questions. thank you for advice :]

[gholmes]

so i have had my jackson for a couple weeks now. i have been severly disappointed with the package set i bought. my mister broke well 2 of them did, and they gave me these huge fake bamboo poles that are wayyyyyy to big for chams, also my lamp and light did not work when i got it so i had to go spend more money which sucks.

but anyways, i have had a few questions since this is my first cham.

1. what is the best kind of bedding?
i have been using paper towels because it is easy for clean up but i have noticed that they get so wet that i need to change them daily.

2. how do i start cup feeding?

3. how long do you usually wait till your cham will eat from your hand?
i have been trying this but no luck, she will look excited when i put my hand in with food but then she will not go for it.

4. i have seen this every other day feeding stuff and i was wondering if i was feeding her too much. she usually get 6-9 crickets a day and sometimes some small mealworms.

5. i got a tree for her to sit in the sun on on my porch but i am not sure how to get her out there. i have a vine that runs from the cage to the tree. will it just take time for her to explore?

 

[kokom05lb]

Hello... I'm going to answer the questions best of my knowledge and let the experienced keepers pitch in if I miss something.

1.) Many keepers use paper towels or leave it bare. I use a plastic sheeting to the plywood wont get wet (custom wood enclosures), its an easy clean up too.

2)Cup Feeding... when my veileds were babies I put a 2 liter MT Dew bottle in there with a side cut open and screen in the bottle so the feeders could climb.

3) My male veiled was a year old (9 months in my care) before he was comfortable to eat from my hand. My female would literally climb my arm to get the feeders. It all depends on the chameleon.

4) It really depends on age. My male Jackson's will be feasting on 15 to 20 feeders a day until they reach the 7 month old mark or when they start showing signs that they had enough then I'll. Cut back.

5)Time and patience is key. It took my veiled 9 months to somewhat trust me and I still wore a glove.

Hope this helps a little.

 

[carol5208]

Here is a good care sheet for you to follow. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/ No bedding should be used at all. As far as cup feeding, you can start at any time. Just hang a cup that is not too deep from a branch or vine. Make sure the cup is not too see through so your chameleon does not shoot its tongue at the outside of the cup. It really depends on how old she is as far as how much to feed and how often. You did not state her age..

 

[creep]

Hello,
I recently got a new cham too and already he has started hand feeding. It just takes patience and consistency. It only took a few days after getting him for him to start handfeeding.. And today i finally witnessed him taking some crickets from my milk jug cup feeder.

As for my technique, every morning I go in and offer a cricket. By Pinching the crickets rear large leg between my forefinger and thumb, i gently flick the cricket with my middle finger to make it squirm and wiggle around.. Now i only flick it when Seagram is staring at it, and the more it squirms the sooner he licks it off my finger.

So take time and practice doing this, at first it took like 10 minutes of my arm burning standing there holding the cricket before he struck.
Now this last two days i been working at getting him to touch me without being freaked out and hiding.. So what I have been doing is holding the cricket close enough for him to start to plank and reach for the cricket, then as he is reaching for the cricket, i slowly slide my extra hand underneath and let his little hand rest on it. As I have been doing this he has been relaxing and resting on my hand longer and longer.


He is about 3mos old and is eating like a champ!
let me know if this works for you

 

[gholmes]

thank you so much everyone! i know people really hate reading things that are long and have alot of questions.

Caroline is a year old today!! i got her a month ago. she has never had a problem eating in front of me well most of the time.

i know its too soon but i was getting super depressed that she has not warmed up to me. she has started to run when i open the cage cause she thinks i am always going to mist her cage.

i just got the repti rain mister and i think its okay but i can not position it in the right spot just yet. would it be safe to put plexiglass on the top?

is there anywhere besides online that i can get more worms from besides petsmart? ive been getting crickets and mealworms from there but i do want to expand her food options.

thank you again!!!!