Chameleon breeds by laying eggs. They can passed their heat period and produce the egg until three times per year. There are some kinds of chameleon which become the most favorite to being pets at home like Veiled, Jackson’s, or Panther. The chameleon garden is also mostly being pets too. Veiled, Jackson’s and Panther can you easily met in pet shop and sell when they were young around three until eight years old.
The advantage while you bring young animal become your pet is surely you have more time to getting used with them. The time during their growth that you both spend together will make chameleon easily know you, watch you, and close with you. Even chameleon is lonely animal which really feel ruin while something around them, actually the character of every chameleon is different. There are love and also hate people. But don’t worry you can train them to be getting used with you by feeding them directly from your hand.
Basically, there is no far different while pet adult and baby chameleon but still there is special treatment to support their growth. Do you want to know about that? Here are some steps to take care of chameleon baby.
The Steps
1. Know the character
Before you decided to bring chameleon to your home, you better know the general information of yours. It’s like what kind of chameleon it is? Or how old it is? That’s information surely you need if there is something happen like vaccination or repairing treatment. You can do some interview with the seller if you bought it or ask the owner if you adopt it. After that, you can observe their behavior during the time. It may take a long time until you got the point but don’t think about that just enjoy the process.
Keep on your mind that every chameleon has different character but mostly of them didn’t like to be touch. Don’t touched the back if you won’t your chameleon become angry. That because their back is their sensitive area. Both of adult or baby hates it a lot. Carried them is also touched them, right? They also hate it but as long as you don’t touch it too much, they still okay. Besides, they hate to be crowded place but it doesn’t mean they hate people either. As mentioned before that every chameleon has different character but mostly they hate to be touched and love calm and comfy place.
2. The cage
About their cage, you better place the baby chameleon in reptarium not aquarium. Even physically they close similar, reptarium more suggested than aquarium because that’s formulated for reptile. Reptarium has better air circulation which needed by chameleon. Make sure you choose the biggest reptarium because chameleon baby can growth three times bigger than their size now. Beside, using one cage used since they are young until adult will safe your money a lot. In case if you raise the chameleon baby by yourself, don’t mixed chameleon babies into one cage. Once again they love to be lonely and mixed them isn’t good idea.
Chameleon is so sensitive with stress. Put your chameleon into something that they hate will increase their stress, right? Place their cage in somewhere in your home which far from another animal and rarely passed with your family and make sure that place is comfy, relax, and calm. Chameleon didn’t like with loud place. Crowded or loud place will be so harmful for them so be careful moreover if they are still baby. The sensitive level will two times easier to be caught than the adult. After you put reptarium, place the baby chameleon inside it and don’t forget to add something which loved by them like perch or some plants. Make their cage as same as their natural habitat will help you to decrease their stress level. Also, make sure that the warm inside the cage is stable.
You can put thermometer to measure the temperature. Reptile is mostly need UV light to produce Vitamin D to help them absorb the calcium which contained on their food. Don’t forget to keep their cage clean. Move your chameleon when you clean their cage and clean it with liquid soap. Placed the liquid soap into spray bottle and wipe when you apply. By this method, this is more advantage for you if you have two reptarium in different size. The big one is mainly cage and the smaller additional while you clean the main cage.
3. The food
Chameleon is insect eater. They can eat cicadas but they can eat another insect like bumbung caterpillar, hongkong caterpillar, super caterpillar, moth, grasshopper, and fly. Because you pet the chameleon baby, you better feed them by the food which has smaller size than the food which usually ate by adult chameleon. Baby chameleon usually hard to eat something big moreover the insect which has wing. You better cut it off before give them to chameleon and be selective. Regarding drink, chameleon drink by licked some water dot in the wall or in the leave which placed inside the cage.
4. Interaction
Adult and baby chameleon has different treatment during interaction. The baby is more sensitive stress level than adult so you better don’t too over interaction with them. You still can enjoy the time with them but please manage it and give them more time to be rest.
Some tips
- Chameleon will change their body color when they feel cold, pressed, or sick. So with highly risk because they still growth, it is important for you to always responsible with this sign. By this sign, your chameleon is not good at all. Look over some stimulates why chameleon change their color. Is it by temperature, stress, or caused by some disease. If it cause by cold, re-manage the air circulation and install some bulb lamp upstairs the reptarium will help you a lot. Don’t place the cage under the sun light because chameleon can’t deal with over dry and too hot place. Also, it is matter if you put thermometer to control the temperature. The baby chameleon usually needs warmer temperature than the adult but don’t press it too much. If it caused by stress, evaluate your cage place or your method treatment. Is it broke something that didn’t like by chameleon or not? And if it’s caused by disease, you better call vet which able to handle the reptile.
- Note some vets which able to handle reptile will be so useable for you. Like another animal, during their growth period chameleon must be infected by some disease. Even you already sure that all treatment method is bacteria free, but still virus and some health problem can’t be easily avoided. Vaccination usually didn’t work well if we already talk about disease. That’s all about their immune. Better you focus to build the stronger immune of chameleon than feel dizzy to change the method, looking for expensive vaccination or looking for great vet.