Current concerns

[yeyo]

Hi all,
Got a couple things worrying me. This is my first chameleon so please bare with me.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - All screen. 24x24x40
Lighting - Natural
Temperature - Hottest in the high 80'sF, lowest at night high 60'sF to low 70'sF, digital thermometer
Humidity - lowest Ive recorded is 64%, highest 99%, digital thingy
Plants - 1 hibiscus, 2 pothos, fake vines
Placement - Outside in the shade of palm threes, 0 traffic, top of cage about 6' from floor. Very little direct sun light, if any.
Location - Caribbean

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Ambilobe, 2.5 month old, in my care for 1 week. His body w/o tail is about 3.5 inches
Handling - Once, he hates me
Feeding - 6-8 crickets in the morning, same in the afternoon. Gut loaded with carrots and potatoes
Supplements - Nothing
Watering - Dripper during all day, stopped at night. 2 mistings each day at feed time
Fecal Description - Dark brown with white tip
History - n/a
Current Problem - He's dark all day, I only see green when he's sleeping and a little bit when he's eating. I dont know whats stressing him, temperature and humidity seems fine. Maybe Im being impatient and its just a matter of waiting for him to settle or maybe the cage is too big for him? The other thing is Ive only seen him drink water the first day. Theres plenty of water available but I wanna know how long does it take without drinking to start showing dehydration symptoms and what exactly are those symptoms?
So, his color and drinking are my concerns right now. Any comments?
Thanks!

edit: Pictures on the album on my profile

 

[jannb]

I would recommend you still use supplements even though you keep him outside. I would not mist until after feeding because it wets their feeders and washes off the supplements and kills the feeders. He may not be happy as to why he stays brown. My guys free range and if I put them in a cage they turn brown too.

 

[sandrachameleon]

sometimes being dark means they are stressed or just trying to warm up.

Could you put one wee corner of the cage into a sunbeam, and see if he goes there? If he does, and then spends a lot of time in that little sun beam you may have your answer.

I would dust those crickets with calcium if I were you.

 

[yeyo]

Thanks both!

I'll move the cage a little tomorrow, I hope he was just trying to warm up...
As for the supplements, should I do the whole thing?
Calcium without D3 every other day and with D3 twice a month?
Is there such a thing as calcium overdose?
Sorry if the questions are stupid
I wanna happy cham!

 

[jannb]

They can't overdose on natural D3 but can on the D3 supplements.