Female 4 month old panther health question

[Landgoat]

Hey Guys,

I got a 4 month old female panther Ambilobe her name is Napalm whose got me a little worried, I follow Bill strands chameleon academy as close as I can and get help from Neptune when she's available. For the last month or so my little girl around the same time 1 or 2 pm walks near her sleeping branch but not sleeps and just hangs out till about 4 or 5 pm like clockwork some times she does sleep early around 430 or 5 pm before lights off at 6 pm, I'm in Southern California so I have lights on at 6am and lights out at 6 pm, I caught her a couple days ago and yesterday with her eyes closed around 3 pm which makes me even more worried, but about 30 min later when I peeped she was moving around to different branch, she doesn't seem lethargic and I haven't noticed any symptoms of illness and she's quite alert when she is moving about, but maybe this is a early sign?

Cage:
cage size is 18x18x30 reptibreeze screen cage I have plastic wrap half way on sides and full in back to keep humidity more stable its been dry from the Santa ana winds

Lights:
I got a arcadia pro t5 fixture and a reptisun T5 HO 5.0 24w UVB and a 60 watt led plant bulb and a 50 watt heat bulb for when it gets cold if i do use it its only to help bring the heat up then i turn it off,

Day Time Temps:
her basking temp is usually around 76 -77F and her ambient temp at the bottom of cage is about 69 F and the middle is about 71-72F

Night time temps:
seem to be around 61-63F

Humidity:
in day it fluctuates for the most part it matches outside humidity which is usually in the 60s and her Night humidity was low before i got her fogger but now I expect it to be in high 80s 90s im not sure her recent humidity change since the fogger but her urate has been off white cream color instead of the more orange urate she was having

Diet:
her diet is mainly fruit fly's and bean beetles dusted with repti calcium without d3 daily, and reptivite with d3 on the 1st and 15th of every month, and I do bio dude Bee pollen every Friday. I've been trying to get her on larger insects like crickets and pretty small Dubia roaches generally smaller then eye width for the past couple weeks but she don't really care for them at the moment
When I try to feed her crickets or the dubias I gut load with repashy bug burger and the green hydration cubes

Misting:
I hand mist her with with a pump mister about 45 minutes before lights on for about a minute maybe little less and 45 min after lights out for about a minute or less aswell

Dripper:
I have a dripper I put on usually around noon or so for a slow drip but I've never seen her use it


I recently got a fogger 3 weeks ago I run it starting around midnight on a timer, on for a hr on and off for 30 min then repeat through the night till just before lights on

I clean her cage daily and do a through cleaning every Saturday, and on Saturday I take her outside to get some natural sunlight for about 30 to 40 min, or untill she's hiding from the sun

she eats daily and poops have been looking pretty good

if I'm missing anything please let me know I already have a 4x2x4 d dragon strand cage I put together with a background wall I built for her just waiting for her to get a little bigger so she can have lots more space

Thanks so much for any help I attached a few pictures of where she was at today around 2:45 pm PST

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. You have a little cutie patootie! It is somewhat ‘normal’ for chameleons to go to their sleeping spot early and even close their eyes a bit early…no more than about an hour though. What is the distance between your uvb light and basking area? It should be 8-9”. I’m going to say to skip the bee pollen, at least until she is much bigger. It could be giving her a bit too much of vitamins. Has she ever been checked for parasites? If not, that would be a good thing to rule out.

 

[Landgoat]

Hi. You have a little cutie patootie! It is somewhat ‘normal’ for chameleons to go to their sleeping spot early and even close their eyes a bit early…no more than about an hour though. What is the distance between your uvb light and basking area? It should be 8-9”. I’m going to say to skip the bee pollen, at least until she is much bigger. It could be giving her a bit too much of vitamins. Has she ever been checked for parasites? If not, that would be a good thing to rule out.

Hi miss skittles! Thank you for the reply! I’ll cut out the bee pollen starting now thank you! Also sorry I’m a little confused by distance of uvb light to basking area do you mean the branch directly under the uvb light? And also for the parasites I havnt checked her yet but it’s been a thought of mine to get her checked since I hatched her! I think I saw you post a vet source on a different thread I bookmarked I think I should start there!

 

[MissSkittles]

Also sorry I’m a little confused by distance of uvb light to basking area do you mean the branch directly under the uvb light?

Yes, the distance from where your uvb light rests to where your cutie sits and soaks up heat and uvb - her branch should be 8-9” below the lights.
Since you hatched her yourself, depending on where you get some of your feeders she may not be at risk for parasites. Where have you been getting your crickets from? If it’s one of the chain pet stores, there may be risk. We can never trust that crickets haven’t been exposed to the poo of an infected animal, either directly or indirectly. Fruit flies are contained and I see no reason that they would be contaminated in a pet store. Hopefully you’ll notice some improvement after stopping the bee pollen. I always mix a pinch of pollen into the bug burger when I make it. The green (and other colored) cubes aren’t going to offer much more than hydration. Fresh produce would be a better choice. Just avoid spinach and kale, which are high in oxalates and bind to calcium. Adding the graphic and vet list, just in case you need it.

