Looking for advice before getting my first panther chameleon

[StevensUneven]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to get my first Panther Chameleon and would love some advice before doing so. Here’s my setup so far:

Enclosure:

• Dragonstrand Tall Hybrid Chameleon Cage System
• 3 x Govee Temperature Humidity Monitors (top near the basking spot, bottom, and outside the enclosure)
• 120mm fan attached to the bottom front. Only runs at night to help cool down the enclosure and avoid stagnant air.

Hydration:

• Clear glass bowl at the base of the Hibiscus
• Starter MistKing Misting System V 5.0
• AUAAQ Top fill Reptile Fogger

Heat:

• Box of 100-watt incandescent bulbs
• Dimmer switch for heat control
• 10" dome reflector on top of the enclosure

UVB Lighting:

• The Bio Dude Solar Grow T5 HO Single Bulb Light Strip 24"
• Arcadia Forest D3 6% UVB T5 Bulb

Plant Lighting:

• Arcadia Jungle Dawn 22 Watt LED Terrarium Light Bar

Plants:

• Pothos
• Hibiscus Bush
• Dracaena Lemon Lime
• Money Plant

Supplements:

• ReptiVite without D3: with every feeding
• Fluker’s ReptaCalcium with D3: twice a month

Feeders: None yet but plan to buy below

• 1/2" GUTLOADED Banded Cricket Cup (72 Count)
• Black Soldier Fly Larvae (50 Count - Small)
• Silkworms (25 Count - Medium)
• Medium Dubia Roaches

Schedule:

• 8AM: Mist for 3 minutes
• 8AM: Fogger stops
• 9AM: UVB, plant light, and fan turn on
• 9AM: Heat lamp ramps up to 80% over 1 hour
• 1PM: Heat lamp winds down over 8 hours
• 9PM: All lights go out
• 10PM: Mist for 5 minutes
• 10PM: Fogger starts

I'm sure the fogging schedule and heat lamp output will change over time with the seasons and as I dial things in. Currently most of the equipment feeds into HomeAssistant which allows me to control the timer for the lights, the heat lamp ramp up/down, etc. This also gives me the ability to make some pretty graphs like this:

I’m still trying to figure out the basking temperatures and could use advice on what I should be measuring here. If I measure the top branch when the basking light is at its brightest it's about 75, if I put my hand there to simulate the back it goes to about 85 but if I leave my hand there for a bit it gets about 90. I would assume that would happen as my skin temp is probably warmer but maybe I'm overthinking it either way, suggestions would be great there too.

Oh and finally, I have a Solarmeter 6.5R coming in a few days so I’ll be able to provide an accurate reading for the UVB.

If you’ve made it this far then it’s much appreciated and thank you in advance for any suggestions you can provide.

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and warmest welcomes to you! Give me a minute to go through your list here and add any feedback. I will say though, I feel like you are off to a really great start!!

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. All looks ok with a few exceptions.
What is the glass bowl at the base of the hibiscus for?
The ReptiVite is not for daily use. That is your multivitamin and you want to use that for one feeding every other week, alternating with the calcium with D3. At every feeding you want to be using a phosphorus free calcium without D3.
I advise getting some lower wattage basking bulbs. 100w is quite hot. Try a 60w or 75w. You want basking area to be no higher than 80 for a baby or young chameleon and no higher than 85 for an adult male.
Do you mean you will be buying gut loaded crickets or gut loading them yourself? I hope the latter as crickets digest their food quickly. Also, you want to keep your feeders well fed and healthy so they will be more nutritious. Adding graphics below.
I suggest having your fogger stop earlier than 8AM. Stopping it around 5-6 AM is much better.
If you are getting a baby or young chameleon, they enjoy walking upside down on the screen top, so to prevent burns you’ll want tot raise your lights a few inches above the screen top.
Your enclosure looks great! I would add some more branches in there though, at the middle level.
Where are you planning on getting your panther from?

 

[elizaann2]

Enclosure:

• Dragonstrand Tall Hybrid Chameleon Cage System. Awesome, I LOVE these enclosures!!!
• 3 x Govee Temperature Humidity Monitors (top near the basking spot, bottom, and outside the enclosure). Love these too! I use these Govee sensors though, I am not sure if they are more 'humidity and water' friendly or not, its worth checking out though....
• 120mm fan attached to the bottom front. Only runs at night to help cool down the enclosure and avoid stagnant air. Fantastic! I would recommend running them during the day and not at night. They will not really help with a temp drop and will cut in on your humidity levels. You want lower humidity during the day and as close to 100% at night. Mine run during the day currently from 10-6 but that changes with the seasons too.

Hydration:

• Clear glass bowl at the base of the Hibiscus. I would not use a bowl or glass for water, if you are using a mist system and a fogger you won't need anything else TBH and a cup/bowl of stagnant water will just harbor bacteria. In the wild chameleons will get their hydration in the early mornings from the fog that rolls in through the forest. My misting schedule for my panther is:
  7:50 - Mist 2 min
  8:00 - lights on
  3:00 Dripper installed at the top of the enclosure as a 'test' to see if he rushes to drink, if he does, he is dehydrated and I know I need to up my hydration method
  7:45 - mist 2 min
  8:00 - lights out
  10:00 - Mist 2 min for humidity spike
  11:00-6:00 fog constantly
  My humidity levels are as close to 100% as I can get them at night (currently around 75-80% and during the day it stays around 50%. He is well hydrated and I never see him drink.
  
