chameleon, I dont think hes eating :(

[Auntbee86]

Panther chameleon, Male, 4 months old, I just got him on Wednesday (this is day #2), I hold him probably to much...guessing: once or twice a day for no longer then 10 minutes.
I'm feeding 3 week old live crickets that eat the cricket diet sold in pet stores its a blue jello like stuff and a tan color diet dust food. hes only ate about 2 crickets a day maybe. and he ate a small peice of mustard greens. I was told to place food in his container with him. dusting crickets with rep-cal phosphorous-free calcium with VIT.d3 untra fine powder, I mist with a spray water bottle until I see plants covered with drops of water and I do this about 3 times a day. I've seen him licking water off plants. hes went potty and its not to runny or to dry it looks good. right now I was told it was ok by the breeder...hes in a 73qt clear tote with a wire top. lined bottom with papertowels and theres a large peice of grapevine stick thing for him to climb and theres fake plnt and fake vines. right now its on my back patio theres no lights or bulbs on his cage. my patio gets sun and warm, its not direct sun on him, breeder said that would be fine for now. I live in the Tampa, FL area and it stays hot outside.
I get paid next week and I have planned on building or buying a proper size wire cage for him which I will need help in deciding how that all goes later but for now I need to ask..... I'm not sure if hes eating and I work at Pet Supermarket which carries large (5week) and small(3 week) live crickets, live med. and large mealworms(which they cant eat), live superworms, and the rest is freeze dried...small and large crickets, grasshoppers,mealworms, and then a can that just is all mixed called medley. So the breeder I got him from said he can eat 3 week live crickets and fruits,veggies. So she said he ate before she gave him to me and told me how to care for him and I'm doing everything but I havent seen him eat anything. I mist it for him and I see him licking the water off the leaves and I ve noticed hes went potty and it looks good...not to runny or to dry. She said to toss in some crickets and a few little peices of mustard greens and maybe carrot shreds and he should do okay or she said to place him in a smaller container to feed him then put him back into 73q home. I'm just affraid hes not eating...what should I do?? I'm doing everything ok right or no? plz help. I posted some pics I just took of him litterally 5 minutes ago. I have to go to work now but will be back around 9:00-10:00pm I"ll try to check it sooner on my lunch break, I just need help I hope hes okay I'm soo worried and I'm afraid I'm not doing something right. :'( Thanks.

 

[Olimpia]

He's probably just stressed from all the movement. If you've had him 2-3 days, he's still just settling in. It's normal for them not to eat for maybe a week, before they feel comfortable and start eating. I would stop moving him from one container to another, and give him a good week or two of peace so he can settle down and start eating. I would feed him in his main enclosure, I don't see why he needs to be moved.

Are you monitoring his temps with anything? What are they at?

 

[tdotcham]

the blue gel stuff you are feeding your crickets is just water gel for hydration. It's used instead of water because they will drown. I'd suggest putting the mustard green and other vegetables (carrot, apple, orange, kale...many to choose) in the cricket bin so that they can eat nutritious and in turn pass it on to your chameleon when he eats.

 

[Auntbee86]

okay I was just scarred, so I'll just not touch him and let him hang out in the one container and let him adjust. I was told he would be okay with no light bulbs since hes on a sunny patio all day and night. I dont know his temps I'll have to grab one of those tomorrow morning...should I get the heat and humidity right? guessing on temp is around 90-95 maybe a lil hotter in day and around 70 at night. idk

Ill put those veggies in with cricket. also would it be good to give crickets the orange food/water cubes? its like a complete diet or just veggies and/or that blue gel stuff? I only have a lil bit of that cricket food and prolly need to buy somethin tomorrow.

Also what exactually can chameleons eat? do they only eat live things or could they eat the freeze dried stuff in the little cans? we have catterpillars,and all kinds of stuff. i dont know, its just the 3 week old crickets look big for him and no one around here sells smaller ones and i dont need a large amout of like 1,000 ordered online....and how much does he eat and how often should he be eating daily? I've been thinking that I may need a light or two he felt a little cold yesterday when I held him. do I get the long florescent buld and a regular bulb and just have it over his container...should I just let crickets roam freely in there with him....how many?
sorry for all the questions I'm just not sure and I dont wanna mess up. Thanks alot for everyone whos tryin to help me.

