Judge my setup!

[ZackRP]

Hi everyone, my Panther just recently passed away. I'm now looking to get a new companion, and this gives me an opportunity to do some serious redecorating of the enclosure beforehand, so I don't stress out the new inhabitant. So here's a quick rundown of the environment.

This is an 18x18x36 exoterra glass enclosure, it's a live planted vivarium, with plants custom selected by New England Herpetoculture for Panther Chameleons. It's got a 5x5" fan on top of the screen lid to suck air through the enclosure, to help make up for the fact it's glass. Temperatures range from 72°-75° at the bottom of the tank with the majority of the foilage, at the center of the tank where the vines intersect the temperature is sitting right around mid 80's, and at the top center of the tank where the highest branches of the tree are, it reads between 95°-100° depending on season, if my heat or AC has been running, etc. I have a Monsoon Multi misting system that mists for 60 seconds per cycle, every 8 hours, spraying only reverse osmosis purified water.

I have included just a couple photos of my enclosure to show what the setup looks like, and am open to any suggestions of new artificial plants/vines or anything, that would improve the quality of life for the next little guy I get. I'm also open to change my conditions such as temperature, misting times, buying suggested feeders, etc. Whatever best fits the needs of a juvenile - sub-adult panther. Let me know what you guys think!

 

[carol5208]

First, before I get into your set up I would like to know what your other chameleon died from if you know? Also, how long did it live in that enclosure?

 

[ZackRP]

First, before I get into your set up I would like to know what your other chameleon died from if you know? Also, how long did it live in that enclosure?

It lived about a year in the enclosure is all, but I'm not certain why he passed. The day before he passed he was a little lethargic, but nothing unusual, as he ate that same day. He pooped the day before that, and was drinking water the night before he passed, moving around every once in a while. When I woke up the next morning he was hanging off one of his vines, gone.. I fed him crickets mostly, every other day, with wax and meal worms about once a week. I dusted the crickets with repashy calcium plus every other feeding and bene-bac plus once per week, as recommended by his veterinarian. He had an exo-terra 13w uvb bulb above his basking spot, and showed no signs of MBD or respiratory infection. I took him the the vet twice, once because I was worried he wasn't pooping, and once because I was worried he was getting dehydrated. In both cases they took x-rays and physically examined him. The dehydration worry was for naught, because as soon as I got him home he started drinking and was back to his feisty self the next day. The not-pooping worry was treated with an antibiotic and that bene-bac probiotic supplement, and he again, as soon as we got home, pooped and was back to normal the next day. A couple months later, all seemed fine, he wasnt acting unusual, and I'd seen him poop, eat, and drink water, all within two days prior to his death. I sent all of this information to the breeder I got him from and he said it looked like my husbandry was fine, and that nothing jumped out at him that could've been related to his death. I am perfectly open to any criticism though. I certainly don't want to be the cause of any problems.

 

[carol5208]

First thing are the lights sitting on top of glass? I would get rid of the coil uvb and get the Reptisun or Arcadia 5.0. Some people go with the 10.0. I have no idea what that pro biotic is you were giving. Been on here 8 yrs along with belonging to several Chameleon groups on FB. Not once have I ever heard of giving a chameleon that. You said once a week...for how long? Could it have led to his demise? I guess depends how much of it he got . Certain meds are very hard on their kidneys. What exactly was the reason for it- to poop? How long did he go without pooping?To be honest wax and meal worms are two of the poorest choices as far as worms go. So diet wasn't the best. What did you feed your crickets for gutload? Very important! I use silkworms, supers, and hornworms in addition to crickets, moths, dragon flies and katydids (when I can catch them). I don't know about running a fan in the cage. I use screen cages. They really are best. I know people use the terrariums that are vented. Dont know of many if any that use a fan. Not sure of the negative, if any effects it can have on your chameleon's health

 

[carol5208]

Uvb light i meant to say Tube style. I am not sure what you have going on there with 2 lights in each dome?

 

[ZackRP]

Uvb light i meant to say Tube style. I am not sure what you have going on there with 2 lights in each dome?

I'm planning to switch to a reptisun 5.0 soon, as the current one is 5 months old now anyways. They're sitting on top of screen, not glass. There's a uvb in the rear double dome, with the other side being empty. The front double dome has a daylight heat lamp and an led bulb just to provide some more light for the plants, but it puts off very little heat. The fan is almost completely silent and doesnt vibrate. It's just to pull air through the terrarium as it is vented at the front. It isn't an extreme suction of air throughout the tank, it's just a very mild draw to make sure the air doesn't go stagnant from all the moisture. I hadn't been feeding waxworms long, only 2 weeks, and I actually hadn't used mealworms yet because he was so interested in the others, and I personally don't like mealies. I was just trying to vary his diet. That bene-bac probiotic was supplied to me by the veterinarian and is made for reptiles and raptors. I had only used it for about a month and stopped using it in the last few weeks because I wasn't sure he needed it, as I hadn't used it the first 10 months I had him.

 

[ZackRP]

I should make clear I don't plan to use the bene-bac in the future, as I'm unsure if that was causing any negative effects to him. I do plan on using the repashy calcium plus though. Also, I gut loaded crickets with kale, apples, and carrots when I had them around. When I didn't have that I used Flukers Orange cubes. I plan to also get some hornworms, silkworms, blue-bottle flies, and soldier flies to try feeding my next panther .