Sherman has arrived!

broderp

Avid Member
Well it's been weeks in the planning, a lot of effort to reeducate myself and advance my knowledge of husbandry and to learn why we do things the way we do for these little guys. This was done in conjunction with learning to remodeling a terrarium from the ground up, including making my own wall and this time around as many real plants as possible. Thanks to all for responding to my numerous threads about humidity, temp, wall making, feeder cups, plant watering and every thing else I've asked over the last several weeks.

All the above was nothing compared to the WEEKS of waiting for my new little buddy to arrive. Delay after delay due to weather was very frustrating, but it gave me the time to build up what I hope is a pretty nice home for him that should last him for a while.

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I want to throw a huge shout out to Nick, of Canvas Chameleons for helping me along the way. He was VERY straight forwards and answered all my questions and email through the weeks I was waiting for Sherman to arrive. I even sent him a word document that was about a page of questions and he took the time to red them, answer them as well as email me specific guides lines they use for the care and husbandry of their animals. A top of the line operation. (y)

I thought it would be appropriate to show Sherman's father as I hope he gets to be as beautiful as him in time! Meet Freeze, one of Nick's breeding Chams:
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Note: Images used in this thread are used by permission. This is NOT intended to be a sales add, but just me supporting the pleasant experience with Nick and Canvas Chameleons. I paid full price for Sherman and it was I who approached Nick and asked if I could use his logo and some of the images of his beautiful Cham named Freeze. (Sherman's Sire)

So with out further adieu, please say hello to SHERMAN, my new Nosy Be Panther baby.

Sherman was hatched 10-23-16 and just turned 4 months old. During the first two hours with him, this little guy changed colors so many times. When I opened the box, he was pale and "pasty", almost a white color. A quick email to Nick got a very quick response back. He stated I would probably see several different colors as he gets use to his new surroundings. He was right as you will see in the following pictures!

Don't let the pictures fool you, he is TINY! I was not thinking he would be this small. My best guess is he's no longer than my index finger at this time. The pictures make him look much bigger! I had to add some "age appropriate" branches at the last minute to he would have smaller branches and more shortcuts for his little feet.

He climbed right out of the shipping cup and right up my hand and arm. He didn't seem so afraid of me at all. :p Within seconds, he started to color up.

GREEN - I placed him in his new home and he dashed straight up and into the leaves. He stopped and then turned a sort of green color:
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WAR PAINT - So far my favorite coloring's are what I call his "war paint", he's a teal/ white color with dark blue stripes.
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Making a bee line towards the crickets!
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PEEK A BOO - He turned a lighter version of the "war paint" then decided he didn't want me to watch him. He hid behind a leave and stared at me for 15 minutes. Playing peek a boo with me:
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LOOKING COOL - Here he was posing for the camera in his faded green/teal suit. :)
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TEAL AND DARK GREY - This coloration was very unusual. He mimicked the branch color pretty well.. This Gray and teal look was really cool!
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HANGING OUT - Towards the end of the day there was a lot of this: hanging from the top screen.
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PAJAMA TIME - When the lights went out at 7 pm, he was nowhere to be found. I actually lost him in the terrarium several times during the day! He's very good at finding a spot under something to stay out of eye sight! I came back later around 10:30 pm. He had come full circle to the colors he was when I first met him. So for now at least, this is what his pajama's look like. :love:
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For those who are a glutton for pain, here's a video of him prancing around from one section of his terrarium, along a main walkway in the open and up to a perch to chill for a bit. This video is NOT for the faint at heart, as it is filled with the S.S.S.L.L.L.L.LO.O.O.O.O.W.W.W.W.W movement we have all come to love from these guys! :confused: Watching them walk drives my wife crazy. I can watch them for hours. :LOL: For those of you who are new to Cham, this video is NOT slowed down in any way!



And so my second day is coming to a close in a few hours. He has surprised me with so many colors, has eaten at least 14 crickets. I watched him eat 4 crickets, and left him with 12 in the feeding trough to run some errands. When I came back after a few hours, all but two had escaped or had been eaten. He was sitting at the top of the terrarium looking pretty fat! :LOL: I could not find any rogue crickets either. I also watched him drink a few times times. So it seems he is adjusting well.

I want to get him use to me as soon as he is settled in some more so I will be researching ways to "tame" a chameleon on the forum. I will also be finishing up his terrarium and installing a Mist King soon. For now I get to hand mist. I am considering how to resolve the humidity issues I still have. I also need to add all my timers for lights "on" and "off" (bed time -lights out), but this is easy.

So Sherman is here! Finally. (y)

Thanks for looking. :coffee:
 
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Wow! I got up to get a drink, and got side-tracked, and when I came back he moved about 4 inches :ROFLMAO:.

