New behaviors

[Chance289]

Hi so I’ve been noticing two new behaviors in my Panther chameleon who is slightly older than 1 year. I got him at 4 months and these new behaviors are fairly recent. I’m wondering if these are normal behaviors or not?

The first thing I have noticed is a weird shed cycle. He will shed his 4 feet and tail, then about a month later he will shed the rest of his body. He used to shed everything at once.

Second thing is he is being lazy in the morning is the best I can describe it. He always sleep in his same spot and when the morning lights turned on he used to be awake roaming his cage or basking. Now his lights turn on and although he is awake and his eyes are fully alert, he does not leave his dark sleeping spot for about 2-3 hours after lights turn on.

These are things I’ve noticed have changed since I first got him and he is my first chameleon so I don’t have alot of previous experience to compare it to. Just basically wondering if this is normal or not. Overall he seems very healthy to me and I haven’t noticed anything unusual then what I mentioned. Any opinions are appreciated. Thank you

 

[kinyonga]

Does he get any prEfomed vitamin A at all?

Have you changed your UVB lights when recommended by the manufacturer or tested them to see how much UVB they are giving off??

Please post a recent photo or two of him and some of his cage including the lighting.

 

[Chance289]

Does he get any prEfomed vitamin A at all?

Have you changed your UVB lights when recommended by the manufacturer or tested them to see how much UVB they are giving off??

Please post a recent photo or two of him and some of his cage including the lighting.

He gets repti calcium without d3 and bee pollen. His UVB is about 6 months old so he’s probably due for a new one and I don’t have a solar meter but the UVB is 6 inches away from his back when he’s basking

 

[kinyonga]

Doesn't look like he's getting any prEformed vitamin A...it might help his shedding...but be careful since prEformed vitamin A can be overdosed and lead to health issues. (There are two types of vitamin A...prEformed and PrOformed.. PrOformed comes from plant sources and is beta carotene...prEformed is retinol/retinyl/etc. from animal sources. PrOformed is converted as needed and therefore safe...but it's thought that chameleons don't absorb it well or maybe even not at all. PrEformed is ready to go and excess is stored in the body ...so it can build up and lead to health issues.)

If I were you I would remove all that dried mossy stuff since it could lead to Impaction if ingested. Not worth the risk to me.

 

[Chance289]

Doesn't look like he's getting any prEformed vitamin A...it might help his shedding...but be careful since prEformed vitamin A can be overdosed and lead to health issues. (There are two types of vitamin A...prEformed and PrOformed.. PrOformed comes from plant sources and is beta carotene...prEformed is retinol/retinyl/etc. from animal sources. PrOformed is converted as needed and therefore safe...but it's thought that chameleons don't absorb it well or maybe even not at all. PrEformed is ready to go and excess is stored in the body ...so it can build up and lead to health issues.)

If I were you I would remove all that dried mossy stuff since it could lead to Impaction if ingested. Not worth the risk to me.

Where can I get preformed A? It’s Spanish moss and really The plan was to have it temporary for a few months until the plants grow in. I felt like it was very bare and he wasn’t able to hide. He loves sleeping in there on the other side facing into the cage it’s open so it’s like a little cave lol.

 

[kinyonga]

This has vitamin A in as acetate.....and has no D3...but if you get the one with D3 you could use the phos free calcium dusted on the insects at every feeding but two a month (about the 1st and 15th) and on those two days use the reptivite with preformed vitamin A and D3 in it...
https://zoomed.com/reptivite-without-d3/

 

[Lindasjackson]

I’d be afraid that moss would catch on fire because it looks very dry.

 

[Uri]

A good multivitam for vitamin a is repashy calcium plus lod I know that it’s okay for a panther to use it every feeding and still be healthy as proven by kammerflauge i don’t have any experience with a panther to back it up tho but to my knowledge it’s a smaller dosage than the zoomed stuff to help prevent overdosing on vitamin a and d3 it’s the one with the label of a Jackson’s chameleon on it you could also use the one with the leopard gecko on it but use it less because it’s a higher dosage than the LOD