brought home 3mo old panther chameleon yesterday, sleeping a lot

[wixard]

yesterday i brought my little buddy home and put him in his enclosure and he was exploring a lot and eating crickets i provided. last night he settled on a low branch and curled up to sleep i shut the lights off for 12 hours then turned them on in the morning. all today he's been just chilling in the same spot, adjusting only a bit, I offered crickets to him, but he didn't want any of them. he's been napping for a lot of the day too. just want to make sure this is normal because I just brought him home and he's still adjusting.

 

[ItsMike64]

Do you have pics you could share of him doing this? When chameleons are SUPER stressed out they close their eyes, so sounds like it could be that to me. If it is this, I would think it would be suggested to leave him alone, leave bugs in his enclosure, and let him get used to things. Pics will help determine if this is what the problem is though

 

[wixard]

Do you have pics you could share of him doing this? When chameleons are SUPER stressed out they close their eyes, so sounds like it could be that to me. If it is this, I would think it would be suggested to leave him alone, leave bugs in his enclosure, and let him get used to things. Pics will help determine if this is what the problem is though

here ya go thanks for replying

 

[ItsMike64]

here ya go thanks for replying

Of course!! Your little one is super cute!

I’d love to help you out, and am sure others would too, so I’m going to ask you to fill out a husbandry review. I know it’s a lot of work to fill out, but this will help us understand what needs to be done for your cute baby!

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[wixard]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Panther chameleon, male, 3 months old got him yesterday
• Handling - the only time i did was to put him in his enclosure yesterday once getting home
• Feeding - currently i am offering around 10-15 crickets (the smaller one so he can handle them) in a feeder cup he ate a good amount yesterday but not much day
• Supplements - I'm using the rep-cal without d3 rn and plan to buy multivitamin and calcium with d3 to dose twice a month
• Watering - i have been using a spray bottle to mist about 3 times a day
• Fecal Description - the fecal matter look normal brown on one end and white on the other
• History - N/A

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - its the reptibreeze screen cage medium (18x18x36)
• Lighting - reptisun T5HO fixture with t5 5.0 bulb and a flukers clamp lamp with a 40w bulb currently
• Temperature - Around 75F at the bottom to 85 directly on the basking spot im using a point and shoot thermometer
• Humidity - they usually stay around 60 overall and are heigher in the bottom of the cage and after misting obv
• Plants - currently i just have a large Monstera in there but im prepping a pothos to start creating vines
• Placement - the cage is located in my room I'm the only usually in there
• Location - Texas

Current Problem - for most of the day he seems to be in one spot he recently moved to bask in the top of the cage but is still screen climbing a lot

 

[MissSkittles]

Where did you get him from?

 

[wixard]

Where did you get him from?

I got him from a breeder at repticon

 

[MissSkittles]

I got him from a breeder at repticon

So poor baby has probably been thru a lot of stress in the past few days. Offer him lots of food and hydration and just let him settle in and relax. It would be ideal if you can raise his enclosure off the floor. Height will help him feel more secure.

 

[wixard]

So poor baby has probably been thru a lot of stress in the past few days. Offer him lots of food and hydration and just let him settle in and relax. It would be ideal if you can raise his enclosure off the floor. Height will help him feel more secure.

Would it be better to mist more then usual as to make sure he gets enough hydration

 

[ItsMike64]

Would it be better to mist more then usual as to make sure he gets enough hydration

Well you should never mist during the day. To provide him with hydration a dripper would be great. You can see a hydration schedule in the bottom left of the attached image. Your best bet is, as MissSkittles said above, lift his enclosure up off the ground, give him some bugs and a dripper and leave him be. The little guy has been through a lot the past few days and is very stressed, so he just needs to recuperate and I’m sure he’ll be okay

 

[kinyonga]

You might like to read this..
https://chameleonacademy.com/basics-hydration-for-chameleons/

 

[ItsMike64]

I also want to add a couple things I’ve noticed while looking over your information:

You stated that you have an 18x18x36 - this might be okay for a baby, but a male panther will need a 24x24x48 enclosure when he gets bigger - and that will be soon.

