IdyllBeast
New Member
Good evening all,
I tried posting in the Lizard Lounge and got no responses. I'll try my luck here. My awesome wife gave me a Panther Chameleon ( Pascal ) for Christmas. She bought him from one of our good friends who owns a reptile company ( Roscoes Reptiles ). My buddy Mike said he sourced it from a very reliable Chameleon breeder here in So Cal. I've been reading posts on here for a few days and thought I should join. I definitely have a ton to learn and have been soaking up info for the past few days. I filled out the questionnaire below. Thanks for reading, I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions.
I tried posting in the Lizard Lounge and got no responses. I'll try my luck here. My awesome wife gave me a Panther Chameleon ( Pascal ) for Christmas. She bought him from one of our good friends who owns a reptile company ( Roscoes Reptiles ). My buddy Mike said he sourced it from a very reliable Chameleon breeder here in So Cal. I've been reading posts on here for a few days and thought I should join. I definitely have a ton to learn and have been soaking up info for the past few days. I filled out the questionnaire below. Thanks for reading, I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions.
- Your Chameleon - Panther ( Pascal ) When I got him for Christmas he was 2-3 months old. My buddy said he got him when he was a little over a month old.
- Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Honestly not very often. At first he would escape into his Ficus tree If I tried to handle him. He has been recently starting to climb into my hand.
- Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? I was told to feed him small to large crickets for the first few months. I usually drop 5-7 crickets in his enclosure in the morning. Is it better to let him hunt or should I hang a cup? I've been temped to feed him some horn worms.
- Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I put Fluker's High-Calcium Cricket Diet and Fluker's Cricket Quencher along with carrots, spinach, and broccoli in my cricket cage. I also have been dusting the crickets with Repti Calcium without D3 before I put them in Pascal's enclosure.
- Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I spray the Ficus tree with a spray bottle first thing in the am. And during the day I have a Little Dripper ( which I hate, I'm ordering a Mist King tomorrow ) slowly dripping water into his Ficus. I also spray his Ficus tree when I get home. Yes, Ive seen him drinking off the leaves and have seen him drink off the Littler Dripper directly.
- Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Droppings are brownish / black and urine is white. It has been mostly firm, but today it looked a little wet. I haven't tested him for parasites, should I ?
- History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. He was purchased from a local Chameleon breeder here in So Cal. I'll find out who he sourced him from tomorrow.
- Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Pascal came with a screen Zoo Med ReptiBreeze Chameleon Kit. His enclosure is 16W x 16D x 30H.
- Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? It came with a Zoo Med Light. Its a mini combo deep dome lamp fixture. I have a Daylight Blue Reptile Blub ( 60 watt ) and Reptisun 5.0 mini compact fluorescent ( 13 watt ). Pascal's light is on from 7am to 7 pm. Its centered on top of the enclosure. He likes to bask on top of his Ficus. I made sure to trim it so its 6-7 inches under the light. At night he sleeps in the lower branches of his Ficus.
- Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? The cheap thermometer that came with the set has been giving me bad readings. In the beginning it was saying the top of his cage was 75 degrees. I keep my house between 62 and 70 in the winter.
- Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? I really struggling with keeping the humidity up. I read on here to wrap three signs of his cage with a shower curtain. I'm going to be doing that tomorrow. I've been thinking about buying a three seed glass enclosure with a screen front and screen top.
- Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? A small Ficus tree. I want to add some more plants soon.
- Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? Pascal's cage on top of my filing cabinet in my office. The air vent is on the other side of the room. The fan is off and its pretty warm in the room. My two dogs also sleep in crates so I'm sure that helps keep the temp up.
- Location - Where are you geographically located? Southern California.
