First time Cham owner: Thoughts?

[Bobbykunz12]

• Your Chameleon - male, panther. 1.5 years old.
• Handling - nicest Cham around. Never bites
• Feeding - small crickets and super works.
• Supplements - repticalcium
• Watering - I sprays cage 3-4 times a Day
• History - small crusty eye with previous owner, was rescued.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 3.5 feet tall, screen.
• Lighting - 70 watt heating lamp.
• Temperature - 65-75
• Humidity - I have a mister.
• Plants - 2 live plants
• Placement - floor
• Location - detroit, Michigan.

Current Problem - hangs near very top of cage, low temp and humidity.

*photos of him at glass bottom are of him in his carrier crate. I bought him from a FB group yesterday.**

 

[kimbodini1]

Can you move his cage off the floor to maybe a desk? I see that the current temp is 65-75 deg. Is 75 his basking temp? Also I live in Michigan as well and winter months it is really hard to keep humidity up so you may want to mist him more often or put some plastic on the cage to help hold humidity in. Congratulations on the new Chameleon!

 

[nightanole]

Most chams will only hang out at the top 1/3 of the cage. My cage is 7.5ft tall, and most of the time he is at eye level or higher other than spring time when they start making territory boundaries.

2 things, else its an excellent setup. Basking spot needs to be in the low 90's at the hottest point. And it looks like you are using 2 cfls for uv lighting, those are not very good for that tall of a change. Id switch to some tube likes, either repisun 10.0 or arcadia 6% if you have the cash.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on your new boy. I recommend keeping his basking spot warmer. It should be 85to 86 so that he can properly bask digest his food. What are you gutloading his feeders with? Since he's an adult larger crickets will be ok. Does your calcium have d3 in it? If he stays inside all the time he will need plain calcium without d3, calcium with D3 and a multivitamin. You might find my blog for new keepers linked below helpful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-with-young-veiled-or-panther-chameleons.325/

 

[Bobbykunz12]

Awesome, thanks guys. Should I get ride of those 2 lights that are connected?not sure which lights they are for. I have a heat lamp and tube UV light. Do I need those other 2 lights connected in the photos? Thanks all.

 

[kimbodini1]

Is the tube UVB a reptisun? I would keep the dome lights and put a hotter bulb in there to raise the basking temperature. Like Jannb recommended the basking temp should be about 10 degrees hotter than what you have. I contacted Todd Goode from Lightyourreptiles recently via email with a picture of my setup and he was able to get me squared away with issues I was having. So that may also be a path you might want to take.

 

[Graves923]

Have a read through the caresheet here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

This will give you alot of info about your chameleons care requirements.

 

[Bobbykunz12]

Bump

 

[Bobbykunz12]

Awesome, thanks guys. Should I get ride of those 2 lights that are connected?not sure which lights they are for. I have a heat lamp and tube UV light. Do I need those other 2 lights connected in the photos? Thanks all.

thoughts?

 

[Graves923]

If you have a linear UVB tube and a heat lamp then the other two lights arent needed.

 

[kimbodini1]

If you have a linear UVB tube and a heat lamp then the other two lights arent needed.

You are correct but if he is only at 75deg in his hottest spot removing those extra lights without upping the wattage on the other bulb could lower his temp more. I would think anyway.

 

[JohnnyLawrence]

Congratulations on your new pet! If you're looking for some very important, yet basic care info on Panthers, go here: https://chamouflage.com/pages/care

 

[WAMBO]

As stated above, your basking temp is too low.
Also as stated above, "feeder insects should be lightly dusted with powdered supplement before being fed to your chameleon. Many keepers successfully use calcium (without D3 or phosphorus) at nearly every feeding, multivitamin once every 2 weeks, and calcium with D3 once every 2 weeks. You did not specify in your post, so I assume this is not what you are doing, and is VERY important. If your calcium has D3 in it, your cham can get the equivalent of Vitamin D3 toxicity."
Also as posted above, follow the caresheet page to the letter, or your cham may not do well: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/
You say that you have a mister, but show your cage in on wood floor. Isn't the water going to get the floor wet and ruin it?

 

[WAMBO]

For a drain pan, home depot sells washing machine drain pans for around $20, and includes a bulkhead, so it can be diverted into a bucket or pan. I did the reverse. I drilled holes in the bottom of the cage, elevated it on legs [or bricks or blocks or wood] and put an aluminum pan underneath [empty daily], with the entire setup sitting in the washing machine drain pan to prevent leakage.
I used this drain pan to protect my floor:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Washing-Machine-Pan-34067/100080446
to do this:

 

[Mtnlaurel]

WAMBO that washing machine drain pan is brilliant. Great idea.

 

[mavaveelova]

im getting my first veiled chameleon!!!(well first chameleon ever)

 

[WAMBO]

WAMBO that washing machine drain pan is brilliant. Great idea.

$20 and your floor is safe. There is also a bulkhead that comes with them, but usually off to the side of them, nearby. It' a 2 inch bulkhead that cn be used to drain into another bucket if you like, but I just use mine as above as a safety precaution.

 

[WAMBO]

im getting my first veiled chameleon!!!(well first chameleon ever)

Please read and follow the caresheet. It will keep your Veiled healthy:

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


Good luck!

 

[Chris Anderson]

Congratulations on your new pet! If you're looking for some very important, yet basic care info on Panthers, go here: https://chamouflage.com/pages/care

Unfortunately there is A LOT wrong with the care information provided in that link. It speaks generally about chameleons, but really is not applicable to all species. The caging information is misleading and perpetuates completely inaccurate statements about the use of glass enclosures with chameleons. The information on lighting is quite poor, recommending UVB lighting that is really only best for small species/individuals in shorter enclosures. The feeding and supplementation provides no information about varying these parameters with age, size, growth rate, etc., nor information on gut loading, etc. I would not recommend that this be provided as a resource for new keepers.

Chris

 

[JohnnyLawrence]

Unfortunately there is A LOT wrong with the care information provided in that link. It speaks generally about chameleons, but really is not applicable to all species. The caging information is misleading and perpetuates completely inaccurate statements about the use of glass enclosures with chameleons. The information on lighting is quite poor, recommending UVB lighting that is really only best for small species/individuals in shorter enclosures. The feeding and supplementation provides no information about varying these parameters with age, size, growth rate, etc., nor information on gut loading, etc. I would not recommend that this be provided as a resource for new keepers.

Chris

Yes, another "Staff Member" trolling my posts because I have posted a few different outside sources that don't help them make more money off their sponsors/site advertising. I also got a personal message asking I not contradict their info and leave the forum. "Christolph" above, of course, provides very general information available on this site that has several errors within the care sheet and then tries to sell commercially-available terrariums for Panther Chameleons. The local info on this site also doesn't even tell the pet owner the type of UVB bulb to buy, which is VERY dangerous. Too much UVB is the number one cause of skin cancer in Tropical species of Chameleons, like Panthers (i've learned the hard way). If anyone wants real, direct and accurate info, I recommend they simply call a breeder directly and have a lengthy discussion. These forums are littered with bad advice and nepotism.