Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi! thanks in advance for any answers. i just got my first chameleon (he's a veiled, 3-4 inches long). he just arrived today. i was wondering how long does it take chameleons to get adjusted to their surroundings and when should i start to worry if he does not start to eat? i put some can o cricket crickets in a dish on the ground. does that work? i'm hatching some silkworm eggs in the meantime. can i put the little silkworms in the bowl too? or should i be putting these things around the cage? also, will he probably not go after pre-killed crickets? do those motorized dishes help that at all? is putting an ice cube on the top of the cage (reptarium) for dripping suitable humidity? or do i need to mist?

thank you!

don't feed the can o' crickets they are bad. Most herps that eat them end up throwing up after eating them. Also they probably have an EXTREMELY low Ca ratio.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 normal ball python (felix)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

:/ guess i'm stuck in snakeland still feeling like pre-killed must be safer. is it then ok to keep live crickets in the cage so long as they have some fruit to distract them?

First thing you should do is some major research, check the old posts on here as well. Can-O-crickets is no good. 99.9% of chameleons will not touch them even if they are jumping in those dishes.

No an ice cube is not suitable humidity nor is it suitable to be their dripper for drinking water. ice cubes are very cold (of course) and that lowers the temp of your chameleon. They should be misted 2-3 times a day. And they also need a dripper cup dripping over leaves at least 45 min. a day twice a day.

Silk worms are great food, good job there. But you cannot keep crickets in its cage, they will nibble on your chameleon and everything else even if you put fruit in it. just get a $10 10gal fish tank for the crickets or one of those little critter keepers if your not going to have hundreds of crickets.
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.0 Veileds
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther

yes, i have separate bins for the crickets and silkworms to grow up in. i guess i just meant like. the one cricket that he hadn't eaten yet. i know from keeping some other lizards that crickets are very volatile. and i fed the lizards in separate feeding bins so they were never alone with crickets. but i'm assuming you can't do that with a chameleon because that would stress it out. i'm just confused if i should have set feeding times and then take out all the crickets if he doesn't eat it in a set time every day? and also, how many days can pass before i get worried about him not accepting food? i'd read up a lot about chameleons before getting one. and a lot of sites recommended the ice cube thing and said that was satisfactory even for misting...
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0.2 Calico Kitties: Pika & Margie =^..^=
1.0 German Shepard/Husky: Elias
1.0 BCI of 14 years: Diamond
1.0 Boa Longicauda: Xavier
1.0 Amazon Basin Peruvian BCC: Leroy
0.1 Peter Kahl albino BCI: Peaches
0.1 Hog Island Boa: Harley
1.0 Sunburst veiled chameleon: Papa Leo

What you need to do is feed him gutloaded crickets of appropriate size. Dont put any fruit in his cage as that will just mold in a short time. At 3-4 inches you should probably feed him as much as he will eat and then try to remove any left over. As for keeping the crickets and silkworms in a bowl it is hard to say wether he will eat from one. some chams do some don't. It's alright to let the food go around the cage if he doesn't eat from one. To keep the humidity at a suitable range and to keep him well hydrated you should keep live plants in the cage and spray it 3 or 4 times a day as well as having a dripper on for a couple hours a day.
Stevie

thanks!

how long should i allow the crickets or silkworms to hang around before i decide he's not eating them and that i should clean them out of the cage?

also... well, i've only had him for a day but i'm worried that stress might stop him from eating. so i was wondering when should i start worrying about his not eating? should that occur...
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0.2 Calico Kitties: Pika & Margie =^..^=
1.0 German Shepard/Husky: Elias
1.0 BCI of 14 years: Diamond
1.0 Boa Longicauda: Xavier
1.0 Amazon Basin Peruvian BCC: Leroy
0.1 Peter Kahl albino BCI: Peaches
0.1 Hog Island Boa: Harley
1.0 Sunburst veiled chameleon: Papa Leo

As for when to clean the uneaten crix out...do it at the end of the day. Crix are active at night and by then they've excreted all their valuable gutload anyway and should be fed.

As for misting/dripping...before the days of foggers, dripper systems etc. the ice cube trick was one way of supplying water. There's no need for that any more. You can make your own dripper out of IV bag setups or poke holes in a plastic container from the inside out (remember to put a catch basin on the cage floor big enough to catch all the overflow), buy one (but they can be cranky), use timed automatic misters, or rely more on heavy hand spraying (use hot water...by the time the droplets hit the cham it is mildly warm). To know if you are supplying enough moisture for the cage itself you'll need an accurate electronic humidity gauge (not the little stick on ones from petshops). There are lots of sites with setup tips, but the few that I prefer are:

http://www.adcham.com
http://www.chameleonnews.com
http://www.calumma.com
http://www.chameleonjournals.com
http://www.geocities.com/ccicenter

As for how long they can go not eating...they can go a few weeks before you should be worried, just make sure it has plenty of hinding spaces and the humidity is good and its as comfortable as possible, it will come around to eating the crickets, give it a few days.
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.0 Veileds
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther