New here, new owner

[Brandonmh]

Hey all, been posting here for about a day now, and should have hit here first. I got a juv male veiled over a week ago he is probably about a month or two old. He is only eating when I leave the room, I have caught him angled toward the feeder cup/dish, and other times he has stopped running when he is on his high perch when I try to get him to eat out of the cup, but still generally starts to take off if I get too close to the cage.

 

[SMCNARY]

How can we help ?

 

[ReptileLove18]

Welcome to the forum!

they generally take a week, sometimes even two weeks to get settled into their new enviroment and start eating properly. he may be a shy eater for awhile! i would use the feeder cup for now so that you can monitor how much he is eating and give him another week or so to settle in before trying to handle or hand feed him. once he's used to the new enviroment, you can start earning his trust with food

here is a link to a blog about taming your chameleon, has lots of great tips on how to earn his trust! https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/psychobunny/746-taming-chameleon.html

looking forward to seeing some more pics of your new friend

 

[Brandonmh]

Thanks, I kinda thought it would take awhile. I try to move slower when getting the cup in and out, especially in the morning before the lights come on to put the cup in with crickets since I start work at 7 am. I gingerly open and set the cup in, trying not to wake him. I did see some possiblities for some real nice coloration on him with the pictures I took yesterday...I saw some of the lines one the eye turrets that I can't see normally. I took a few tonight thru the screen with the macro lens for portrait, but have a feeling they may not come out well since the autofocus was taking the screen and went manual and not sure with the flash off to not blind him.

 

[Brandonmh]

Also, for veiled juvies, should I use the calcium with d3 every other day or use the without d3 every day? I have been looking for the without and several places are out or don't carry it. I will be going to a place that has it tomorrow. I have heard/read for juvi veileds either way, feed calci with d3 every other week and vits the following week, and also feed the d3 almost daily since growing rapidly and bones need the calcium...I thought I had the supplimentation down, but I keep reading conflicting things. I use zoo med calcium with d3, and herpavite right now, and gut load crickets with oranges, carrots, and flukers gut load feed. Gave the crickets grape halves the other day as a trial, and gave them some lettuce as well.

 

[ReptileLove18]

Also, for veiled juvies, should I use the calcium with d3 every other day or use the without d3 every day? I have been looking for the without and several places are out or don't carry it. I will be going to a place that has it tomorrow. I have heard/read for juvi veileds either way, feed calci with d3 every other week and vits the following week, and also feed the d3 almost daily since growing rapidly and bones need the calcium...I thought I had the supplimentation down, but I keep reading conflicting things. I use zoo med calcium with d3, and herpavite right now, and gut load crickets with oranges, carrots, and flukers gut load feed. Gave the crickets grape halves the other day as a trial, and gave them some lettuce as well.

for juvi veileds, as they are still growing, i recommend using calcium without d3 at every feeding. use calcium with d3 once every two weeks and a multivitamin once every two weeks, on alternating weeks. its important to not use the d3 calcium every day as that can lead to d3 poisoning!!

if you are unable to find calcium without d3 locally, check out our site sponsors, many of them carry it. you can look at the site sponsors by looking at the top right corner of this screen, there is a button that says view site sponors.

gutloading with fruits and veggies is important so you are off to a good start! on this blog, there is a GREAT recipe for gutloading your feeders with to give your cham the most nutrition possible. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html remember that feeders need to be gutloaded every day before you feed your cham to get the most nutrition possible

this blog also has lots of other feeder ideas, as variety in their diet is important! https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html it goes over different feeders and how much they can make of your chams diet and be healthy.

and here is a link to the veiled chameleon caresheet also! its full of accurate info on their care https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[Brandonmh]

I have looked at the care sheet, and I found a place that had some yesterday. I have to return my habamister since it is like a squirt gun instead of a mister. I have been gutloading cor years with the beardies as well. I gave him a few mealies in a shallow dish, and some crickets in another cup.

