Chameleon laying flat on the bottom of the enclosure

[reannelyn]

Here is a link to a panther care sheet here on the Forums. It includes information specific to young panther chameleons like yours. You may find it helpful. Have you named your little guy yet?

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

Thank you so much, I'll check that out! And his name is Floyd

 

[reannelyn]

Seems like an awful lot of mistking isn't the cage saturated? What does your humidity stay at?

It's a light mist. The plants get a nice costing of droplets but the cage isn't saturated because there is so much foliage. The humidity is at 60 right now

 

[JGuinan007]

My cage would be a swamp after that much misting.

 

[reannelyn]

My cage would be a swamp after that much misting.

This is my first time owning a chameleon and I'm glad I'm getting feedback because it's helping me learn more and more each day. You think I shouldn't mist every 3 hours? Or should I mist every 3 hours but not for 5 mins

 

[jajeanpierre]

This is my first time owning a chameleon and I'm glad I'm getting feedback because it's helping me learn more and more each day. You think I shouldn't mist every 3 hours? Or should I mist every 3 hours but not for 5 mins

I think you probably have a good schedule for misting right now. He's new and that right there means you should give him much more misting than he would need if he had been in your care and doing well for a month. Most chameleons are chronically dehydrated which is why they live short lives and die of things like kidney disease. Other experienced Panther people can chime in on the misting schedule for a panther, but he is new and more water/humidity is better than not enough. They live in rain forests, so humidity is usually a lot higher than you can ever keep the cage.

Eventually, you will reduce his misting to probably two main long mistings and a few short bursts in between to keep the humidity high. Five minutes is a great amount of time to mist for. Maybe @guanagator can chime in. Be careful of taking advice from the forum because sometimes people who have little experience give misinformation. I myself have zero experience with Panthers.

 

[Chamifornia]

I wouldn't worry about that misting time. I mist longer than you and I've never had an issue.

 

[guanagator]

My Panther misting schedule indoors changes a little based on outside humidity and how much I'm running the heat or AC inside. I changed it this week because its been very humid outside. I'm currently at 4x a day. Right after lights come on they get 2 minutes, at 1030 they get 3 more, at noon they get 10 minutes to allow for a long drink and eye cleaning, at 4pm they get 3 more mins. I was misting more in the late afternoon but they started staying wet overnight. In the winter it's drier here in north Florida and I mist much more often but only 30 second or 1 minute durations to boost humidity. Only change for my outside cages is they get a drip system on constantly. I don't shower my chameleons in the bathroom anymore and haven't had any eye issues or dehydration with this schedule. The long 5-10 minute midday misting is a starting point to ensure hydration and hygiene and then base the other timing and duration to maintain RH on your local weather conditions. As long as the cages dry out between mistings too much water isn't a bad thing, dehydration is a common issue.

 

[Andee]

I do 4 minutes 4 times a day and 2, 2 minute short bursts. I do sometimes do a manual mist with the mistking by just flipping it on, about twice a week for 8 minutes

 

[JGuinan007]

This is my first time owning a chameleon and I'm glad I'm getting feedback because it's helping me learn more and more each day. You think I shouldn't mist every 3 hours? Or should I mist every 3 hours but not for 5 mins

That depends on your set up and the humidity in the room, also some species like montanes need more humidity which is usually more mistings for longer periods. I have a veiled that doesn't require all that much misting to keep humidity between 40-70% and since the room humidity usually around 45% in summer and 35% in winter (pretty high humidity for in doors) I have my mister timer set for 1 min spray every 2hrs over an 8hr period in summer and 1 and a half min spray in winter this maintains humidity within parameters and I don't get sopping wet paper towels at the bottom of my cage or puddles (which in my area could lead to molds and mildews) and allows the cage to dry out between mistings. I had to make a few adjustments when I first set up my mister to get everything to work, trial and error til I found what worked best for me to maintain levels and allow to dry. I still hand mist once or twice a week with lukewarm water so my cham can clean her eyes and such, she hates it at 1st but eventually settles down.

 

[Andee]

I think anothing under 3 minutes on a regular basis, like your misting never get above 1.5 minutes isn't enough. I think they needo long mistings at least 2 times a day to drink enough. I'd you get puddles in your enclosure it means you have a drainage problem.

 

[JGuinan007]

1-1.5 is great for me, humidity is on the the mark and my cham is hydrated (granted I haven't seen her drink) her poops are always white. Drainage isn't an issue for me sine I don't get puddles.

 

[jajeanpierre]

1-1.5 is great for me, humidity is on the the mark and my cham is hydrated (granted I haven't seen her drink) her poops are always white. Drainage isn't an issue for me sine I don't get puddles.

You will only know if it was enough as your chameleon ages. Kidney disease is one of the biggest health issues captive chameleon have and one of the main causes of kidney disease is dehydration, even chronic low grade dehydration.

By the way, diagnosing kidney disease is not easy to diagnose in reptiles as it is in mammals. I vet makes a judgement call. There is a lot of undiagnosed kidney disease out there.

 

[JGuinan007]

Thx for the tip. I'll keep an eye out.

 

[reannelyn]

Hey guys,

Just an update. Its been over a week since I got floyd and I just think he was checking out his enclosure and was scared(as was I the first 2 nights I had him lol I was a worried parent). He really likes exploring all over the place. He is amazing and I learn so many new things about him everyday. He is pooping, peeing, climbing, hiding, hunting, eating, drinking, and sleeping. He is great. He actually just got done shedding the other day. He knows when its almost time for lights out and he goes down near the bottom of the enclosure to sleep. He still gets scared and nervous when I get hear him to see if he will climb on me, so I can hold him. But I guess I have to be patient. He amazes me everyday. Here are some pics of him!