Just settling in or?

[matt1]

Hey all,
I purchased a sub-adult male veiled chameleon 6 days ago today. I am a little concerned because since then his color has changed from a nice green to a sandy-brown. I am not sure if he is just a little stressed out from changing homes and the car ride (was a 4 hour drive from where I got him) or if there is a problem. Here are some more details

-19x27x46 inch vivarium
-4 live plants (2 pothos, 1 umbrella tree, and 1 dracaena)
-Has been eating superworms, waxworms, and hornworms. (never fed crickets before, doesn't seem to have an interest in them)
-Insects have been dusted every 3 days for him
-Cage has been misted 2-3 times a day well, and 3-4 ice cubes left on top per day.
-I have never tried handling him yet.
-Have a 75 watt zoo med bulb and a reptisun 5.0 bulb.
-Temperature range seems correct from everything I have read.
-I have never seen him drink but his droppings look moist. I have only ever seen him eat once, he is shy.
-Low trafic area, I have dogs but they don't go in the room I have the chameleon in. Only I go in the room.

I think that is all the details I can provide. He is my first chameleon so I am a little worried but hope that he is just settling in. He is almost a full mono-tone brown during the days with a few pale yellow/green spots, but at night his colors look a little better.

Thank you all! look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.
Cheers

 

[Chameleonmaster]

You need to have a staple food like crickets. Those worms don't provide the nutrients they need to survive. So you could get crickets and dubias as a staple. What are you dusting with? D3 or plain calcium?

 

[matt1]

Hi, I am dusting with repashy super foods calcium plus. says it has calcium, d3 and lots of other vitamens and minerals. I live in ontario and all roaches are illegal as feeders here. I can give crickets a try but I am worried about them escaping and the jumping kind of freaks me out. Any suggestions?

 

[stalincat]

Hi there,
you HAVE to get your cham to eat crickets. You may have to starve him a bit.. it won't do him any harm. Worms are a nice treat, like a chocolate or a pack of crisps for us. Unfortunately they are not very nutritious. If you are worried about escaped crix, put glue traps around the house. Works for me.
Also you have to dust pure calcium every feed, calcium + d3 every other week, mutivit on alternate weeks.
He is most certainly stressed, just let him settle.. don't take him out and generally leave him alone.
The forum is full of useful resources about cham husbandry. Shop around.. and good luck!

 

[carol5208]

you can gutload your superworms just like your crickets so do that and they will make them more nutritious. They are high in fat however. Silkworms are a great choice for a worm if you can get them. They are low in fat unlike most worms and are high in calcium. A chameleon CAN survive on not eating crickets. Crickets are favored so much because they are easily gutloadable and low in fat. Key is variety and feeding your feeders nutritionally. Let's not scare the OP into thinking his chameleon will die if it does not eat crickets or roaches. As far as the color, Give him some time to adjust. It can take weeks. A member on here has a chameleon that was dark for almost a month. They will show some of their brightest and best colors while sleeping, so that is normal.

 

[Chameleonmaster]

Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh that was not my intention.

 

[carol5208]

Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh that was not my intention.

its ok! I just didn't want him to think if his chameleon just ate worms it would die. I am not saying it is the best diet with worms alone but just to clarify they can survive on them.
'

 

[laurie]

I would consider a diet of silk worms, horn worms, flys, and a couple other items to be an excellent diet. I have 2 chams, I will not touch a cricket, that is all the other one wants. The other would be happy with dubia which the first Cham will not eat. Thank heaven they both like silk worms.

 

[matt1]

Thank you everyone for the replies. I have been gutloading the super worms well with celery, carrots, potato, mixed greens, and cauliflower.

Here is a link to the dust I am using on the insects. http://www.store.repashy.com/calcium-plus-16-oz-bag.html

Both the store owner and the can of dust reccomends using it with every feeding which I have been doing.

Talked to the store owner of my local reptile store and he said that the silk worms they have been getting in lately have been dissapointing and dying easily, so he won't be buying them again for a few weeks/months. I will give them a try next time he gets them.

What would you all consider good staple foods for my chameleon? All roaches are out of the picture because they are illegal in Ontario. Are crickets my only good option?

So far Tarzan has been eating super, wax, and hornworms

Thank you all!