Going to get a chameleon

[Pachondi]

Hi all,

I am about to get a male Panther chameleon (I want a Parson's, but not till I win the lottery , about 4-6 months old. I have ordered the following items:

65 gal reptarium (temperary home, while I finish my own enclosure 3' x 4' x 7')
UV - Reptisun 5.0
100w heat lamp and black heat light
Water sprayer
Vitamin powder
Cricket gut loading "gel"
Bunch of flexi vines and branches (from backyard)
2 humidity and temp combo gauges
I am going to get some live plants (mostly vines)

Please let me know if I need anything else.

I also have some questions, I see a lot of website selling these little guys, are they safe to get them through mail? Do you folks recommend any good reputable sites? I see that some sites sell them for around $400 (plus shipping) and some as low as $200, why such a difference and is the extra $ worth it?

I am sure I have more questions, but that is all for now.

Thank you in advance

Nate

 

[chamillionaire3]

sounds like you are on the right track. a few recommendations i have are to definitly get a live plant such as a schefflera or a ficus, they help out al lot with humidity. another thing you should definitly invest in in the future is an automatic misting system such as mistking, it is well worth the money. also you shouldnt need the black heat lamp as you shouldnt use it at night because it will hurt your cham sleeping. if you need heat at night you should use a ceramic heat emitter. and lastly make sure you dont put the cricket water crystals in the cham enclosure. they can accidentally eat them and it will kill them.

 

[SarahcoadunatioZac]

I don't know too much about Panthers, but I hear the care is similar to Veileds.

100w heat lamp is probably too high, but a more experienced member may be able to tell you that. Also, a heat lamp at night will disturb your panther at night. They have a "3rd eye" that senses light. If you need to heat him at night, use a ceramic heater.

The gutloading gel is likely from Flukers and is a garbage gutload. Heres a good link to some gutloading:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/gutload-has-made-huge-difference-95230/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlM9RaCBt_M

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

Also I don't see any calcium powder? I don't know the schedule for supplements for Panthers but I do believe they need calcium as well.

I would check with some of the breeders on these forums, in the classifieds but the sponsors are also a good choice.

/Edit dingrassia3 beat me to most of it

 

[kgallego]

Hi all,

I am about to get a male Panther chameleon (I want a Parson's, but not till I win the lottery , about 4-6 months old. I have ordered the following items:

65 gal reptarium (temperary home, while I finish my own enclosure 3' x 4' x 7')
UV - Reptisun 5.0
100w heat lamp and black heat light
Water sprayer
Vitamin powder
Cricket gut loading "gel"
Bunch of flexi vines and branches (from backyard)
2 humidity and temp combo gauges
I am going to get some live plants (mostly vines)

Please let me know if I need anything else.

I also have some questions, I see a lot of website selling these little guys, are they safe to get them through mail? Do you folks recommend any good reputable sites? I see that some sites sell them for around $400 (plus shipping) and some as low as $200, why such a difference and is the extra $ worth it?

I am sure I have more questions, but that is all for now.

Thank you in advance

Nate

If you're getting live plants and putting them in a cage that size (which is awesome btw!), make sure you also put on a low heat grow bulb. Go to a grow store, or head shop, or whatever hippi joint is in your area and find a powerful/low heat grow light. Not only will it do wonders for your vines, but the light is bad ass an makes your cham's looks sharp!

 

[Ashleigh]

Hi all,

I am about to get a male Panther chameleon (I want a Parson's, but not till I win the lottery , about 4-6 months old. I have ordered the following items:

65 gal reptarium (temperary home, while I finish my own enclosure 3' x 4' x 7')
UV - Reptisun 5.0
100w heat lamp and black heat light
Water sprayer
Vitamin powder
Cricket gut loading "gel"
Bunch of flexi vines and branches (from backyard)
2 humidity and temp combo gauges
I am going to get some live plants (mostly vines)

Please let me know if I need anything else.

I also have some questions, I see a lot of website selling these little guys, are they safe to get them through mail? Do you folks recommend any good reputable sites? I see that some sites sell them for around $400 (plus shipping) and some as low as $200, why such a difference and is the extra $ worth it?

I am sure I have more questions, but that is all for now.

Thank you in advance

Nate

You're definitely going in the right direction! The 100W basking bulb I think is a little much, and may cause burns on your little guy. I have a male panther and I use a 57W and it's plenty hot enough and gets the basking spot up to 90 Degrees F. And if the black heat light is for night, you don't need that. They need a drop of temp around 10 degrees F at night to get a good sleep, just make sure the room they are in doesn't drop below 55 F. The water sprayer is a good idea, and I would recommmend getting a Mist king. I have one and I love it. takes a lot of the work out of it and goes off on a timer so it is all automated. I am busy and work a full time job, so I have everything on timers. I got a timer strip at home depot and it works great. What kind of vitamin powder do you have? I use Repashy calcium plus and it makes it very easy. You just use it on every feeder every feeding and you're good. The gut loading gel is what I use for my crickets water source, but you really should either make your own gut load(they have articles on this site) or you could buy "cricket crack" that's supposed to be really good, or bug burger which is what I use and it works. I use it dry and the crickets seems to eat it better. I'm going to switch to cricket crack once I run out of the bug burger since I've heard so many good things. I would also consider getting other types of bugs online to vary his diet as much as you can. I use silkworms, hornworms, butterworms, and crickets. Others buy roaches, but I'm not brave enough for that...there are good sponsors on here that sell good quality bugs. You want to put your temp gauges one on the basking spot, one towards the middle bottom to make sure you have a good varying gradient of temps in your cage so your little guy can regulate his temp. Branches from the backyard are okay as long as it's not from a tree or plant that's poisonous. There are safe plant lists for chameleons on this site also. When using branches from outside you need to either wash throughly and soak in antibacterial soap and water and brush and clean until smooth without loose bark and particles on it or sharp branches. Or you can sanitize by baking in your oven. Live plants are a good idea to keep humitiy in your enclosure, and make sure the enclosure is screen to keep free air flow and prevent respirator infections. Also, you need very good drainage to let the bottom of your enclosure to dry out in between mistings. Also for live plants, consider getting a grow light or extra plants to switch out every week to let them get light.

For your question about where to get chameleons, I got my panther from the Kammers on KammerflageKreations.com and I loved dealing with them. great customer service, I was able to talk directly to the breeder with whatever questions I had on the phone and via email. My little male panther is now 13 months and is doing great. Very good quality. They have been breeding panthers for 32 years and are very knowledgable. I'm sure there are other places, but they are they only ones I've bought from so far.

 

[ChameleonMom]

Hi all,

I am about to get a male Panther chameleon (I want a Parson's, but not till I win the lottery , about 4-6 months old. I have ordered the following items:

65 gal reptarium (temperary home, while I finish my own enclosure 3' x 4' x 7')
UV - Reptisun 5.0
100w heat lamp and black heat light
Water sprayer
Vitamin powder
Cricket gut loading "gel"
Bunch of flexi vines and branches (from backyard)
2 humidity and temp combo gauges
I am going to get some live plants (mostly vines)

Please let me know if I need anything else.

I also have some questions, I see a lot of website selling these little guys, are they safe to get them through mail? Do you folks recommend any good reputable sites? I see that some sites sell them for around $400 (plus shipping) and some as low as $200, why such a difference and is the extra $ worth it?

I am sure I have more questions, but that is all for now.

Thank you in advance

Nate

Sure glad you haven't won that lottery yet...a Parsonii is a chameleon that would be best kept by an experienced chameleon keeper, but a Panther is a pretty good start!

As for the items you have ordered, I will go through them one by one:

A 4 - 6 month old Panther will require a bigger cage but if you are making one, the 65 gallon would probably be okay for him to start out with. Just remember that it will not be sufficient for long as he will need room to explore so be sure to get that cage made as soon as possible.

The UV light you mentioned, is it tube or coil bulb? I don't think it matters, as I use the coil Reptisun UVB 5.0/26w bulbs for my veileds and they are fine. Most super experienced keepers will tell you to use a tube, probably because they cover a greater area, but again, I use the coils and they are sufficient. Also, you do not mention a basking bulb. You will require a a basking bulb (heat) for your cham. I buy bulbs specifically for basking at the pet store (I use a 100w for my veileds) but most people on the forum use a regular household incandescent bulb for heat. You do NOT need a black heat light - especially if you intend to use it at night time. Your cham will need a definitive temperature change at night (down to 60F or a little lower) as it aids in digestion and body temperature regulation. Also, your cham will not require light at night - much like we require darkness for sleep, so will your chameleon.

A water sprayer is sufficient - I hand mist my guys 2 - 3 times a day to help with humidity but a misting system is pretty much required if you are not available to hand mist your cham during the day (if you work outside of your home, etc.) I also have a Zoo Med 'Big Dripper' that drips water over the leaves in my enclosures at a constant (slow) rate during the day. You can't keep your enclosure constantly wet but your cham needs to know there is a water source whenever they require it, so I would highly recommend you purchase a Big (or small) Dripper. They are worth their weight in gold. Once you've had it dripping for a few days your cham will know exactly where to go for hydration when needed.

