prepping for baby, first time ekk!

[shmeenakoz]

Hello everyone

I just wanted to take this time to say hello to all of you and hopefully get some Q's I have answered. I was reading a post last night that brought me to start my own thread so bear with me as I have a few things on my mind and wasnt sure where to start this thread. I'm a bit nervous (a lot) about my new baby who just hatched about a week ago. I'm not new to reptiles but I am new to Chams so...yeah I'm feeling overwhelmed already!

Heres what I have going on and I'm almost there but hit a slight road block.
I have a 2x2x4 DIY cage, a 5.0 reptisun strip, using a 65W household bulb in dome for basking ( the 100W flukers was too hot and dry), MistKing system, live plants, real and artificial branches and vines (cleaned!), 2 thermometers, 1 hygrometer, drainage all figured out, and 2 pcs of plastic covering 2 sides. I also should include the cage is not near any ac or heater vents. I also do not have any substrate just have the pot the plant is in.

So the issue is I can't keep the RH any higher in the day time than 40-50%, but temps are staying at 75-87F. At night the best RH I get is 60% with temps at 65-70F. My next step is going to be thicker plastic i.e.. shower curtain and covering another side making a total of 3 sides covered. If that doesnt work I'll get a humidifier. Any other suggestions? It's kinda making me nuts

Last Q for now and this has to do with what I've recently seen on this site. A member had lost his Cham overnight to unknown illness and someone mentioned lotions or makeup etc from others handling. This has sent me into a panic mom mode. I do not plan on too many people handling my guy causing unnecessary stress, but I should be aware of any outside "chemicals" that could be potentially fatal. I myself do not use lotions but I do wash my hands constantly with regular hand soap. I just want to cover all my bases here so i'm sorry if this is a stupid Q. Thanks for reading and any advise you can give

 

[carol5208]

Hello and welcome to the forums and chameleon ownership. When are you getting your chameleon? You said a week old, but I am hoping you are not getting a chameleon that young for a starter. Even if you get it when it is a few months old, that size cage will be large for a chameleon of that size. What kind of chameleon are you getting? You did not mention. For a Veild or panther, your humidity should be fine. I highly doubt that chameleoln died from hand lotion or something of that nature. I guess it is possible, but I wouldn't worry too much about that. I wash my hand all the times with hand soap also and then feed my chameleons so I don't really think that will be an issue.

 

[shmeenakoz]

Thank You and yeah it would have been helpful had I included the species, ha! He is a Ambilobe Panther and he wont be in my care until the breeder deems he's ready (late Dec I'd guess). Ya know I did kind of worry the enclosure might be too big for a youngster...maybe ill go grab a smaller one tomorrow, hopefully there are some sales! This lil dude is costing me a fortune already
As far as if I allow close friends to be in his presence, ill just be standing there with the soap to be sure they are squeaky clean!!
Thanks again and ill post some pics when he gets here

 

[carol5208]

I put my last panther(I got him at about 3 months old) in a 16 X 16 X 30 cage to start. He was able to find his food easily this way being in a smaller area. That is the main reason for the smaller cage, but you could use the bigger cage and maybe cupfeed instead. Crickets have a way of hiding, and the bigger the cage and more foliage the more place they have to hide. You can also section off the cage you have by raising the floor or putting something in the cage to make the cage 1/2. I am not sure how to do this but have read about members doing it. So, you may not have to go out and buy another cage. Who are you getting your chameleon from?

 

[shmeenakoz]

I was just looking at ideas to section it off a bit. I'd probably just buy some more screen and block off the lower half about a quarter way up. I will do the cup feeding along with trying some hand feeding. I am getting my cham from Shauna at TreeCandy. She has been super helpful and I like that she is relatively close to me, she has beautiful chams!!