Need Chameleon Advice?

[LoneBridger]

• Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, unknown locale, female, maybe 5-6 months old, only in my care for a month.
• Handling - Handles well, never runs or gaping. Usually only once a week do I handle.
• Feeding - I started with superworms and crickets, have moved on to Dubia roaches and crickets. 10-15 cricket daily, 1-3 Dubia Nymphs. Hand fed roaches, along with hunting with crickets. Every morning and evening. I gutload with carrot, kale, tangerine, and water crystals
• Supplements - I use ReptiCalcium without D3 dust one bug every 4 days or so
• Watering - I use a Monsoon Multi set to spray for 12 minutes every hour. Drinks from vines and screen of cage
• Fecal Description - encased brownish green and doesn’t pop when cleaning
• History - Bought from a PetCo because I know they neglect animals, this species is very sensitive so I snatched her quickly.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - screen cage 15x15x26
• Lighting - Using a ZooMed over cage light with ceramic bulb and UVB bulb. Ceramic is connected to a heat regulator. UVB stays on all day and turns off at night. I adjust the ceramic to maintain 75 temp at night
• Temperature - Cage floor is about 69-76 while top stays in 80s. 90 degrees under the ceramic heater.
• Humidity - Has always been above 70 humidity
• Plants - Unsure of what plant it is, I know it’s nontoxic
• Placement - Inside my room, elevated 38” off the floor, near a vent that I sometimes cover when it’s too cold
• Location - Washington State

Current Problem - Some concerned person said to post here

 

[Graves923]

Dust plain calcium daily all feeders, dust calcium with D3 twice per month and dust multivitamin twice per month.

Ditch the ceramic heat emitter. Let night time temps drop since it helps their metabolism. Use a normal house incandescent bulb for daytime heat.

Uvb lighting should be upgraded to a T5HO linear fixture.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

• Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, unknown locale, female, maybe 5-6 months old, only in my care for a month.
• Handling - Handles well, never runs or gaping. Usually only once a week do I handle.
• Feeding - I started with superworms and crickets, have moved on to Dubia roaches and crickets. 10-15 cricket daily, 1-3 Dubia Nymphs. Hand fed roaches, along with hunting with crickets. Every morning and evening. I gutload with carrot, kale, tangerine, and water crystals
• Supplements - I use ReptiCalcium without D3 dust one bug every 4 days or so
• Watering - I use a Monsoon Multi set to spray for 12 minutes every hour. Drinks from vines and screen of cage
• Fecal Description - encased brownish green and doesn’t pop when cleaning
• History - Bought from a PetCo because I know they neglect animals, this species is very sensitive so I snatched her quickly.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - screen cage 15x15x26
• Lighting - Using a ZooMed over cage light with ceramic bulb and UVB bulb. Ceramic is connected to a heat regulator. UVB stays on all day and turns off at night. I adjust the ceramic to maintain 75 temp at night
• Temperature - Cage floor is about 69-76 while top stays in 80s. 90 degrees under the ceramic heater.
• Humidity - Has always been above 70 humidity
• Plants - Unsure of what plant it is, I know it’s nontoxic
• Placement - Inside my room, elevated 38” off the floor, near a vent that I sometimes cover when it’s too cold
• Location - Washington State

Current Problem - Some concerned person said to post here

Why did they tell you that?

 

[Syreptyon]

How can you know a plant is non-toxic when you don't even know what it is?

 

[Graves923]

There's quite a bit of issues with the set up besides the acouple things I already pointed out.

The other thing that caught my eye was misting. 12 minutes every hour is a lot. 5 minute listings 3 times or so every day is more beneficial. Higher humidity at night, lowe

 

[Syreptyon]

There's quite a bit of issues with the set up besides the acouple things I already pointed out.

