Enclosure Questions

[jfouch]

Hey everyone I finally have all my supplies in and setup and im getting my chameleon in this saturday. I have a couple of questions I need some help with though and i've tried researching these.

The chameleon im getting is a panther. The cage is 16x16x30. I have bio vines and fake exo terra plants in there now with everything zip tied. I'm going to get a pothos plant and put it at the bottom this week and a light for it.

For all questions please refrence the pictures attached of the enclosure. Also check in my reply below for the other picture of the raised light and aquazamp raindome

1.) Basking Temp: My main issue right now is basking temp. I have the reptisun dome with 75watt light. Whenever I had the light on the screen the basking temp would reach 100 degrees. I raised the light up 7inches above the cage and have the temp at 80-85. Now i'm worried that the plastic will melt on my Aquazamp low profile raindome. Should I worry about this or will it be ok? Also, as far as basking goes will the chameleon go to a cooler area thats around 82 degrees vs the area of 100?


2.) Light and Misting placement: As previously said I have an aquazamp raindome low profile misting system. I have it on the middle top of the cage so mist covers all of the cage. The basking light is in the back with the dripper. Finally my UVB light is in the front. I was wondering if this placement will be ok. His basking spot will be in the back and I want to make sure hes also getting uvb. How do you all arange things on top ur enclosure?

3.) Misting schedule: Right now my light schedule is 7am to 9pm. I plan on feeding him at 7:15 am. My misting schedule is every 3 hours for 2 minutes.

• 7:00-7:02am
• 10:00 - 10:02am
• 1:00 - 1:02pm
• 4:00 - 4:02pm
• 7:00 - 7:02pm

Does this schedule seem fine? Should I increase each misting to 3 minutes or should I increase the ratio? Maybe misting every 2 hours for 2 minutes?

Overall my biggest worry at the momment is the basking situation. I might try switching to 50watt if thats what you all recommend.

 

[jfouch]

I wanted to add this picture of when I raised the light.

 

[kplatvoet]

Down close it you might have a problem with melting but up that far I doubt it-
I would give him a little while before he wakes up for the first misting - I don't mist right before bed - you have 2 hours before bed but you might want to change that until later in the summer -Mine get up at 5:30 and the panther is in his spot to sleep by 5 he was up later at night in the summer time but he picks his own bed time.
Where you live will have an effect on how often you want to spray - and how long it takes for him to drink - I have mine on for 5 min in the morning and 6 in the afternoon with a short sprays in the middle - I'll see the panther drink but the jackson will only drink after the dripper goes off for a while. You want the cage to dry out between mistings and if you live in a dry climate you need to have it come on more often than I would as it's quite humid in NJ.
I have my rain dome in the front and the basking and the UVB light in the back of the cage but I'm no expert on top of cage placement - the way you have it seem fine to me -

 

[jfouch]

Thanks for the input! I live in louisiana so I have no problem dealing with humidty but I'm also adding a pothos plant or 2. For the drinking I will run a little dripper all day. I'll go ahead and switch the first misting to go off at 7:30 am then.

 

[kplatvoet]

I have found that my different chameleons each act differently so it's a bit of trial & error- after he settles in a bit you'll be able to tell if he's drinking enough by his poop- and how active he is - If he's too hot or cold he's not going to be as active- so if you find he's sitting spending all day in the coolest part of the cage he may need a lower watt bulb in his basking - if he's sitting under the basking light and not moving around he's most likely cold- I rarely see my flapneck drink but he uses every inch of his cage to hide and his urates are white- they are a little different as there isn't as much information on them out there - but I go with what I've read on here and she seems to be doing well so far. The people who have problems usually have the problem by the time they get here and started out with doing what the pet store told them- People who've started with the care sheets here and just needed a few tweaks seem to have way better luck. I've only had mine a short time - and I've been lucky - especially with my jackson as they don't fair well with newbies in general- but I follow the care sheets and go with what the experts tell me - though I love the threads where the experts argue - they give me a better sense of why what they are doing works. I can tell by your posts that you've done quite a bit of research (and I've read all your posts- your screen name is almost my maiden name which is really weird-since my mothers name starts with a J)

 

[symphonica]

Make sure your humidity drops to about 30-40% before you mist again. They need that rise and fall in humidity level. Make sure your cage is completely dry before lights out/bed time. Don't mist at least an hour before bed time, longer if it's not dry. Humidity is a double-edged sword sometimes. Too low and you have dehydration problems. Too high and you can end up with respiratory infections.

 

[jfouch]

Yes I've certainly done my research! I can't go out and buy something without fully researching it first. For the humidity levels dropping: That's good to know. I overlooked the fact that it has to drop to 30-40%. At the moment it does dry out in-between misting's. I'll keep the schedule the same until I get my plant and check on humidity levels.

 

[DeremensisBlue]

I think your chameleon would be better served by longer and fewer periods of misting. It takes a while of misting before a chameleon settles in, drinks and then a little bit longer before washing out his eyes. You might consider condensing you mistings into one ten minute shower in the afternoon. That way the enclosure also has time to dry out before the next shower.

Bill

 

[jfouch]

I think your chameleon would be better served by longer and fewer periods of misting. It takes a while of misting before a chameleon settles in, drinks and then a little bit longer before washing out his eyes. You might consider condensing you mistings into one ten minute shower in the afternoon. That way the enclosure also has time to dry out before the next shower.

Bill

I plan on running a dripper all day.

 

[jfouch]

So I would prefer to have only a mister and not the dripper. I built a drain into the stand also. Anyone have any suggestions on a misting schedule now? Since my lights are on 7am to 9pm I was thinking 5 minutes at 7:30A.M., 2 minutes at 1P.M. , and 10 minutes at 4 p.m.