Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Ambilobe Panther, almost 2 years old, in my care since 3 months old
Handling – Almost never, the closest I get is when I hand feed him. Only when changing cages or cleaning do I actually handle him.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? He eats mostly adult dubia roaches, with occasional crickets, supers, silks and hornworms. I feed him every other day 2 adult dubia, also I will often give him a snack daily, usually a super worm or freshly molted non-adult dubia. My feeders are fed fresh spring mix, carrots, fruits, and sometimes a commercial dry gutload.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I use rep-cal calcium w/o D3 5 times a week, then rep-cal herptivite once every other week, using fluker's calcium with D3 once on the off week. My feeders are very lightly dusted.
Watering - I have a mist-king set up for my cages – with a heated water reservoir , it goes off at 11:00 AM, 1 & 1:10 PM, 4 & 4:10 PM, and 5 PM for 45 seconds each spray. I rarely see Kilgore drinking and he hates the mister and being sprayed by it. When I do see him drink it is from water that collects on the top of the screen near the misting nozzle, NEVER from wet plant leaves. I do use a dripper (solo cup with pin hole) placed over his biggest plant and it is ignored.
Fecal Description - His last 2 poops have been AWFUL, a rock solid urate followed by mostly diarrhea looking piles. The urate part has been yellow to orange and when I break it apart feels like sand! These last two poops happened in the span of about a month, so 2 poops in a months + time... Never tested for parasites.
Cage Info:
Cage Type -What are the dimensions? 2X2x4 LLL Screen cage.
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 24” t-5 repti-sun 5.0 (I replace these every 6 months) and one 60 watt incandescent bulb in a clamp lamp for basking area
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? His basking area is maintained at about 84-87° F, rest of the cage room temperature, average of 75°F. Overnight lowest is 64° F but average 66°F. I use electronic zilla temperature probes, and the cheap electronic therm & hygro meter from wal-mart.
Humidity - Humidity mostly stays around 30-40% and is maintained by the live plants in the cage. I use a coolmist humidifier when I notice shedding to up humidity levels.
Plants - Live plants, in his cage now is a dracanea and a soon to be replaced schefflera.
Placement - In the corner of my room, the cage is above eye level and almost reaches the ceiling. There is a ceiling fan in the room and it is medium traffic, in the morning and bedtime he will see me.
Location – New Hampshire
Current Problem – First I noticed that his grip wasn't what it used to be, NEVER any falls or near falls, but he definitely favors his front legs when he is chilling. Sometimes when he is in one spot for awhile I will see that a back leg is just hanging out not grasped to anything. When he moves about I don't see any difference between his front and back legs. The other concern I have is with his coloration. Usually his vertical lines are well defined and his lateral line an eggwhite color...he would fire up bright red and yellow the few times I showed him my adult female, but recently (past 3 months) his colors are DULL, pale pastel like green and blue, and his lateral line is GRAY. Almost all hints of red and yellow are gone and he does NOT fire up at all for the female when I show her to him (I never put them together and only show the female through the screen until a reaction is noticed and then she is put back, he is NOT able to see her unless I am doing this). He is eating fine, that is definitely not an issue, he eats almost exclusively from hand feeding, but will successfully hunt if prey gets loose in the cage. I have rarely seen him drink his entire life, even with a mist king plus additional manual mistings by myself, I NEVER spray him directly. Also I use a solo cup dripper about 3times a week and have not once noticed him drink from those drips. He is going to the local vet on the 12th for a check-up. I am hoping I can identify the issue (i'm thinking it is my husbandry but I want to know what PART of my care is affecting him) and resolve it!
The room he is in...his is the bigger cage on the right and there is a visual barrier between the two.
the ceiling fan placement
Your Chameleon - Male Ambilobe Panther, almost 2 years old, in my care since 3 months old
Handling – Almost never, the closest I get is when I hand feed him. Only when changing cages or cleaning do I actually handle him.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? He eats mostly adult dubia roaches, with occasional crickets, supers, silks and hornworms. I feed him every other day 2 adult dubia, also I will often give him a snack daily, usually a super worm or freshly molted non-adult dubia. My feeders are fed fresh spring mix, carrots, fruits, and sometimes a commercial dry gutload.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I use rep-cal calcium w/o D3 5 times a week, then rep-cal herptivite once every other week, using fluker's calcium with D3 once on the off week. My feeders are very lightly dusted.
Watering - I have a mist-king set up for my cages – with a heated water reservoir , it goes off at 11:00 AM, 1 & 1:10 PM, 4 & 4:10 PM, and 5 PM for 45 seconds each spray. I rarely see Kilgore drinking and he hates the mister and being sprayed by it. When I do see him drink it is from water that collects on the top of the screen near the misting nozzle, NEVER from wet plant leaves. I do use a dripper (solo cup with pin hole) placed over his biggest plant and it is ignored.
Fecal Description - His last 2 poops have been AWFUL, a rock solid urate followed by mostly diarrhea looking piles. The urate part has been yellow to orange and when I break it apart feels like sand! These last two poops happened in the span of about a month, so 2 poops in a months + time... Never tested for parasites.
Cage Info:
Cage Type -What are the dimensions? 2X2x4 LLL Screen cage.
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 24” t-5 repti-sun 5.0 (I replace these every 6 months) and one 60 watt incandescent bulb in a clamp lamp for basking area
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? His basking area is maintained at about 84-87° F, rest of the cage room temperature, average of 75°F. Overnight lowest is 64° F but average 66°F. I use electronic zilla temperature probes, and the cheap electronic therm & hygro meter from wal-mart.
Humidity - Humidity mostly stays around 30-40% and is maintained by the live plants in the cage. I use a coolmist humidifier when I notice shedding to up humidity levels.
Plants - Live plants, in his cage now is a dracanea and a soon to be replaced schefflera.
Placement - In the corner of my room, the cage is above eye level and almost reaches the ceiling. There is a ceiling fan in the room and it is medium traffic, in the morning and bedtime he will see me.
Location – New Hampshire
Current Problem – First I noticed that his grip wasn't what it used to be, NEVER any falls or near falls, but he definitely favors his front legs when he is chilling. Sometimes when he is in one spot for awhile I will see that a back leg is just hanging out not grasped to anything. When he moves about I don't see any difference between his front and back legs. The other concern I have is with his coloration. Usually his vertical lines are well defined and his lateral line an eggwhite color...he would fire up bright red and yellow the few times I showed him my adult female, but recently (past 3 months) his colors are DULL, pale pastel like green and blue, and his lateral line is GRAY. Almost all hints of red and yellow are gone and he does NOT fire up at all for the female when I show her to him (I never put them together and only show the female through the screen until a reaction is noticed and then she is put back, he is NOT able to see her unless I am doing this). He is eating fine, that is definitely not an issue, he eats almost exclusively from hand feeding, but will successfully hunt if prey gets loose in the cage. I have rarely seen him drink his entire life, even with a mist king plus additional manual mistings by myself, I NEVER spray him directly. Also I use a solo cup dripper about 3times a week and have not once noticed him drink from those drips. He is going to the local vet on the 12th for a check-up. I am hoping I can identify the issue (i'm thinking it is my husbandry but I want to know what PART of my care is affecting him) and resolve it!
The room he is in...his is the bigger cage on the right and there is a visual barrier between the two.
the ceiling fan placement
