Feeding my chameleon

[Maddiyey]

Hey We had our panther chameleon for month and a couple of days and since then it is kind of hard to make him a feeding schedule. I know we should feed him every other day 3-4 insects but when we try to feed him his roaches he only eats one ( we feed him with tongs) and refuses to eat more. The only way he eats more is when we put the roach on the leaves (but thats pretty hard to balance the roach perfectly onto the leave and to move but not to fall) We made some king of a feeding cup, but that was a fail too. I was thinking the roaches are huge, maybe thats why he doesn't want them, but i gut loaded them with all the good stuff… Today I caught him doing unusual things. He went down in his enclosure and started biting branches… he seems healthy, drinking water, doing his chameleon things.. but not eating properly and the unusual behaviour today is starting to worrying me a bit

 

[Gloriawood]

Hello and welcome! How old is your Cham? Going by the amount of bugs you said, I’m assuming an adult? It sounds like he is used to his bugs being loose in the enclosure and him hunting them down. This is a perfectly fine way for him to eat. Do not use the tongs to give him the bugs. There are many horror stories where their tongue gets stuck to them and either damages it or in severe cases, rips their entire tongue off. Our natural reaction when their tongue sticks to them or our hand or anything we are holding, is to pull back. This causes it to be overextended or hurt. Place the bugs in a plastic cup or container (many use deli cups) and let him eat from that. The bugs will also be able to move around this way which may entice him to eat more. The other option is a feeder attached to the side of the enclosure. I do not have an example of this because I use the cup method. I’m sure another member will be along today and can share theirs. For size, the bugs should be no bigger than the space between his eyes. Larger than that is no good and a choking risk.


As far as the branch eating. I have a veiled chameleon so panthers are out of my realm, BUT I have read here and there that some do this. So it’s not an unknown issue. That’s the extent of my knowledge on it though. Again, I bet someone will be along today and can help out here.

My only other suggestion may be a husbandry review. It’s just a series of questions you answer to make sure everything is great for your guy and can help narrow down problems if any. If you are interested, we can give you the form.

Super glad to have you here! We’d love some pictures and a name if you have one yet!

 

[Maddiyey]

Hello and welcome! How old is your Cham? Going by the amount of bugs you said, I’m assuming an adult? It sounds like he is used to his bugs being loose in the enclosure and him hunting them down. This is a perfectly fine way for him to eat. Do not use the tongs to give him the bugs. There are many horror stories where their tongue gets stuck to them and either damages it or in severe cases, rips their entire tongue off. Our natural reaction when their tongue sticks to them or our hand or anything we are holding, is to pull back. This causes it to be overextended or hurt. Place the bugs in a plastic cup or container (many use deli cups) and let him eat from that. The bugs will also be able to move around this way which may entice him to eat more. The other option is a feeder attached to the side of the enclosure. I do not have an example of this because I use the cup method. I’m sure another member will be along today and can share theirs. For size, the bugs should be no bigger than the space between his eyes. Larger than that is no good and a choking risk.


As far as the branch eating. I have a veiled chameleon so panthers are out of my realm, BUT I have read here and there that some do this. So it’s not an unknown issue. That’s the extent of my knowledge on it though. Again, I bet someone will be along today and can help out here.

My only other suggestion may be a husbandry review. It’s just a series of questions you answer to make sure everything is great for your guy and can help narrow down problems if any. If you are interested, we can give you the form.

Super glad to have you here! We’d love some pictures and a name if you have one yet!

Hey it would be nice to fill the form. My lovely boy is around a year old.(the pet store where we got him said he is around a year old but didnt know exactly) His name is Blue and he is just the sweetest most amazing creature on earth. We love him so much and will do everything for him to grow healthy and happy

 

[Gloriawood]

Sorry it took me a few days to get back to you! Here is the form. Copy and paste and fill in as much as you can. I will not be doing your review since I’m not so familiar with panthers, but I can tag in a couple people who are. @MissSkittles @Beman @janjan20


Blue is just adorable and I think that’s a perfect name

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.

