New Cham, looking for advice on a few topics

April McGregor

Established Member
Hello all, I just a few a questions I'd like to ask as I am very paranoid mother to my new baby Cham, his name is Pickle and I've been wanting a Cham for 4-6 years but wantes to wait until I was ready. Any advice would be much appreciated. Not sure how to upload a picture! But he's in my avatar. Should have a pic of his setup in my media.


Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon: Veiled, male, 5 weeks old and have had him for 3 days.


Handling: First handled him today to take him by his food bowl. He is very friendly and does not mind being handled.


Feeding: Fruit flies around 10-12 twice a day as he has a big appetite and tends to eat them all.


Supplements: Calcium without D3 every feeding. Have Calcium with D3 ready to give him twice a month. Have not got his multivitamins but will be getting some to also give twice a month.


Watering: Have a pressurised mister, mist him about 2-3 times a day for about 1-2 minutes.


Fecal description: Yet to see any.


History: Got him from my local reptile shop, he was the small one of the batch but seemed to be very healthy, huge appetite and very friendly, always at the front of the cage and was being handled everyday. Was supposed to have him a few weeks from now but reptile owner was happy to give him away as he was doing so well.


Cage info:
Cage type: Wooden viv with glass doors and a screen top. Size (in inches) 36L x 24W x 18D


Lighting: Reptisun 5.0 Uvb strip light (7:15am-7:30pm). Basking bulb 100w, getting a 75w bulb tomorrow instead (7:30am-7:15pm).


Temperature: Basking spot usually a steady 30-35° Celsius and base of cage 25° Celsius. At night temps usually stay around 18-23° Celsius.


Humidity: Seems to stay around 40-50%. Both humidity and temperature however are measured by analogue so not sure how reliable those are, going to be getting a digital one.


Plants: One small Umbrella plant cleaned and soil covered with large rocks. Plenty of fake plants dotted around also.


Placement: Lives with just me and my partner in a flat that tends be quite cold (reason for the wooden viv), his cage is in our spare room on a chest of draws about eye level to us. Very low traffic.


Location: UK


Current Problem:
Have not seen any poop yet and have had him 3 days now so I'm a bit worried, how often do they tend to poop?


Today he seemed a bit off, first 2 days he was very active exploring his cage. This morning instead of rushing down for food and waiting by his food bowl (which is what he has been doing) he layed up in his basking area and closed his eyes for a while. I then took him down to his food bowl (worried he wasnt eating!) and he ate most of his food if not all then went back up to bask and closed his eyes again. All day he has been walking up and down the same branch stopping and closing his eyes every now and then. Is this normal?? I am so worried as he is tiny and very young, want to make sure I am doing the best I can for him!


Also I have seen him drink about 4 droplets of water since I've had him, I am worried he is dehydrated as I rarely see him drink and the reptile shop I got him from never had any water droplets on leaves whenever I visited but had a water bowl! Any advice on how to get him drinking would be great!


Thank you in advance, the forums have been a huge help so far.
 
I'm no expert but from everything I've read says the flies can give them constipation. And you not seeing any poop, I'd be worried about that. Mine love crickets and superworms. Everyone says roaches are awesome. I will be trying those soon. Also gut loading your feeders is a must. Gives your baby better nutrients :)
I never see mine drink water. But she's really shy and currently hates us bc we have to give her liquid calcium every night (she had MBD)
Good luck with your baby! I'm sure someone more knowledgeable with chime in soon.:ROFLMAO:

Oh and to upload you a pic you have to click upload a file at the bottom. Be patient because it takes a minute for mine to load so I can send it.(y)(y)
 
The first one is him with his eyes closed about an hour after I turned his lights on in the morning, however I dont think he was sleeping because he would open his eyes every now and then. The 3 pics of his cage was taken a few weeks before I got him so i hav made a few tweaks since then.
 

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The glass viv's can give them respiratory issues. But I've seen a lot of debates on that here. Closing their eyes during the day is worrisome.
 
