Baby panther chameleons, need help

[Eleet]

Hi everyone,
So I have been wanting a panther for awhile. I have two male veiled, ages 2 and 4, who are happy and healthy. So my husband decided to Suprise me. I received a package today from la reptile with 2 (2!) baby panthers in it. The only info I have is that they are 4 months old and captive bred. I seriously doubt they are that old. They are about an inch long, not including tail. My questions are, at this size, can they be housed together? What size enclosure would be appropriate? I have an 18x18x18, but it seems so big for them! Should I use a dripper? Or rely on misting often? I have fruitflys now, and pinheads will be coming on Thursday. I'm not finding much literature on caring for ones this small. Aside from basking temp being a tad higher, any other considerations? I'm waiting on an email back from la reptile with (hopefully) more Info on the babies. They are so darn cute, I'm scared I'm going to kill them.

Thanks for the advice in advance,
Erin

 

[camimom]

There is no way that baby is 4 months old.

more like 1 month if that.

and at that size, they can be housed together for a while


you don't want basking temps higher for babies. you want them lower.

they need lower temps, use a slightly use uvb bulb (one you've used for like a month or so) and get tiny bugs. like pinhead crickets.

 

[Eleet]

That's what I was thinking. And I mispoke about temp. I meant to say lower. I have an older UVB bulb. I'll toss that on. Any advice on cage size? I'm worried in the 18x18 they won't be able to find food. But I can't seem to find any alscreen cages made smaller. Would a critter keeper be better for right now? I can drill one pretty easily if needed.

 

[jastate09]

How are your babies doing? You could keep them in a plastic Rubbermaid type tote. Search baby bins here and you should see some examples. At that size I do not drip, just mist.

 

[ibdragons]

You can house them together for a little while month or so but keep an eye on them for aggressiveness.

 

[Eleet]

So far so good. I have babies in a 12x12x18 screen enclosure that I made.
I'm a little concerned about the one. He appeared slightly dehydrated this morning, and hasn't been nearly as active as the other one. I have been doing a thorough misting every 2 hours today, since he doesn't seem to want to drink otherwise. I never did hear back as to what kind of panthers they are, I guess time will tell. Here a some pics I took today.

 

[Eleet]

I figured I would post a quick update, I lost one of the babies last weekend. It just went downhill very quickly. The other one is doing very well. Eating like a pig and growing fast. I think it's a boy, but I really have no clue. Here's some pics I took this morning.

 

[bbprinting]

Sorry to hear you lost one of your babies but glad to hear the other one is doing great.

 

[Clubber122]

this is mine supposedly nine weeks! I've been panicking because he's not ate any crickets today but I only got him yesterday

 

[Captive Creations]

Hi Eleet, Congrats on the surprise! I would guess his age between 2-3 months. Panthers are very tiny when they are born. We have some Faly babies right now at 2 and a half months and they are around that size. Babies can be very tricky as their size makes it easy for them to dehydrate very fast. I feed flightless fruit flies and 2 week -1/4 inch crickets. I use this schedule with my babies:
I mist them between 4-6 times a day allowing it to completly dry before misting again. and I feed them 2 feedings of 8-10 fruit flies each feeding.
When it comes to the enclosure if you are worried about the size of it you can always find a way to make a divider and split the tank. we use the small repti breeze cages for them once they are 3-4 months but before then I use a 5 ltr rubbermaid tubs and I cut a hole in them for the light and for air flow as well, they are great for keeping humidity.
Good luck with your little one.

 

[Eleet]

Aww too cute! Thanks for the advice, that's almost exactly what I've been doing. He seems to be doing well, eating a ton, and growing a lot. Here's a picture I took today.