New to having a chameleons

[brieannab]

I have a baby panther chameleon he is 5 months old now and hopefully will start getting more color soon. He's only had one shed just a week ago.
I have a few questions about my panther chameleon.. sometimes he will sit there with his mouth wide open is that normal? also how can I make him more friendly he doesn't hide from me very often but he likes to run unless I have food in my hand. any pointers on that? Right now his diet consist of crickets everyday and I dust them every other day with a calcium powder. What is gut loading? I'm having a hard time getting him to eat mealworms he'll them every now and then but not very often. Also he still has no name anyone know of any cool names to name him? I heard they cannot hear is that true? Any kind of feedback will be greatly appreciated just want to know the do's and don'ts on owning a chameleon! Thank you!

 

[NHenn]

Welcome to the forums!

I would go through the information here and read up on as much as possible. It will be invaluable to both you and your chameleon! https://www.chameleonforums.com/basic-husbandry-38769/

Some quick answers without knowing too much about your husbandry and setup. Sitting with his mouth open is not normal but something they do when they are too hot. I suggest you check your basking temperatures. It could be other issues as well but most likely heat related.

Give him time and keep working with him, he will grow to like you more. Food always helps develop good relationship.

I would read up on suggested supplementing schedules and be sure you are dusting your feeders correctly. There are tons of opinions so just search around and see what works for you. Gutloading is feeding your crickets a correct diet. If your crickets are eating junk then essentially your chameleon is eating junk too.

Just forget about mealworms completely. They are worthless in my opinion. I would look into silkworms, hornworms or superworms as some other great feeders.

They don't have ears like humans so yes they can't really hear but they can pick up on vibrations and other things.

Hope these help!

 

[FlChamMom]

Here is a link to a care sheet which answers most of the questions you had:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

As for the mouth open or "gaping" most likely the little guy is too hot. Check your temps in the basking area to make sure you are staying within the guidelines on the caresheets. Hand feeding is a great way to get your guy used to you- he will begin to associate you with his favorite treats and not as the big scary hand coming to kill him! Try and feed him a variety of feeders, silkworms, hornworms, roaches, superworms, butterworms... They will get bored with just crickets and some of the other feeders are more nutritious. Wax worms and meal worms should be kept to treats though. Be sure to read the care sheets, they also go over gut loading and supplements as well. Good luck with your new friend!

 

[mabrams]

What they said One more thought...if his mouth is open only when you are near him, it could be he's trying to threaten you/scare you off. Chameleons will sometimes puff themselves up and "gape" with their mouths open when they are frightened. As the others already said, it also could be that he's too hot, and trying to cool himself. Review the care sheets that FLChamMom posted the link to, and compare your temperatures!

 

[Juliaf3]

Yay! You figured out how to post! Can you take a picture of your cage? This would help a lot. As well as what kinds of lights you use.

Ok basic DONTs for chameleons:
NO lights at night. They need complete darkness for good quality sleep. They need a good ten-fifteen degree drop in temperatures so as long as your home isn't dropping below 50 you should be fine

No substrate. Substrate being like, moss or dirt covering the bottom of the cage. It can cause impaction. (Clog your chameleons guts)

Chameleons do not drink from standing water. There are rare cases that some do, but most do not. You'll need a dripper of some sort so that water can drop down, cascading over leaves. The light reflections in the drops are what they see and recognize as water

Some basic do's

Do have a humidity reading device of some kind in the cage. Your chameleon needs humidity around 50-70%. Doesn't have to stay at an exact % it's actually good for it to get higher and then drop. You can achieve stable humidity by adding live plants in the cage, and spraying the cage down with a mister a few times a day.

Do have a UVB light, and basking bulb. UVB is a crucial element to raising a healthy Cham in captivity. UVB is a replacement for the sun. UVB helps their bodies absorb calcium. You'll need a temperature reading device of some kind as well. Your ambient (temp not under the basking bulb, towards the bottom of the cage) temp should be around 72 degrees to 80 degrees, and your basking area should be around 82.

Do gut load your feeders and keep their cage clean. I personally use Repashy Bug Burger and add greens and fruit here and there.

Do use supplements. You will need them especially if your Cham is never in direct sunlight. Some use and all in one (like myself, replashy calcium plus) others I've seen use calcium without d3 everyday, calcium with D3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month.

Well, those are some basics I can think of off the top of my head! Like I said earlier, I'd love to see a picture of your set up and your baby boy! I hope I was helpful. There's a lot to learn so try not to get overwhelmed! Welcome to the forums Brianna!