The other thing that caught my eye was misting. 12 minutes every hour is a lot. 5 minute listings 3 times or so every day is more beneficial. Higher humidity at night, lowe

I was actually just going to add this same comment, until I went back and read that they're using a Monsoon Multi. Those things can't mist for more than 2 minutes at a time, so OP must mean 12 seconds every hour... Which is also a problem, but in the opposite direction. 12 seconds of misting won't do much of anything, regardless of how often

 

[LoneBridger]

Try to not eat me alive guys, yes it was 12 seconds. Both nozzles are within the enclosure so it makes everything wet inside. Also, just because I don’t remember a plant name doesn’t mean I neglected to order something non-toxic for my reptile. 12 seconds every hour has worked great compared to 120 seconds 3 times a day, thus I kept it that way. There’s always water droplets on stuff now compared to before. Someone felt I was inept in another post at caring for my reptile. So far, I’m not sure that’s the case with the time I spent looking up how to care for her. If you feel differently please explain why?

 

[Syreptyon]

Try to not eat me alive guys, yes it was 12 seconds. Both nozzles are within the enclosure so it makes everything wet inside. Also, just because I don’t remember a plant name doesn’t mean I neglected to order something non-toxic for my reptile. 12 seconds every hour has worked great compared to 120 seconds 3 times a day, thus I kept it that way. There’s always water droplets on stuff now compared to before. Someone felt I was inept in another post at caring for my reptile. So far, I’m not sure that’s the case with the time I spent looking up how to care for her. If you feel differently please explain why?

Here is a list of all the deficiencies I can find in your husbandry. No one is "eating you alive," we are merely pointing out areas in your husbandry which are subpar. Remember, you are the one who came here asking for advice. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

1. Your gutload is lacking
2. Your supplement schedule is wrong
3. Your misting schedule is wrong. Even if there are droplets present, that's not all you should be looking for. Chameleons need misting sessions to last for approximately two minutes to initiate their drinking response properly. 12 seconds leads to ignored water.
4. No description or urate
5. Your cage is significantly too small
6. You're providing heat at night
7. You're using a reptile hammock
8. There is not nearly enough foliage cover for a chameleon to be comfortable
9. The temp/humidity gauge on the side is analog as opposed to digital, which means it cannot be trusted

 

[janjan20]

Here is a list of all the deficiencies I can find in your husbandry. No one is "eating you alive," we are merely pointing out areas in your husbandry which are subpar. Remember, you are the one who came here asking for advice. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

1. Your gutload is lacking
2. Your supplement schedule is wrong
3. Your misting schedule is wrong. Even if there are droplets present, that's not all you should be looking for. Chameleons need misting sessions to last for approximately two minutes to initiate their drinking response properly. 12 seconds leads to ignored water.
4. No description or urate
5. Your cage is significantly too small
6. You're providing heat at night
7. You're using a reptile hammock
8. There is not nearly enough foliage cover for a chameleon to be comfortable
9. The temp/humidity gauge on the side is analog as opposed to digital, which means it cannot be trusted

I will tack on one more that is pretty critical:
10. She needs a permanent lay bin set up.

Edit: here is a great thread I saved that has info on female care. I think it pertains to veileds but setting up the lay bin will be the same. https://www.chameleonforums.com/posts/1237499/

 

[LoneBridger]

Here is a list of all the deficiencies I can find in your husbandry. No one is "eating you alive," we are merely pointing out areas in your husbandry which are subpar. Remember, you are the one who came here asking for advice. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

1. Your gutload is lacking
2. Your supplement schedule is wrong
3. Your misting schedule is wrong. Even if there are droplets present, that's not all you should be looking for. Chameleons need misting sessions to last for approximately two minutes to initiate their drinking response properly. 12 seconds leads to ignored water.
4. No description or urate
5. Your cage is significantly too small
6. You're providing heat at night
7. You're using a reptile hammock
8. There is not nearly enough foliage cover for a chameleon to be comfortable
9. The temp/humidity gauge on the side is analog as opposed to digital, which means it cannot be trusted

