New to the site, Baby bluebar panther, advice appreciated
- Thread starter Damus
- Start date
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
Please get the right size crickets for your cham! He will not eat if they are too big. He should be eating about 15-20 crickets a day!! Make sure that you feed your crickets a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. what they eat, your cham will in turn eat! Remember that!!!! Also supplements, SUPER important!!! Calcium WITHOUT d3 at every feeding (dust your crickets) calcium with d3 and a multivitamin a couple of times a month!!!
Ace
Avid Member
Ace
Avid Member
no problem, thats what part of the forums is, its a fun and learning experience here....
good luck
Ace
Avid Member
That baby looks way to tiny for that cage in my opinion. I would get him a baby bin.
If you search baby bins you will see what I mean, sorry I can't post links on my phone
The size crickets he needs can squeeze through the screen.
i think you might be right , at first i thought the cage looked big from the picture, but 3 week old panther is rather small....
she means an actual clear platic bin, and might need 1/16 crix size or the next big thing after pinheads..
here is a thread to give an example https://www.chameleonforums.com/temporary-grow-out-station-56170/
Here's some information I hope will help you...
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption. Temperatures needed can vary with the species and age. For hatchling panthers I keep the temperature in the warmest area in the low 80's. For older panthers I keep it in the mid to high 80's for the most part.
Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.
Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).
If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).
Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite.)
Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)
Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption. Temperatures needed can vary with the species and age. For hatchling panthers I keep the temperature in the warmest area in the low 80's. For older panthers I keep it in the mid to high 80's for the most part.
Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.
Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).
If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).
Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite.)
Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)
Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
SageZA
New Member
Very Nice setup dude.
Just make sure you monitor his/her drinking and eating.
At that age i keep em in a nice size plastic container the water sticks to the sides and they lick it off.
They like to drink as soon as they wake up.
Here is what you do. If you have some cash.
Get a non-toxic Clear plastic container two clamp lamps. 1 x50watt Basking lamp 1 x 14watt Repti glo 5.0 compact. You need the clamp lamp so you can manually regulate the temps if it gets to hot or cold
Your Cham is tiny he needs a baby bin for at least another two three weeks.
Just make sure you monitor his/her drinking and eating.
At that age i keep em in a nice size plastic container the water sticks to the sides and they lick it off.
They like to drink as soon as they wake up.
Here is what you do. If you have some cash.
Get a non-toxic Clear plastic container two clamp lamps. 1 x50watt Basking lamp 1 x 14watt Repti glo 5.0 compact. You need the clamp lamp so you can manually regulate the temps if it gets to hot or cold
Your Cham is tiny he needs a baby bin for at least another two three weeks.
Damus
New Member
Our little cham is doing great, i see him eat and drink daily and he has been showing us a little bit of his attitude, even though he still seams so little, but its only been 2.5 weeks since we got him
ok, i had to read this advice a couple times to really understand it. But i went ahead and put in an order on amazon for all 3 "dusts" that you recommended for around $20.
quick question tho to make sure i have things clear, i should use the D3-free stuff for almost everyfeeding, and i should use the dust with D3 bi-weekly, and maybe rotate it with the herpitive bi-weekly as well?
Also what technique to dust the crickets works best? i was just gonna put 5-10 in a cup, but a cover on it and shake em up then put them in the chams cage?
A response from kinyonga would be awesome, but anyone else who has knowledge on this matter feel free to chime in. Thanks!
javsto
New Member
If the crix that he needs too feed that young panther are too small for his enclosure that they might escape then shoudlnt he be either cup feeding instead of "freerange" or using a different feeder species like those flightless flies,small worms or even small roaches? Are ants a good feeder insect(not fire or army ants).
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