JTelcontar
Member
I have had Cicero for a week now (picked him up at the Reptile Super Show from the Kammers in Pomona last Saturday)! I figured it was time to post an intro topic for him with some pics. 
He has been actively exploring his whole enclosure. Every time I walk by and glance at him, he's some place new! He has slept in the same spot all week, so I think he's found his favorite safe spot for cham bedtime. He also seems to like the Mist King and will stand in the mist and shower lol. He's only hissed at me once, and in general has been pretty calm. I've been trying to leave him be and not bug him too much. I can stand and watch him or take some photos with my iPhone and he's been pretty cool about it.
He has not been eating a lot, but I've read this is pretty normal for the first couple of weeks in a new place. The first couple of days he wouldn't eat at all, but I've managed to get him to eat a little bit for the last couple of days:
- TODAY (14): 2 3/8" dubias [cup]; 2 baby silkworms (+ 2 "newborns" that were piggybacking on the larger silkworm) [hand]
- FRIDAY (13): 2 3/8" dubias [hand]; 1 baby silkworm [hand]
- THURSDAY (12): 3 3/8" dubias [cup/hand]; 2 baby silkworms [hand]
The silkworms were all handfed (yay!) and the dubias were a mix-- he will eat them off my hand, but also out of a feeding cup. I'm trying very hard to get him to go to the feeding cup on his own and eat. Today I put 5 small dubias in there for him and left him alone for about 2 hours. He ate 2 of the dubias in that time. Hopefully he will keep improving on his appetite every day.
(also, all the dubias have been dusted with Rapashy Calcium Plus all-in-one and gutloaded with Bug Burger.)
I am going to fill out the "help" form here, in case you guys have any suggestions.
SPECIES: Nosy Be Panther Chameleon
SEX: Male
AGE: 3 months (from October 2011 clutch)
BREEDER: Kammerflage Kreations, sired by Sinatra
LENGTH IN MY CARE: 7 days
HANDLING: So far, pretty much none! He climbed out onto my hand when leaving his transport deli cup, but he was quick to run off into his enclosure. Hah. Yesterday he "escaped" while I was feeding him and climbed onto the tubing of the Mist King-- he was pretty high up with no where to go, so I held out my hand to him and he got right on and proceeded to scurry as fast as he could over to his enclosure.
FEEDERS: Dubia Roaches; Silkworms; Phoenix Worms (no luck with the Phoenix Worms so far, he won't touch 'em!)
FEEDING TIME: I fill his feeding cup with about 5 or 6 3/8" dusted dubias between 9:30 AM and 10 AM. I will leave them in there until around 1 PM, at which time if he hasn't eaten at all I will hand feed whatever he will take from me. He gives me this "UMM I AM DONE EATING HERE!!!" look when he doesn't want any more.
GUT-LOADING: The dubias get a fresh slice of Bug Burger every day. There is usually a visible chunk missing, so they appear to be eating it! I bought 300 nymphs at the Pomona show.
SUPPLEMENTS: Rapashy Calcium Plus dusted on each dubia-- I have not been dusting the silkworms thus far.
WATER/MISTING: The Mist King goes off at 9 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM, 5 PM for 1.5 mins each time. I monitor the humidity and will mist by hand too if I think it's getting a little dry. I have a dripper I could set up, but I've seen him drinking from drips on the leaves, so I have not set it up yet.
FECAL DESCRIPTION: I've seen 2 droppings so far. The first was on the day I got him (it was brown with an orangy urate--probably a bit dehydrated from all the excitement of the show and not having his usual mistings!). The second was on Monday and it was good sized, brown, solid consistency. The urate was orange with white on the end (I assume from getting his hydration level back up in his new home). I have not yet seen another poop from him... hopefully today or tomorrow since he's been eating a bit the last couple of days.
CAGE TYPE: aluminum screen cage
DIMENSIONS: 2 ft. H x 2 ft. W x 1 ft. D
(I'll attach a photo of his current setup!)
LIGHTING: 18" Repitsun 5.0 UVB; 100 watt basking bulb on a clamp lamp; 12 hours on, 12 hours off (8 AM - 8 PM on a timer)
TEMPERATURE: I have been following the Kammers' recommendations for temperatures, which I know is higher than many people on this forum recommend. His basking spot ranges from 85-95 F. The coolest part of his cage is around 67-70 F. He has a pretty nice gradient and I see him taking advantage of it. Lowest overnight temp is 60 F (our heater in the house kicks on when it drops below 64!). I have been measuring the temps with my Fluke IR temp gun and also an analog gauge.
HUMIDITY: Ranges from 40% to 80% depending upon the length of time since misting. The humidity is measured with an analog gauge in about the middle of the enclosure. I'll hand mist if it seems to be dipping a bit.
PLANTS: No live plants at this time; I will be using live ones in his "big boy" cage.
PLACEMENT: The cage is located near the dining room; my whole house is pretty low traffic since it's just me and the significant other. There's a heat vent in the room he is in, but it's not particularly close to his cage. The cage is on one of those wire shelving units and the top of it is approx. 6 feet off the ground.
