~6 Mo. Panther Chameleon Online Check- up!

[ChameLIonLover]

I all, thanks for the help.

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon - Male Nosy Be Panther Chameleon, 6 and half months old. Have had him for 2 months.
• Handling - Every other day. Mostly minimally to allow him to roam around on plants inside.
• Feeding - crickets primarily. at 5 months when first received, he would eat 2 or so crickets, then around 6 months he ate a little more an then up to 8 a day for a week or so. Now he is eating 3 or so crickets daily. Gutloaded always with either kale, collard greens, carrots and apple. Have offered super worms and dubia but to no avail. Will readily take meal worms however.
• Supplements - Repticalcium w/ D3 every other week (2x/ month), Herptivite multivitamin every other week (2x/ month), REP- CAL calcium w/o D3 every day (too often) Take note that he eats about 3 bugs daily.
• Watering - Use a little dripper when I can. Will occasionally hand mist, Mistking goes off 4 times a day, for 6-8 minute intervals. Use a cheap dial thermometer/ hygrometer from petco, not sure if the hygrometer on humidifier is accurate
• Fecal Description - Poops every other day.. used to be every day, but it seems like he is eating less. Urate is mostly white.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. NA

Cage Info:
• Cage Type - 18x18x36 screen cage, drainage below
• Lighting - 2 Flukers lamp fixtures for household basking bulb (75w) and compact UVB, as well as 18" fixture (for 18" reptisun 5.0)
• Temperature - Basking spot temp: 84, ambient / bottom: 70
• Humidity - Ambient: 15, but during day with mister and humidifier:
40-80
⁃ Mistking mists 4 times a day for 6-7 minute intervals
⁃ IDYLIS humidifier from Lowes (not sure what type? Black $75 model?)
• Plants - Hibiscus and Pothos. When free ranging near sunning window, I put him on geraniums and dracaena
• Placement - Cage in bedroom, which is located within the basement... Corner of bedroom... a bit of traffic in order for me to get to my closet and get to the bathroom. I am 5' 10'' and the cage is raised so that the basking branch is at eye level with me.
• Location - Midwest- Omaha, Nebraska... can get VERY cold and DRY

Current Problem - Many possible problems...
1) As a younger chameleon ~6 mo., I figure he should be eating more than just ~3 crickets a day and a super worm every other day. Looking to offer him a wider variety.

Have access to dubia in the area, which I still start trying. Currently getting him to eat a super worm every other day at beginning of day as first food item.
***Where can I buy silkworms, hornworms, etc. reliably and affordably(is that possible)?

2) Humidity still low at night even though I have humidifier going. I think I will start increasing the misting times as well. When they go off, they will keep the humidity up for 10 minutes an then start to peter down back to the 20's/ 30's. ***Will increasing misting times help? I was thinking 12 minutes or so?***

3) ANY suggestions for me?

Thanks for your time and help/expertise everyone! As a reward, meet my little boy, Alby the Nosy Be!

 

[zlew]

You could definitely increase his temperatures a little bit. My boy likes his basking spot up at 90. Try 87 before you go up that high though. He's a bad eater as well. You look like you know your stuff, definitely variety is good, and you should get ready to increase cage size soon.

 

[Sanababit]

Hi, well yours eats more than mine, mine eats one superworms and about 5-6 flies, that is it, 3-4 weeks ago it wouldnt eat anything, maybe a worm every other day, it stopped eating crickets about 6 weeks ago, i guess ill just have to cope with a picky eater, lol

Sana

 

[zlew]

He looks like a true nosy be! They're bred to be blue but originally they were that green color that I really love.

 

[Sticktongue]

I am from Utah where it is quite dry as well. I wrapped my cages in plastic (shower curtains). I usually would do 2 sides of the cage. It will boost your humidity up to where it needs to be.

 

[johnnyev]

He looks like a true nosy be! They're bred to be blue but originally they were that green color that I really love.

Same here... really love the true, green Nosey Be's, so much more than the designer blue ones .
Really miss my big male, Ozzy (named after Ozzy Osbourne ).

 

[brieannab]

Also from utah I have my chameleon in a screen cage with a clear shower curtain on both sides and the back to make sure I get a lot of humidity.

 

[aMiseo]

He's a beautiful guy! I am a new cham owner as well, and worry all the time about the slightest change in behavior. He does not look skinny, I guess he's just a picky eater. I have been using lindasgonebuggy.com for my feeders, she sells the perfect items for younger chams, and for keepers like us that might only have 1. I recommend the baby hornworm/silkworm habitats, they are $10 each and come with food. The hornworms grow very fast, so getting them little is optimal. I have been feeding my Ambilobe Panther Remy 2 hornworms or silk worms daily and about 10 crickets. He eats all the crickets from time to time, any leftover ones I try and collect at the end of the day before the lights the go out so they don't bite him. If you have any trouble with ordering from Linda, just send her an email, she is very fast getting back to you, and your order will arrive within 2 days. Cheers!