 

[Maddiyey]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? My chameleon is a panther chameleon, male and as we know from the pet store where we got him is around a year old. We take care of Blue for a month and a week now.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? He is a sweet boy, the last time we saw him hissing is the first day when we got him…and that was it. It seems like he trust us a lot and we take that in our advantage and we take him outside to our balcony as the weather and uv index is perfect for him right now.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? We are feeding him Monday, Wednesday and Friday- 3-4 insects. We mostly feed him roaches, but he seems to enjoy crickets as they move a lot. We are waiting for our purchase of silkworms to arrive and we are excited and curious does he going to like them. We gut load the insects mainly with carrots, sweet potato and bee pollen.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? We use calcium without d3 and phosphorus every feeding and repashy loD every 1 and 15th of the month
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? We mist twice a day half hour before the lights turn on and half an hour before the lights turn off. We don’t have a misting system for now (we are planning to get one in near future) and we use semi- automatic hand mister. (The misting sessions are 6-7 minutes long) We made our own dripper from a plastic cup and we use that in afternoons. As for the night we have fogger that goes on after the lights turn off for the whole night. We see him drinking pretty much every morning.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? I posted a photo of his poop here for examination and members said it was okay. The white part is more of a cream colour but that seems to be normal (learned from the forum) The poop is moist but not watery. He wasn’t tested for parasites as we leave in Bulgaria and the nearest exotic vet is tree hours ride… but for sure we are planning on taking that trip for a vet check but wanted to settle down and get used to his new home.
• 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? We made him custom hybrid enclosure. The sides are solid and the top and the front doors are screen. The enclosure is 1.12m tall, 80 cm wide and 50cm depth
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? We use arcadia lumanize pro t5 6% uvb bulb with the fixture that comes with the set, for the basking we use 75watt white bulb (i think it was exo terra for the brand) and deep dome fixture for the bulb. The schedule the uvb turns on at 8:30 am, half hour later at 9am comes the basking bulb, that stays on to 7pm and at 8:30pm turns off the uvb.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)?Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking spot stays at about 29-30 degrees celsius (85-86f). Outside of the basking spot is about 77-76f and down the enclosure (cuz we put soil down there) is about 70f. At night the temp’s about 70f , the lowest 66-67.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? We use hygrometer. The day humidity is around 50 at night we are aiming for 80-90 percent. We use fogger and hand mister.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? All the plants are live. Pothos, schefflera, spider plant, ficus benjamin.
• 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? The enclosure is in the living room, on top of a drawer. The enclosure itself has two air vents at the back. I would said the area is quite traffic, but when he basks we don’t bother Blue or try to approach him. He himself doesn’t seems to care about us either. As i said he is sweetheart never gets angry or frustrated with us. Maybe he got used to people at the pet store where we got him. (Thats what we assumed) we’ve heard about angry chameleons, that only when they see someone start to hiss, puffs, gets angry or tries to bite, that is just not the case with our Blue. I have read all of the chameleon languages, that when they are stressed they closed their eyes, gets darker colors.. but when we handle our cham he is bright, does not close eyes or do anything that indicates he is stressed.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? We live in Bulgaria. Here it is spring and the weather is perfect, so we take Blue at out balcony (supervised) uv index is 4 and temp is pretty much perfect.

I was concerned about his eating as he only wanted to eat bugs that are free in the enclosure, but we got him feeding cup and for now everything seems fine. I just wanted to make sure i do everything right for Blue Thank you!!!

 

[chemeleonboi1]

He is sooo cute!

 

[MissSkittles]

I can’t go thru your husbandry right now, but if in a few hours no one else has, I will.

 

[GrannyK]

@MissSkittles or any other experienced keepers lol- I gave this a go Please look over. I have yet to do a complete review @Maddiyey seems like you’ve got a good start!!!

