Ordered my first cham!

[heartben]

Ordered my first cham a few hours ago. Now the wait begins.

It is a 3 month old (I dont recall if it was a tad younger or a tad older, im guessing its hard to keep track) male ambilobe sired by circle side at chamalotchameleons.com

I am insanely excited but really nervous too. I haven't seen anything other then a baby veiled in person... Never fed one - etc. BUT! I know I have all the information and help I will need from all of you so its not stressful.

I didn't think I would be buying a younger cham initially so my cage is a 2x2x4 but I have a feeling if I don't jam pack it with foliage right away and cup feed we're going to be just fine! Maybe even better off.

So all I really have to do now is 1. Get some crickets locally 2. Order some crickets so I don't go broke right away. and... thats basically it and I'm totally set as far as I know.

Is it ok to feed some meal worms this young? Or do they not care about variety at this age? If I can avoid buying crickets from petsmart or petco or whatever I would like to but if not, it's not the end of the world. Only reason is it seems like half of them are dead - I've never bought feeder insects for anything but I assume bags with half the bugs in them dead isn't good, eh?

So yeah, should have some pictures of the little guy tuesday sometime, maybe some set up shots (although im sure its not going to be very good to start with) and ill probably post a sort of unboxing video of him later that night or sometime shortly after if anyone wants to see it. I love unboxing videos.

Ok, done typing. I'll be sitting at the door waiting if anyone needs me!

Pretty soon I will be sporting one of those nifty signatures I see everyone with.

 

[Rosco]

Congratulations are your little guy. You'll soon be obsessed If you aren't already. I got an adult cage from the get go and I've never had an issue with husbandry. Make sure the cage is set up with lots of vines and hiding spots. My guy wouldn't cup feed for quite some time so originally I would place crix on the leaves near him to eat, because the floor of the cage is way to far, and he did great. He made me hand feed because he grew annoyed with prey jumping out of his reach. You'll find what works for you and your little guy and just stick with the routine. Enjoy

 

[DeremensisBlue]

Hmmmm, did anyone warn you about the addiction you just jumped into? Oh well, too late! Welcome!

 

[heartben]

Woah, hold on a second. Theres a risk of addiction? I thought me planning my 2nd and 3rd... and redesigning my house were normal?

Hehe. I can not wait to see his colors come in, so pumped. This is the most expensive animal I've had but it sounds like it very well may be one of the best pets for me.

 

[DeremensisBlue]

Woah, hold on a second. Theres a risk of addiction? I thought me planning my 2nd and 3rd... and redesigning my house were normal?

Hehe. I can not wait to see his colors come in, so pumped. This is the most expensive animal I've had but it sounds like it very well may be one of the best pets for me.

Yes, the house redesign is now absolutely normal for the life direction you have chosen!

You picked a great animal to start off with. There is nothing like getting a baby panther and watching him grow up and see those colors slowly come in! And then when he is an adult you sit back in wonder at this alien dinosaur flashing colors you can't imagine happening in nature. Aren't chameleons supposed to be blending in with their background? Can't imagine what planet this guy came from!

 

[heartben]

It was a big surprise learning not long ago that chameleons changed color more on mood and less to match background... couldn't wrap my mind around how these colorful creatures made it this far.

but i am glad they did!

 

[OrangeCrush]

I received a baby veiled Cham a few weeks ago and he is just the best. I usually spend every morning with him outside. I have mine in a 2x2x3 and he is fine. He also will cut feed. It took us a lil while to get on the same page. I found that if I use a medium sized cream cheese container it work best. I also tilt it forward so it is angled pretty good on it's side. Most of the crickets stay in the cup because the cup is sonslippery they can walk on the side. This way when he is in the back of the cage he pretty much can't miss the cup full of crickets. It was hard for him to see the cruises in the cup when it was vertical. Also do not cup feed with a clear cup he will not know to only feed from the top. I feed mine some baby mealworms as a treat, only a few times a week. He enjoys eating them. But be careful don't feed to many it's hard for them to digest. But good luck, and I won't buy my feeds at petsmart or petco either. I have a great local private owned pet store. They are great and the special in reptiles and can order all kinds of worms so look for a place near buy. I haven't thought about ordering online crickets because you get way to many, it would cost a decent amount just to feed them. Surprisingly they eat a lot of food.

 

[DavidBuchan]

I don't think they care about variety at this age, they just want food! Variety is the spice of life, so they say..........get some fruit flies, he will be too big for them soon enough........and they love them so much
Small mealworms are fine to add some variety, but no more than an average of one or two per day is best.........
Sounds like you've done your research already, so I'll look forward to seeing the pics and vids...............

 

[Dez]

Fruit flies are going to be too small ...he is eating 3/8 crickets but will be on 1/2 or bigger in a month for sure. They grow really fast!

You can get small silkwomrs if you want to treat him to something new...but thus far he has been chowing down on crickets only.

One thing you must promise to post a ton on pictures! I want to be able to watch him grow up.

 

[heartben]

ohh im sure there will be a wealth of video and pictures so I don't think that should be too much of a problem!

 

[DavidBuchan]

As soon as he's settled in and eating his Crickets like a good boy, you can just find him some insects in the house and garden for some variety/fun. Spiders, flies, woodlice, moths, butterflies.....the list is near endless, just like in the forest........
Be sure of no pesticides of course......don't feed much more than a couple a week of wc insects, because gutloaded crickets are so much healthier........

 

[lslcronk]

Congrats!! It is DEF addicting!! Cant wait to see pics...CircleSide is pretty amazing!

 

[Hoj]

congrats, cant wit to see some pics

 

[BocaJan]

If he is 3 months old he can handle 1/2 crickets no problem. My 2 month old babies chow down on 1/2's as long as they are 1/2's and not 5/8's. I find that if they are too big they just spit them out. Smart little guys.

 

[heartben]

Thanks everyone. Saw a pic of the one I'm getting and.. it made it even harder to stop thinking about the mail. heh.

going out today to get a few more things.. does anyone use a digital hyro/temp gauge from like homedepot or something? I figured it'd be a bit cheaper and I can't see why they would make them less accurate.

also going to get one of those pump mister things.. anyone know if one of them sucks particularly hard or are they all pretty much about the same?

 

[krknieriem]

Congrats on ordering your first cham, I got mine from Dez to and he has been happy and healthy since I got him, They also do a good job of shipping them. Mine crawled right out of his cup the moment I opened the lid

 

[heartben]

If all goes well and he does ship tonight I should have him tomorrow. I have a sort of sneak peek picture for anyone curious to see him. I think it might be my icon so you may have seen it but... this one is bigger!

No name picked out for him yet really. Photo by dez.

how do you guys wait this out?

 

[carol5208]

Awe, he is a cute little bugger! But then they all are!!!!. Ben, so glad that you have done your research. I know you are gonna be an awesome keeper and member of the forum!