 

[brieannab]

Okay I will take a picture of his cage and it does have dirt on the bottom is that bad? also his cage is all glass he does have a uvb light and a basking light and he does not like his little dripper on.. I have mister that I spray at least two or three times a day and he drinks from the side walls of his cage and also off of his leavs I use a reptile calcium that I dust the crickets with at least 3 times a week also I'm feeding him flightless fruit flies and as for what I'm feeding my cricket is just the orange cube complete cricket diet I will get some super worms and see if he likes those better than mill worms as well and as far as him keeping his mouth open it's only when he is is alone its not like a hissing or trying to scare me off its just when I look in his cage I noticed that his mouth is open sometimes also I think he is trying to attack his reflection off of the glass. I'm so glad I can post on here now and so excited to learn New things about my little guy. And make new friends!! Also I got him from a private breeder and not a pet store some people's say that makes a huge differences.

 

[brieannab]

How do you add pics?? haha

 

[brieannab]

 

[Devokid]

Yes, the dirt is bad. They can eat it and it can cause blockages. Lives plants are the best and they need the dirt, so I cover their dirt with some river stones. Keeps the dirt with the plant and out of the chameleon.
The orange cubes are junk. They are meant to keep the crickets alive, but don't offer the proper nutrients for the chameleon. I would go with some carrots, oranges, and other fruits/vegetables. There are quite a few posts on here dealing with gut loading, just search.
The all glass cage can work, but they need to have lots of ventilation. I have found that this is very hard to accomplish with glass, so all of my cages are screen. Glass also retains heat, so making sure the temps are perfect is even more crucial. For a beginner, I would really recommend going with a screen cage, but there are others that would argue with me. What did the breeder recommend?

 

[brieannab]

What does your setup look like and what else could I use to cover the bottom? Just plants? I'm looking into getting a nice screen cage right now... I have a few live plants that I'm going to plant in new cage. I'll do the veggies and oranges with the crickets. And stop with the other. Also why dose he rock back and forth in his cage or when I'm holding him? I'm going to get rid of the dirt asap..thanks

 

[SMCNARY]

I see that you have gotten a lot of good information from other members but have you used the resources link at the top of the page ? It will be the best place to start and covers a wide range of topics.

 

[Juliaf3]

What does your setup look like and what else could I use to cover the bottom? Just plants? I'm looking into getting a nice screen cage right now... I have a few live plants that I'm going to plant in new cage. I'll do the veggies and oranges with the crickets. And stop with the other. Also why dose he rock back and forth in his cage or when I'm holding him? I'm going to get rid of the dirt asap..thanks

If that's the most recent picture of you panther, he's no where near five months. Maybe more like 5 weeks. The rocking back and forth Is normal, and super cute ! He's trying to blend in like when then the wind blows and trees move back and forth. You will definitely want to get a screen cage. He's going to grow out of that very quickly. I bet the open mouth is from being to hot. The size of your lights, they are completely covering the top of the cage, and glass can lock in heat for sure. The bottom needs nothing. They hang in trees in the wild. They don't go to the ground. If you just don't like the look you could get some reptile carpet, but but a couple because you'll want to wash it at least twice a week to avoid bacteria growing in it. Let me go grab a picture of my 4 month old panthers cage for ya.

 

[brieannab]

I have had him for over a month and he was 4 months when I got him he's 5 month's. But yes he is little that picture was about 2 weeks ago I have read the link above very helpful When he rocks is very cute!

 

[Juliaf3]

Ok here's my cage, I have a live pothos in the upper right hand corner, the other stuff is vines from petsmart wrapped around sticks. Lots and lots of sticks. I could actually use more sticks myself.



Dad gum it! It's always side ways lol

 

[Juliaf3]

This is what the bottom of my cage looks like. Don't mind the poop, it gets cleaned out every morning. I'm showing this to show you, you don't HAVE to have anything in the bottom. It's really easier to clean without disturbing his whole cage know what I mean?

 

[Juliaf3]

And here's a picture of my four month old Cham, this is why I think your Cham is much younger then 5 months. This guy is from a sponsor on this site.

I tried to position him on my hand like your little Cham but he was not having it lol

 

[brieannab]

Thank you juliaf3 that's been very helpful! I'm loving this app more and more.

 

[Juliaf3]

Your using an app for this?!?? There's a forum app?!

 

[brieannab]

Yes I'm using an app called tapatalk!

 

[Juliaf3]

Wait wait- I'm not super great at identifying chameleons, but is that a carpet chameleon? That would make sense as to why it's so small and 5 months old. It's markings are very similar to a carpet chameleon.