New Chameleon

[Maggiebeas]

Here's our little guy, we got him a few days ago. Very, very big eater, hunts around the cage anytime he knows we put something in, seems fairly happy I think? But he's staying pretty dark most of the time and I'm not sure if this is happy color, sad color, just not sure what his color means. He gets bright green with spots when we open his cage (not a big fan of us which is fine, we just got him and I know they're generally not fond of company) but then goes back to this.
Also, anyone have any idea on how to tell age? He's a juvie but that seems like a pretty big range?
Thanks!

 

[Syreptyon]

Cute chameleon. Can we see a picture of the whole setup? What are your basking temps?

 

[Kaizen]

Agreed! Don’t be shy, show us your hard work!

 

[Maggiebeas]

Not the best picture of his cage but when I get my phone camera working again I'll take a better shot! It's an 18x18x24 (we have a bigger one for him to grow into). He likes to hang out in his red leaves while he is not basking.
His basking spot is 87ish. Middle of the cage around 82 to 84. Bottom is probably high seventies. Fluctuates throughout the day but doesn't drop below seventy.

 

[Kaizen]

Nice pic

 

[Maggiebeas]

Nice pic

Thanks! He was in process of hunting a bug

 

[Kaizen]

A roach? What kind?

 

[Maggiebeas]

Dubias, he seems to love them and they are easy to gut load and nutritionally dense as far as we understand.

 

[Kaizen]

You’re absolutely right about that! Dubias are great! You in the states?

 

[Maggiebeas]

Yep! Colorado so the humidity factor is difficult. We have a really cool reptile store that sells dubias by the hundreds so we just got a box!

 

[Kaizen]

Awesome! What’s your gutloading protocol?

 

[Maggiebeas]

Awesome! What’s your gutloading protocol?

We are trying to figure that out. We feed them about twelve hours before he eats them. We have been rotating foods every night but we need to figure out what the best way to make sure we are hitting all of the points. If you have any suggestions we would love to hear them

 

[Kaizen]

We are trying to figure that out. We feed them about twelve hours before he eats them. We have been rotating foods every night but we need to figure out what the best way to make sure we are hitting all of the points. If you have any suggestions we would love to hear them

So, I’ve recently posted about my gutload:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/gutload-with-pics.172074/

but adding a commercial gutload formula to any variation of the above is never a bad idea:

cricket crack
Repashy superload, or bug burger

 

[Maggiebeas]

Thank you so much!!! We will definitely work on upping our gut loading

game. I added a better picture of his tank, he hides behind/in the red leaves when he isnt basking but normally during the day hes out.

 

[Kaizen]

Awesome! Pm me if you want to talk husbandry.

 

[Ares05]

Honestly your cage looks pretty good as far as lights and size of the cage go but you may want to look into some live plants. veileds love to eat plants especially when they are young, and if he manages to eat a a fake leaf, it can hurt their jaw and cause impactions. Pothos and Schefflera are great for filling up space. With your cage size now you may even get away with one or two large Pothos plants from Home Depot. Get rid of all the soil from the existing pot, and repot with topsoil (no additives) and rinse off the plant itself thoroughly.

For humidity you can wrap a shower curtain around 2-3 of the sides to retain some moisture. What is the misting schedule?

Lower your temps just a smidge, shouldn't be over 85 at the basking spot.

What is your supplement schedule? Supplement brands?

One more thing, I would add some thinner branches horizontally in the cage.

 

[Ares05]

Oh, I interrupted lol. We posted at the same time sorry @Kaizen

 

[Kaizen]

Oh, I interrupted lol. We posted at the same time sorry @Kaizen

Dude, interrupt me anytime! I’m usually involved in some form of talking to hear the sound of my own voice, and my wife says being cut off is the world’s way of telling me I talk too much

 

[Ares05]

At least when you talk here, you're helping people! Lol

 

[Maggiebeas]

Awesome! Pm me if you want to talk husbandry.

Thank you so much!