving it to produce the rest from its exposure to the UVB light. D3from supplements can build up in the system and lead to problems but D3 produced from exposure to the UVB light won't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it at will.

It's recommended that you use a vitamin powder with a beta carotene prOformed source of vitamin A twice a month. PrOformed sources wont build up in the system like prEformed sources will and this leaves it up to you to decide if/when your chameleon needs a prEformed source.

 

[ashton0845]

I had been feeding him crickets and mealworms that I was feeding bananas/oatmeal; just started to introduce him to hornworms too! I can convince him to eat from my hand every once in awhile but lately I've just been letting him hunt down the hornworms that are crawling around in there. Maybe I will go back to trying to feed him from a little cup instead of my hands. Other then that I think he is pretty happy with his environment and appears to be healthy.

I attached a photo of him crawling around on the curtain in the house

He is too cute! Try giving him silkworms. My little guy is crazy for them.

 

[Rapunzel's Pascal]

Welcome to the forum. Keep Cham