Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Damn i really need a digital camera.

I kinda figured that as my charlie shed he would get brighter and brighter as he approaches fully grown, but i was unprepaired for how much brighter he was. All of a sudden he has new patterns and new colors, esspecially on his veil which now has high contrast black stripes. He was miserable while shedding (mostly because i misted more in the cage to help him because he was rubbing and he hates the sprey even if it is nowhere near him) but now is happier again.

It has been about a month since i got him and i think he has settled in. He is also exploring parts of the cage that i have not seen him explore. he still has his favorite spots, but he is more curious latley. Which became a problem today when he got to somewhere i did not think he could go and had to chance him away from a potential danger.

oh... and not a picky eater. he eats EVERYTHING. i even caught him hunting a soil knat that had landed on a nearby leaf. He's not hungry (i even think he's starting to get a little chunky), he just eats EVERYTHING. which leads me to a question. How important is it to make sure a superworm is recently molted before feeding it to my chameleon? Is it a try to thing if you spot one, or an absolutly everytime thing?

Thanks,
Jeff

yeah, i also thought it was kinda funny watching him trying to stretch himself out as much as possible to shed while hanging upsidown from the cage. He was confused... i was laughing.

Jeff

Aren't they just the funniest things? Really from what i have seen, most chameleons really aren't that picky. Most eat any ole bug you can catch for them (pesticide free of course!). Of course i mainly worked with panthers, and they will eat anything that moves (literally!). Try rollie pollies, all chameleon LOVE them! Even a full grown panther will eat 'em up!

Get a digital camera dude! It is sooooo worth the investment! He sounds like a really cute, funny little charachter and i'd love to see what he really looks like. A picture is worth a thousand words!

Glad things are workin' out for ya!
-----
Eric

I fight for the unconventional
My right, and its unconditional
I can only, be as real as i can
The disadvantage is
I never knew the plan
This isnt the way just to be a martyr
I cant, walk alone any longer
I fight, for the ones that cant fight
And if I lose, at least I tried....
(Slipknotulse of the Maggots)

What i was really surprised about is that my veiled is actually about 9 months old now. And he is still gaining color. Cool.

When it gets warmer i am thinking about moving the setup outside for lengths of time (i have to worry about summer storms here). If that happens, he should find a whole new menue of citters to eat. I live on a lake that is in a state that is 90% marsh. My porch gets any number of spiders... are these going to be harmful for my chameleon? I don't get really big suckers,the biggest i have seen outthere's body was thumbnail size, but that is too big to get into the enclosure. so what i am asking is, will controlling the spider population on my porch be bad for my chameleon?

~Jeff

Spiders will be fine! In fact they will be EXCELLENT! All lizards (most) have a great feeding response to spiders. You might want to put them in some sort of shallow bowl so they dont escape. The only problem with them is their speed. Many chameleons think along time before they fire their tongues. By the time they are ready, the spider is gone.

Use a shallow bowl and your only problem is solved!

On the matter of outside storms, where do you live? Most chameleons LOVE the rain because it is very natural to them. If it gets very cold when it rains (like in san diego), then you might wat to keep him indoors and bring him outside every so often.

Good luck!

P.S. TAKE SOME PICS OF HIM!!!!!!
-----
Eric

I fight for the unconventional
My right, and its unconditional
I can only, be as real as i can
The disadvantage is
I never knew the plan
This isnt the way just to be a martyr
I cant, walk alone any longer
I fight, for the ones that cant fight
And if I lose, at least I tried....
(Slipknotulse of the Maggots)

I live in Delaware. The storms have a habit of being windy, sometimes with hail, and the acid rain is pretty bad (actually worse than CA, believe it or not). Besides that the nights get down no lower than 70 and the days get up into the mid 90's almost always with 50% humidity. Cool thing is i can provide him with a variety of sun conditions, from morning sun to afternoon sun with bright shade inbetween

What i worry about is spiders getting into the cage at night and bothering him while he is trying to sleep.

also, asuming i can get bugs from a pestacide free area, are there any bugs i should not feed to him (for instance... wasps)?

thanks,
Jeff

Oh i see your problem....

Spiders won't harass him at night. They would rather hunt there own prey. They would have no need to try and eat him. At most all they could do is bite him.

Some bugs you will have to worry about are Fireflies....They kill lizards within a few hours. They also want to come into a lizard cage to eat the plants and stuff. Keep them out and you'll have no problems. Most butterflies are toxic too. Wasps and bees are great for a cham if they are killed and their stingers are removed. Freeze them and then twitch the dead morsel. THEY LOVE IT!

Take it easy bro....
-----
Eric

I fight for the unconventional
My right, and its unconditional
I can only, be as real as i can
The disadvantage is
I never knew the plan
This isnt the way just to be a martyr
I cant, walk alone any longer
I fight, for the ones that cant fight
And if I lose, at least I tried....
(Slipknotulse of the Maggots)

Fireflies are bad.... hmmm, thats a problem. This area is COVERED with them at night. Driving home at night makes your car glow. Ill have to figure out a way they dont get in.

Thanks for the help,
jeff

You need have any questions, just holler...Im here for ya!

Keep it real.....
-----
Eric

I fight for the unconventional
My right, and its unconditional
I can only, be as real as i can
The disadvantage is
I never knew the plan
This isnt the way just to be a martyr
I cant, walk alone any longer
I fight, for the ones that cant fight
And if I lose, at least I tried....
(Slipknotulse of the Maggots)