Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all, I went to my local Pet Store today to buy rats for my boa. While I was there I saw they had some new born Jackson's chameleons so I asked the salesman about them. He said they were born Tuesday to a female they had in the shop. He admitted he dint know much about chameleons especially baby's and that he didn't think they would live, at that point he began soaking them with a spray bottle. I didn't think much of this until I came home and read on the internet that you shouldn't soak them because it can drown them. Also the enclosure was very large and it looked like they were having a hard time finding food, half looked thin as if they hadn't ate and all of them were very dark as if they were stressed. I have always wanted to have a chameleon as a pet and I have studied them so I know the challenges so I am thinking of trying to raise one of these babies before the pet shop kills them. I have a food supply, pinhead crickets. What I don't know is how to set up a baby enclosure meaning size, heating, and light. The little guys are only 1" or less so what advice can anyone with experience with baby's give me on there care, please I need help. Thanks, NCSean

they will definitely die if left in the care of a pet store that knows or cares nothing , try and get them all , they wont do well individually,dont use an aquarium ,the glass is too cold and too confusing, start with a washed one gallon milk jug , cut out the flat indented area surrounding the handle, on the other side of the milk jug there should be 2 round areas about 2 1/2" in diameter, cut those out and cover with screen use hot melt , the fumes from silicone or other glues will kill them ,put in a few twigs of fake ficus so they have something to climb on and help hold humidity,dont over do it , put about 4-5 neonates in each jug ,you must feed wingless fruitflies until they will no longer take them ,if you can get them insecticide free aphids are also a good starter food, feeding them constantly about 5-10 at a time.even fruitfly maggots can be fed, mist sparingly (with heated distiiled or filtered water , do not start with warm tap water)water temp should be about 83-85* [(when atomized) to prevent chilling] with fine mist every 45 min. max. save the cut out part and tape it back into place for the evenings. even still you need to spritz at least every 2 hrs. even the tiniest pinheads are too big for at least the first week , they will attack and kill the neonates, when you do switch, use genuine pinheads, if they are 1/8' they are too large. leave a low power (2.0 max. ) uva/uvb bulb some distance over head (about 4-5 ft. away)you might be able to get with just a uva 25w reptile basking bulb for the first 2 weeks.you must use temp probes and do whatever is neccessary to keep it at a constant 82* do not use bottom heat, when they have doubled in size you can switch to 3 or 4 gal plastic storage containers, with holes drilled in the sides and lid (not too many, or it will be to hard to maintain humidity, lining with paper towels helps, they(the paper towels) must be kept ever so slightly damp constantly. do not use supplements for the first month. the neonates must be watched constantly , you might find pics of neonates being raised on the BT PETS WEBSITE