The new guy, Pete.

[Zephalia]

Pete is looking great. Congrats and welcome. A bit of possible constructive criticism, make sure his temps aren't so high w/ the light sitting directly on his enclosure that he might get burnt. Just throwing out come caution.

I appreciate the suggestion. There was an issue at first with the temps. getting too high as I had a 100 watt bulb in there for the first couple weeks so I downgraded for now to a 40 watt and in his basking spot it tops out at 85F on the hottest days, usually floating around low 80's. Once he's a little older I'll put a 60 watt in there but this is working great for now.

 

[melble68]

Excellent. Pete is on the path for success with all of your help.

 

[Zephalia]

6ish months

Update on Pete. He's about 6 months old now and doing fantastic!

 

[Zephalia]

Update!

It's been a little while since I've shared photos with you guys. Pete is doing great! Here are some pics! I also have 2 Jackson's due to arrive in January some time from Monika at Chameleons Galore, how exciting!

 

[Kath44]

He's looking fab. Kath.

 

[ChameleonRave]

He's looking fantastic! I love that you're keeping it updated in one thread. It will be great for people wondering how they change over growth and proper care.

 

[Zephalia]

Thank you! We all love to share the joy of these captivating creatures. I enjoy browsing through all the photos I see and it's nice to share with you all as well.

Soon, my Jackson's will arrive and there will be a whole bunch more pictures going around! I'm so excited - whoever said this is an addiction was absolutely right.

 

[Zephalia]

Ok, I have to get this out of my head because it's been consuming my thoughts lately and I have literally NO ONE to talk to about it here as my family thinks it's 'cute' that I am a cham fan and will only tolerate small doses of my constant rambling!

Laying in bed Sunday night, not able to sleep, found myself thinking about how to better the arrangement of the enclosures in my apartment. See, I have a fairly small 2 bedroom with an open concept. So my kitchen, dining room and living room are all one room with the master bedroom coming off that with large french doors which I usually leave completely open. So it's all pretty well one big room with the exception of the second bedroom which my kids share. I had Pete's enclosure in my room in the corner up until a couple weeks ago I moved him to the living room on a table which can fit 2 enclosures and then his free range Ficus is in front of the living room window. Intent here was that I would keep all three in the living room once the Jackson's arrive.

Well, I'm not happy with this arrangement as the baseboard heater is under his tree which dries out that corner of the room (even with a cool mist humidifier going 24/7) and I can't get it to rise in that area over 50%. The A/C is also too close for comfort to the 2 enclosures which I foresee being a problem for temperature control in the summer. Not to mention the extra traffic that goes through the living room.

So Sunday night I made a decision to give up my big, beautiful bedroom to the chams. This way, they are away from the heaters, away from the A/C, have a door to seclude them from the busy children, two windows for some natural light and total darkness at night which will save me covering them constantly. I'm going to set them all up along one wall which will leave me plenty of room for supplies. My couch will go in there as well (I don't entertain much, if ever) so I can hang out and visit them or read or just plain old relax and have their company! My bed and computer will go out into the living room and that doesn't bother me any. To date, until I put Pete in the living room, it wasn't even being used.

I'm pretty excited about this set up. I think it's going to work out well for them and for me. It will also be easier to maintain humidity in the one room as opposed to the entire apartment, although the cool mist humidifier is doing a really good job since I got it at Christmas. Keeps the humidity in the apartment around 60-70%, except near the heaters, and makes it easy to attain 90-100% humidity in the enclosures during misting.

 

[Zephalia]

So I did it. I switched rooms. Attached some pics of the setup and some of Pete at 8.5 months.

The only thing left to do is set up the free range on the right and install small shelving to prop up the lights on the 2 left enclosures (they are currently vacant until my Jackson's arrive).

I am using a black shower curtain taped to the back of the enclosures to prevent water damage on the walls and also put one between each so they cannot see eachother but before I could finish I ran out of tape. Almost done though. I'm quite happy with it. The humidifier is to the right but not seen in this picture and the couch is under the camera view.

 

[melble68]

The last pic is awesome.