Supplementation is extremely important in the care of your chameleon - without the proper supp's, your cham will develop MBD and live a horribly painful life, until it dies a painful death. The standard supplementation schedule of this forum is: dust with plain Calcium (I use Rep-Cal brand) at every feeding, dust with Calcium with D3 (again, Rep-Cal brand) twice a month and dust with a multivitamin (I use Rep-Cal Herptivite) twice a month. I alternate my twice a month dustings...Cal w/D3 on one Sunday, then Herptivite the next Sunday, then back to Cal w/D3 the next Sunday, and so on, and so on. I cannot stress how vitally important the supplementation of your feeders is so please ensure you stock up on the necessities.

Cricket gutloading 'gel' is really not sufficient for your chameleon and it would be the very best thing for you to provide fresh fruit and veggies for your feeders as a 'wet' gutload (I refresh my gutload every 2nd day for my feeders) and for a dry gutload, Sandrachameleon has a great recipe that is easy to make. In a pinch the Flukers dry (calcium fortified) gutload will work, but I highly recommend Sandra's recipe.

If you are going to provide vines and branches from your backyard I would suggest that you ensure they are extremely clean (clean with 2/3 water, 1/3 bleach mixture) and make sure there is nothing hanging off the branches, like deadfall or bark peelings. We had a member lose a Jackson's a couple weeks back because it ate some bark off a branch, it became stuck in its digestive tract and eventually came out through the skin of its leg. The cham didn't survive. I would highly suggest some of the fake vines from the pet store (Zoo Med, Exo-Terra make an excellent vine) and you can buy them in small or large diameter.

It would really be best for humidity's sake for you to use live plants in your enclosure. Your cham will be able to eat the leaves if he desires and it really does make your cage aesthetically much nicer for you to look at, and for your cham to live in. I use Pothos, Schefflera, Ficus, and Croton. All are on the approved plant list and are okay if ingested by your cham. I would suggest you check out the approved plant list on the forum and choose plants from there. You can't go wrong with live plants, trust me!

It is perfectly fine for you to order a cham through the mail. They are sent 'overnight' delivery and are packed with heat pads in the box. They generally come out of it no worse for wear. In fact I would HIGHLY suggest you purchase a cham from a site sponsor over going to purchase a cham from a big box pet store. The site sponsors generally guarantee their chams and will be able to provide answers to any questions or concerns you have. They are a great resource for future problems if you have any arise.

The price difference between chameleons could be because of the sire, the lineage, the colors, etc. Generally a colorful chameleon will be worth more money, or if its a baby and the colors haven't popped yet, the colors of its parents will dictate price. However, this doesn't mean a cheaper cham will not be colorful - some site sponsors are able to offer chams at a lower price based on the volume of chams they sell or the amount of 'product' they have at the time.

One more terribly important point I'd like to make, there WILL be a time when you will need the services of a reputable reptile vet. It would be adviseable for you to do some research of a good cham vet in your area. Make contact with them and see if you can register yourself as a future patient and advise them you will bring your cham in for a checkup soon after you get it. It is important for you to take a fecal sample in to be checked for parasites and possible treatment if it comes back positive. A good cham keeper can have all the necessities to keep your cham happy, but if it is riddled with parasites without being treated, the health of your cham is subjectable no matter how much supplementation or gutloading you provide it.

I hope this helps. I am by no means the most experienced cham keeper on this forum so please know others may chime in with a different opinion, and that is fine. You learn from experience and the longer you keep your cham, the more you are able to learn the different nuances of care your cham may require.

Good luck and be sure to post some pictures of your new family member when you get him!

 

[Pachondi]

This is what I am talking about, I'm loving this, this is good stuff, thank you so much guys. First thing I am going to do is toss the black light. My house doesn't go below 67f so will that be o.k without any extra heating at night?

I am definetly going to look into the mistking.

I will definetly check the temp of the enclosure (both the hot and cool end), when the lights are one for a few days before I even get the little guy.

The vitamin powder I got is Reptivite (zoo med) it has D3. Is this o.k?

I did forget to mention I have a 48" compact flouroscent fixture (it is from my old planted fish tank), it has plant grow bulbs in them, can I use that in my enclosure, will that be o.k for the live plants and the Chameleon?

The gutloading gel is from fluker, I guess that is a bad move on my part. I will try to make my own.

The only reason I am using the 65gal first is I read that it is best to moniter them in a small enclosure first, and then if they eat and drink well you can move them into a larger permenent one. If this is not necessary I will just finish the permanent enclosure and then get the little guy.

Once again thank you so much for all you responses.

Nate

 

[ChameLIonLover]

I've read a lot on the forums and I would recommend going to the feeding and nutrition part of the forums. You'll want to gut load with plenty of different fruits and veggies. It's easy too because you yourself should really be eating health foods. Sharing is caring! Also, make sure that you have 2 calcium supplements... One with and one without D3 or phosphorous