It seems like he’s doing some screen climbing. This could be that the sticks/dowels you have in there are too big for his little mittens. I’d get some smaller ones in there that he’s able to wrap his hands completely around. This will make him feel more secure.

Temps look good overall but I’d try to lower the basking temperature to 80° - they don’t like it too hot and you risk burning as well. Especially with being down in Texas it can result in your cham getting too hot too fast.

Do you have a fogger for nighttime? Also might want to invest in a mister that could go off automatically. I used this one from Amazon when I first got my cham. It’s good and gets the job done. As I said above, it’s not a good idea to mist at all while lights are on, unless you’re doing it like 5-10 minutes before they turn off.

 

[wixard]

I also want to add a couple things I’ve noticed while looking over your information:

You stated that you have an 18x18x36 - this might be okay for a baby, but a male panther will need a 24x24x48 enclosure when he gets bigger - and that will be soon.

It seems like he’s doing some screen climbing. This could be that the sticks/dowels you have in there are too big for his little mittens. I’d get some smaller ones in there that he’s able to wrap his hands completely around. This will make him feel more secure.

Temps look good overall but I’d try to lower the basking temperature to 80° - they don’t like it too hot and you risk burning as well. Especially with being down in Texas it can result in your cham getting too hot too fast.

Do you have a fogger for nighttime? Also might want to invest in a mister that could go off automatically. I used this one from Amazon when I first got my cham. It’s good and gets the job done. As I said above, it’s not a good idea to mist at all while lights are on, unless you’re doing it like 5-10 minutes before they turn off.

yeah i know about the cage thing im planning on building a custom one when he grows a bit more, i will get some smaller dowels too, so if i have too for now until i get get an auto mister should i just mist when the lights are off?

 

[wixard]

yeah i know about the cage thing im planning on building a custom one when he grows a bit more, i will get some smaller dowels too, so if i have too for now until i get get an auto mister should i just mist when the lights are off?

I also want to add a couple things I’ve noticed while looking over your information:

You stated that you have an 18x18x36 - this might be okay for a baby, but a male panther will need a 24x24x48 enclosure when he gets bigger - and that will be soon.

It seems like he’s doing some screen climbing. This could be that the sticks/dowels you have in there are too big for his little mittens. I’d get some smaller ones in there that he’s able to wrap his hands completely around. This will make him feel more secure.

Temps look good overall but I’d try to lower the basking temperature to 80° - they don’t like it too hot and you risk burning as well. Especially with being down in Texas it can result in your cham getting too hot too fast.

Do you have a fogger for nighttime? Also might want to invest in a mister that could go off automatically. I used this one from Amazon when I first got my cham. It’s good and gets the job done. As I said above, it’s not a good idea to mist at all while lights are on, unless you’re doing it like 5-10 minutes before they turn off.

so just to add on do i need a fogger? because of my area in my room its usaully 50 percent humidity at least, and with misting the cage gets up to 70
percent

 

[ItsMike64]

yeah i know about the cage thing im planning on building a custom one when he grows a bit more, i will get some smaller dowels too, so if i have too for now until i get get an auto mister should i just mist when the lights are off?

If you are planning to mist yourself, I would do it 10 minutes before lights go on and right after lights go off. If you do get the mister that I linked, it can only go in hourly increments. What I did was set it to mist every 12 hours for 90 seconds starting at 7:50AM. This means that it would mist at 7:50AM and 7:50PM - that got the job done. Though a mistking is always ideal. To make a long explanation short, yes. Only when lights are off.

