All set up for my new Panther! Any suggestions?

[Balien]

2x2x4 screen enclosure (the door is clear plastic) on top of a 2ft high wooden stand that I built for it. The tray that came with the enclosure fits in the bottom perfectly! I have a tall and short hibiscus in pots on the bottom.

I bought him and the enclosure together off of someone on Craigslist, it came with everything already inside except for the hibiscus trees.

This is my first Chameleon, so any suggestions are very welcome! I’m not sure if the top is too over-planted (I already took some of the leafy vines out) but he seems pretty happy in there.

 

[JoXie411]

Just a note is that a compact uvb bulb? If so your going to want to upgrade to a t5ho light

 

[Balien]

It is, I will add that to my list, thank you!

 

[Balien]

Also, health wise, how does he look to you guys? I am very paranoid about him getting dehydrated and I haven’t seen him drink anything yet

 

[JoXie411]

I don’t own a panther so I will direct you to my homies who do @Chameleon Mike @CamoChameleonsHuman @Matt Vanilla Gorilla

 

[Daesie11]

He is very handsome! Best way to tell if he is dehydrated is if the eye turrets are full and if the urates are pearly white!
Make sure to upgrade that light that Jox pointed out asap.
What sort of feeding schedule do you have? Do you know how old he is?

 

[Ruthless]

Make adjustments to the placement of your heat source so he can bask under it. Also get yours T5 HO UVB. How do you know he isn’t drinking how are you offering him a water source. They will lick water off the leaves.

 

[Balien]

He is very handsome! Best way to tell if he is dehydrated is if the eye turrets are full and if the urates are pearly white!
Make sure to upgrade that light that Jox pointed out asap.
What sort of feeding schedule do you have? Do you know how old he is?

Thanks! The urates that I’ve seen look very white, so that is good.

He’s about 8/9 months old, I’ve had him for 5 days now. The person I got him from said they were giving him about 2 dozen crickets every 2-3 days, but compared to what I’ve seen on here that seems like a lot?

Sunday I gave him about a dozen large dubias and a few super worms and today he had a dozen large crickets and 4 dubias. I want to mix his food up so he gets a good variety but I’m worried about under/over feeding

 

[Balien]

Make adjustments to the placement of your heat source so he can bask under it. Also get yours T5 HO UVB. How do you know he isn’t drinking how are you offering him a water source. They will lick water off the leaves.

I’ve been misting his enclosure twice a day and he has a dripper that goes all day (I turn it off at night). I just haven’t seen him licking/drinking anything so far

In terms of the light, I’ve seen a lot of things that said the put the light source to the side so that he can expose more of his side to it rather that sit directly under it

 

[JoXie411]

I’ve been misting his enclosure twice a day and he has a dripper that goes all day (I turn it off at night). I just haven’t seen him licking/drinking anything so far

They are shy drinkers you won’t see them do it often. They mostly get what they need from the bugs they eat. If your urates look fine don’t worry to much

 

[Balien]

They are shy drinkers you won’t see them do it often. They mostly get what they need from the bugs they eat. If your urates look fine don’t worry to much

Okay that makes me feel better, thank you

 

[Daesie11]

Thanks! The urates that I’ve seen look very white, so that is good.

He’s about 8/9 months old, I’ve had him for 5 days now. The person I got him from said they were giving him about 2 dozen crickets every 2-3 days, but compared to what I’ve seen on here that seems like a lot?

Sunday I gave him about a dozen large dubias and a few super worms and today he had a dozen large crickets and 4 dubias. I want to mix his food up so he gets a good variety but I’m worried about under/over feeding

One of the guys that Joxie tagged will chime in about feeding. My boy is still young so he gets as much food as he wants

When it comes to watching him drink, you may never see him drink. Just have to pay attention to his eyes and urates to know he is getting the hydration he needs

 

[Daesie11]

They are shy drinkers you won’t see them do it often. They mostly get what they need from the bugs they eat. If your urates look fine don’t worry to much

Ugh I was too slow

 

[snitz427]

Yes. My suggestion is to go ahead and cancel the rest of 2019, because all you’re going to do for the rest of the year is watch that cutie grow up!