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: Southern California, USA
This is probably a huge wall of text, so I appreciate any replies. Thanks for reading! I hope to show you guys more pics as he grows and gets a little less camera shy.
He has been actively exploring his whole enclosure. Every time I walk by and glance at him, he's some place new! He has slept in the same spot all week, so I think he's found his favorite safe spot for cham bedtime.
He also seems to like the Mist King and will stand in the mist and shower lol. He's only hissed at me once, and in general has been pretty calm. I've been trying to leave him be and not bug him too much. I can stand and watch him or take some photos with my iPhone and he's been pretty cool about it.He has not been eating a lot, but I've read this is pretty normal for the first couple of weeks in a new place. The first couple of days he wouldn't eat at all, but I've managed to get him to eat a little bit for the last couple of days:
- TODAY (14): 2 3/8" dubias [cup]; 2 baby silkworms (+ 2 "newborns" that were piggybacking on the larger silkworm) [hand]
- FRIDAY (13): 2 3/8" dubias [hand]; 1 baby silkworm [hand]
- THURSDAY (12): 3 3/8" dubias [cup/hand]; 2 baby silkworms [hand]
The silkworms were all handfed (yay!) and the dubias were a mix-- he will eat them off my hand, but also out of a feeding cup. I'm trying very hard to get him to go to the feeding cup on his own and eat. Today I put 5 small dubias in there for him and left him alone for about 2 hours. He ate 2 of the dubias in that time.
Hopefully he will keep improving on his appetite every day.(also, all the dubias have been dusted with Rapashy Calcium Plus all-in-one and gutloaded with Bug Burger.)
I am going to fill out the "help" form here, in case you guys have any suggestions.
SPECIES: Nosy Be Panther Chameleon
SEX: Male
AGE: 3 months (from October 2011 clutch)
BREEDER: Kammerflage Kreations, sired by Sinatra
LENGTH IN MY CARE: 7 days
HANDLING: So far, pretty much none! He climbed out onto my hand when leaving his transport deli cup, but he was quick to run off into his enclosure. Hah. Yesterday he "escaped" while I was feeding him and climbed onto the tubing of the Mist King-- he was pretty high up with no where to go, so I held out my hand to him and he got right on and proceeded to scurry as fast as he could over to his enclosure.
FEEDERS: Dubia Roaches; Silkworms; Phoenix Worms (no luck with the Phoenix Worms so far, he won't touch 'em!)
FEEDING TIME: I fill his feeding cup with about 5 or 6 3/8" dusted dubias between 9:30 AM and 10 AM. I will leave them in there until around 1 PM, at which time if he hasn't eaten at all I will hand feed whatever he will take from me. He gives me this "UMM I AM DONE EATING HERE!!!" look when he doesn't want any more.
GUT-LOADING: The dubias get a fresh slice of Bug Burger every day. There is usually a visible chunk missing, so they appear to be eating it! I bought 300 nymphs at the Pomona show.
SUPPLEMENTS: Rapashy Calcium Plus dusted on each dubia-- I have not been dusting the silkworms thus far.
WATER/MISTING: The Mist King goes off at 9 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM, 5 PM for 1.5 mins each time. I monitor the humidity and will mist by hand too if I think it's getting a little dry. I have a dripper I could set up, but I've seen him drinking from drips on the leaves, so I have not set it up yet.
FECAL DESCRIPTION: I've seen 2 droppings so far. The first was on the day I got him (it was brown with an orangy urate--probably a bit dehydrated from all the excitement of the show and not having his usual mistings!). The second was on Monday and it was good sized, brown, solid consistency. The urate was orange with white on the end (I assume from getting his hydration level back up in his new home). I have not yet seen another poop from him... hopefully today or tomorrow since he's been eating a bit the last couple of days.
CAGE TYPE: aluminum screen cage
DIMENSIONS: 2 ft. H x 2 ft. W x 1 ft. D
(I'll attach a photo of his current setup!)
LIGHTING: 18" Repitsun 5.0 UVB; 100 watt basking bulb on a clamp lamp; 12 hours on, 12 hours off (8 AM - 8 PM on a timer)
TEMPERATURE: I have been following the Kammers' recommendations for temperatures, which I know is higher than many people on this forum recommend. His basking spot ranges from 85-95 F. The coolest part of his cage is around 67-70 F. He has a pretty nice gradient and I see him taking advantage of it.
Lowest overnight temp is 60 F (our heater in the house kicks on when it drops below 64!). I have been measuring the temps with my Fluke IR temp gun and also an analog gauge.HUMIDITY: Ranges from 40% to 80% depending upon the length of time since misting. The humidity is measured with an analog gauge in about the middle of the enclosure. I'll hand mist if it seems to be dipping a bit.
PLANTS: No live plants at this time; I will be using live ones in his "big boy" cage.
PLACEMENT: The cage is located near the dining room; my whole house is pretty low traffic since it's just me and the significant other. There's a heat vent in the room he is in, but it's not particularly close to his cage. The cage is on one of those wire shelving units and the top of it is approx. 6 feet off the ground.
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: Southern California, USA
This is probably a huge wall of text, so I appreciate any replies.
Thanks for reading! I hope to show you guys more pics as he grows and gets a little less camera shy. 
