Help !!!

jsetter11

New Member
Hi , im getting my nosey be on friday and was just wondering some things that i should do when bringing him home. hes only a couple weeks old so i jus need facts right now on how to take care of him, what i should buy for him . and just any little tips how to make him more comfortable when taking him out.... soo if any one wants to asnwer or email me feel free :)
 
Hi , im getting my nosey be on friday and was just wondering some things that i should do when bringing him home. hes only a couple weeks old so i jus need facts right now on how to take care of him, what i should buy for him . and just any little tips how to make him more comfortable when taking him out.... soo if any one wants to asnwer or email me feel free :)

Dude, you have to do some serious reading on husbandry by Friday.
 
Honestly a cage should have been set up prior to ordering him as you'll need time to get the ambient temps and humidity levels measured so that you know how everything will go when the little guy gets there...

But on to your questions... He'll need a smaller cage at first and depending on your area you live in you'll a smaller enclosure until he's about 4-5 months, but if your under constraint they can be immediately housed in a large mesh cage around 24"x24"x48"... He will need a LOT of vines, preferably of different widths as it gives them different ways to work their hand muscles to keep their grip strong... Also a few live plants are necessary as the are arboreal and live in trees... Real plants are recommended as they are able to maintain humidity better. For lighting you will need a 5.0 linear UVB, and a basking light and for a young cham like the one on the way a 20 watt should be okay but eventually you can up it to around a 60-75 watt once he gets older... You will need Calcium without D3 for everyday dusting for his feeders, and multivitamin for use up to twice a month... For feeders at that young fruit flies will be good and crix at about 1/4 in. gutloaded with high calcium veggies such as carrots, squash, collard greens, kale, apples, bee pollen, dandelion greens, etc, etc,...Hope this is a good amount of starter info!

EDIT: if this is your first cham I have news to break to you, these guys are NOT cuddly, they are RARELY loving... They are lone wolfs that only TOLERATE our company for the most part... For the first two weeks I would not even attempt to hold the cham and if the tension becaomes too much put a sheet over the cage so that he can have privacy because stress early on will damage the guy down the road
 
Hi , im getting my nosey be on friday and was just wondering some things that i should do when bringing him home. hes only a couple weeks old so i jus need facts right now on how to take care of him, what i should buy for him . and just any little tips how to make him more comfortable when taking him out.... soo if any one wants to asnwer or email me feel free :)

here are the basics of what you need to know:
avoid handling as much as possible. After it has settled in, if you need to handle it, move SLOWLY and coax onto one hand from below (never pluck or pull off a branch). Or coax onto a stick. Sometimes a food bribe helps. Gloves can be worn if necessary.
 
What size and type cage do you have? You will need a reptisun or reptiglo 5.0 linear tube UVB. A house hold bulb for basking, a temperature and humidity Gage, the duel digital ones can be purchased at home depot or lowes. You will want to keep the temps at basking around 80,81 degrees. Bottom of cage around 70. Provide small enough branches for him to grasp onto. Maybe a pothos plant. Either a store bought or make your own dripper. Some pinhead to 1/8 inch size crickets.(general rule is no bigger than the space between his eyes) fruit and veggies to gut load the crickets with. Look up sandrachameleon, she has some gut loading blogs that list safe foods. A hand mister ( unless you have a misting system, which you will want soon if you don't already have :)) enjoy your chameleon! If I forgot something I am sure someone else will chime in, if they haven't already while I was typing this out:p good luck, happy times:D
 
oy vey sean!,
that was a whole book in 1 paragraph!. almost forgot to breath I was reading so fast!!
Hi Suzi, we had an awesome day today!, swimming, Natural History Museum, BBQ. Howz about you? Sorry, I always see you just before bedtime and I hijack someones thread to say hi to you!!

Jsetter, may I ask what made you decide you wanted a chameleon?
How long you have prepared for this, or have been reading, studying?. Has your breeder given you any info on your Nosey? a care sheet?
I worry you are going to be overwhelmed when you realize the care and time and money that is needed to care for a chameleon properly. Do you have a family member that has had them?

I just want the best for your cham, and the most enjoyment for you
 
haha i agree with that.

i read for quite awhile before i bought my cham, bought all my supplies before hand, etc. i hope you dont get it and find out it costs too much or its too much work or something.

i decided id rather just post some basic stuff real quick than wait for a response.

try and get an all mesh cage, make sure you have a reptisun 5.0, use a standard incandescent housebulb for heat (you might have to try a few wattages try 40 and go from there) make sure you have a hygrometer and thermometer, get all your supplements (calcium with d3, calcium WITHOUT d3, herptivite), uhm.. yeah, make sure you have enough branches/vines/foliage..

at weeks old i guess they probably eat fruit flys and pinheads? i have no experience in this but someone will chime in with more precise information.

i dont know how many people think its needed but i personally try and keep my heat dome off the screen directly just incase my guy decides to climb on the ceiling for whatever reason.

try and get some live plants (my cham really digs pothos, sleeps in a dwarf umbrella tree) they sell them at home improvement stores and walmart and places like that. replace the soil it comes with, something organic. make sure to clean the plants really well too - they may have pesticides on them so use dish soap and rinse it off many times.

if you are really dedicated and read up youll be an expert in no time, i havent been on that long and ive learned so much. you have to be willing to do the work though. try to use the search function to get quick answers but dont be afraid to ask either if you need to.

and one forum tip - dont take informative posts personally, the senior members here know their stuff so dont get defensive. were all about the well being of chameleons and if they know youre doing something wrong they will tell you :)

oh a quick list of things that can pop up for newer people - dont use waterfalls (could drown in it, but will likely get poop in it and get sick), dont use the red heat bulbs - they can see it, dont use substrate - they can get impacted (cant poop) and have other serious problems.

i think i got a lot of basics that should get you started off pretty good but i know others will chime in with great info.

edit : just saw a bunch of posts above mine. ah well, no harm done. sorry for my double spacing as well. its a hard habit to stop.
 
I'm going to have to say you are in probably the best place to learn and figure things out for your cham in the few days you have to prepare everything for him/her.

First of all, I would say focus on reading the materials provided to you by the other members on setting up general husbandry. There isn't really a need to repeat what has already been posted and said.

Second, make sure you already have an idea on supplementation. Grab the calcium and vitamin supplements before he comes and ask about them on the forums! Some of the calcium w/ d3 need to be added in more from what I have read, hopefully someone will do a more indepth post to clear that up. I know for myself I do vitamins about twice a month and same with calc w/ d3, then calc w/o d3 and about an hour or so of natural sunlight during the summer months to help him out. At the same time, you shouldn't be taking him out for about two weeks (as mentioned before) unless it is critical to his health that he needs to see a vet. On that note, make sure you know where you are going to take him/her if he/she needs to go to the vet. I went as far as actually meeting with him before hand as soon as I moved up to NY and just asking questions about chams in general.

Think about the possibility of breeding feeders! I only bring up this point due to the fact that after one reptile, you are usually going to get more because they are a rather addictive and adorable group of pets. ( Gf's beardie, 2 crested geckos, and my cham <3). I would recommend it if you have the time and resources for it.

Another note for feeders, make sure you have something to house them in and propper gut loading prepared for them. Gut load 24 hours ahead of time just to make sure anything the pet store got wrong gets passed through their system and doesn't hurt your cham!

Last note I'm gonna put, I wanna see pics once he is all settled in :p
 
read the links sandra has posted. you have plenty of time to get it all done. welcome to the forums and congrats on your new chameleon.
 
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