 

[Landgoat]

Yes, the distance from where your uvb light rests to where your cutie sits and soaks up heat and uvb - her branch should be 8-9” below the lights.
Since you hatched her yourself, depending on where you get some of your feeders she may not be at risk for parasites. Where have you been getting your crickets from? If it’s one of the chain pet stores, there may be risk. We can never trust that crickets haven’t been exposed to the poo of an infected animal, either directly or indirectly. Fruit flies are contained and I see no reason that they would be contaminated in a pet store. Hopefully you’ll notice some improvement after stopping the bee pollen. I always mix a pinch of pollen into the bug burger when I make it. The green (and other colored) cubes aren’t going to offer much more than hydration. Fresh produce would be a better choice. Just avoid spinach and kale, which are high in oxalates and bind to calcium. Adding the graphic and vet list, just in case you need it.
View attachment 361323

Awe ok as of now her branch where she sits is just under 4 inches from the uv light bulb I originally had the light raised up 3 inches higher then top of cage but when I sent a updated pic to the breeder he said I was gonna kill her if I don’t have the light sitting directly on the top of cage and branch a couple inches under it, I asked about her screen walking he said it wasnt gonna hurt her? But I can raise the light back up off the cage a bit I have hooks and small chain to hang the light up where it was before! And i mainly get all my feeders from this place in LA called Rainbow mealworms and sometime I use joshes frogs thanks for the vet link aswell! Highly appreciate it!

 

[Beman]

Awe ok as of now her branch where she sits is just under 4 inches from the uv light bulb I originally had the light raised up 3 inches higher then top of cage but when I sent a updated pic to the breeder he said I was gonna kill her if I don’t have the light sitting directly on the top of cage and branch a couple inches under it, I asked about her screen walking he said it wasnt gonna hurt her? But I can raise the light back up off the cage a bit I have hooks and small chain to hang the light up where it was before! And i mainly get all my feeders from this place in LA called Rainbow mealworms and sometime I use joshes frogs thanks for the vet link aswell! Highly appreciate it!

Welcome to the forum. Your breeder was very very incorrect about the feedback they gave you on the UVB light... So for the fixture type and bulb strength you have you want to raise the fixture 4-5 inches off the top. So you would measure from the screen to the bottom of the fixture for this distance. Then you want branches directly below this fixture at a distance of 4 inches from the screen top. This will put her in a 3 UVI level. Right now she is in an extreme over exposure level at 4 inches. NOTE your plants are really high. So you want to make sure they do not block the UVB lighting at all. Or this will reduce the UVI exposure she can get. I would also make sure they do not block the heat exposure area.

Per your basking temps I would try to ensure she has a basking temp of 78-80 yours are sitting a bit low.

Take her to 1/4 sized crickets. You can order from Rainbowmealworms and get great prices. Get a feeder run though to put these into. This will train her to go eat there and keep the insects contained so you can see how much she is eating.

 

[Landgoat]

Awesome thank you all for the advice I’ll make those changes today! Super duper appreciate the feedback and help

 

[Landgoat]

Welcome to the forum. Your breeder was very very incorrect about the feedback they gave you on the UVB light... So for the fixture type and bulb strength you have you want to raise the fixture 4-5 inches off the top. So you would measure from the screen to the bottom of the fixture for this distance. Then you want branches directly below this fixture at a distance of 4 inches from the screen top. This will put her in a 3 UVI level. Right now she is in an extreme over exposure level at 4 inches. NOTE your plants are really high. So you want to make sure they do not block the UVB lighting at all. Or this will reduce the UVI exposure she can get. I would also make sure they do not block the heat exposure area.

Per your basking temps I would try to ensure she has a basking temp of 78-80 yours are sitting a bit low.

Take her to 1/4 sized crickets. You can order from Rainbowmealworms and get great prices. Get a feeder run though to put these into. This will train her to go eat there and keep the insects contained so you can see how much she is eating.

 

[Landgoat]

Just an update! I made the changes you guys recommended but because the sides are wrapped with plastic wrap I left her branches where they were just under 4 inches and I raised her light 5 inches off top screen so it’s a little over 8 inches I topped her tree so there no branches covering her basking branch set her basking temp today it was just in the 78-80 range it’s now almost 4 pm and she’s been active the whole day idk if I would’ve expected that much of a positive change but it appears that’s what she exactly needed! Her 1/4 size crickets are arriving some time today thank you Soo much for the help! I’m very very happy! I think she is too!

 

[MissSkittles]

Wow! I wouldn’t have expected such a speedy result, but very glad for it.

 

[Landgoat]

Wow! I wouldn’t have expected such a speedy result, but very glad for it.

Neither did I!

 

[Beman]

Happy to hear this. With a healthy cham showing issues simply making the right changes to set up can get a fast response. If you have other questions come up in the future please feel free to come ask in the forum.

 

[Landgoat]

Thank you! Very much appreciated!