 

[Zephalia]

9 months

Here we are at about nine months. Gearing up for our move at the end of the month. He likes to sleep with his head in the bush which I find comical. Such a handsome boy and I like the emerald on his head. I try to get him fired up in the mirror but I have yet to see him take the bait - he's such a docile guy. Love my boy Pete.

 

[Zephalia]

10 months old

Another update for everyone on Pete. He's 10 months old now and getting the grown up look to him. His colours are really starting to brighten up. He's a very docile and sweet guy who doesn't mind attention and loves being out of his enclosure on the free range. He eats and drinks well and even hit on the lady of the house - a female Jackson's, the other day. My boy is growing up!

 

[shmeenakoz]

Super cute cham and I also have 2 Iggy pups

 

[fleetwoodchams]

Hey everyone. Putting up some pics of Pete on his new ficus. It's set up in front of the large living room window and he's loving it. I can see in his face what a nuisance I am with the camera. lol









Other than the green on his cheeks and the very faint reddish barring he sometimes shows, he doesn't have much colour yet.

Welcome You'll love our forum. Everybody is nice.

A ficus tree for free-ranging, huh. Now you did it : )
He'll never want to go back in his viv. lol
Mine Loooove their tree

 

[fleetwoodchams]

Ok, this kid is spoiled. He's only been with me a month and he had his starter cage (which my Dad unintentionally ruined by melting the frame with the heat lamp), he's got his free range ficus in the living room and this morning I set up his adult cage for him.

I'm rather impressed, I think it looks quite nice, definitely an improvement. It had to be done as I was finding too many crickets and mealworms wandering around my house and even being woken up at night with crickets in my bed, yuck! This cage is undamaged and sealed. I kept the floor clear and covered it with paper towel for easier clean up as well as the fake log/stick thing for him to climb up in case he falls. Oh and some fake flowers to make it prettay!




Let me know what you guys think!

Really nice setup.

Here's an old PA Dutch saying usually said about children so I put in cham where child was used.
"Spoiled is something you put up on a shelf and forgot about. Your cham isn't spoiled he is Loved "

 

[Zephalia]

"Spoiled is something you put up on a shelf and forgot about. Your cham isn't spoiled he is Loved "

That's a great quote. Thanks for sharing.

Pete's in a larger enclosure now than the one I posted in the fall - my Jackson's male is in that one currently and it's set up a little differently with 2 live pothos.

This weekend, or sometime soon when I have time, I'll be moving Pete into a 4' X 2" X 2" enclosure and then the male Jackson's will go into his 3' X 3' X 3' and the female will go into that one. Then everyone should be settled in ok for the long haul!

 

[Zephalia]

Super cute cham and I also have 2 Iggy pups

How old, boys or girls and names! I'm new to Iggy's and they are something else! They call them Velcro dogs for a reason! He's with me everywhere I go and has a ton of burst energy and then just wants to curl up on me and sleep. Just adorable but also a bit of a drama queen. He runs across the house with no regard and into something and cries out like a diva...it's so funny. He's yelped when he has lightly bumped into the wall...like the wall snuck up on him...

 

[Zephalia]

Pete @ 11 months

Well guys, we are settled into our new place now. The chams have been shuffled around from upstairs to downstairs a few times testing out temps and avoiding the sewer backup BUT they are settled now in the basement. Once the weather warms up (seems like it never will huh?) I will be working on an outdoor enclosure for them to enjoy the sun safely. The living room free range needs some work as well. Always some project to work on with this hobby!

Pete is doing fantastic. His bars appear to be shifting from the red he's displayed before to blue - anyone have predictions on what the end result will be? Here he is escaping his free range onto the dogs exercise pen.

I've also included a pic of Enzo, my 14 week old Italian Greyhound for good measure.

 

[raedarr]

Hooray for Chameleons!

 

[Zephalia]

17 months

Pete is 17 months and is almost completely mature - I thought I would add an updated picture to this post so you can all see how he has progressed through his growth.

Thanks for everyone who has shared the exciting experience of watching him grow!