 

[snitz427]

I cant come out guys, my chameleon is shedding!

 

[cloverthechameleon]

If youre worried about dehydration you might want to invest in a fogger or humidifier to run for several hours during the night. Youre also going to need alot more light then a single t5 and a basking bulb if you want to keep those hibiscus alive.

 

[Balien]

If youre worried about dehydration you might want to invest in a fogger or humidifier to run for several hours during the night. Youre also going to need alot more light then a single t5 and a basking bulb if you want to keep those hibiscus alive.

Thanks, I’ve already added a T5 HO UVB to my list of things I need to get

Do you think that will be enough for the plants or will I need to get a separate light for those?

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

Thanks, I’ve already added a T5 HO UVB to my list of things I need to get

Do you think that will be enough for the plants or will I need to get a separate light for those?

LEDs are awesome for plants. Plan on getting some for myself shortly. I've always gone the 10 feeders route a day. Introducing at morning. Taking away any dead or uneaten feeders before lights out. I like to use a variety of different feeders. Silks, dubias and other roaches, and crickets as stables. Using superworms as treats if they ate all their stable feeders. My Ambanja loves silks, supers, and crickets. My Ambilobe just swore off crickets but now loves all roaches, silks, and supers. I try to work around this. But 10-12 appropriate sized feeders a day is all i'll do. What's more important is how you gutload and what you're gutloading with as well as supplementation schedule. My schedule differs slightly from recommended practice but not by much. I also give my boys 2-3 sessions of 30 min intervals of real sun time outside a week weather permitting. Vitamin A Retinol is super important for chameleons and is very often passed off until eye issues arise. So my supplement schedule is regular calcium daily except for Fridays where once every 3 weeks I alternate between Vit A Retinol, Multivitamin, and Calcium + D3. Instead of every 2weeks as suggested. Keep in mind though that I do take my chams out every week and have proper T5HO lighting so D3 isn't a huge concern and I don't feel as if going an extra week on multivitamin is really going to hurt (suggested every 2 weeks). Or going a week early on Vitamin A will either (suggested monthly). And so far it hasn't. I'm having great success with both locales.

 

[Balien]

LEDs are awesome for plants. Plan on getting some for myself shortly. I've always gone the 10 feeders route a day. Introducing at morning. Taking away any dead or uneaten feeders before lights out. I like to use a variety of different feeders. Silks, dubias and other roaches, and crickets as stables. Using superworms as treats if they ate all their stable feeders. My Ambanja loves silks, supers, and crickets. My Ambilobe just swore off crickets but now loves all roaches, silks, and supers. I try to work around this. But 10-12 appropriate sized feeders a day is all i'll do. What's more important is how you gutload and what you're gutloading with as well as supplementation schedule. My schedule differs slightly from recommended practice but not by much. I also give my boys 2-3 sessions of 30 min intervals of real sun time outside a week weather permitting. Vitamin A Retinol is super important for chameleons and is very often passed off until eye issues arise. So my supplement schedule is regular calcium daily except for Fridays where once every 3 weeks I alternate between Vit A Retinol, Multivitamin, and Calcium + D3. Instead of every 2weeks as suggested. Keep in mind though that I do take my chams out every week and have proper T5HO lighting so D3 isn't a huge concern and I don't feel as if going an extra week on multivitamin is really going to hurt (suggested every 2 weeks). Or going a week early on Vitamin A will either (suggested monthly). And so far it hasn't. I'm having great success with both locales.

Thank you so much, this is very helpful! I plan on taking him outside once he is more comfortable with me, I’ve been hand feeding him everything so he is slowly coming around lol. He eats much much more than my little leopard gecko and dart frogs so having this many bugs around is a big change!

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

Thank you so much, this is very helpful! I plan on taking him outside once he is more comfortable with me, I’ve been hand feeding him everything so he is slowly coming around lol. He eats much much more than my little leopard gecko and dart frogs so having this many bugs around is a big change!

I feed my Leo every other day. She's at least 9 months old now though. This causes her to eat with more intensity and love watching her feeding responses. Her favorite is dubia roaches. I also give her 10 feeders and have her on same supplement schedule as chameleons.