Panther chameleon advice...

PantherBojangles

PantherBojangles

Member
Hi guys

This is my first post and the first time I've ever owned a reptile so please take it easy on me.

I've had Mr Bojangles now for over a month. And he's doing great. Eating, exploring, sleeping and poop all as it should be. So I'm very pleased. He has a bioactive tank which is coming on great too. But my question is about keeping a Humidifier on all night. I was advised to leave it running all day/night at the reptile store. But after researching online, I've read this can be bad for him. Is that true? I've been leaving the Humidifier on most of the day with a couple of breaks throughout the day. All set up through a timer. I use the Habistat Humidifier. But I've been switching it off at night as it's scared me that it can be bad for his lungs. And I've heard temperature and humidity level drops can be good for panther chameleons. But I have noticed if I turn the Humidifier off at night, the temperature doesn't have the 10f drop. It only drops by around 5f. Is this okay? Or do you think it would be best to leave the Humidifier on over night to make sure he gets the 10f drop in temperature? I'm based in the UK btw and Mr Bojangles is around 4/5 months old.

Any advice and guidance would be very much appreciated. I want to give my boy the best life and environment possible :)
 

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Hi welcome to the forum. So technically the humidifier should not be run into the cage at all during the day. The reptile shop that gave you the advice was incorrect to recommend this to you. Only at night when lights are off and temps are reduced in the enclosure should you run it. When you run them during the day with the heat from the lights this creates an environment where they are breathing in moist hot air and in turn they can develop a respiratory infection. I would stop running during the day asap.

Here are some resources on natural hydration that will explain everything to you.
https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/
https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-cage-set-up-naturalistic-hydration/

This is a link to an entire husbandry program with all correct info. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

Here is a link to the care sheet for your species. https://chameleonacademy.com/panther-chameleon-care/
 
Beman said:
Hi welcome to the forum. So technically the humidifier should not be run into the cage at all during the day. The reptile shop that gave you the advice was incorrect to recommend this to you. Only at night when lights are off and temps are reduced in the enclosure should you run it. When you run them during the day with the heat from the lights this creates an environment where they are breathing in moist hot air and in turn they can develop a respiratory infection. I would stop running during the day asap.

Here are some resources on natural hydration that will explain everything to you.
https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/
https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-cage-set-up-naturalistic-hydration/

This is a link to an entire husbandry program with all correct info. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

Here is a link to the care sheet for your species. https://chameleonacademy.com/panther-chameleon-care/
Click to expand...

Wow! Thank you so much for all of this information. I will have a proper read of it after work today :) But the Humidifier is going off immediately and will only come on in the evening now. Thanks so much again for taking the time to reply to me
 
I have just remembered I can take a screenshot of my live smart cam ? I'll take better pictures when I'm at home but this should give a rough idea of the set up. I have 2 thermometers inside his cage, 1 at the highest point near his basking spot which reaches around 90f during the day and does drop to around 75f at night. The other thermometer is in the middle of his cage which reaches around 75f during the day but only drops to 70f at night. His set up has 2 mesh side panels at the back so it's not all glass.

I've turned the Humidifier off today and will start running it during the night. Do you think this will fix the problem and help keep it cool to 65f at night?

He's no problems with his poop so no digestion problems and I want to keep it that way. I've read that's what helps his metabolism the cool drop of temperature at night?
 

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So here is a better picture of his set up. He has some fake foliage in there atm while waiting for some more real plants to be delivered or for the ones at the bottom to grow :)
 

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That size is probably OK for now, but as an adult, he should really have a 24"x24"x48" (60x60x120) or larger.

In addition to the 2 thermometers (I hope they're digital with probes—dial types can be many degrees off), you should also have at least one digital hygrometer with probe to monitor the RH.

Remember, as temperatures rise, humidity drops, and vice-versa. ;)
 
Klyde O'Scope said:
That size is probably OK for now, but as an adult, he should really have a 24"x24"x48" (60x60x120) or larger.

In addition to the 2 thermometers (I hope they're digital with probes—dial types can be many degrees off), you should also have at least one digital hygrometer with probe to monitor the RH.

Remember, as temperatures rise, humidity drops, and vice-versa. ;)
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Thanks so much Klyde. I was advised to keep him in this viv until he's around a year old? The 2 thermometers and the hygrometer are all digital :) Ahhhh that's such a good way to remember things. The higher the temperature the lower the humidity will be. And the higher the humidity the cooler it will be. I've learnt something new thanks to you ?
 
Gingero said:
I would strongly encourage that you upgrade him sooner rather than later (before he is a year old). It’s important to anticipate their growth instead of upgrading them once they’re too big.

I would also lower the basking temp to be closer to 85F.
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Do you know what the biggest one is that you can buy online? ? And which brands are the best?

I will reset the evo lite to 85f now. Thanks so much btw. I love how friendly everyone is and chipping in. Great community here ?

I'd love to see some of your guys set ups so I can follow in the pros footsteps and get some ideas ?
 
2x2x4 zoomed repti-breeze are readily available. ExoTerra also makes a 3x3x2(?) but from what I've heard it's not completely sealed in so feeders could escape. Dragonstrand makes larger cages.

This is my 2x2x4 repti-breeze
IMG_20200902_124216.jpg
 
Gingero said:
Biggest you can buy is from Dragon Strand which is 4x2x4. Highly recommended company. The Zoo Med XL Reptibreeze is also popular.

Here is my panther’s set up:

Click to expand...

Omg! This is amazing you should be proud of his set up ? I can only dream of getting mine to be as good as yours for Mr Bojangles ? You go girl! I like all the info you have in the video too. Very useful thanks so much x
 
RyanBRZ said:
2x2x4 zoomed repti-breeze are readily available. ExoTerra also makes a 3x3x2(?) but from what I've heard it's not completely sealed in so feeders could escape. Dragonstrand makes larger cages.

This is my 2x2x4 repti-breeze
View attachment 277041
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This is also amazing ? I love the wood you've used at the sides. I'm excited to steal some of your ideas, hope you don't mind ??
 
I have two dragon strand enclosures getting my third. Mine all range in sizes with the smallest being the minimum requirement of a 2x2x4.

These are my two current ones. On the right is the 4 foot wide atrium and left is the 30 inch wide medium tall atrium.

jpeg-imag.jpg
 
Beman said:
I have two dragon strand enclosures getting my third. Mine all range in sizes with the smallest being the minimum requirement of a 2x2x4.

These are my two current ones. On the right is the 4 foot wide atrium and left is the 30 inch wide medium tall atrium.

View attachment 277051
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Both of yours are amazing! So many places for your chameleon to climb and hide. These are definitely giving me some inspiration. Thanks so much for sharing :)
 
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