Parsonii and Panther out in the U.K Sun!

[Twitchet]

Hi there, Greetings from England where the big yellow thing in the sky is not seen quite as much as you guys see it so usable outdoor weather is a little limited, we've been putting together these enclosures and finished last week so Today is the first day my female parsons has been out in her new greenhouse- it's 6x4ft but there seems plenty of space- she ate a locust whilst out there so not too stressed. It has shading and a panel open for UV, I havent yet got some plants for there to make it look a little more natural but I'm pleased she can have a wander around. My panther came out for a stroll too in one of the other pens, He seemed a little shocked at the whole thing, so just stayed out for a short time. There's two 6x4 ft units with a little extra gap between so I managed to get 3 pens from it, there are on the side of my reptile shed with hatches through from the inside of each parsonii enclosure.

 

[KapitalJ]

great stuff!!

 

[Fiona's Mom]

How nice...I'm sure they are going to love it especially when you have plants to explore. I am soooo jealous.

 

[Twitchet]

Thanks for the comments-
Yes- plants will be nice- but tricky as the winter will kill them and the summer bake them- not quite sure what would grow well in there. I was even considering artificial for the moment just to add a homely touch to it. Everything moves very vvveerrryy slowly in the life of a parson ! My African land snails can outrun them! so I'm not sure how much exploring would go on but it will look nicer that's for sure and good exercise for her feet too.

 

[Rickky]

Beautiful chams....awesome set up

 

[Extensionofgreen]

I'm not being critical or accusing, but your parsons appears to have gullar edema, which is often indicative of renal problems and over supplementation. Please hydrate the day lights out of her and abstain from using any vitamin or D3 supplements, until the swelling is gone. It isn't always the fault of the keeper's use of supplements, it can come from feeders and normal supplementation isn't always tolerated in dehydrated or stressed animals.
I'd shower her for an hour or more each day, until that throat swelling disappeared.

 

[Twitchet]

Hi there, thank you ever so much for the info,yes she's getting long showers here, hope it's o.k but pm sent

 

[Bwian]

Where in the UK are you that is sunny enough to be outside! Today is the first decentish day I have had

 

[Twitchet]

Hi there, I waaay down in the south- we have had weather that they could of gone out but the lean to's have only just been finished,everything takes too long! The panther has a warmer-more enclosed lean to but the parson could get too hot -even here!- so she's shaded and has much more ventilation, you know how tricky it is - either the sun gets it too hot or a cloudy day means you cant put them outside- it's a tricky balancing act isnt it. There's a reptile rescue site- west and east sussex exotic rescue and on their facebook page they have had their iguanas and beardys out in a sunny sheltered enclosure since May! Lovely to see.

 

[Thomaskoch]

Lovely wellfed animals! Some pictures of the male parsonii could be cool also

 

[Twitchet]

Many thanks Thomas, the male is just a baby at the moment, I can't wait for him to grow into a turquoise and orange beauty though!

 

[WAMBO]

Nice!

 

[Action Jackson]

That's a cool indoor outdoor set up. Can I ask how much do you feed her daily?

 

[Twitchet]

Hi there, they are new here so I'm a bit paranoid at the moment about making sure they have properly settled so at the moment my priority is making sure they are eating, later I'll have to evaluate her weight and weight gain or loss more precisely. I don't want her getting too heavy because of laying too many eggs.
However despite all of that she has approx
Day 1 . 1 adult locust, 1 large dubia, day 2. 1 pachnoda grub, Day 3. nothing, day 4. 1 locust, day 5. 2 dubia, day 6. Nothing, kind of works out about that. I will be weighing her regularly to get a better idea of feeding amounts.
The male is very young and didn't eat properly for 2 weeks , he's settled at last and the other day ate 1 locust med, 1 med dubia, 1 waxworm and 2 calci, I was very pleased and he now has a couple of items a day, sometimes more and sometimes fewer. I'm past worrying he's hunger striking now so I'm training him to feed from forceps, he's doing well with them. Cheers.

 

[niels99]

what are the temps inside?

great setup

 

[Twitchet]

Many thanks Tricky to say for sure- today it's cloudy( I'm in U.K) so it's 70 outdoors but in the lean to it's 78- she's decided not to go out today- this is only the third day of it in use, It's going to be difficult to maintain , it's got shading over the top and variable ventilation panels, so I can try and adjust to suit but i know she doesn't want to be too hot or sunny, without shading it would probably go to 85 and above-too hot, I'm aiming for 80 ish but as long as I do my best to get it comfortable and she can self regulate and can choose i'm not too worried- she has sun, shade and deep cool shade, I sprayed it down yesterday as it was warm. It's south facing so it needs watching.
The panther house i keep warmer by the way, i have a little less shading and fewer panels removed- as I say I'll have to slowly get to grips with it and work out how to get it working right. Cheers

 

[Action Jackson]

Hi there, they are new here so I'm a bit paranoid at the moment about making sure they have properly settled so at the moment my priority is making sure they are eating, later I'll have to evaluate her weight and weight gain or loss more precisely. I don't want her getting too heavy because of laying too many eggs.
However despite all of that she has approx
Day 1 . 1 adult locust, 1 large dubia, day 2. 1 pachnoda grub, Day 3. nothing, day 4. 1 locust, day 5. 2 dubia, day 6. Nothing, kind of works out about that. I will be weighing her regularly to get a better idea of feeding amounts.
The male is very young and didn't eat properly for 2 weeks , he's settled at last and the other day ate 1 locust med, 1 med dubia, 1 waxworm and 2 calci, I was very pleased and he now has a couple of items a day, sometimes more and sometimes fewer. I'm past worrying he's hunger striking now so I'm training him to feed from forceps, he's doing well with them. Cheers.

The reason I'm asking I'd because of her inflated fat pads on her head and the fluid build up on her neck. I know the when females are in certain positions it can look like this when its not really an issue so just asking.

As far as weigh goes I much prefer my females to be big before breeding. I would say 400g minimum with 500+ being much better. Since they brumate during winter they eat tons during summer to build weight to prepare for egg laying during Brumation. Females will stop eating going into Brumation if kept in line with seasonal changes they see in Madagascar. They won't eat for two months or more before laying eggs, wil take some prey items after laying and the stop eating again until Brumation ends. Typically females will not produce infertile clutches, at least I haven't heard of this so I wouldn't worry about the relation between over feeding and egg laying.

Since yours are CBB from Andreas they should be eating quite a bit into October and if cooled properly they should stop eating sometime in Oct-Nov.

 

[Twitchet]

Hi there, thanks for the reply- extensionofgreen pointed out gular edema, I've had her for 3 weeks now, but she's drinking very well and I'm giving her no supplements until that goes down, she actually weighs 430g, I actually looked at her today and felt they had gone down - as you say they do puff up and down but i felt she looked better today- certainly enjoying her hour long showers. Many thanks for the info egg laying and brumation are something I'm wanting to be prepared for- never having either females or parsons before. I'll be asking for help soon so I know how to best prepare. She has a large laying box in her house anyway but want to make sure i do my best.