Congrats on your new arrival :). With as much patience as you have filming that, you hopefully will be submitting something into the CF Video Contest!!!

Can't wait to watch Sherman growing up on the forums! ;)
 
Wow! I got up to get a drink, and got side-tracked, and when I came back he moved about 4 inches :ROFLMAO:.

Congrats on your new arrival :). With as much patience as you have filming that, you hopefully will be submitting something into the CF Video Contest!!!

Can't wait to watch Sherman growing up on the forums! ;)

Thanks! I feel like a proud parent :). I actually have already taken well over 200 pictures since his arrival at 10:07 am yesterday, as well as about 25 videos - including a multi-angle un-boxing (one long shot from the Fed-Ex guy to the table to the terrarium) and his first cricket. So I'm a little crazy at the moment. :rolleyes:
 
Congrats! We've got a little guy from Canvas as well, although not a Nosy Be. My guy, an Ambanja has a DOB of 09/08/16. Good luck with your new Sherman! EDIT: My guy does the Sherman Walk as well, must be a Canvas thing....lol
 
You've got it bad! Congrats on your little guy.
Yeah, I kinda of got it bad.

Congrats! We've got a little guy from Canvas as well, although not a Nosy Be. My guy, an Ambanja has a DOB of 09/08/16. Good luck with your new Sherman! EDIT: My guy does the Sherman Walk as well, must be a Canvas thing....lol

How is yours doing? Nick has some real awesome Ambanja sires, but I always wanted a "blue panther" since I saw this at a reptile show a few years back.
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I got veileds, and I loved them dearly, but this time I was determined to have a panther. Canvas had the right clutch at the right time with the color I wanted. It worked out great. Even if mine turns out purple and not blue, I don't care at this point, he's perfect.

You should take more pictures. I kid. Congrats on you new arrival.

I did..o_O

He can't answer right now... He's taking more pictures :rolleyes:.
Yes, I was how did you know? :cautious:

Thanks! I only took about 25 more pictures.......:rolleyes:

I'd like to somehow weigh him to see how big he becomes over time. I'm afraid to disturb him during the day because he's still so shy. should have weighted the shipping cup with him before I took him out of it. I'll look into it tomorrow, he may visit his cup one last time, as long as it's not going to hurt him.
 
He seems to be settling in well even with the new adoration syndrome you are plagued with. I have had it many a time. ^^ Keep making that boy happy <3
 
Congratulations, sounds like you are having a lot of fun, Sherman is very nice looking, he's going to be a stunner, I know how excited you are and he's a very lucky little guy, looking forward to seeing him grow.
 
Welcome home Sherman!!!! @broderp thank you so much for all the kind words, it was a please working with you through the process and getting everything set up perfect for little Sherman's arrival. I know he is going to have a fantastic home where I'm know he is going to be spoiled.

Thank you again for everything and I can't wait to see all the pictures and videos as he grows up and get more and more of those amazing blues!
 
Another milestone for little Sherman. He learned to use his feeding trough. This started out as a feeding cup, but he ignored it or didn't see it. So he was hunting and it was hard to see how many he was actually getting. So I modified his feeder cup I made and turned it into a feeding trough. I added a foam surround to protect his little feet from the cut edge and set it down below him. Works....Here is is eyeballing the selection. Because he is so small. I simply wedge this between some of the sticks in his terrarium and its secure enough.
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The open end design also allows me to count the number of feeders eaten as well as make it easy to clean. Here's Sherman using the foam to grip as he crosses over the trough.
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I will be starting his D3 and supplements Monday.

Yes, I have video of all this as well..:rolleyes: He's getting used to the tripod and camera that seems to be in front of him a lot. :)
 
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A day or two won't make that much difference in his weight. Let him sleep. Lol.

I put him in his shipping cup today to weigh him. He weighs 6 grams. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm somewhat afraid to handle him as he moves so quickly when he wants to. I limited my handling time to under 30 seconds today.

I'll try and weigh him weekly at first then go to monthly.
 
This thread has become Sherman's "Records page" and Logs of milestones and major events.

Sherman will be growing up on the forum after all.:p

My favorite picture so far. He poses for the camera, look at those blues!
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This is another good one of my Sherman. Does anyone else besides me keep a ton of pictures of thier Cham? My wife thinks I'm crazy.
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On 3-11-17 (Sat) I installed his Mist King.

Man was he ticked at me.:unsure: Took a major disassembly of the terrarium. He was not impressed.
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So today (Saturday) 3-18-17 @about 7 am he finally ate from my hand!
He was already use to the camera so when he took the first cricket, I grabbed the camera and he didn't blink once about it being in he space. So we are building up trust. I was as giddy as a school girl..:rolleyes:

Grabbing the crickets was the hardest part!
 
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He is adorable! Best of luck with him!!! Just curious, what are all those little red lights above the cage??
 
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