Zippy is home...

[ZippiesPal]

He seems very cautious, mostly staying put and not moving around much.

When I first got him home, he was almost black and green, but now he is more of a brownish red, and sandy color. The brownish red is like a dry brick.

He hasnt eaten yet, that I know of, but its only been about an hour.

I am trying to leave him alone, but I keep wanting to go and check on him.

I tried to put crickets into a cup, but they just jumped out. Now there are three roaming free in the cage.

Zippy is home !!!

 

[jojackson]

LOL 1 hour. Hell be fine, leave him alone. Grats!

 

[OOOst16]

He went browner....because he's trying to absorb more heat. This is normal...just let him get used to his new surroundings.

 

[ZippiesPal]

Basking temp is 78F

I brought him home a couple (3) hours before his lights were scheduled to go out (8PM). I think he will aclimate after a day of just hanging out with the basking and UVB lights.

I wanted to cup feed, but the crickets are hard to get ahold of and they keep jumping out of the cup. I will put a small chunk of bananna in the bottom tomorrow. Otherwise, he can just hunt them down in his new cage.

The cage in the pet store was only (guessing) 2widex1deepx2tall. Now he is in a 2x2x4 at home. After we picked him out and put the deposit down, the petstore moved him from sharing a 2x2x4 into the small cage. They said he is six months old.

I see people handling thier chams on the forum, and I am drawn to that. I want my little fellow to trust me and for us to be pals and all that. I realize that he is just a little animal and it will take time. I do not want to rush things. I think I should let him be for a few days or a week. Of course, I will be cleaning the bottom of the cage and putting in feeders and misting, but I will avoid grabbing him out of there for a while.
I would like to bate him with food, so he comes to me all on his own will. The crickets are so wiggly and hard to get ahold of. Maybe a nice mealworm or something I can grab that wont jump away will do the trick.

Any ideas from the forum???

 

[pssh]

Grab crickets by their hind legs. Feeder cups are not usually actual cups, more like a small tub.

No meal worms more than once a month. Use silkworms. Most chameleons don't like being handled, and people have to really coax them out or (like me) use a stick to let him crawl on and pull him out that way. Handling only stresses the chams out so I advise handling a max of once a week for a few minutes for pictures and to check overall health or if he crawls onto your hand on his own free will while your hand is at the front of your cage, and only Handle for a minute or two when that happens.

 

[Miss Lily]

Congrats on getting the l'il guy home! Just be aware that he will take a few days to settle in and he may not eat much at all. He has a new house, cage, people and routine to adjust to. I love his name - Zippy was on the list of names I drew up before I got Amy.

 

[ZippiesPal]

More changes to come

I origionaly set him up in the livingroom, but I have had trouble maintaining humidity.

Now I think there may just be too much activity and movement in the livingroom.

Im gonna move the whole set up to a spare room. It will be smaller and I can do a better job of controlling access from other pets.