New baby, new house

[werevoulf]

I'm new here and a new cham mama. I've had a ball python for 11 years but this little guy's only been in my life a few days! Granted he's been a presence in my life for months now with his cage being set up beforehand but!-

Meet Marcel.

He is 7 months and has been pretty bold if I do say so myself! I've got a lot of growing questions already but I wanted to just introduce him for now. If anyone is okay hearing out my questions though, let me know! Big brand new experience.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I'm new here and a new cham mama. I've had a ball python for 11 years but this little guy's only been in my life a few days! Granted he's been a presence in my life for months now with his cage being set up beforehand but!-

Meet Marcel.

He is 7 months and has been pretty bold if I do say so myself! I've got a lot of growing questions already but I wanted to just introduce him for now. If anyone is okay hearing out my questions though, let me know! Big brand new experience.

Handsome!

 

[elizaann2]

What a beautiful boy! I’m sure there are many members here that want to see him do well and thrive. What questions do you have?

 

[werevoulf]

What a beautiful boy! I’m sure there are many members here that want to see him do well and thrive. What questions do you have?

Thank you! And I'm sure, haha, I could say the same for all the boys and girls here, all gotta thrive!

For now some smaller things, like dealing with a few fungus gnats, or if I should bother with them? Are they dangerous at all?

How do I introduce other insects into their diet/how to make them interested in them?

Darker colours under his lights is okay? Not black just darker when he is basking.

How low can your humidity drop in between misting? Mine gets around 40 at the lowest and that's when it's nearing his next mist, which kicks it back up again.

He doesn't do it often, but how long is okay for him to hang on the ceiling under his lights? Will he know to move if it's too much for him? Just worried about him burning himself but he doesn't do it too much. I'm guessing he mostly does it being so new here and when I get close for too long. Otherwise he's good about basking at a proper distance from the looks of it.

These come to mind first!

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!
Beautiful, healthy looking male!

Regarding hanging out under the lights…you can test the basking light by putting your hand inside the cage at the closest spot (like tight against the screen lid of the cage) palm side down . If you want to move your hand away in a bit then the bulb is likely hot enough to burn your chameleon.

The fungus gnats are nothing more than a pest IMHO.

Darker colours under the light should be from him trying to warm up.

What insects are you feeding him now? What supplements are you using and how often for each? Do they contain D3? What form of vitamin A is in them? Calcium…without Phos?

 

[GrannyK]

Welcome!!! Beautiful little guy you have there!!

 

[werevoulf]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!
Beautiful, healthy looking male!

Regarding hanging out under the lights…you can test the basking light by putting your hand inside the cage at the closest spot (like tight against the screen lid of the cage) palm side down . If you want to move your hand away in a bit then the bulb is likely hot enough to burn your chameleon.

The fungus gnats are nothing more than a pest IMHO.

Darker colours under the light should be from him trying to warm up.

What insects are you feeding him now? What supplements are you using and how often for each? Do they contain D3? What form of vitamin A is in them? Calcium…without Phos?

Thank you so much for the help!

Currently he is eating crickets and I have super worms as well, but he's not interested in them. So! Looking to try other stuff as I go. He is happily hunting the crickets though.

As for dusting, I have Flukers without D3, which I dust on the crickets each feeding. I have Flukers with D3 and phos free as well but I'll only be using that once every two weeks? Haven't used it just yet.

Vit A I use bee pollen, should I be using that every day as well?

 

[werevoulf]

I say he hasn't been trying out the worms and then come into the room to this. Hahaha, so nvm that! He ate both of them without issue.

 

[kinyonga]

He could have just been settling in so he didn’t eatL

You can feed him roaches, silk worms, BSFL, locusts, crickets.
Once in a while, hornworms, mealworms, superworms, waxworms.

As for bee pollen…I’ll leave it to someone else to tell you about it…I’ve never used it.

 

[werevoulf]

Yeah, I'm just trying to find a place to get a better variety of food! And figure out how to keep these insects/store them properly. Do you have any sources that can help with the proper care and storage for different feeders?