New baby Urlich the Destroyer

[ohiohousewife]

Urlich the Destroyer arrived Thrusday (thanks Cham Kingdom!). He's sweet, and I seem to be having all the same anxiety every other new owner has.

I havent seen him eat.
I havent seen him drink.
I'm having a hard time trying to find that fine line between freaking him out, and looking for poo!
Took him outside, and he looks great.

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - 22 gallon reptarium for now

* Lighting - 13 hours on, reptisun 5.0 but I think I need a 10.0, 40 watt full spectrum basking in a clamp lamp

* Temperature - basking ~82 degrees, opposite corner 70. temps have been between 65 and 70 at night. I have 2 analog thermometers.

* Humidity - between 30 and 50% Habbamist every 3 hours for 45 seconds, soaker (one of those sprayers from wallyworld--great suggestion!) 3-4x/day for 3 min, more frequently if I see the humidity is low.

* Plants - umbrella plant, some clean branches, artificial vines

* Placement - top of cage is ~6 foot. quiet corner of livingroom, moderate traffic in the evening--everyone's gone during the day.

* Location - Columbus, ohio


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - ambilobe male. I guess he is about 4.5 months old? I've had him for 2 days. he's probably 3" STV?

* Handling - havent except to get him in his cage

* Feeding - started out with 3/4" crickets--that's what he was eating @ the kingdom, but went to 1/4-1/2" after he only ate one of the big ones. I gutload with dry (dry milk, algae, bee pollen, the works), wet (collard, dandelion, turnip greens, yam, strawberries, coconut, etc), and cricket crystals for water. We've seen him eat 1 cricket. Havent found many live ones, or bodies, but again, im trying not to disturb him very much. He has 5 in from this morning. I'll see if there are any in there when I bring him back inside.

* Supplements - repcal. calcium without d3 daily so far. will do d3 every 2 weeks, and herptivite 1x/month

* Watering - as above, habbamist, spraying, havent seen him drink

* Fecal Description - cant find any--trying really hard to not freak him out.

* History - none yet.

* Current Problem - mostly worried about hydration and eating.

Thanks a ton!

 

[jannb]

Cute little guy! Sometimes it just takes a few days for them to settle in. Try a different feeder.....maybe a superworm. Do you have a drip cup?

 

[Gluuvan]

He is probably doing fine, It took my little boy 1 or 2 days before he really settled in. Make a count on how many crickets you feed him, come back in a couple hours and count again. Sometimes they dont like eating in the presence of you just yet! Give him some space and time, He looks really healthy

also your best bet is the 5.0 UVB for now, i would not recommend the 10.0.

 

[Malicious]

I just got a new little one on Thursday as well. They do take time to settle in as Jann said. Stay up on the watering and just keep an eye out for signs of dehydration (yellow urates, sunken in eyes) Janns right a dripper would be a great idea. You can make one out of a foam cup or a plastic bottle. It's a cheap and reliable way to get water to your cham. Aim the drips to land on the leaves and trickle down.

-Jay

Edit: The ReptiSun 5.0 is plenty, you don't need a 10.0 for that size enclosure.

 

[ohiohousewife]

Thanks for the input, guys.

 

[hallenhe]

Best of luck with him. It's good to see you're keeping on top of things. Not to give you a false sense of security, but orange urates aren't necessarily the end of the world, especially since he probably is still recovering from being shipped; he may well recover just fine as he settles in and starts drinking again.

 

[skyedog]

Nice lookin guy you got there. Like Gluuvan said, just try to keep track of the amount of crickets fed compared to whats left over. My oustalet will not eat in front of me. Many times I've walked in on him and he's on one of his vines with half a cricket hanging out of his mouth trying not to move. He'll finish it when I am less visible to him.

Also, have you considered using something other than the habba mist? They aren't exactly the best "mister" out there

 

[summoner12]

If you have a high basking perch near the UVB lamp you won't need a 10.0 I had a 10.0 on mine for a while and caddie started to close her one eye... she always sits in her basking spot facing one way... the eye affected was the eye facing the lamp. after I changed the lamp to a 5.0 her issue went away in a day or two and wasn't closing her eye anymore.