1 umm no
2 the inconsistency of when to use supplements is hell online. Can I trust nobody blogging about how to care for Panther Chameleon? (This is where I get most of my care guides)
3 probably not, the 2 minutes of misting to start drinking thing? If that’s the case I’d be flooding my room. It’s a mesh cage with a plastic bottom all that water ends up on carpet. That’s why I use a large ExoTerra mister to cling water to the cage. If you’re unfamiliar with Washington our humidity is always high so water is just for drinking.
4 I’m sure I said her poop was brownish green, I left out the white stuff, sorry?
5 Not for her age, and we are working on a bioactive enclosure for adulthood.
6 She sits right next to a vent that blows cold air. I leave ceramic at 70-75 at night to make sure it doesn’t drop below 60 when she sleeps lower in the cage
7 hammock is for feeding! don’t kid yourself!
8 might be so, not enough room for more, I’ve got 6 vines, one cherrywood branch, a live plant and one umbrella fake plant. If I need more it depends on supply in my state.
9 if you didn’t notice I have like 4 ways of monitoring temp and 2 ways for humidity. I’ll buy another gauge for her newer enclosure
10 that’s what her adult enclosure is for... I’m still building it, made a post about that a month ago

Thanks for the list I’ll improve these things

 

[Syreptyon]

1 umm no
2 the inconsistency of when to use supplements is hell online. Can I trust nobody blogging about how to care for Panther Chameleon? (This is where I get most of my care guides)
3 probably not, the 2 minutes of misting to start drinking thing? If that’s the case I’d be flooding my room. It’s a mesh cage with a plastic bottom all that water ends up on carpet. That’s why I use a large ExoTerra mister to cling water to the cage. If you’re unfamiliar with Washington our humidity is always high so water is just for drinking.
4 I’m sure I said her poop was brownish green, I left out the white stuff, sorry?
5 Not for her age, and we are working on a bioactive enclosure for adulthood.
6 She sits right next to a vent that blows cold air. I leave ceramic at 70-75 at night to make sure it doesn’t drop below 60 when she sleeps lower in the cage
7 hammock is for feeding! don’t kid yourself!
8 might be so, not enough room for more, I’ve got 6 vines, one cherrywood branch, a live plant and one umbrella fake plant. If I need more it depends on supply in my state.
9 if you didn’t notice I have like 4 ways of monitoring temp and 2 ways for humidity. I’ll buy another gauge for her newer enclosure
10 that’s what her adult enclosure is for... I’m still building it, made a post about that a month ago

Thanks for the list I’ll improve these things

Okay well an expert like yourself must not need any help from any of the long-standing members here whatsoever Not sure why you bothered asking for help if you were just planning on saying "no, no, no" to the calm and objective suggestions given to you. If you don't want to improve that poor girls life, that's on you.

 

[kinyonga]

@LoneBridger said..."Some concerned person said to post here"...why were they concerned?

 

[AnamCara]

1 umm no
2 the inconsistency of when to use supplements is hell online. Can I trust nobody blogging about how to care for Panther Chameleon? (This is where I get most of my care guides)
3 probably not, the 2 minutes of misting to start drinking thing? If that’s the case I’d be flooding my room. It’s a mesh cage with a plastic bottom all that water ends up on carpet. That’s why I use a large ExoTerra mister to cling water to the cage. If you’re unfamiliar with Washington our humidity is always high so water is just for drinking.
4 I’m sure I said her poop was brownish green, I left out the white stuff, sorry?
5 Not for her age, and we are working on a bioactive enclosure for adulthood.
6 She sits right next to a vent that blows cold air. I leave ceramic at 70-75 at night to make sure it doesn’t drop below 60 when she sleeps lower in the cage
7 hammock is for feeding! don’t kid yourself!
8 might be so, not enough room for more, I’ve got 6 vines, one cherrywood branch, a live plant and one umbrella fake plant. If I need more it depends on supply in my state.
9 if you didn’t notice I have like 4 ways of monitoring temp and 2 ways for humidity. I’ll buy another gauge for her newer enclosure
10 that’s what her adult enclosure is for... I’m still building it, made a post about that a month ago

Thanks for the list I’ll improve these things

Hello. All the advice you have been given here is good. If you look around you will find that most people say the same basic things. 2x2x4 enclosure, limited misting during hot hours to reduce disk of respirstory infection, gutloaf and feeder variety, linear t5h0 and supplement schedules are similar across the keepers for Panthers.

