New Set Up for Nosy Be Panther suggestions appreciated...

[cmquin1]

We purchased a 1 year old Nosy Be chameleon from Repticon Atlanta, this past Saturday. We have been trying to feed him 1 inch crickets (large) 10x crickets a day- I think the crickets might be too big, so I am buying him medium size next time. We have only been able to feed him 5 crickets a day...

48x24x24 Cage
built stand myself
drilled holes at the bottom of cage and stapled mold resistant shower curtain leading to 5 gal bucket...

I am running Sunforce UVB UVA 160w 12hrs
cage temp is 85-90 @ 7 inches from bulb. humidity is at 55-60

Night time, I have no lights, temp is at 65-70 in the house.
I have a ceramic infrared heat emitter which I ran the first night, but it made cage temp stay at 90....from what I have been reading the chams need a rest from heat at night. I will likely leave it on during the winter when it is cold.

Reptifogger is left running at the lowest setting during school hours.
(the chameleon belongs to my son)

Ficus tree is sprayed in the morning, as soon as he gets home from school and sprayed at night.

Any suggestions and recommendations are greatly welcomed and appreciated...

 

[natureboy86]

You say the cage temp is "85-90 degrees 7 feet away from the bulb".. So you mean at the bottom of the cage, it's THAT hot?? If that's the case, it's way to hot in the cage. What is the basking temp? The cage looks great by the way, but I'm worried about your temps, unless I just didn't read that right.

Also, what time at night are you misting him? While I'm pretty new to the cham world myself, I know it's good to make sure that you keep the last misting long enough away from "lights-out" time that everything can dry by the time your cham goes to sleep. This is to help prevent respiratory infections. I'd make sure your last misting is at least an hour and a half prior to lights out

I'd also probably get a tube UVB lamp, rather than a dome. The basking lamp should be a dome, which is where your cham will get it's heat, but the UVB should be a tube lamp so the rays can spread through a wider range throughout your enclosure.

Just my two cents. Aside from those observations, your setup looks great, and you have a beautiful cham

 

[cmquin1]

Thanks for the reply! I made a typo, and just corrected. Its about 85-90 degrees @ 7 inches from the light.... I am switching to a Powersun 160w flood bulb. I will make sure not to spray the cage before lights out! Thanks!

PS-
The ficus tree is also planted in 75% Hoffman Vermiculite and 25% Foothills Compost

 

[natureboy86]

Thanks for the reply! I made a typo, and just corrected. Its about 85-90 degrees @ 7 inches from the light.... I am switching to a Powersun 160w flood bulb. I will make sure not to spray the cage before lights out! Thanks!

PS-
The ficus tree is also planted in 75% Hoffman Vermiculite and 25% Foothills Compost

Ok great! Sounds like you're good to go. Not sure about the Hoffman and Foothills, but as long as they're organic, you're good to go in that department as well!

 

[carol5208]

I would add a walkway to the bottom of the cage. They do on occasion venture down there. As a matter of fact, my one guy likes it on the floor no matter if he is in a cage, free range, etc. If he climbs down off the pot, he may not be able to get back up to the top. Otherwise, it looks nice. Could always add more foilage. It never hurts! also cover soil with LARGE river rocks. Rocks big enough your chameleon cannot injest.

 

[yeahbuddy661]

Looks good. Your nosy will love it my 6mos nosy does. I have a 100w for my 36" and it gets my basking temp to 85-86 about 10" from basking branch. Do those fake plants come apart at all. Some have little holes that may allow for them to come apart and possibly be consumed.

 

[yeahbuddy661]

Also make sure you dont have the powersun right on top of the screen. just like any other 100-160 w bulb measure your temps and adjust your basking spot accordingly so that the cham does walk upside down and burn its belly. Ive seen this numerous times.