I'm no expert but from everything I've read says the flies can give them constipation. And you not seeing any poop, I'd be worried about that. Mine love crickets and superworms. Everyone says roaches are awesome. I will be trying those soon. Also gut loading your feeders is a must. Gives your baby better nutrients :)
I never see mine drink water. But she's really shy and currently hates us bc we have to give her liquid calcium every night (she had MBD)
Good luck with your baby! I'm sure someone more knowledgeable with chime in soon.:ROFLMAO:

Oh and to upload you a pic you have to click upload a file at the bottom. Be patient because it takes a minute for mine to load so I can send it.(y)(y)

Thank you! Just as you wrote that I saw the 'upload a file' haha. Yes that makes sense l, very worried he hasn't pooped but didn't know fruit flies make them constipated! I am getting him some small crickets tomorrow he can try he's just so small I'm worried anything else will be too big!

I have been gutloading the fruit flies with watercress and mango so far.
 
Thank you! Just as you wrote that I saw the 'upload a file' haha. Yes that makes sense l, very worried he hasn't pooped but didn't know fruit flies make them constipated! I am getting him some small crickets tomorrow he can try he's just so small I'm worried anything else will be too big!

I have been gutloading the fruit flies with watercress and mango so far.
Feed him a variety of appropriately-sized insects, larvae, and worms. If he’s small enough, isopods are good, too
 
I would also take him to an exotic vet that has dealt with veiled chameleons before for the sleeping during the day.
 
I feed my crickets carrots and the little cutie oranges. I also put a few of the tropical fish food flakes in there for the crickets. I read they have nutrients that's good. I don't use a lot of those...just a few here and there.
My next trip to Walmart, I'm going to get some kale and different kind of berries. I've been intrigued buy some other people's post that veileds like to eat berries.
 
I feed my crickets carrots and the little cutie oranges. I also put a few of the tropical fish food flakes in there for the crickets. I read they have nutrients that's good. I don't use a lot of those...just a few here and there.
My next trip to Walmart, I'm going to get some kale and different kind of berries. I've been intrigued buy some other people's post that veileds like to eat berries.
Fish food is a no-go, also make sure to get organic fruits and veggies so there’s no chance of pesticides
 
There’s a couple good online shops, give me a second and I’ll link them for you. Amazon is usually overpriced here in the US, but eBay is good
 
No poop for accouple days is normal-ish i wouldnt be too worried about it now, but if he doesnt go in the next few days then it may be an issue. I think 10-12 fruit flies isnt enough for him, i would try to get some crickets that are small enough for him. The viv looks good might want to add abit more foliage, i think your temps are a tad high but as you said youre lowering the wattage on the heat bulb. Sleeping during the day may be from the pet store schedule, if it continues come back here for help!
 
No poop for accouple days is normal-ish i wouldnt be too worried about it now, but if he doesnt go in the next few days then it may be an issue. I think 10-12 fruit flies isnt enough for him, i would try to get some crickets that are small enough for him. The viv looks good might want to add abit more foliage, i think your temps are a tad high but as you said youre lowering the wattage on the heat bulb. Sleeping during the day may be from the pet store schedule, if it continues come back here for help!

He does does have 10-12 in the morning and then 10-12 midday/afternoon aswel so he's getting about 20-24 a day. I was thinkinf about more foliage but he's so small I'm worried I won't find him to make sure he's doing ok! I will defiantly get some more for him. Yes that's a thought, hopefully it's just a routine he needs for out of? It doesn't really seem like he's sleeping during the day though more like resting his eyes as a small sound would open his eyes and sometimes he'd move to a different spot and others he close his eyes again.
 
He does does have 10-12 in the morning and then 10-12 midday/afternoon aswel so he's getting about 20-24 a day. I was thinkinf about more foliage but he's so small I'm worried I won't find him to make sure he's doing ok! I will defiantly get some more for him. Yes that's a thought, hopefully it's just a routine he needs for out of? It doesn't really seem like he's sleeping during the day though more like resting his eyes as a small sound would open his eyes and sometimes he'd move to a different spot and others he close his eyes again.
When they’re that young (you said 5 weeks), let them eat until they stop multiple times a day, I believe
 
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