  
• Starter MistKing Misting System V 5.0
• AUAAQ Top fill Reptile Fogger

Heat:

• Box of 100-watt incandescent bulbs. These are a pretty high watt, I only use 50 watt for my enclosures
• Dimmer switch for heat control. Smart idea, I have never heard of this one before, this is the one I use to maintain correct heat lamp temps
• 10" dome reflector on top of the enclosure

UVB Lighting:

• The Bio Dude Solar Grow T5 HO Single Bulb Light Strip 24". Beautiful!
• Arcadia Forest D3 6% UVB T5 Bulb. Beautiful

Plant Lighting:

• Arcadia Jungle Dawn 22 Watt LED Terrarium Light Bar. Great!

Plants:

• Pothos
• Hibiscus Bush
• Dracaena Lemon Lime
• Money Plant. All great! I've added a list of safe plants for you to review in case you ever want to add more plants to your enclosure

Supplements:

• ReptiVite without D3: with every feeding
• Fluker’s ReptaCalcium with D3: Good but you also need a multivitamin as well. I personally prefer the Repashy LoD. This contains the D3 and multivitamin all in one powder. You would use this 2x a month like on the 1st and 15th of each month for a panther chameleon.

Feeders: None yet but plan to buy below

• 1/2" GUTLOADED Banded Cricket Cup (72 Count)
• Black Soldier Fly Larvae (50 Count - Small)
• Silkworms (25 Count - Medium)
• Medium Dubia Roaches. Fantastic range of feeders to start with! I'll include a list of other great feeders for you to review and a list of foods that are great gut loads for your bugs. Healthy bugs = a healthy cham

Schedule:

• 8AM: Mist for 3 minutes
• 8AM: Fogger stops
• 9AM: UVB, plant light, and fan turn on
• 9AM: Heat lamp ramps up to 80% over 1 hour
• 1PM: Heat lamp winds down over 8 hours
• 9PM: All lights go out
• 10PM: Mist for 5 minutes
• 10PM: Fogger starts

This looks like a great humidity schedule! The only thing I would suggest is making sure your basking area does not go above 80 degrees f.

I'm sure the fogging schedule and heat lamp output will change over time with the seasons and as I dial things in. Currently most of the equipment feeds into HomeAssistant which allows me to control the timer for the lights, the heat lamp ramp up/down, etc. This also gives me the ability to make some pretty graphs like this:

Looks awesome! Just make sure your night temps are at 68 degrees or colder for when you fog. Looks like you are off to a great start! Good job!!

Some great resources for you could be the Chameleon Academy, and Neptune the Chameleon. Both have YouTube channels, websites and podcasts.

Do you know where you are getting your chameleon from yet or are you still looking around?

 

[elizaann2]

Hi and welcome. All looks ok with a few exceptions.
What is the glass bowl at the base of the hibiscus for?
The ReptiVite is not for daily use. That is your multivitamin and you want to use that for one feeding every other week, alternating with the calcium with D3. At every feeding you want to be using a phosphorus free calcium without D3.
I advise getting some lower wattage basking bulbs. 100w is quite hot. Try a 60w or 75w. You want basking area to be no higher than 80 for a baby or young chameleon and no higher than 85 for an adult male.
Do you mean you will be buying gut loaded crickets or gut loading them yourself? I hope the latter as crickets digest their food quickly. Also, you want to keep your feeders well fed and healthy so they will be more nutritious. Adding graphics below.
I suggest having your fogger stop earlier than 8AM. Stopping it around 5-6 AM is much better.
If you are getting a baby or young chameleon, they enjoy walking upside down on the screen top, so to prevent burns you’ll want tot raise your lights a few inches above the screen top.
Your enclosure looks great! I would add some more branches in there though, at the middle level.
Where are you planning on getting your panther from?
View attachment 355928View attachment 355929

Lol my post is LITERALLY just like yours!!

 

[StevensUneven]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. The responses here are already off to a wonderful start.

First, the drinking glass, I only did this because everyone on Reddit was howling about it. Didn't really make sense to me but figured it wouldn't hurt having additional options. I did plan to clean it daily and refresh the water but just like what was pointed out, that could become easy to forget and eventually harbor bacteria. It will go!

In regard to supplements and bugs, well noted. I will definitely plan to gut load my own. Hopefully my overthinking things doesn't have me building them a dedicated enclosure too.

In regard to schedules, I will try each of the suggestions out over the next few days. I already noticed pretty quickly running the fogger all night, while it helped with the humidity at night, its impossible to get it back down during the day now. Much more tuning in this area and ill be sure to respond back with my findings.

