How to tell if your panther is happy? Questions!

[JulianoChameleano]

Hey y'all, so I got the fake plants out of my guys cage and added a Schefflera plant. He seems to like it a lot better. I took most of the subtrate oil also. (Thanks Petco for saying I needed it.)


He is drinking finally. Yay! I have seen him attempt to eat but his tongue wasn't sticking them. Hopefully the drinking will help?

How can you tell if they're happy? I read that they shouldn't sleep in the day but he has been on occasion. Should I attempt to wake him when he is asleep?

I bought some RepCal with D3 and some RepCal Multivitamin for him. I'm wondering if there is anything else I should order.

How much handling is okay? He hasn't hissed at me but he did puff up.

He is 6 months old as stated in my prior post. This is my first full day with him. I have a bunch of crickets, some wax worms and some super worms. He hasn't fed from his bowl yet, either. How many crickets vs anything else should I give?

 

[JulianoChameleano]

More pics

Here he is showing me his reds

 

[zlew]

It's good that he's drinking-he's definitely dehydrated. Hopefully that will help out his tongue-although I'm not totally sure what could be causing the non-stickiness/suction. For your supplement powder, you're going to also want a calcium supplement that has NO D3 in it. too much D3 can be harmful to him. Here is the dusting schedule you want:

Calcium without d3 at every feeding
calcium with d3 twice a month
multivitamin twice a month

Also, I see you are in texas, and I don't know how cold it gets down there, but if you are able to get him outside in the sun a good 2-4 hours a week, you won't need the D3 supplement.

 

[JulianoChameleano]

It's pretty chilly all the sudden. What's the lowest temp I can sun him in? Is it okay to take him in the bathroom when I shower to help with the humidity?

 

[zlew]

I would say don't take him out in any weather chillier than 65F. Taking him in the bathroom when you shower seems fine to me, just so long as you're not spraying him with water. My boy doesn't like this, but I've heard tell of chameleons that like coming in the shower for a drink, but you have to point the nozzle at the wall and have droplets bounce on to him, not spray him directly (with slightly warmer than lukewarm water). It's a good way to get him rehydrated quickly. And, if the steam gets floating around, and the droplets collect on whatever he is on in the bathroom with you, he may also drink then.

 

[JulianoChameleano]

Yeah, I got the shower idea on Instagram this morning. They had him chilling on a towel on the towel rack. #pantherchameleonsofinstagram

Should I do more mists than usual til he's properly hydrated?

 

[JulianoChameleano]

drinking!

 

[zlew]

yeah you can mist him more and I would set up a dripper too.