New owner questions...

[perca05]

Hi...after months of research, and getting my cage setup, I finally went out and got a veiled cham. He is very small, maybe 2 months old, but he looks good. I put him in his cage, and all day, he did nothing but sit under his heating light. I sprayed the cage with water in the morning, and this afternoon, and tried to mist him as well. He ran away from the water. I also let my dripper run for a while. He has not left that spot all day. I put in some crickets, and also added a deli cup half way up the side of the cage for crickets as well. The cage is a bit big for him, 18X18X36, so not sure if I should just put in a bunch of crickets and hope they crawl by him at the top? So the question is....should I be worried he didn't move all day? I'm not sure if he even drank any water. How long does it take for a new cham to start exploring his enclosure?

His lighting is a T5 HO, with a reptisun 5.0 bulb. Has a 60 watt incandescent for heating.

Thanks!
Caroline

 

[BeBoSON]

Hey,

Congrats on your cham. I wouldn't worry about it so much. Just let him adjust to his surroundings. Just make sure to keep misting and offering food. He will take eventually.

 

[ReptileLove18]

what are the ambient and basking temps in the cage?
if they are on point, then he is just still scared and must get used to his surroundings. he will observe a LOT before he gets settled in there so dont stress too much. just keep offering him food, since the enclosure is pretty big cup feeding is good so that he can easily find his food. place a cup with dusted crickets fairly close to him in the foliage and leave him be also let the dripper run plenty during the day so he has lots of opportunity to drink. they can take a week or even a little longer to really get settled in to their new homes, so he may not be real adventerous just yet!!

congrats on your new friend! keep us updated on how he is doing, pics are great and we are here to help as much as we can

 

[SaintJimmy]

If you have done your research and have the proper setup, he is just nervous.

Usually they take a week or even a couple weeks (or even shorter than that) to get used to their new life.

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Also if he runs away from the water you spray him with, it's because it's cold. Mine hates cold water so I heat it up a little and he doesn't mind the warm mist.

 

[perca05]

Update...

Well today my little guy (his name is Finn) ate at least 4 crickets. He didn't look like he wandered down from the top though, and I didn't see him drink any water. But I think he will be ok. Thanks for the encouragement everyone.