In regard to the heat lighting, I'll play around with it to see if I can get the temps right since I have a box of 6 bulbs but will also purchase some lower wattage ones once I get a chance or if I notice any issue. I really like the reptizoo controller that was shared and might get that too. I will say one of the choices for going with this automated dimmer was to allow me to ramp down the basking light after a few hours. What's the take on that, do you all typically leave your light running all day or shut it off after some time manually?

Thank you again, it is truly appreciated.

FYI... Chameleon Academy and Neptune. OH YEAH!!! They are easily the inspiration behind this decision.

 

[StevensUneven]

Also in terms of where I am getting the chameleon from, I am not sold or educated on any breeders really. I've been looking at chameleonsonly.com but really only because it was the first search result I came across on reddit. I am completely open and would greatly appreciate resources to reputable breeders.

 

[yungzerk]

Also in terms of where I am getting the chameleon from, I am not sold or educated on any breeders really. I've been looking at chameleonsonly.com but really only because it was the first search result I came across on reddit. I am completely open and would greatly appreciate resources to reputable breeders.

If you go under the site sponsors you’ll find a couple very reputable ones! One that isn’t listed is readyrainforest and I’ve heard great things about them!

 

[StevensUneven]

If you go under the site sponsors you’ll find a couple very reputable ones! One that isn’t listed is readyrainforest and I’ve heard great things about them!

Beautiful, thank you for that. Surprisingly chameleonsonly.com was the first one listed. However, ill take some time to review some of the others as well.

 

[yungzerk]

Beautiful, thank you for that. Surprisingly chameleonsonly.com was the first one listed. However, ill take some time to review some of the others as well.

Of course! Chameleonsonly is also really reputable though and have some awesome chameleons so don’t stray away from them! Just wanted to give you more options

 

[elizaann2]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. The responses here are already off to a wonderful start.

First, the drinking glass, I only did this because everyone on Reddit was howling about it. Didn't really make sense to me but figured it wouldn't hurt having additional options. I did plan to clean it daily and refresh the water but just like what was pointed out, that could become easy to forget and eventually harbor bacteria. It will go!

In regard to supplements and bugs, well noted. I will definitely plan to gut load my own. Hopefully my overthinking things doesn't have me building them a dedicated enclosure too.

In regard to schedules, I will try each of the suggestions out over the next few days. I already noticed pretty quickly running the fogger all night, while it helped with the humidity at night, its impossible to get it back down during the day now. Much more tuning in this area and ill be sure to respond back with my findings.

In regard to the heat lighting, I'll play around with it to see if I can get the temps right since I have a box of 6 bulbs but will also purchase some lower wattage ones once I get a chance or if I notice any issue. I really like the reptizoo controller that was shared and might get that too. I will say one of the choices for going with this automated dimmer was to allow me to ramp down the basking light after a few hours. What's the take on that, do you all typically leave your light running all day or shut it off after some time manually?

Thank you again, it is truly appreciated.

FYI... Chameleon Academy and Neptune. OH YEAH!!! They are easily the inspiration behind this decision.

Don’t worry about copying other people’s schedules. Everyone’s hydration and light schedules are based on where they live and their ambient temp/humidity levels. Just do what works best for you and your situation.

And also you may very well end up making enclosures for your bugs. I easily spend more time with my bugs and their care then I do my chams

My basking lights change the most throughout the year. For my Jackson’s he only has an hour with the light on and then it’s off the rest of the day. My panther, parsons m and veiled have theirs on all day to help with ambient temps but in the hot summer months the heat lamps are only on for a few hours during the day. With my Govee sensors if ambient temps get too high then I turn the heat lamps off manually too so I do a mixture of both.

Glad you are already aware of both channels. They are awesome and I enjoy them a lot!

 

[elizaann2]

Also in terms of where I am getting the chameleon from, I am not sold or educated on any breeders really. I've been looking at chameleonsonly.com but really only because it was the first search result I came across on reddit. I am completely open and would greatly appreciate resources to reputable breeders.

I’m not familiar with that breeder specially. I would say just look at the breeder, their husbandry and maybe rest out to them for a chat to see if you are compatable regarding communication and other things. When you buy from a breeder you are starting your relationship with them upon purchase and they will be your go-to when you have questions or concerns. Especially in the beginning when you are getting your new chameleon settled in their new environment.

 

[Delef3]

Beautiful, thank you for that. Surprisingly chameleonsonly.com was the first one listed. However, ill take some time to review some of the others as well.

As others have mentioned, go to the sponsor list for some reputable sources. Obviously there are others as well. Personally I would fight the urge to use Reddit as a source for Cham info in general, but that’s just my opinion. Looking forward to seeing how your journey progresses!

 

[StevensUneven]

Is this an adequate way to measure the basking temperature? I folded the cardboard so it would be about where the chameleon's back would be, left it for 20 minutes, and here's the results. Seems like the basking is where I want it but now the enclosure is sitting at about 74.

 

[elizaann2]

I honestly don’t know. I have temp guns I tried to but the temp readings were so different from the sensors that I decided to just put a Govee sensor there and leave it at that.

 

[MissSkittles]

I use both heat gun and digital thermometer with a probe end.