 

[carol5208]

Ok first of all if he is not getting any direct sun, then he is not getting any UVB which he needs. I would bring him into your house. It is WAY too hot on your patio. I live in Florida and I know this for a fact, especiallyfor a 4 month old. Get yourself a reptisun 5.0 linear bulb. He will also need a basking bulb. A 60 watt should be fine. Putting him in a plastic container on the patio is way too hot! Get him some type of screen cage. Get yourself a dripper that you can offer water to him more readily. Panthers do not eat freeze dried food. I would not recommend feeding him meal worms, or if you do very sparingly. They are not very nutritious and hard to digest. Their prey needs to be alive. I would be feeding him nothing bigger than 1/4 inch crickets from the looks of his size. He should be eating 15-20 a day. My panther never eats any type of veggies or plants so I cannot comment on that. I would stick with the crickets for now. You need three types of supplements. Calcium w/o d3 and you should lightly dust the crickets at every feeding. Twice a month I would give Calcium w/d3 and also twice a month a multivitamin. You need to "gutload" your crickets with nutritious fruits and veggies. Make sure you put something in for hydration like orange slices. You can use the Fluker cubes but feed them fresh greens like Romaine, kale, Collard greens, apples, carrots, etc. You can order 250-500 on line but trust me if you are doing it right you will be going through them in no time. Humidity should hover around 60% with spikes of up to 80-90% after misting. Put live plants in the cage for him to climb on, it helps with the humidity. Also, putting him in a plastic container in the direct sun is going to fry the little guy, so be careful. They must have UVB to survive and thrive

 

[Ace]

hI!!

DONT WORRY WE ARE HERE TO HELP AND BASICALLY CAROL SAID EVERYTHING THAT NEEDED TO BE SAID,

ALTHOUGH DO NOT GET THOSE COIL UVB BULBS OR CFL'S THEY CAN BLIND YOUR CHAM..(GET REPTISUN 5.0 LINEAR BULB AND 60 WATT HOUSE BULB)

TEMPS FOR BABIES LIKE YOURS UNTIL 6-9 MONTHS, SHOULD BE 80-85 MAX FOR HEAT LAMP, EVERYWHERE IN THE SCREEN CAGE SHOULD BE 70-75 AND AT NIGHT AS LOW AS 65-70 DEGREES

GOOD LUCK AND GET THE STUFF AS SOON AS YOU CAN, OTHER THAN THAT YOU ARE GOOD TO GO

 

[Auntbee86]

Okay so I"ve taken your advice and I just built him a wire mesh cage yesterday. Pics are below. I believe hes in love with it so far. For now its a 2ft x 2ft x 3ft tall (the total hight is 5ft) I think its pretty good for a last minute project and with no idea how it was gonna look. I'll have to make or buy a larger one later on for him. I"m charging my camera battery but the pic is once I built it I'l update with rescent pics later on. I"ve placed a hibiscus plant in there and some branches and vines to climb on. I've got those light bulbs and their on a timer. I drove to tampa and grabbed their last 2 dozen of the 1/4 inch crickets and will go back prolly today to get some more hes been eating them fine. do you know of any websites to just buy crickets? I've found fluckers(which we order from at my work,but their to big for him..he eats the smaller of the 3 week crickets and leaves the larger of them to roam) I just looked on their site and they have the 4week/ half inch and the 1 week(3/16 inch) should I order the 1week size and if so the 250 or the 500? I'l keep them in that plastic container since its gotta mesh lid.And you say he should be eating around 15-20 crickets a day...around how old should he be to give him more? and how much more? I've been tossing in about 6 crickets at a time and once he eats those I toss in about 6 more. I believe hes still nervious and plus with all of the moving into a new cage. I'm not holding him as much and hes eating now. should I just toss in the 15-20 crickets all at once since hes in a bigger cage or just do about 6 at a time? i just dont want to have to many in there and scare or confuse him. Thanks again

 

[jannb]

I would recommend adding another plant to your cage and more branches and vines. I would feed him 2 or 3 times a day. Since you are in FL, Lazy H Bait is a great place to buy your crickets. 1-863-675-3109.
Not sure if I gave you this link before or not but it would help you in getting everything set up for your new chameleon. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[Olimpia]

Yes, get another plant or two in there and make it nice and bushy for your little one. He'll be much happier

I see you're in the Tampa area. If you ever need any help with anything I'm pretty close to you. It's always nice to have members nearby for emergency help and whatnot There's a repticon in Tampa this weekend, so you can use the opportunity to buy insects there.

 

[kinyonga]

You need to make sure that the chameleon can get within the appropriate range of the UVB bulb that you use...so the branches should reach up high enough to accomplish this. Its important that your chameleon gets enough UVB to produce enough D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system/diet to keep it from developing MBD.

Any plants you use should be non-toxic and well-washed (both sides of the leaves).

 

[Auntbee86]

thanks, I'll check out that site and make sure I've got it all goin good.
yes I've seen theres a show in tampa, I've been in the past but sadly I work this weekend...I'll try and stop by before work and check it out though it would be interesting.thanks its nice knowin theres people nearby.
I'll buy another plant and get more branches and twiggs in there for him. I've well washed plants and have been getting plant ideas from the reccomended plant list on forum. thanks again everyone. I'd be lost with out you all.