xVashtaNeradax
New Member
Hi all,
I'm not sure if I'm being an over-reactive "parent" or if I have a legitimate concern but I'm going to ask anyway, because this has been going on since early afternoon and doesn't appear to be stopping soon.
I just got my baby ambilobe male from the Kammers last Tuesday, up until today everything has been awesome, he was eating well and seemed to be adjusting to his new home. Today around 3pm that all changed and while I think I might know what triggered it, I'm concerned because he hasn't calmed down yet and it is now approximately 7:12pm.
I went to the KC Reptile Expo today and bought some dubia nymphs, thinking that they would be small enough for my baby, they aren't overly large but they are definitely bigger than the pin-heads I was feeding him (bought the dubias today because my petstore is out until tuesday).
Today when I got home, I moved my mossy tail gecko's cage next to my cham cage while I did some cleaning. I noticed that N'kulu (my baby cham) was black and moving around in his tree. I finished cleaning quickly and I moved the gecko cage across the room, thinking that maybe that was what upset him. I then gave N'kulu a mix of 3 mealworms and four dubia nymphs. When I moved the cage away from his, he seemed to calm down, changing back to more "normal" colors for him when he's "at rest"...
However, I was apparently wrong.
N'kulu came out of his ficus tree and down his vine like he always does at feeding time. I've always sat across the room on my bed so far when watching him, never right up against the cage. This time, instead of his nice "grey" color, he was black and had his throat all pushed out. He sat on the branch that his cup is attached to and made no move to feed what so ever. He remained black and began to open and close his mouth in a "licking chops" fashion. I waited for 10 to 15 minutes for him to calm down and he never did, he only stopped being black and returned to normal when I opened the cage door and he ran back up into his tree.
I removed the dubias and left only the mealworms and went out of the room for a bit. I came back about 5 minutes later to see N'kulu zap a mealworm, however, he was still black.
About an hour later, I tried the dubias again, this time N'kulu shot one mealworm, then proceeded to sort of lean over his cup with his mouth open (as though he were going to shoot) but not doing anything...
What has got me concerned is that 1. Something is seriously stressing him for him to remain dark so long, he has NEVER done this since I've had him. And 2. When I started this post, he was climbing down to the bottom of his cage then going back up again...and any time a cham is anywhere NEAR the bottom of his cage it seems to spell trouble from what I've read here...I can't tell if he's just finally exploring or what's up..
I'm really scared now, up until now things have gone exactly how one would wish them too...Am I just paranoid or is something bad going on? I thought maybe he was getting ready to shed, but I have seen no signs of that..
Please help!
Edit: It's like he sees something threatening but for the life of me I can't tell what it is, absolutely nothing about his cage was changed during the cleaning, the only new thing added was the dubias. And the gecko cage moving across the room from his...He is still very active and very healthy looking even though he is puffed up and black, I can't see anything physically wrong with him.
I'm not sure if I'm being an over-reactive "parent" or if I have a legitimate concern but I'm going to ask anyway, because this has been going on since early afternoon and doesn't appear to be stopping soon.
I just got my baby ambilobe male from the Kammers last Tuesday, up until today everything has been awesome, he was eating well and seemed to be adjusting to his new home. Today around 3pm that all changed and while I think I might know what triggered it, I'm concerned because he hasn't calmed down yet and it is now approximately 7:12pm.
I went to the KC Reptile Expo today and bought some dubia nymphs, thinking that they would be small enough for my baby, they aren't overly large but they are definitely bigger than the pin-heads I was feeding him (bought the dubias today because my petstore is out until tuesday).
Today when I got home, I moved my mossy tail gecko's cage next to my cham cage while I did some cleaning. I noticed that N'kulu (my baby cham) was black and moving around in his tree. I finished cleaning quickly and I moved the gecko cage across the room, thinking that maybe that was what upset him. I then gave N'kulu a mix of 3 mealworms and four dubia nymphs. When I moved the cage away from his, he seemed to calm down, changing back to more "normal" colors for him when he's "at rest"...
However, I was apparently wrong.
N'kulu came out of his ficus tree and down his vine like he always does at feeding time. I've always sat across the room on my bed so far when watching him, never right up against the cage. This time, instead of his nice "grey" color, he was black and had his throat all pushed out. He sat on the branch that his cup is attached to and made no move to feed what so ever. He remained black and began to open and close his mouth in a "licking chops" fashion. I waited for 10 to 15 minutes for him to calm down and he never did, he only stopped being black and returned to normal when I opened the cage door and he ran back up into his tree.
I removed the dubias and left only the mealworms and went out of the room for a bit. I came back about 5 minutes later to see N'kulu zap a mealworm, however, he was still black.
About an hour later, I tried the dubias again, this time N'kulu shot one mealworm, then proceeded to sort of lean over his cup with his mouth open (as though he were going to shoot) but not doing anything...
What has got me concerned is that 1. Something is seriously stressing him for him to remain dark so long, he has NEVER done this since I've had him. And 2. When I started this post, he was climbing down to the bottom of his cage then going back up again...and any time a cham is anywhere NEAR the bottom of his cage it seems to spell trouble from what I've read here...I can't tell if he's just finally exploring or what's up..
I'm really scared now, up until now things have gone exactly how one would wish them too...Am I just paranoid or is something bad going on? I thought maybe he was getting ready to shed, but I have seen no signs of that..
Please help!
Edit: It's like he sees something threatening but for the life of me I can't tell what it is, absolutely nothing about his cage was changed during the cleaning, the only new thing added was the dubias. And the gecko cage moving across the room from his...He is still very active and very healthy looking even though he is puffed up and black, I can't see anything physically wrong with him.
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Now I just have to make sure he eats >_< with all the plants now, I fear the crickets may have the advantage 