During the daytime though, you'll also want a dripper. Check out this video. It's 20 minutes but I really think it'll help you out. This channel also has a TON of amazingly helpful content. I think you and your cham will benefit from this. I had the best time binge watching the channel when I was first starting out.

so just to add on do i need a fogger? because of my area in my room its usaully 50 percent humidity at least, and with misting the cage gets up to 70
percent

I would recommend it, yes. But ONLY on at nighttime. I probably have mine on longer than most, but it turns on at like 10:50PM and off at 5AM. Really helps increase nighttime humidity (Which you want as high as possible). This will aid in his hydration. 50% RH is great during the day. This is the one I use. It's nice and throws a lot of thick nice mist out.

One last suggestion would be to get another plant that has slightly smaller branches/stems. Something like a pothos or china doll would be great for your little one and his little mittens.

Please feel free to ask whatever questions you may have. I am by no means a pro but I understand how overwhelming this can be and am here to help

 

[MissSkittles]

Using a fogger to boost humidity at night is great to reproduce the natural hydration chams get in the wild thru fog. However, you only want to do this if your night time temps drop below at least 68-70.
I mist for 2 minutes right before lights go on, mid day and then right before lights go off as I don’t use a dripper and don’t fog at night as I can’t achieve night temps below 70. We all do things a bit differently according to our individual situations. However, the main thing to keep in mind is that high heat + high humidity increases risks for respiratory infections. Having good ventilation and air flow also plays a big part in this. As you have a screened enclosure, your ventilation is very good. When you mist or use a dripper, your humidity will spike for a short time and that’s to be expected and is ok. When we’re starting out, we follow the proven standards. As we see what works for us and what doesn’t, we adapt our ways of meeting our chameleon’s needs in our unique environment.

 

[Beman]

I just want to note that you need to lift that heat fixture up off the cage... The way it is angled and how close baby can get to it on the screen is a thermal burn risk.

Where is the UVB fixture? For the T5HO fixture and the 5.0 bulb you want the total distance to the branch to be 8-9 inches from the bottom of the fixture. For a baby that screen climbs we adjust this... So the fixture would be lifted 4 inches from the bottom of the fixture to the screen top and then you would have branches 4-5 inches below the screen top for a total distance of 8-9 inches. The measured distances are important. It ensures that baby is in the right UVI range. Any farther away and they have reduced UVI levels which can lead to MBD depending on how far and any closer they are in over exposure levels.

 

[Thatcher]

Great job guys!

 

[wixard]

I just want to note that you need to lift that heat fixture up off the cage... The way it is angled and how close baby can get to it on the screen is a thermal burn risk.

Where is the UVB fixture? For the T5HO fixture and the 5.0 bulb you want the total distance to the branch to be 8-9 inches from the bottom of the fixture. For a baby that screen climbs we adjust this... So the fixture would be lifted 4 inches from the bottom of the fixture to the screen top and then you would have branches 4-5 inches below the screen top for a total distance of 8-9 inches. The measured distances are important. It ensures that baby is in the right UVI range. Any farther away and they have reduced UVI levels which can lead to MBD depending on how far and any closer they are in over exposure levels.

So the uvb is on the shelf above so it’s 8 inches from the screen then 6 from screen to branch I got my info from this chart and I’ll move the heat lamp

 

[Beman]

So the uvb is on the shelf above so it’s 8 inches from the screen then 6 from screen to branch I got my info from this chart and I’ll move the heat lamp

Ignore the chart... They do not account for the screen that the UVI has to go through. The screen reduces the output by about 40%. So we are aiming for an approximate UVI exposure level of 3 at the branch. Then on the screen the max exposure of 6. The info I gave you will give you these levels.

you will have baby screen climbing constantly to get to the UVI levels it needs due to how it is set up now. With your current set up 8 inches to the screen is putting him at a 3 uvi but at the branch being 14 inches away it would be below a 1 UVI level. This puts baby at risk for MBD developing.

While you may be able to see the light this does not mean that the UVI level penetrates that deeply into the enclosure. It is one of those areas of cham keeping we have to be very careful with because of MBD.