New Panther!

[pba110]

Hi everyone. I haven't posted yet but I've been reading a fair bit on these boards. Wanted to introduce myself as I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of questions in the next few months. I Just picked up a male ambilobe from Screameleons (sired by Xirxis) yesterday. Juvenile right around 3 months old. Hoping he's going to be a real looker. Vince was great to work, A+. He's currently checking out the new digs. I swear he's been to every corner of the cage. Trying my best to give him space but it's tough not to wander over and take a look.
He's been eating, I haven't seen him drink yet, but I have seen him wipe his eye on some leaves after misting. Anything I should look out for?
I'll try to get a picture, but he doesn't like the camera, he hides when I break it out. He had a healthy dropping this morning. Everything looked normal.
Here's a pic of the setup, you can see him hanging on the top.
I really like the cage, but the door sucks. It hangs up a fair bit so when I open the door the cage shakes quite a bit. Must be crazy for him when that happens. Ha...not to mention when this huge hand comes in and drops a cricket. I wonder how they perceive that?

The only issue I'm having (point something out if I'm missing something please) is humidity. My room is 35%. After a good 45 second mist it shoots to about 65% in his cage and then slowly drops back off. I have an auto mister but it's more like an auto drizzle. I have it going for 15 seconds every hour. Better than nothing but I think a pro mist might be in Leon's future though. I think I'll set up a humidifier tomorrow.
Anyway, here some pics! Good to be back into the hobby (I had a veiled 10+ years ago) and everyone here seems friendly.

Oh, the umbrella plant, the soil is staying pretty moist...is this going to be a problem? I've read it needs to dry out completely between waterings

By the way what does the "panther 1.1" mean? Is that age or something?

 

[Syn]

By the way what does the "panther 1.1" mean? Is that age or something?

Panther 3.4.5 would mean 3 males, 4 females, 5 unknown.

1.1 means 1 male one female.



If that's perlite in the soil you need to change it or put rocks over it.

 

[pba110]

Yes! I do need to do that.
Thanks

 

[blackbetty]

Its small but will do for a youngin. Have you tried putting some vaseline on the door frame to make it more slick or perhaps sanding down the door a little?

Looks nice. My Humidity always stayed upper fifties to low sixties. I used a humidifier but it tended to make the room colder and with it being winter, it didnt help really.

You have a UVB in there? I didnt look. Is it a tube or a spiral fixture?

 

[BocaJan]

I have a cage that sticks like that and I took some packaging tape and made a door puller out of the tape so it opens easier. I placed it in the spot that seems to catch and the tape solves the problem. Good luck with your little guy.

 

[pba110]

yea, it's a reptisun 5.0 and I've got a 65w heat lamp. I found the hood for $12 at petco. Some sale or something. I was about to fork over $40 for another hood when I found it. That was a relief!
I tried the cup feeding method today but he didn't take to it. I ended up placing crickets close to him that I had just dusted with Ca w/ vitD. He ate one out of my hand and waited for me to drop the other two. I tried a fourth but he showed no interest. Hopefully he's eating enough
I can tell there's a certain type of movement a cricket can do which seems to excite his feeding response. You could tell he was confused by the hand and food. I'm trying to get him to not associate the hand with anything bad. Going to be a long process!

I'll try messing with the door. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Murrdox]

At 3 months old my panther wasn't interested in Crickets at all, even small ones. He loved fruit flies and house flies. I kept him on those until he showed an interest in crickets.

Now he's on worms... decided he doesn't like crickets anymore. *shrug*

That hood is MASSIVE. I can see why it was on-sale! Does the heat bulb mount inside that thing too? Does he have a good basking spot? With that hood, I can't tell if the heat is focused anywhere in particular for him to bask.

IMO - humidity is less important for Panthers as it is for other breeds, unless you live in a very dry area. Normal humidity between 30-70% which will occur normally because of your live plants and misting will be fine. I don't think you need a humidifier.

An auto-mister that goes off for 15 seconds every hour sounds more like a replacement for a drip system than misting. I'd still hand-mist your chameleon for a good 3-5 minutes at least twice a day. To induce the drinking response sometimes it takes a good sustained shower, and 15 seconds of drip wouldn't do it.

The enclosure looks great, and nice job on the plants. I think you'll find you need a larger reservoir under your plant to catch the excess water though.

 

[sandrachameleon]

It looks like you're off to a great start!
A slow dripper may also assist with humidity.
I'd cover the soil of the plant to ensure he doesnt eat it (and this will reduce how much water gets in there, so the plant doesnt get root rot or gnats.
It can take a few days for them to adjust to feeding cups.