I recently bought a 3/4 month old panther chameleon

[ethankohl13]

Hi im Ethan I recently bought a 3/4 month closer to 4 months old panther chameleon on sunday from a reptile expo. I have a 2x2x4 cage and plenty of live plants everything you'd need for the perfect home. The only issue is this little guy hasn't ate since bringing home. Idk how to introduce food to him(small crickets). I've tried tong feeding hm he just runs and hides. I'm scared to put crickets in his cage for long periods bc ik they could hurt him. I also haven't seen him come to the basking branch much just really hiding the whole time the lights on. I just don't the little guy to die or get unhealthy. This is my first chameleon, I've also reached out to the breeder about how he was going about feeding the dude and i haven't had a reply. I really would love the help. THINGS THAT MIGHT BE IMPORTANT.
I have a Reptisun T5 Ho Light
Basking buld is a 50 watt and the basking branch is about 87-90. I have a 75WATT but was told buy the breeder it could be to hot and dehydrate him.
i have a fogger and sprayer. and a water dripper and lots of live plants.

 

[LizardLurkin]

If he's brand new to the place, it will take a couple of weeks most likely before you start to observe him eating regularly. His surroundings are all new, and even if a total improvement to his last, will take some getting used to. As babies they are particularly more scaredy, too.
I will have to advise against using tongs to feed your little guy. Too often can they result in major tongue injuries. To get him used to your presence, you will have better luck putting the bugs in a little cup, and holding them near wherever he's hiding (being sure you're mostly out of view. I did this by standing more beside the enclosure with arm outstretched, or sitting much lower.)
That's how it worked for me and my chameleon, anyhow. Eight months later and he happily and confidently takes bugs from my hand even with full eye contact.

 

[ethankohl13]

If he's brand new to the place, it will take a couple of weeks most likely before you start to observe him eating regularly. His surroundings are all new, and even if a total improvement to his last, will take some getting used to. As babies they are particularly more scaredy, too.
I will have to advise against using tongs to feed your little guy. Too often can they result in major tongue injuries. To get him used to your presence, you will have better luck putting the bugs in a little cup, and holding them near wherever he's hiding (being sure you're mostly out of view. I did this by standing more beside the enclosure with arm outstretched, or sitting much lower.)
That's how it worked for me and my chameleon, anyhow. Eight months later and he happily and confidently takes bugs from my hand even with full eye contact.

so what about a vertical feeder where the bugs can craw but not jump out? Like i said im completely new to this. how big/deep should said cup be? I also have a very hard time finding him sometimes

 

[LizardLurkin]

Yes, such feeder cups are popular. Shooting galleries, feeder runs, I see them called by both of these things.

I have one of these, but I also place this cup inside daily for extra visibility (I was worried the roaches blended in to how dark the cup is)
I also use the little white cup for hand feeding. I'm unsure if crickets can escape it, so you might just elect to use a generic, deeper plastic cup and hold it under where your cham is hiding for visibility and temptation.

 

[Beman]

You need a feeder run. This guy has either been free fed or by feeder run. You can make one in the mean time or buy one. But you need baby to start eating. https://dragonstrand.com/constructing-a-chameleon-feeder-run/

At this stage they rarely will cup feed or hand feed. And tongs are dangerous for chams so not recommended. If they target it you could pull back and permanently damage the tongue.

Your temps are way too high for one this young. you want more to the 80 degree basking temp. Even an adult would be in the 80-85max for basking. If you are running focused heat bulbs these are very intense. A plain 60 watt incandescent white bulb would be better.

T5HO should be a 5.0 bulb strength and you want 8-9 inches to the basking branches running directly below it. No lights on at night so you want a 12 hour lights on and off cycle. If you are running the fogger that would be night only and only if temps are cool around 65.

 

[ethankohl13]

Yes, such feeder cups are popular. Shooting galleries, feeder runs, I see them called by both of these things.

I have one of these, but I also place this cup inside daily for extra visibility (I was worried the roaches blended in to how dark the cup is)
I also use the little white cup for hand feeding. I'm unsure if crickets can escape it, so you might just elect to use a generic, deeper plastic cup and hold it under where your cham is hiding for visibility and temptation.

i did just get him to eat 2 crickets! with the cup method i just think he is scared and just trying to get use to the new home

 

[Beman]

i did just get him to eat 2 crickets! with the cup method i just think he is scared and just trying to get use to the new home

But at this age he has to eat around 24-36 small insects per day. This is going to be hard with cup feeding. So he needs to be able to eat as he wants to.