New mom jitters

[Karancon]

it's been 24 hours since baby Steve arrived. I'm home today and getting nothing done except trying to watch him without him seeing me. He's still very brown, have seen him eat 4 crickets. We were expecting a juvenile, so cage and all set up for a bigger Cham. 18x18x36. I know that's big. But is it worth setting up another one for a few months, or will he acclimate himself? We are coming off a bad Cham experience with a petco bought one, so very nervousness. He arrived shedding and it looks like he has a ring of skin around a back leg. Any advice on how to remove, or how long to wait. When or do I worry about his color? The temp at top is 82, bottom 67. Basking spot around 88. T8 reptisun 5.0 coming Monday

 

[Katacara]

I'm a new cham owner as well so all my advice is from my short experience and the hours and hours of reading I have done here in the forums. I also have a different kind, Peepers is a male veiled. With that in mind here it goes...

#1 Breath.... I know exactly how you feel, worrying about every little thing. I am still the same way, I freak out over everything. Remember to breath, I have found that the people here on this forum are so nice and knowledgeable and they/we will do the best we can to help with anything we can.

2) I'm so sorry about the bad experience the pet store a**hol** put you through. They should NOT be able to let people who know nothing about animals sell and give advice about them!!! They lead me down the wrong road also!

3) About the size of the cage... When I rescued my Peepers he was so tiny, only 4 weeks old, and kept in a glass tank in real bad conditions so I had to run out and instantly get him a new cage. The only one they had was to big for his size. It took him a few days but he eventually found his way around and now only 3 weeks later he loves all his room!!! So I would suggest giving him time to settle in and explore at his own pace. Also keep in mind that in the wild there are no cages so he would have an enormous amount of space, so I think he will be ok in the cage you are already using.

4) The Ring of skin could be a problem but only if it is tight and restricting blood flow. If it is loose then it should come of on it's own. If you are concerned about it there are a few things you can try to help the little guy before a vet may be required. You can try giving Steve a shower to loosen up the skin so he can get it off, if that doesn't work you can try using a warm wet cotton swab to gently help the skin off. If you try the swab make sure your super gentle and do not pull or force the skin off, that could damage the new skin underneath.

Anything else I can do I would be happy to help! Good luck, and my best wishes to you and Steve!!!! Oh and lots and lots of pictures

 

[riri6789]

I have an 8 day old panther Chameleon. However, this isn't my first rodeo. I suggest just keeping him the cage you have. I have my baby a cage too big for him as well and he seems to be loving it! It takes time for them to relax and settle in and I promise you they do get used to it.

As for new mom jitters, just know that everything will be fine. Your Cham is happy and healthy and life for him will be great. To get rid of the extra shed I would suggest getting a papertowel with wetted with warm water and rub it against his skin and see if it comes off! Good luck with the little guy!

 

[Karancon]

Thanks everyone. I'm keeping him in his big cage. He's on top of things more this afternoon instead of being inside the plants. Got the skin off. He was on the top of cage and I managed to get him on to my hand with zero trauma, or so it seemed. Managed to do a little jiggling and off it came. He's so small, but watching the little fruit flies I put in. Haven't seen him eat any, but he's very active, hanging from his tail and hunting. My last one stopped drinking and eating after 2 weeks, so I'm misting 5-4 minutes with MistKing every 2 hours from 7:30am to 5:30. Plus a dripped

 

[etclement]

it's been 24 hours since baby Steve arrived. I'm home today and getting nothing done except trying to watch him without him seeing me. He's still very brown, have seen him eat 4 crickets. We were expecting a juvenile, so cage and all set up for a bigger Cham. 18x18x36. I know that's big. But is it worth setting up another one for a few months, or will he acclimate himself? We are coming off a bad Cham experience with a petco bought one, so very nervousness. He arrived shedding and it looks like he has a ring of skin around a back leg. Any advice on how to remove, or how long to wait. When or do I worry about his color? The temp at top is 82, bottom 67. Basking spot around 88. T8 reptisun 5.0 coming Monday

18x18x36 isn't big at all. That's what is recommended for a baby cham and is too small for an adult or subadult. However, it is perfect for a young Veiled. 88 f basking spot is a few degrees too high, try getting more around 82. Good luck and as long as your husbandry is right, Steve will be just fine!