help my baby panther is sleeping a lot today

Queen

Queen

New Member
Chameleon Info:

* Panther Ambilobe Chameleon, sex too young, 1 month old about 2-3 weeks in my care
* very rarely handled maybe 2 times total once to help with a piece of dead shed from when I received him
* Crickets 4-6 smalls a day with calcium they come pre-gutloaded from the LPS
* Dusting with calcium with vitamin D
* My chameleon drinks often I mist 4 to 6 times daily with lizard mister
* Fecal looks fine it's white and brown tiny poop. He hasn't been tested for parasites?
* I bought him online from a breeder in florida.


Cage Info:

* it's a small zoo-med (I previously raised a chameleon in)
* he's on a 9:00AM-11:00PM timer he usually falls asleep at 9 or 10 he has a sun glow lamp which is 150 watt thus the distance. (see pic)
* I honestly don't know the temperature feels fine compared to previous chameleon care.
* It's humid in the tank.
* no live plants
*on top of dresser there is a fan in the room.
* Austin texas


My chameleon went through a shed yesterday and today he's sleeping on and off. I've never seen him act this way. I've had him for about 3 weeks. He's a healthy guy he eats well. and is usually active. I might be misting him too much or I should adjust his timer I'm not sure if that would have anything to do with his sleeping today. I have woken him up and he looks healthy his eyes are not sunken in. I'm just unsure about the behavior. I know this would normally be an indication that he's sick. What should I do? I will mist him less and adjust his timer tonight.

could he be tired from shedding yesterday? I've never had this behavior happen before. What should I do.

I had a previous chameleon and I know what I'm doing setup wise.

chameleon.jpg

http://img.waffleimages.com/d3b21b78d5e4a85a6ecff6a92aa7bea2154935ab/chameleon.jpg
small cage.jpg

http://img.waffleimages.com/9f055ec4bd666c32a0f3b6c6af233a7c054db4a4/small cage.jpg
 
Looks ok. But why do you have his time set like that. IMO its supposed to be 12 hours on, 12 hours off. My panther is on at 7:00am, off at 7:00pm. Thats what I have always heard, and the breeder told me to do it this way. So I would say he's sleepy beacause he's not getting enough sleep at night.

Hope this helps:)
 
Texas Ranger said:
Looks ok. But why do you have his time set like that. IMO its supposed to be 12 hours on, 12 hours off. My panther is on at 7:00am, off at 7:00pm. Thats what I have always heard, and the breeder told me to do it this way. So I would say he's sleepy beacause he's not getting enough sleep at night.

Hope this helps:)
Click to expand...

thanks. I think you're right. I actually didn't realize I had the lamp on for more then 12 hours till I posted earlier. :p thanks. he was awake and eating and looked healthy earlier but he was back asleep when I got home, and now he's awake again. I just adjusted his timer to 9:00AM- 9:00PM.

hope these pictures work
2eyykwy.jpg

11j2d76.jpg


I took this pic a second ago
2yyp9ch.jpg
 
29b1q35.jpg

I think he's healthy. I just took two more pictures because the last one was bad and he threw me a threat.
358z8ye.jpg


the tank is at 87.2F
I think he was just not getting the sleep he needed last night I might have woke him up with my coughing. thanks.
 
Queen said:
he's got this
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752615&lmdn=Reptile

it's probably the best lighting you could have set up for these guys. That or the sun.
Click to expand...

There are two types of lighting that you need for your cham. The light you have now only provides just UV lighting which is just heat and creates a warm spot in your enclosure for basking. You also need a light that provides UVB. UVB lights have wave lengths that a similar to the sun's light. The UVB light aides your cham in synthesizing calcium and vitamin D in their bodies. Without the UVB light your cham "Will" get MBD (metabolic bone disease) which is a severely
crippling disease that leads to death. What you need to get is a linear tube style 5.0 UVB light such as the Zoomed ReptiSun. Seriously, trust me on this because without UVB your cham will not live very long.
 
who told you it is the best lighting? Petsmart? That light is possibly causing him eye problems. I would switch out to a Reptisun 5.0 tube and a 40-60 watt regular houebulb for heat.
 
JaxyGirl said:
There are two types of lighting that you need for your cham. The light you have now only provides just UV lighting which is just heat and creates a warm spot in your enclosure for basking. You also need a light that provides UVB. UVB lights have wave lengths that a similar to the sun's light. The UVB light aides your cham in synthesizing calcium and vitamin D in their bodies. Without the UVB light your cham "Will" get MBD (metabolic bone disease) which is a severely
crippling disease that leads to death. What you need to get is a linear tube style 5.0 UVB light such as the Zoomed ReptiSun. Seriously, trust me on this because without UVB your cham will not live very long.
Click to expand...
According to what I researched that light provides both UVA and UVB but is found to emit too much UVB. That could be the problem here.
 
No the power sun is a mercury vapor bulb

Its provides both uvb and uva with the same bulb they are alot more expensive than the tubes and the basking light. I use a mercury vapor bulb for my tegu because it raises the temp alot at the distance it is from the cage im not sure your panther is getting enough heat and uvb rays
 
carol5208 said:
According to what I researched that light provides both UVA and UVB but is found to emit too much UVB. That could be the problem here.
Click to expand...

