barrage of questions (sorry!)-sleep, behavour, calci worms.

[lysinlight87]

Hi,

My chameleon's lights are on a timer, they switch off at 9pm & come on again at 9am. When his lights go out, I cover his cage so that we don't disturb him with the TV, etc & it's almost totally dark for him. In the morning, around 7am, my boyfriend uncovers him before going to work.

This is 2 hours before his lights come on. Will being uncovered disturb him? We haven't got curtains or blinds so the natural light flows in at that time.

If I wanted to change the timings of his lighting, so I can feed him before uni, would I have to do this gradually?

In terms of behaviour- he hates being handled, but I handle him once a day because I want him to be used it. The problem is, it's turning into a trauma for him because he grabs at everything on the way out, today he fell & I caught him but he was pretty annoyed at me. I gently nudge him onto my hand, but as soon as I move he starts grabbing! Any tips? I'm starting to feel that I should just leave him alone instead of stressing him, but I'm worried that'll make it harder if I have to give him meds at some point. I tong feed & cup feed with no issues. He's calm once out of his cage. I'm unable to let him come out on his own time because of the cat.

& finally I got some calci-worms yesterday & they smell fishy. I think some are dead. I assume I should just throw the whole lot away to be safe?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Swayne8998]

Hi,

My chameleon's lights are on a timer, they switch off at 9pm & come on again at 9am. When his lights go out, I cover his cage so that we don't disturb him with the TV, etc & it's almost totally dark for him. In the morning, around 7am, my boyfriend uncovers him before going to work.

This is 2 hours before his lights come on. Will being uncovered disturb him? We haven't got curtains or blinds so the natural light flows in at that time.

If I wanted to change the timings of his lighting, so I can feed him before uni, would I have to do this gradually?

In terms of behaviour- he hates being handled, but I handle him once a day because I want him to be used it. The problem is, it's turning into a trauma for him because he grabs at everything on the way out, today he fell & I caught him but he was pretty annoyed at me. I gently nudge him onto my hand, but as soon as I move he starts grabbing! Any tips? I'm starting to feel that I should just leave him alone instead of stressing him, but I'm worried that'll make it harder if I have to give him meds at some point. I tong feed & cup feed with no issues. He's calm once out of his cage. I'm unable to let him come out on his own time because of the cat.

& finally I got some calci-worms yesterday & they smell fishy. I think some are dead. I assume I should just throw the whole lot away to be safe?

Thanks in advance!

The first time I saw calciworms (I assumed they were worms before I opened it), when I opened the cup all these things flew out!! Scared the crap out of me... So I don't use calciworms. Any of the worms that were left were dead.

I don't think the light should bother him, as long as it's not blinding. I would only recommend handling if he wants to. How long have you had him?

 

[lysinlight87]

I've had him 2 months- he's 5 months old now. He was fine with being handled when smaller, but now he protests (teenagers!) He hisses a little & then climbs on my hand, but manourvering him out of his cage is the problem. I think maybe I need to take a back-step & take it more slowly with him.

The calci-worms are horrible! I'm going to take them back to the petshop and complain about them being mostly dead- it's not acceptable when you pay out for something.