The supplement schedule people follow is calcium with out d3 every feed. Every other week 1 feeding with calcium d3, and every other week from that a multi vitamin with vitamin a. What many keepers have switched too is an all in one Repashy Calcium Plus LoD.

A lay bin is absolitley necessary for her as is a linear bulb. I would he happy to PM with you if any of this sounds conflicting with what you have read and I would be happy to provide resources. She is very pretty.

 

[AnamCara]

Why did they tell you that?

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/gutloading-advice.171165/post-1514063

 

[kinyonga]

Does she have a suitable place to dig to lay her eggs in the cage?
If you wait too long and she gets past the due date with no proper place for her to lay them she will likely become eggbound and die.

 

[LoneBridger]

Hello. All the advice you have been given here is good. If you look around you will find that most people say the same basic things. 2x2x4 enclosure, limited misting during hot hours to reduce disk of respirstory infection, gutloaf and feeder variety, linear t5h0 and supplement schedules are similar across the keepers for Panthers.

The supplement schedule people follow is calcium with out d3 every feed. Every other week 1 feeding with calcium d3, and every other week from that a multi vitamin with vitamin a. What many keepers have switched too is an all in one Repashy Calcium Plus LoD.

A lay bin is absolitley necessary for her as is a linear bulb. I would he happy to PM with you if any of this sounds conflicting with what you have read and I would be happy to provide resources. She is very pretty.

Does she have a suitable place to dig to lay her eggs in the cage?
If you wait too long and she gets past the due date with no proper place for her to lay them she will likely become eggbound and die.

Thanks for the proper schedule, it lines up with how I’d been feeding besides calcium at every feeding. D3 every other week and vitamin every week after. I’ll rework all that into my routine. I have a bin ready, I don’t think she’s ready for first clutch but I’ll add it in sometime soon. Gonna rearrange the cage for that

 

[kinyonga]

I'd put the bin in asap if it were me.

 

[AnamCara]

Thanks for the proper schedule, it lines up with how I’d been feeding besides calcium at every feeding. D3 every other week and vitamin every week after. I’ll rework all that into my routine. I have a bin ready, I don’t think she’s ready for first clutch but I’ll add it in sometime soon. Gonna rearrange the cage for that

Awesome--sounds good. Consider making her cage upgrades asap and just keep the lay bin in with her at all times. Chameleons are grumpy and not all enjoy changes to their enclosure--if her lay bin is "new" to her when it's time to lay she may not feel comfortable enough to use it.

You mentioned that you have water issues--a drainage "system" is pretty helpful. I drilled holes in the bottom board and have a wayed catch under.

Expensive and time consuming -- but man chameleons are some of the coolest animals to keep! Stick around the forums there is always something new to learn! PM is always open!

 

[narnythegreat]

Try to not eat me alive guys, yes it was 12 seconds. Both nozzles are within the enclosure so it makes everything wet inside. Also, just because I don’t remember a plant name doesn’t mean I neglected to order something non-toxic for my reptile. 12 seconds every hour has worked great compared to 120 seconds 3 times a day, thus I kept it that way. There’s always water droplets on stuff now compared to before. Someone felt I was inept in another post at caring for my reptile. So far, I’m not sure that’s the case with the time I spent looking up how to care for her. If you feel differently please explain why?

I don't know that you're inept because I don't know you personally but sometimes your (the royal your) posts don't have all of the information needed to help. Which is understandable as you (royal you=new to hobby/lizards) don't necessarily know what all information people are needing. When people are trying to figure out where the problem is they ask blunt questions. These can come off as being "eaten alive" but in actuality it's just a bunch of people who are trying to help you where they perceive the problems to be.

The assumption in this case is that you are wanting constructive criticism of your habitat. And since you didn't ask an actual question, they believe you just wanted general comments which makes it a free-for-all for anyone saying whatever it is that they think about your setup.

Not on your back just offering clarity where there might not otherwise have been.

***This can come off as either constructive or bitchy, please take it as constructive.... I'm kind of a blunt person lol*****