I am officially a chameleon owner now!! Pics of my new girl.

dagy24

New Member
After surfing the forums for several weeks researching chameleons, I am finally the proud owner of a new little friend!

Today I went to the Hamburg/Northwest Berks Reptile Show and originally had planned to purchase an Ambilobe male if he was available, however, I found no available panther males at all (but there were about half a million veiled chameleons of various color morphs there. My friend got a male who is very small and adorable) and a few ambanja females and one ambilobe female. Originally I decided against buying a female but right before we left I ran back and purchased this Ambilobe female, who I was given an approximate age of "around 7 months".

Her name is Priscilla. I had already purchased a screen cage suitable for an adult male (2x2x4) and have my lighting set up. I have the materials to set up a decent drainage system (including a cabinet which the cage will sit on) and once I have that as a go I will get a mister. Right now the enclosure is about half set up - I also have a pothos I will string from the top and more sticks and vines. As soon as I get the cage in it's permanent place I will have it set up much better than this but I think for now it's better than being in the deli-cup she came home in!

Attached are pictures of my chameleon. She was very peachy pink, the picture doesn't show that. After I put her in her enclosure she climbed up the sides and hung out right at her UVB light but after a few minutes found her basking spot, so I misted her for a while and left her alone. She has had a very stressful day, as she was passed around to every prospective buyer all day and then had to endure a several hour car ride back to NJ in her deli cup. She's upstairs right now basking alone. She scares the hell out of me when she climbs around, I'm afraid she's going to fall but I'm just super paranoid I think!

I have a reptisun 5.0 as the UVB and a regular incandescent for the heat. I'm aware the analog style thermometers are not 100% accurate, I have a temp gun coming to me via fed ex.

I also know the mass cane isn't ideal, but like I said have a pothos and will replace it with a ficus once it's warmer here and I can actually locate one. Home Depot and Lowes had no options it seemed in the way of plants.

SORRY this post was so long I'm just very excited about all this and wanting to make sure I am able to make her enclosure comfortable as possible in the next few days and not stress her out too badly.
 

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welcome to the wonderfull world ( and addiction) of chams. you sound like you are on the right track, you should fill out the how to ask for help form posted it the heath forum, it will help show other members your full care info, and any area that may be possibly improved.
 
I still think that you have a nice setup and a sweet young lady.

don't forget to add a laying bin soon for her as she may lay an infertal clutch of eggs if overfed.

Harry
 
warpdrive: I will when I get the full thing set up. :) Thanks

Heres the how to ask for help form. Let me know if anything seems very off here.
Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Ambilobe, female, "around 7 months" old, in my care for less than a day
* Handling - This week I'll need to handle her a lot as I set things up but in general I don't plan to take her out unless she needs to be.
* Feeding - Tomorrow I will feed her for the first time. I'll get some crickets in the morning and gutload them with whatever appropriate veggies here, and dust them with calcium without d3. I've gotten some recipes from here (sandrachameleon's blog) for dry gutload as well that I will integrate in the future.
* Supplements - Again, have to buy tomorrow. I was going to do repcal w/o d3 lightly daily, w/ d3 twice a month and the herptivite once a month
* Watering - Hand misting. Every few hours until the humidity is over 80%. I am going to get a mist king. Today I misted a few times over the few hours and saw her drinking.
* Fecal Description - Havent seen any yet.
* History - none


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Screen 2x2x4
* Lighting - reptisun 5.0 24" for uvb, regular incandescent 60w for heat (will switch to 40w tomorrow I think.) Will get a timer soon for 12 hours on off. For now, on around 11 am, off around 11 pm.
* Temperature - floor: 67 degrees, basking spot 85-90. Since the basking spot seems a bit high tomorrow I will switch her light for a lower wattage one. House doesnt get below 62 at night. I just got my temp gun and used it to take the temp.
* Humidity - 40-80+. Usually between 50 and 60. I have an analog hygrometer.
* Plants - Umbrella Tree, Mass Cane, and Pothos that is going in tomorrow or the next day.
* Placement - In my room. No drafts or vents. We use baseboard heat not forced hot air. When it is on its stand the top will be over 6 feet from the ground.
* Location - NJ.
 
Welcome to your beautifully colored girl. I thing she is going to be happy in the cage. The umbrella plant is great, she will be fine until you get the pothos. It appears your set up is good. Try not to handle her much the next few days. Better to let some cage upgrades wait and get your girl settled. jmo
 
Thanks everyone! And yeah Laurie I was also thinking that maybe I should give her a few days so it's not like. The worst week of her entire life all happening at once :). Plus it allows me not to be stressed out trying to put together a cabinet with my DIY drainage idea while trying to write a paper.
 
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