I have tons of experience with cats, dogs and rodents, but reptiles are completely new to me. Columbia is also my very first self owned pet, and it’s overall a very exiting experience! I’m already deeply in love with this little guy.
He’s 7 months old and roughly 35 cm - I haven’t measured him yet as he’s a bit skittish. We brought him home on Wednesday, so he’s extremely stressed from moving as you can see.
Link to my husbandry post
The seller said Columbia is finishing up a shed, and I think I can see some on his tail and on one of his legs. (Can add more pics!). I haven’t misted or bathed him yet, and he doesn’t have a water dish. Should I try to give him a bath, or just wait a week or two and keep an eye on the shed? I don’t want to cause him unnecessary stress!
I also feel like I see something weird on/under his lower eyelid. Is it just my imagination?
About his behavior - as far as I’ve read, it’s normal for them to have a reduced appetite and low activity levels after relocation. Is this correct? I’ve fed him about 20 medium crickets in total since bringing him home, he’s slow at hunting them, but with some encouragement he happily chows down. Doesn’t seem too keen on food though, I assume this will pass after some weeks.
About 90% of the time so far, he’s been basking, mostly with his eyes closed. Every few minutes he will open them and take a look around. He seems alert, and reacts to sound and to me walking past his enclosure. I’ve seen him exploring a couple times, walking around and licking stuff - what a delight to watch! He’s only done this for a few minutes at a time, returning to his basking spot after.
His first day home, I tried hand feeding him some greens and blueberries. He accepted a couple greens, but hissed at the blueberry offering. Since then, he hasn’t shown any signs of aggression, but he’s quite wary of my hand. If I move slowly, he’ll tolerate it. If I’m too quick, he skitters off. I think I’ll stop hand feeding greens, I’ve heard this can cause them to become spoiled and only accept hand fed greens. But when feeding crickets, I don’t think I can avoid having to put my hand in his tank. The crickets seem to either stand so still that Columbia doesn’t get interested, or hop off and hide under the decorations or the newspaper. I have to nudge them out and into his line of sight for him to hunt them, and sometimes even then he’ll just close his eyes and not give a crap.
I also have some extensive questions about staple foods and feeding schedule - should I make a thread in the Feeders subforum or just in this thread?
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
He’s 7 months old and roughly 35 cm - I haven’t measured him yet as he’s a bit skittish. We brought him home on Wednesday, so he’s extremely stressed from moving as you can see.
Link to my husbandry post
The seller said Columbia is finishing up a shed, and I think I can see some on his tail and on one of his legs. (Can add more pics!). I haven’t misted or bathed him yet, and he doesn’t have a water dish. Should I try to give him a bath, or just wait a week or two and keep an eye on the shed? I don’t want to cause him unnecessary stress!
I also feel like I see something weird on/under his lower eyelid. Is it just my imagination?
About his behavior - as far as I’ve read, it’s normal for them to have a reduced appetite and low activity levels after relocation. Is this correct? I’ve fed him about 20 medium crickets in total since bringing him home, he’s slow at hunting them, but with some encouragement he happily chows down. Doesn’t seem too keen on food though, I assume this will pass after some weeks.
About 90% of the time so far, he’s been basking, mostly with his eyes closed. Every few minutes he will open them and take a look around. He seems alert, and reacts to sound and to me walking past his enclosure. I’ve seen him exploring a couple times, walking around and licking stuff - what a delight to watch! He’s only done this for a few minutes at a time, returning to his basking spot after.
His first day home, I tried hand feeding him some greens and blueberries. He accepted a couple greens, but hissed at the blueberry offering. Since then, he hasn’t shown any signs of aggression, but he’s quite wary of my hand. If I move slowly, he’ll tolerate it. If I’m too quick, he skitters off. I think I’ll stop hand feeding greens, I’ve heard this can cause them to become spoiled and only accept hand fed greens. But when feeding crickets, I don’t think I can avoid having to put my hand in his tank. The crickets seem to either stand so still that Columbia doesn’t get interested, or hop off and hide under the decorations or the newspaper. I have to nudge them out and into his line of sight for him to hunt them, and sometimes even then he’ll just close his eyes and not give a crap.
I also have some extensive questions about staple foods and feeding schedule - should I make a thread in the Feeders subforum or just in this thread?
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
