So, as mentioned in my intro, last week we adopted a veiled chameleon, named Lucky, about two years old.
He also came with a very nice enclosure, still needs some finishing but its got a nice size, 800X600X1900mm...
His previous owners bought him for their 9 year old boy and they have had him for about a year, they passed him on cause they don't have time to care for him.
Now my initial observations, he seems to have not taken the move very well, this is expected so he will need some time to adjust.
I also noticed that he needs a UVB lamp, if the spare bulb is anything to go by he is only getting UVA at the moment so Im hoping I realized this in time and the damage hasn't already been done.
He does not seem to like the fake vines much, I don't think they offer the best of grip for climbing?
He seems to prefer his crickets to be roaming the enclosure rather than from a bucket, the previous owners put a white 5l icecream tub in the base...
He looks scared and stressed but that could be from the move...
I would like to make the following changes to his cage:
Add the new post that I built, used a old guava stump with plants added into it, a dune crow berry, two cissus shoots and a spekboom. These are all non toxic and will in time form nice natural cover, at the moment it looks as in the pic...
The sides of the cage is from alu mesh and the door of Perspex, both needs to be trimmed to size. I would like to add a solid base of ply and perhaps a steel frame with castors so that I can move him outside.
Id also like to add a drip system for drinking together with manual misting.
Questions:
How does one best implement changes, gradually or all at once?
Substrate, some people say yes, others say no?
How can one best try and implement new feeding habits? I would like to try a tray around the enclosure mid level.
Will they find the food themselves or do you need to show them where, how would one show them?
Any additional advice or observations from the pros will be much appreciated at this stage...
Now for some pics:
The enclosure
The man
The mans new climbing post