New to Forum, Panther Chameleon and setup

[rbosley]

Hi,

As the title says I am new to the forum and I have recently acquired a roughly 2 year old Panther Chameleon. The own had to move and unfortunately could not accommodate the Chameleon any longer so I decided to dive back in to Chameleons and adopt him.

If anyone can chime in any to the exact species once I get the pics up that would be greatly appreciated, as well as advice and tips on his enclosure, pics to follow shortly.

When I acquired him I also received his entire enclosure setup.
24x24x36 reptibreeze terrarium
24" double 5.0 UVB bulbs and fixture
Heat lamp with exo terra sunglo 150w bulb
Vines fake plant
Real plant( not entirely sure the species but the previous owner has had it for over a year so must be safe ?) He checks these forums a lot for his info.
Also a Mistking setup.

I have had him for a week and a half. He was on a primarily cricket diet although I'm trying to feed him more silkworms as a staple followed up with super and horn worms with the occasional cricket. He was apparently being fed 15 crickets a day but I've read that is a lot and he certainly isn't eating that many from me. Maybe he's not as hungry from eating more nutritious silk worms?

Day cycle is from 9:30 - 9:30.

Mister every 2 hours starting at 10 am for 2 minutes at a time with drippers set up and occasional hand misting throughout the day.

* my concern here is that with the weather and heating being on in my house it's unusually dry and it shows humidity is 15-20% today installed plexiglass on 3 sides of the cage to hopefully help keep humidity higher.

I was to avoid a humidifier as I'm already pushing things with he parents haha, they weren't the biggest fans of my getting a chameleon again.

That being said I had chameleons about 10 years ago, a slightly handicapped Jacksons bough from a pets mart that we though we would save, he or she, as we don't recall ever seeing laid eggs, lived roughly 2 years.

Also a veiled chameleon bought shortly after, again saving it from a pets mart, which sadly only lasted a few months after a few trips to the vet.

So I'm not entirely new but would definitely appreciate any input.

Lady but not least he has pooped twice in the time I have had him, both far larger than I remember chameleons having lol my mom though he fell from the sound of it only to find a very large poop. The urate had slight pinkish though primarily white. I am continually trying to hydrate him and hopefully put the pink to being stressed and maybe change in diet to primarily silkworms ?

Also I know people say that chameleons are display pets BUT let me tell you I can barely open the cage without him coming front and center and reaching out to me and climbing up my hand and arms like a kid missing his parents haha.

Well I think that's enough for now haha.

Thanks again.

 

[carol5208]

Hi and welcome BACK to chameleon ownership!!!. I believe you have an Ambilobe Panther there. A very beautiful one at that! Sounds like you have everything covered, but you didn't mention calcium or vitamin supplements? Do you have any? As far as the Jackson's you probably never saw eggs(if you had a female) as they give live birth! lol! What kind of basking temp are you getting with 150 watt? In my house(I live in FLA) that would probably fry my chameleons, but if your house is super cold, then that could work. You want your basking temp around 90, so I am not sure what your reading is.

 

[rbosley]

Hey, thanks for the reply

Haha total brain fart about the Jackson chameleon female laying eggs on my part.

As for the supplements I have calcium without D3, calcium with D3, and a multivitamin. I always dust crickets and supers with regular calcium, should I also dust silks? I planned on using the D3 and multivitamin once a week, thought may use them 1-2 times a month as that's what I've read on this forum.

I was very concerned using the 150w bulb as well since most members here mention 40-75w bulbs. The 150w was pushing closer to 95 degree at the basking spot, which I moved to give him more space from the light. I put back in the 100w and get I mixed reading of around 85 or a little higher. Ambient temp is roughly 75-80 with night time no lower than 70.

I know they can go lower in temp, I was actually terrified of putting him in my basement which dried to 65 or sometimes lower so we put him on our main floor.

Thanks again for the reply.

If I wanted to use silkworms as the staple diet how many and how frequently would you feed them ? Same with the super worms?

Thanks.

 

[ChameleonMom]

The 150w Exo Terra solar bulb IS a very powerful bulb but I have read a bit about them and believe they offer both UVB and heat, kind of an all in one bulb. I have a few suggestions although you have done pretty well on your set up!

First, if you can get his cage off the floor it will go a long way to making him feel more comfortable. As arboreal animals, the higher the better. Second - Foliage, more foliage! These guys feel comfortable if they have access to privacy. Third: i think you should cut back on the water. Two minutes every two hours is alot, along with a dripper! i have my mistking running 2 minutes every three hours and I also use a dripper, so I know how mich water it is! Consider cutting back, you don't want your cham catching an RI. Lastly, use the calcium w/D3 twice a month and the multivitamin twice a month.

Other than that, great job! Good luck!

 

[rbosley]

His terrarium is roughly 6 inches off the ground at the moment, I'm planning on making a DIY base that about a foot or so off the ground I'd like him to be higher but with a 4 foot tall terrarium is high as it is.

As for the plant I've been searching at local stores for suitable plants but not really having luck. Definitely thinking of getting a pothos or maybe another potted plan to put in. Just need to find the right one.

As for the misting I was just concerned about the humidity and a lot of posts say the more misting the better. I can definitely reset the timer.

Thanks for the supplement info.

 

[ReptiGeek]

The 150w Exo Terra solar bulb IS a very powerful bulb but I have read a bit about them and believe they offer both UVB and heat, kind of an all in one bulb.

He's using a 150W Sun Glo, not Solar Glo So it's not also producing UVB, just the heat. Also just wanna chime in on the Solar Glo's, they are junk. Zoo Med's mercury vapour bulbs are waaaaay better.

Your panther is really beautiful btw OP. I wouldn't say he's a pure ambilobe. I'd go with a mix of nosy be/faly and ambilobe.

 

[carol5208]

He's using a 150W Sun Glo, not Solar Glo So it's not also producing UVB, just the heat. Also just wanna chime in on the Solar Glo's, they are junk. Zoo Med's mercury vapour bulbs are waaaaay better.

Your panther is really beautiful btw OP. I wouldn't say he's a pure ambilobe. I'd go with a mix of nosy be/faly and ambilobe.

yes, I agree that is probably a cross too looking back at the photo. What ever he is, he sure is pretty! Also, I guess I skimmed through your post kinda quick and I do agree also that 2 minutes every two hours is a lot of water and your cage probably will always be damp which can set your cham up for Respiratory problems as stated.

 

[rbosley]

My only concern with misting any less is that the humidity barely reaches over 15% unless misted heavily. Again I think this is just the wrong time of season over here but even the people in the house are noticing extreme dryness in nasal airways and such at the moment. Any recommendations? Again I do not want to use a humidifier either.