The mercury vapor lights by Zoomed are a good light but not for a chameleon. These lights are great for species such as bearded dragons, and iguanas. The light is "too" strong for a cham. Chams are very specialized and one of the most difficult reptiles to keep. If you search lighting on this forum you will find that every one on here (including the most experienced breeders) use two types of lighting. 1) UVA light approx 60-100wats and 2) 5.0 UVB linear tube style light such as a reptisun.

Probably the toughest time for a cham is between 1-6 months. And the biggest reason that most don't make it is because of inadequate lighting.

Whe're here to help you start your cham on the right foot. I would return the bulb you have now. Replace it with a 60 wat regular household light for basking. Then purchase a 5.0 UVB light light. Not the spiral kind because that can cause eye problems.
 
Take the advise...

JaxyGirl said:
The mercury vapor lights by Zoomed are a good light but not for a chameleon. These lights are great for species such as bearded dragons, and iguanas. The light is "too" strong for a cham. Chams are very specialized and one of the most difficult reptiles to keep. If you search lighting on this forum you will find that every one on here (including the most experienced breeders) use two types of lighting. 1) UVA light approx 60-100wats and 2) 5.0 UVB linear tube style light such as a reptisun.

Probably the toughest time for a cham is between 1-6 months. And the biggest reason that most don't make it is because of inadequate lighting.

Whe're here to help you start your cham on the right foot. I would return the bulb you have now. Replace it with a 60 wat regular household light for basking. Then purchase a 5.0 UVB light light. Not the spiral kind because that can cause eye problems.
Click to expand...

I would suggest taking the advise of JaxyGirl here... in regaurds to the lighting what she describes is what almost everyone breeder wise recommends and the lighting is extremely important. I would also adjust your times for 12 hours on 12 hours off as someonelse who posted recommended. Since you are seeing him sleep which is NEVER a good sign as they should not be sleeping during the day. You are concerned about him because you are asking for help and you have gotten some good advise so far, so for your Cham's sake I'd make the few adjustments so he has a shot at a long healthy life. Good luck with the little guy for sure!
 
The Powersun bulb you have might be OK for a mature adult in a large well planted cage, but for a little guy it is probably too intense. The heat can also dehydrate a very young cham pretty quickly too. Your pics show me a cham who is hiding from some fairly intense heat...but by doing so he's also losing the UVB radiation he does need. One of the reasons so many of us use the ReptiSun linear fluorescent lights is that they do not produce too much heat along with the light. The are not so intense that they cause eye problems or dehydration and the cham can bask longer under them without injury. Any house incandescent light bulb can produce the heat he needs...but they do NOT produce the UV. Another option is to keep the Powersun bulb for his future larger well planted cage...when he's full grown. You can adjust the basking spot temp by raising or lowering the bulb as you attempted in your present cage.
 
Hey Queen, i have a similar problem my guy sleeps/closes his eyes during the day as well, its a 2month nosy be and i just got him at a reptile expo and forum members told me that it might just be due to stess, but since you have had yours for longer i dont know. How long do you mist for when you mist? To me i think 4-6 times is alot for me because i mist for a while and the water takes a while to dry before i mist again. Do you have a dripper so that you dont have to mist as often?
 
This is a one month old baby and the hottest temps should be not more than 80.

Is the top of that enclosure glass? UV can not pass through glass. You should get rid of the MV and the get Reptisun 5.0.

It's starting to get dark earlier and they will go to bed earlier. In the winter my chams like to go to bed at 5:30. In the summer they stay up until 8. I would turn the lights off earlier in the winter.
 
Queen said:
thanks. I think you're right. I actually didn't realize I had the lamp on for more then 12 hours till I posted earlier. :p thanks. he was awake and eating and looked healthy earlier but he was back asleep when I got home, and now he's awake again. I just adjusted his timer to 9:00AM- 9:00PM.

hope these pictures work
2eyykwy.jpg

11j2d76.jpg


I took this pic a second ago
2yyp9ch.jpg
Click to expand...

I think (hope) that will make a difference:). Also may I ask why you have him in a glass cage, rather than a fresh air screen cage?:confused:
 
JaxyGirl said:
There are two types of lighting that you need for your cham. The light you have now only provides just UV lighting which is just heat and creates a warm spot in your enclosure for basking. You also need a light that provides UVB. UVB lights have wave lengths that a similar to the sun's light. The UVB light aides your cham in synthesizing calcium and vitamin D in their bodies. Without the UVB light your cham "Will" get MBD (metabolic bone disease) which is a severely
crippling disease that leads to death. What you need to get is a linear tube style 5.0 UVB light such as the Zoomed ReptiSun. Seriously, trust me on this because without UVB your cham will not live very long.
Click to expand...

this is a mercury vapor bulb it provides uvb and basking. It is what is recommended from breeders to me. I raised a very healthy panther chameleon off this same exact type of bulb. It is an all in one. The bulb is fine trust me.
 
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