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? My chameleon is a panther chameleon, male and as we know from the pet store where we got him is around a year old. We take care of Blue for a month and a week now.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? He is a sweet boy, the last time we saw him hissing is the first day when we got him…and that was it. It seems like he trust us a lot and we take that in our advantage and we take him outside to our balcony as the weather and uv index is perfect for him right now. Sounds like he trusts you already, that’s awesome. Do use extra precautions when taking him outside, many birds have been known to swoop them up really quickly. When we take our guys outside one bird watches and the other cham watches.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? We are feeding him Monday, Wednesday and Friday- 3-4 insects. We mostly feed him roaches, but he seems to enjoy crickets as they move a lot. We are waiting for our purchase of silkworms to arrive and we are excited and curious does he going to like them. We gut load the insects mainly with carrots, sweet potato and bee pollen. Sounds like you’re feeding well. Variety is great for food, mine love silkies so hopefully Blue will too. The silkworms help with hydration as well so that’s good too. I give hornworms or superworms one day on the weekend as treats because those are a little fatty but the chams love them.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? We use calcium without d3 and phosphorus every feeding and repashy loD every 1 and 15th of the month Great! Make sure it’s a light dusting, they do not need to look like jelly donuts.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? We mist twice a day half hour before the lights turn on and half an hour before the lights turn off. We don’t have a misting system for now (we are planning to get one in near future) and we use semi- automatic hand mister. (The misting sessions are 6-7 minutes long) We made our own dripper from a plastic cup and we use that in afternoons. As for the night we have fogger that goes on after the lights turn off for the whole night. We see him drinking pretty much every morning. Twice a day misting is good, I do think you can decrease the time from 6minutes to 3-4 minutes if your humidity levels are good. 6 minutes is kind of a long time unless necessary. Dripper is great, and fogging, ensure your temps are below 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit or you could risk RI.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? I posted a photo of his poop here for examination and members said it was okay. The white part is more of a cream colour but that seems to be normal (learned from the forum) The poop is moist but not watery. He wasn’t tested for parasites as we leave in Bulgaria and the nearest exotic vet is tree hours ride… but for sure we are planning on taking that trip for a vet check but wanted to settle down and get used to his new home. Sounds like you have a plan in place, good idea to have a fecal check soon as possible. Pet store animals a lot of times have them due to feeders or from being wild caught.
• 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? We made him custom hybrid enclosure. The sides are solid and the top and the front doors are screen. The enclosure is 1.12m tall, 80 cm wide and 50cm depth If you can at some point upgrade him to a 60x60x90 or bigger that is the minimum recommended for an adult panther. They do like to patrol and are pretty active. If you see any issues with stagnant air you can add a small fan but sounds like you have sufficient airflow now.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? We use arcadia lumanize pro t5 6% uvb bulb with the fixture that comes with the set, for the basking we use 75watt white bulb (i think it was exo terra for the brand) and deep dome fixture for the bulb. The schedule the uvb turns on at 8:30 am, half hour later at 9am comes the basking bulb, that stays on to 7pm and at 8:30pm turns off the uvb.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)?Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking spot stays at about 29-30 degrees celsius (85-86f). Outside of the basking spot is about 77-76f and down the enclosure (cuz we put soil down there) is about 70f. At night the temp’s about 70f , the lowest 66-67. Temps sound good! How do you check the temp at the basking spot? From the wall or do you have a temp reader attached to the basking branch? What do you mean you put soil at the bottom? Is it bioactive or just placed soil? Bare bottom is best for sanitary purposes if not fully bioactive with plants.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? We use hygrometer. The day humidity is around 50 at night we are aiming for 80-90 percent. We use fogger and hand mister. Great!
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? All the plants are live. Pothos, schefflera, spider plant, ficus benjamin. All beautiful plants, great choices!
• 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? The enclosure is in the living room, on top of a drawer. The enclosure itself has two air vents at the back. I would said the area is quite traffic, but when he basks we don’t bother Blue or try to approach him. He himself doesn’t seems to care about us either. As i said he is sweetheart never gets angry or frustrated with us. Maybe he got used to people at the pet store where we got him. (Thats what we assumed) we’ve heard about angry chameleons, that only when they see someone start to hiss, puffs, gets angry or tries to bite, that is just not the case with our Blue. I have read all of the chameleon languages, that when they are stressed they closed their eyes, gets darker colors.. but when we handle our cham he is bright, does not close eyes or do anything that indicates he is stressed.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? We live in Bulgaria. Here it is spring and the weather is perfect, so we take Blue at out balcony (supervised) uv index is 4 and temp is pretty much perfect. Nice! Very jealous of your weather right now!!

I was concerned about his eating as he only wanted to eat bugs that are free in the enclosure, but we got him feeding cup and for now everything seems fine. I just wanted to make sure i do everything right for Blue Thank you!!!
You are doing great!

 

[MissSkittles]

Please look over. I have yet to do a complete review

Looks great to me! The only change I would make is about minimum enclosure size - that would be 60x60x120cm and I say if you can, go even bigger than that.
@Maddiyey Blue is a beauty! My personal experience with panthers is that they are very sweet and agreeable to us handling them. Try placing a silkworm on the back of your hand and offering it to him. That is how I hand feed silkworms to my crew and it helps to reinforce trust. Plus, it’s kind of fun for us.