New Cham Owner needs advice

[andymcballer]

Hey everybody!

I've been reading on the forum for a while but I finally put some money down on my chameleon and I'm SO excited. My little guy is a Sulu/Shortcake baby male Ambilobe from Brian and Terri at Crazy eyes Chams. I've been looking for a red body blue bar for a while and I think this guy is going to be it. I know it's really hard to tell when they are young but from a lot of the pictures and reading I've been doing, this choice is about as good an educated guess as one can make when it comes to guessing your chameleons colors before they are there. I'm so excited guys. I'll post some pics he's so red for only 5ish months!!

I'll attach a photo so yall can see what he looks like, he is so Handsome!!!

but to my main point of this post I had a few general questions. I'll be getting him at the end of the month (already put down a deposit to reserve this particular male from the breeder) He was hatched 11/01/13 and I will receive him 3/26/14 give or take a day or two.

Now at this age he is no longer an infant correct? he should be way past pinhead crickets at 6 months correct? I know the general rule of thumb is no food wider than the space between my panthers eyes. but at this age, can I feed him more variety of foods. Is he old enough for that? and I'm talking about phoenix worms, silkworms, and various other feeders. Not a big fan of breeding roaches in my own house on purpose lol. I'm working on it though it'll just take time for me to get used to that idea. I plan on keeping 2-3 main daily feeders on hand. Silk Worms, Phoenix Worms/Reptiworms, and either Mealworms or Superworms.

Also Cage size; at his age will he be okay in his big cage?
I believe it's 24Lx24Wx48H is the size and its a screen cage from DIYcages and I've read on a lot of threads, that when they are babies you want to put them in a smaller cage, because they might not be able to locate their food or hunt it down and that can be highly stressful for the little bugger! I don't want that.


so again to summarize,

at his age (hatched 11/01/13 receivng him 03/26/14)

Is his full grown cage okay? I know when they are small babies they need the small cage so they can find their food or they stress. whats yall opinion on this?

Food questions: I've also researched and found that for babies they pretty much eat only tiny pinhead crickets. Is my guy old enough to eat a little bit bigger stuff like silk worms or phoenix worms. small ones of course. Also and this is just for my knowledge, is that rule about only eating pinhead crickets is that because they are the only feeders small enough, or another reason?

Thanks guys, sorry for the long post. but here are the pics of my baby boy. I'm thinking I'm going to name him Sokar, or Loki. probably Sokar.

 

[andymcballer]

Trying to move this to where it belongs

not sure how it ended up in Cham food I was trying to make it Just in chameleon husbandry. If a moderator could move it for me? or if someone could tell me how to move my thread. or do I just delete and start a new one where I want it.

Thanks,

Andy M.

 

[mabrams]

He is definitely not an infant at 5 months. Depending on his size, he will probably do fine with 1/2" crickets. I aslo fed mine smaller size superworms and hornworms when I first got him. I got my Chameleon also from Crazy Eyes Chams (his father is also Sulu) in early February at about 5 months, and he went into his large cage right away, and has done splendidly. It took him a day or two to figure out where everything was (basking site, food cup, dripper, etc.) but he had no problem traveling around his cage. He'll grow fast - I'm amazed how much in just 2 months! Good luck with him!

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

At that age he can eat most foods. He would be considered a juvenile. I always put juveniles in their 2x2x4 cage. I have never had a problem with them locating food. If you worry about it, start training him to cup feed.

He is a stunner! red, red , red!

 

[andymcballer]

Thanks guys!

Man, I love how helpful most people are on this forum. That's exactly what I wanted to know is he still a baby or considered a juvenile! Thanks so much for your input guys that's exactly what I needed to know.


oh and Djturna thanks man! That's what i'm hoping for, his sire is the most amazing Red body blue bar with a white and red striped head. that's the look I've been searching for is red body blue bar. and out of all the babies, this is the reddest one at this age, the rest look like normal ambilobes at 5 months. but this guy has that rusty color all over. and that's just how Sulu his sire was at that age! SO PSYCHED!!!

 

[andymcballer]

He is definitely not an infant at 5 months. Depending on his size, he will probably do fine with 1/2" crickets. I aslo fed mine smaller size superworms and hornworms when I first got him. I got my Chameleon also from Crazy Eyes Chams (his father is also Sulu) in early February at about 5 months, and he went into his large cage right away, and has done splendidly. It took him a day or two to figure out where everything was (basking site, food cup, dripper, etc.) but he had no problem traveling around his cage. He'll grow fast - I'm amazed how much in just 2 months! Good luck with him!

Awesome~!!! I'm so happy to hear that about your Sulu baby too!. I'm gonna start a thread once he gets shipped to me so stay tuned. I'm really thinking he's going to turn out a lot like Sulu (or scotty if you saw him over at Crazy eyes chams) They both were red like my boy at the 5 month mark..so hopefully he goes full on red body blue bar.

I'm definitely going to try and keep a photo journal of his growth so when he's a sub-adult or an adult. I can make a slideshow showing daily growth over the period of like a year.

Thanks,

Andy M!