 

[ReptileLove18]

I have looked at the care sheet, and I found a place that had some yesterday. I have to return my habamister since it is like a squirt gun instead of a mister. I have been gutloading cor years with the beardies as well. I gave him a few mealies in a shallow dish, and some crickets in another cup.

glad you found some! two brands that are really good for misting systems are MistKing and Aquazamp.

with chams, you have to watch how many mealworms or superworms you are giving them because of the high fat and chitin content. they are best used as treats, a couple a week they can also get "addicted" to them and go on a hungerstrike for them!

and we would love to see some more pics of him!! he's a handsome little guy!

 

[Brandonmh]

I got him to eat one today, following some of the info on the taming blog. I did some re-arranging of vines in his tank today. I came home from work, he didn't touch the mealies and ate all the crickets, I twisted up the small and large jungle vines I have and also bought a grapewood or something similar with some nice branches to it and put it in and wrapped a bit of the hanging plastic plant around a bit of vine. I then stuck a mealie on the screen and was doing something when I heard a strange noise and looked up to see the mealie in his mouth, he was eyeballing it, and wasn't eating it, so I left him alone, came back later and didn't see it on the ground, so I assume he ate it. I had a cricket running around then, dusted with the new calc w/out d3 and he was going to nail it, didn't know I was hiding on the other side of my bed watching, and he streched a bit far to get it and didn't fall, but lost balance a bit and his aim was off then from streching too far and the cricket move...I was waiting to see him nail it but yea well. As for the mister, I went with the exo terra monsoon rs 400, after much looking, a guy on amazon posted a fix for issues and how to not blow the timer in the top (do not use fill hole on top of it where the electronics are, cut 1/8 in off the hoses and reseat them to motor and all, and only fill about 3/4 way, by taking off the top). So far after over a week, working well and on the same timer as light so, it does not run at night. The rs400 had problems with timer going and acting like a continous one and it actually mists instead of spritzing, but as long as don't fill completely and don't use the hole at the top, take whole top off and fill. Still keeping an eye on it and the deal from amazon was good. The next one maybe will be a mistking, was looking at those. Sorry for the long, rambling post here.

 

[ReptileLove18]

sounds good! are you leaving the feeder cup in there with crickets in it? he should start eating more regularly soon, and he may be just being shy and eating when you arent in the room.

awesome! they love their hiding places so thats great you added some stuff for him id like to see a pic of your set up sometime, it sounds nice!

how's the monsoon working for ya? how often do you have it going off and for how long?

dont apologize, we all get excited with a new baby in the house! and here we're allowed to ramble about our amazing pets and everyone understands

 

[Brandonmh]

I have it going off about every 3 hours or a bit more for over 20 seconds spray. It really mists nicely. My setup isn't as nice as some here. It looks better now and I do leave the feeder cup in and usually refill it when I come home. I take out what is left before or gingerly after the lights go out.

 

[ReptileLove18]

is it possible to set it to spray for longer? what kind of cage do you have? it takes some time to get the cage all set up, i've been working on my adult cage for about a month and its not nearly done yet!

 

[Brandonmh]

Yes, shortly after that post and this morning I looked and have it set for almost 30 seconds spray time and close to the every 4 hours mark. Humidity was around 70% earlier right around when it sprayed again. Saw it at 90% as well today. I have plans in my head for building a bigger cage when he gets to that point, a guy I work with gave me plastic screening for like garden fence, but smaller than a dime sized holes. I have some ideas to even possibly jazz up the outside look with some nice router work on some edges and maybe even some pieces to glue to the outside of the door as well as bracing underneath and probably a dowel in the top for a hanging pothos. If I stain the wood, and leave it air out for a good long time, it should be fine right?

 

[ReptileLove18]

try not to let it get much higher then 80 after misting every four hours sounds good as it is drying out in between!

i think it would be okay, ive been trying to find some info on this for you. i found this thread would has different types of paints and stains used with success for cham cages. https://www.chameleonforums.com/paint-vs-staining-108795/ i'll keep looking for more info and give it to you when i find it!