prisecheck
New Member
Hi everybody! I am so grateful for the wealth of knowledge and support this forum offers.
I am a novice Cham owner and wanted to get a general assessment of my setup/care.
Chameleon Info:
Cage Info:
Current Problem - I am concerned about the LED plant light and am wondering if it is suitable for Charles. The plants are healthy and love it, but I would not want to jeopardize him in any way.
Charles has been more hesitant to hand feed. He's very personable and I have been hand feeding him on occasion for the past few months, but he has all but stopped hand feeding in the last couple of weeks or so. Just concerned. My mom brain is worried about his vision, but he seems to be able to hunt in his enclosure, so maybe it's just a personality shift.
Wall climbing. He doesn't do it as often as he used to, but he does do it and his nails aren't looking great. How to help him with this?
Thank you for all responses, comments, opinions, and advice! I want to give this guy the happiest and healthiest life I possibly can!
I am a novice Cham owner and wanted to get a general assessment of my setup/care.
Chameleon Info:
- Your Chameleon - male panther (furcifer pardalis), born in April 2019, almost one year old. I have had him since October 2019.
- Handling - Allowing time outside of the enclosure almost every day, for between 15 - 45 minutes. Every few days (when sunny and warm) I will take him outside to bask in the sun. I plan on building an outdoor enclosure for the summer.
- Feeding - Crickets are staple. Followed by superworms. I try to feed him dubia roaches but he tends to avoid them. 8-10 crickets, 5-10 worms every three days (or until they start becoming scarce in the enclosure. Two times a week I put three medium sized horn or silk worms in for him. I am still trying to find an efficient and effective way to gutloat. I've been using fresh fruit and veg but am looking for something a bit less messy. I have tried Flukers Cricket Quencher and Reptashy Superfoods Superload. The Quencher seems to kill my crickets very quickly, while I have a hard time keeping the Superload from making a mess in the critter keeper. As a result of this I have not gutloaded in a few weeks. I have just purchased and am awaiting Reptashy Bug Burger on the recommendation of a user of this forum.
- Supplements - Every feeding gets a 50/50 mix of Repticalcium without D3 and Exoterra Multisupplement. Every Monday feeders get dusted with Repticalcium with D3.
- Watering - Exoterra Monsoon misting system is activated for 30 seconds every hour. I have a fogger/humidifier going from the top of the enclosure 60-80% of the day, so humidity ranges from 10-70% in different areas of the enclosure. I like to turn the mister off occasionally to let humidity dry out a bit. I have seen him drink from his leaves.
- Fecal Description - healthy looking poops multiple times a week. White, slightly orangish urea. Dark brownish/green fecal matter. Usually all in one piece. Solid and not wet. I have not personally tested him for parasites.
- History - I purchased him from a breeder who has been raising chameleons with his family since he was a child.
Cage Info:
- Cage Type - 18x18x24 Reptibreeze mesh enclosure. Bioactive with some Flukers climbing vines (which are unfortunately getting chewed on by the old growth dubias that Charles didn't eat that live in my soil now).
- Lighting - Exoterra 75w 120v basking lamp. Arcadia d3 6%uvb 15w reptile lamp in a t8 Reptisun ballast. Biodude Grow and Glow 18w 96led lamp for the plants. Lights and mister are on a 12 on 12 off timer from 7am-7pm.
- Temperature - 84° max at basking spot, 75° average at bottom of enclosure. Lowest overnight temp is 60. I have a space heater regulating the heat in the room. I have two Biodude thermometer/hygrometers with sensors placed at the height of the basking spot and toward the bottom of the enclosure.
- Humidity - Fogger/humidifier keeps enclosure around 40-70% most of the time. I like to turn it off to dry the enclosure out a bit during the day, it gets down to about 50% at the highest humidity spot and 10% at the lowest.
- Plants - not sure what the main tree in the enclosure is, I would have to dig through my texts to find out. I just planted a pothos and an umbrella tree. As well.
- Placement - my cage is in my bedroom on a 3' tall desk. No fans or air vents, we don't typically run central air through the house anyway. The room itself is ~11x11'. I have two windows that I sometimes open for ventilation and keep blinds open on for natural light. Top of the enclosure stands about 5'10" tall.
- Location - Eugene Oregon
Current Problem - I am concerned about the LED plant light and am wondering if it is suitable for Charles. The plants are healthy and love it, but I would not want to jeopardize him in any way.
Charles has been more hesitant to hand feed. He's very personable and I have been hand feeding him on occasion for the past few months, but he has all but stopped hand feeding in the last couple of weeks or so. Just concerned. My mom brain is worried about his vision, but he seems to be able to hunt in his enclosure, so maybe it's just a personality shift.
Wall climbing. He doesn't do it as often as he used to, but he does do it and his nails aren't looking great. How to help him with this?
Thank you for all responses, comments, opinions, and advice! I want to give this guy the happiest and healthiest life I possibly can!
