Is my Panther an appropriate size?

[Etheoffo]

I’m just wondering my panther is a good size for a 6 month old male. This is my first Panther, I’ve had veileds in the past and I know they get bigger than panthers. I’m also wondering what I can do to raise humidity levels. I have 4 live plants and I mist up to 4 times a day but it’s never where it needs to be.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Male Panther, not sure what morph. About 6 months old, I’ve had him since he was 1-2 months.
• Handling - I handle him whenever I need to. Usually when I have to clean his cage I’ll take him out and put him on another plant in the house.
• Feeding - Crickets on a daily basis, I’ve fed him a few hornworms, dubia roaches and I just started with super worms today. He doesn’t seem to like anything as much as he likes crickets, especially roaches.
• Supplements - Calcium without D3 everyday. I give Calcium with D3 every other Sunday and Reptivite every other Saturday.
• Watering - I mist 3-4 times a day for about 1 minute or longer depending on the humidity. I have a automatic mister set up but I don’t use it because it sprays water rather than mists and then the entire cage is covered in water. I also have a dripper which I also stopped using due to it working incorrectly.
• Fecal Description - His fecal varies. Sometimes he has some bigger, slimier fecal with white urates. Other times he has smaller dry fecal also with white urates.
• History - I’ve had him since April 10th and he was absolutely tiny when I got him. He’s grown a lot now and he’s shed 3 times since I’ve gotten him. I bought him from a pet shop but it was a breeder/shop. Nothing like PetSmart or Petco.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - He has a 2’x2’x4’ PVC paneled cage. It has a mesh under the door and also the top.
• Lighting - I have a 60W incandescent for basking and I have a 5.0 linear for UVB. Schedule is from 9am-9pm.
• Temperature - While the lights are on the ambient temp never goes below 70F. His basking spot is about 85-90F. When lights go off it sits around 40-50F.
• Humidity - This is what I have the most trouble with. His humidity is always around 50% and when I mist it goes up to 60%. No matter how much I mist I cannot get the humidity to go over 60%. I’ve tried so many things to get it up but nothing works. I’ve added drippers and misters as I mentioned but it just does not go up. I’m thinking maybe the hygrometer isn’t reading correctly because it doesn’t really make sense to me. Especially with it being a PVC paneled cage not a mesh.
• Plants - I have one weeping fig in the center. I have two dragon trees in one pot on the bottom and I also have a pothos on the bottom as well.
• Placement - I have his cage in the living room of our house. We have a studio apartment so there isn’t many spots for him. He seems fine where he is though. It doesn’t seem like he’s a very stressed out chameleon. His cage is right next to the living room window so there’s plenty of light that gets into the house. (I know UVB and whatever else doesn’t travel through glass).
• Location - Wisconsin, USA

 

[jamest0o0]

Filling out the care sheet and looking like you did research on the animal you bought, good to see .

Things that come to mind:

Definitely a nice looking ambilobe locale panther.

Your 50-60% daily humidity is fine. You just want good ventilation and not extremely high or low humidity.

Instead of small mistings throughout the day, soak the cage for a few minutes in the early morning, giving him time to start drinking. I did mine when light came through the windows, but lights weren’t on yet… no big deal just when he’s awake. Then I’d do a few minutes at lights out at night. This helps the humidity stay high through the night(you could also do the fogger route).

How’s your gut load for the feeders? And as far as feeding goes, most important thing imo is a nice variety. Bottle flies and black soldier flies make nice options to add into your rotation.


Lastly, your house gets to 40-50F??? Did I read that right lol?

 

[jamest0o0]

Also, are you sure you had him at 1-2months? A breeder shouldn’t be selling chams that young. 3 months is usually the selling age.

 

[Etheoffo]

Also, are you sure you had him at 1-2months? A breeder shouldn’t be selling chams that young. 3 months is usually the selling age.

Maybe the breeder wasn’t correct on the age but he did say 1-2 months. He was the size of a leaf when I got him. For gutloading I chop up some collard greens, bell peppers and blueberries. And yes my house gets pretty chilly at night. I personally have to sleep with an air conditioner on because it gets way too hot otherwise.

 

[nightanole]

Dats a huge six month old....

1 month:

4 months old:

As jamest0o0 stated, most are not "shipped" till 4 months. Some breeders will let you drive up and take a 3 month old.

 

[jamest0o0]

Maybe the breeder wasn’t correct on the age but he did say 1-2 months. He was the size of a leaf when I got him. For gutloading I chop up some collard greens, bell peppers and blueberries. And yes my house gets pretty chilly at night. I personally have to sleep with an air conditioner on because it gets way too hot otherwise.

Yeah that age sounds off, but At least he’s alive and seemingly well now.

Sorry I’m just confused about the 40-50… most AC units that I know of don’t even go that low lol. And where in the US does it get so cold this time of year that by night time it’s 40 degrees? Not grilling you, just fascinated haha! 40 in your house would require some serious warm clothing. I’m not normally one to say add a heat element at night for most reptiles, but in that case it’s a bit too low for panthers. I wouldn’t want it regularly going below 50…. And TBH even 50 is a temp I’ve never seen in an average home unless windows are open for an extended time in the middle of winter without heat running.

 

[BostonKeith]

Yeah that age sounds off, but At least he’s alive and seemingly well now.

Sorry I’m just confused about the 40-50… most AC units that I know of don’t even go that low lol. And where in the US does it get so cold this time of year that by night time it’s 40 degrees? Not grilling you, just fascinated haha! 40 in your house would require some serious warm clothing. I’m not normally one to say add a heat element at night for most reptiles, but in that case it’s a bit too low for panthers. I wouldn’t want it regularly going below 50…. And TBH even 50 is a temp I’ve never seen in an average home unless windows are open for an extended time in the middle of winter without heat running.

Was also interested and being in the North East had to dig into this!! You never know! Could be at the research station up there! This is Mt. Washington summit look at that average daily !