New Chameleon owner, a few questions....

[ChammyMum]

Hi, new to this and to being a proud owner of a 10 month old panther chameleon (Nosy Faly). He's beautiful and it's a joint purchase with my 15 year old son who already has a decent collection of reptiles. Anyway, we just had a few questions about the settling in behaviour. We bought him (Skittles) home on Saturday and my son had a brief handle before putting him in his new home. He didn't do an awful lot on Saturday but did seem quite edgy if we got close to the glass so left him alone. We put some black cloth down one side of the tank yesterday morning, the back and other side are against a wall so it's only the glass doors that you can see him through. Since then he's been on the move almost constantly. He's got lots of branches and seems to move from being in his basking spot under the lamp to moving all the way down to the bottom and back up again, sometimes via the opposite end of the tank. He does stop for a little while at each place and moves very slowly and cautiously. We haven't seem him leaf walk.

It's a much larger tank than he had at the shop but we have the heat and UV lamps and thermostats and the temp is between 25 and 30 during the day and son sprays quite regularly for the humidity. Skittles gets quite riled when he does that - bulks up, colour changes to being more bright but that's all we do as we don't want to stress him more than necessary.

So the main questions here are:

1. is it normal for them to be so 'active' while they're settling in? We're hoping he's just exploring. He's settled in the same spot the last two nights to sleep so is that a good sign?
2. The colouring we believe goes brighter when they're stressed or anxious? I've attached two photos - one is when we first got him home and the second was yesterday afternoon in the tank. Reckon the colouring says it all about his mood!
3. He's not eaten yet but there are a couple of locusts in the tank if he wants to (hoping he doesn't take too long as they're eating some of the plants!) but understand this is normal. Would it be Ok to try and hand feed tomorrow to help him become accustomed to us?

I can see that being patient is key to helping Skittles feel comfortable but at the same time don't want to leave it too long. He seemed Ok at the shop when they took him out for us to look at so I think he's alright being handled but needs to get to know us.

Any advice for these first couple of weeks would be much appreciated!

 

[Prince of Duval]

Can you fill out the information below for the community to review? This will help a lot with husbandry advice.

It is normal for them to be active in a new enclosure and I would give him a week or two to settle before you start handling. I would try having a feeder cup where you can contain the feeders and he can easily access them. This will help you know how much he is eating as well. I’m using a deli cup at the moment.


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:
1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful

 

[Serbianchameleon]

Answers:

1. There are two kinds of chameleons: angry/scared or relaxed/happy. So it’ normal for him to be active and actually it’s a good thing. Chams usually have one sleeping branch eventually two so that is normal too.

2. They can be brighter when they are excited in a good way (you will se when you give him a superworm as a treat) too or when they are exploring new things. He will probably be darker colors when he is in his enclosure but shouldn’t be too dark (blackish).

3. You can try and if you don’t succeed with hand feeding tomorrow just keep trying he will start taking it from you eventually. Maybe I got it wrong but i wouldn’t let locusts free range in there, I would get a cup or even better a feeder runner( I think that’s how people call it).

 

[Gingero]

I would give him some more time to settle in before hand feeding.

 

[avaburns73]

Hi, new to this and to being a proud owner of a 10 month old panther chameleon (Nosy Faly). He's beautiful and it's a joint purchase with my 15 year old son who already has a decent collection of reptiles. Anyway, we just had a few questions about the settling in behaviour. We bought him (Skittles) home on Saturday and my son had a brief handle before putting him in his new home. He didn't do an awful lot on Saturday but did seem quite edgy if we got close to the glass so left him alone. We put some black cloth down one side of the tank yesterday morning, the back and other side are against a wall so it's only the glass doors that you can see him through. Since then he's been on the move almost constantly. He's got lots of branches and seems to move from being in his basking spot under the lamp to moving all the way down to the bottom and back up again, sometimes via the opposite end of the tank. He does stop for a little while at each place and moves very slowly and cautiously. We haven't seem him leaf walk.

It's a much larger tank than he had at the shop but we have the heat and UV lamps and thermostats and the temp is between 25 and 30 during the day and son sprays quite regularly for the humidity. Skittles gets quite riled when he does that - bulks up, colour changes to being more bright but that's all we do as we don't want to stress him more than necessary.

So the main questions here are:

1. is it normal for them to be so 'active' while they're settling in? We're hoping he's just exploring. He's settled in the same spot the last two nights to sleep so is that a good sign?
2. The colouring we believe goes brighter when they're stressed or anxious? I've attached two photos - one is when we first got him home and the second was yesterday afternoon in the tank. Reckon the colouring says it all about his mood!
3. He's not eaten yet but there are a couple of locusts in the tank if he wants to (hoping he doesn't take too long as they're eating some of the plants!) but understand this is normal. Would it be Ok to try and hand feed tomorrow to help him become accustomed to us?

I can see that being patient is key to helping Skittles feel comfortable but at the same time don't want to leave it too long. He seemed Ok at the shop when they took him out for us to look at so I think he's alright being handled but needs to get to know us.

Any advice for these first couple of weeks would be much appreciated!

1. It’s perfectly fine for Skittles to be moving around and being active hes just looking around and exploring his new home.
2. When chameleons gets anxious or scared they get black stripes and dots (what Skittles looks like in the picture). Their chin gets bigger, their tail curls up, and they put up one of their hands to defend themselves. Whenever my chameleon shows those signs I put him in his cage and leave him alone immediately.
3. Hand feeding is a very good way to bond with your chameleon. When I first got my chameleon, he was so skiddish and scared now he gets so excited when he sees his food and practically runs towards me because it his favorite part of the day. Chameleons need to see movement to see their food and water that’s why you use live bugs and dripping water systems. If after a few days your chameleon still isn’t eating, check the cage and make sure the humidity and temperature are good because he might be stressed.
4. Also chameleons don’t really like to be handled and it’s very stressful for them so don’t expect to be holding Skittles daily or even weekly. I haven’t even help my chameleon yet and only have had her crawl on her cricket bowl i was using.