New owner here. And a new cage

[Sykou]

1. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Chameleon Info:Your Chameleon- The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
   Jackson. Make. Almost two weeks
   Handling- How often do you handle your chameleon? Never handled except for cage cleaning.
   Feeding- What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
   Crickets, 4 crickets every other day. Mornings. Gut loaded with carrots, romaine lettuce, oats
   Supplements- What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
   Reptival w/out d3 every other feeding. Reptivite with d3 once a month
   Watering- What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?Misting after morning feeding. Spray bottle with warm water. Ten minutes hand misting top of the cage. Chameleon goes under dripping water and opens and closes mouth. Dripper scheduled 4 times daily. 20-30 mins each(haven't figured out a time yet) I have made a "shower" for him that will drip along some artificial leaves hanging down into a funnel about a foot underneath. No automatic misting system installed.
   Fecal Description- Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
   First dropping was with a yellowish liquid like fluid. Second one was better with less fluid. Two days ago no yellow liquid but no white. I found this one dry and I thought I saw some small worms inside of it???? Today not runny. But no white end. Smeared it around a bit and couldn't find any worms inside.
   History- Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
   Caught wild. Must have been hungry as he ate as soon as I placed crickets into the cage. No fecal tests yet and no vet visits.
   Cage Info:Cage Type- Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?18"x18"x36" zoo med screen cage Lighting- What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?Reptisun 5.0 uvb 13w. 25w ExpTerra daylight basking spot. On at 6-7 off at 7
2. Temperature- What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking area ~81-83. Cage temp ~80. Night time ~72-75
3. Humidity- What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?Unknown humidity. Live on Oahu so average humidity over 50% daily outside. Temp/hygrometer on order, will place one up top in the basking area, one near the bottom.
4. Plants- Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
5. Variegated pothos potted. Placed on bottom of cage. Artificial pothos hanging from top of cage for water to trickle off of for drinking. Various artificial leaves placed as shady areas under branches.
6. Placement- Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
7. On a countertop near bottom of the stairs. Set back about 4 feet from walkway. Four feet above floor. Location- Where are you geographically located?
8. Oahu
   Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about?
9. 
   
10. Is my hand misting once daily sufficient if he goes under the "shower" daily? I mist all the plants and leaves in the cage once every morning.
11. I have a feeder cup I have made. I used it this morning and he ate out of it no problem. Picked off the crickets from it without a hitch. Even took two crickets from my hand. I place the crickets into the cage in the morning before I leave for work. When I return home I do a visual check for crickets and don't find any. My worry is that they may be hiding in the dirt, under the leaves, in corners I'm not seeing?? What are you guys doing to do a "head count" after feeding?
12. Vets and fecal test on island? I can't find any listed online. I'm gonna try call some standard vets to see if they will do the decal tests for me. Anyone know of any they can recommend.
13. See pics below. I witnessed him pooping today. There were two red "things" hanging out when he made poop. They proceeded to retract back inside after he finished his business. What is this?!
14. I've witnessed him climbing towards the funnel I have, sometimes sticking his head inside the funnel. I don't know if he is looking for water? Or the splashing is attracting him to the funnel instead of the leaves above them?

 

[Andee]

I would mist at least once more if he doesn't use the shower regularly.

You shouldn't have dirt in the enclosure unless it's bioactive.

Do you have a picture of recent feces? I would definitely think about getting a fecal done, sounds like he might have a heavy parasite load. Though I might hold off on treating depending on the results.

The things hanging out are his hemipenis, if they went in normally without any issues then nothing to worry about, just means you have a healthy male. If you don't know what a hemipenis is its the gentalia of a male chameleon. They often flash out when after pooping, which is normal if everything acts normally.

Not sure about the funnel thing, since he's a wild caught he may just be confused by it and checking it out.

 

[Andee]

Also he looks a little on the thin side so feeding lots of interesting different feeders would be good for him. I am honestly not surprised he is thinner, wild caughts tend to be thin when they come to captivity both because in the wild it was harder to catch prey on a regular basis to keep up with the calorie out put, and parasites are a serious problem.

 

[Sykou]

I have some large rocks covering some organic topsoil of the pothos. I read on here that it was okay to do that. ??
Thanks for reassuring me on that red alien trying to escape from his bung hole. Haha.
And for assortment I am working on obtaining some hornworms. Little difficult in hawaii so if anyone has any tips I'd appreciate it.

 

[ChamLB]

Very nice set up!

 

[Andee]

Ah if it's just from live potted plants it's fine ^^ I thought you meant you had covered the entire bottom in dirt.

 

[Sykou]

Very nice set up!

Thanks! Wish I could use live plants all around but with them constantly growing I wouldn't be able to control the water droplets falling.

 

[Sykou]

Ah if it's just from live potted plants it's fine ^^ I thought you meant you had covered the entire bottom in dirt.

Oh I see. Yeah I read on these forums "NO SUBSTRATE" haha.
Any tricks on finding crickets that didn't get eaten? I hand feed then place the rest into the feeder. I don't have a chance to stay to watch him eat them all. When we get home it is dark so I can do a really thorough visual.

 

[Andee]

Hmm... Sometimes you can lure them out with fruit or something. But I rarely have success with it in larger cages.

 

[Sykou]

Hmm... Sometimes you can lure them out with fruit or something. But I rarely have success with it in larger cages.

Gotcha. I'll try that. I've found an escapee the other day. Jumped down the funnel into the drain pan underneath and couldn't get out. Others I'm just assuming he is eating throughout the day when I'm not around.