Best setup for weak chameleon

[Renn]

Hello

I've already gotten so much good info on this forum.


Here's our panther chameleon after 6 days so far, we've had him since sunday. He's doing SO much better. He even made a Huge poop today. Looked good, no orange in it.

Kabuki is way more alert and awake during the day. He's eating great, and he drinks when I mist but he ALSO drinks out of a cup, so weird.

Lately he's been hanging out on the floor, but seems more comfortable down there. I know at his last place she said he was always on the floor. So I put a heating pad under the cage just for some slight warmth down there. He seems content. Not acting sick at all. I think he's just getting used to his cage. He wanders all over.

In the morning when I turn on his lights he's been turning a bright orange color, which is so pretty, and he's rarely a dark color anymore. His eye don't look sunken anymore either and his skin is less dry looking. He's been getting this old shed off his head, he's very pretty.

Now to my question..finally..

He's still a bit weak when it comes to hanging onto branches, which is why I think he like hanging out on the floor. I can't seem to get the branches secure enough in his enclosure, I try to jam them in place but they still move about, and one shift and he freaks out, understandably.

So i'm wondering about maybe securing his sticks to the side in a horizontal fashion, maybe with hot glue. The sides of the cage are plexi, so I can't thumbtack them in place like with mesh.

I was thinking maybe a couple sticks horizontal, staggering like steps, but not too many. And then the random plants to suction to the side. I may rip apart the one bulk plants and hot glue leaves to the actual branches like I did in the crested geckos cage that he was housemates with.

Thoughts?

I also notice he follows me around..I didn't think chameleons were socialable and more "tolerant" of humans as opposed to seeking them out. He wants to come out and follows me in his cage. (He's next to me by my comp) Is that weird?

Thanks friends

 

[jannb]

Sorry to hear that your Cham has not been doing well but glad to hear that he's doing better. All of my chameleons have always been very socialable. I recommend you turn his cage on the side and set it up that way incase he climbs and falls.

 

[Renn]

I have him in a shorter cage right now just until he feels better enough for a taller one just for that reason. I have a towel on the bottom now too instead of scott towels.

 

[Mike Fisher]

I recently got a "special needs" chameleon that was too weak/uncoordinated to climb too. I had to set her up in a very short enclosure with very small plants. She was very content. She's getting stronger now and I'll be moving her to a taller enclosure when I have more confidence in her climbing ability.

She never sat on the bottom because I set up a low watt basking bulb right over the planted area, so she stayed low in the plants and picked off crickets as they walked by. Easy hunting.

 

[Renn]

Thanks for your replies

He really seems moe secure on the bottom so what we might do is take out the sticks and put some small plants down there for now and maybe a vine or two. Might be easier for him not to have to navigate through sticks.

 

[Renn]

I moved his cage higher in the room, since he seemed stressed by kids and dogs. He was happier, now he just seems stressed and unhappy no matter what I do.

I figure I'm going to just leave him alone for a week, I think I've been redoing his cage too much and he just can't adjust to it. I had put in a zoomed vine and twisted it but he couldn't hang onto it, so I had to go back in, untwist it, reattach to the cage and i tie tied a bunch of leaves onto it.

Hopefully he chills out. I've done everything I can at this point.