Schefflera problems

You should definitely modify the soil as well. I'm not sure which type of soil you have, but doing something simple like adding some vermiculite, perlite, clay ball, or bark even will help with drainage. While light can also be a cause, I found my problem was more the soil I was using. Now I've started making my own soil blends based on the needs of the plant and the climate I put it in.. mix that with a Sansi light or two and you'll need a weed whacker in no time!

Best wishes!
 
Rst_Cham said:
I added a second T5 24" fixture with a standard 6500k daylight bulb and another dome lamp (https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Fixture-5-5-Inch-Black/dp/B002OVDPJQ/ref=sxin_3_ac_d_pm?ac_md=1-0-VW5kZXIgJDIw-ac_d_pm&crid=1UW52VHJZXPGE&keywords=reptile+dome+light+fixture&pd_rd_i=B002OVDPJQ&pd_rd_r=e08ad3ab-78f3-4db7-afa9-4520017af3ee&pd_rd_w=c1b6y&pd_rd_wg=V26Ng&pf_rd_p=aba5dc0d-7593-4752-a14d-357ecc5c98cc&pf_rd_r=V0D20M2SY31TZF1HMQ6S&psc=1&qid=1577726462&sprefix=reptile+dome+l,aps,170) with a Sansi grow light (https://www.amazon.com/SANSI-Houseplants-Commercial-Hydroponic-Horticulture/dp/B07KXBY2YH/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3FXS4IYUJCAV1&keywords=sansi+grow+light&qid=1577726445&sprefix=sansi,aps,167&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyV0VIVlZEUTFLOUJZJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjM0OTE3M1I2VjRaTkxZT1lOUyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODczMjgwMUdDRUM1T0FRQkg5VSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=)
Hope that helps.
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And that much lighting doesn’t bother the chameleon? Take a picture of the cage if you can please. And yeah every advice is helpful :)
 
Rst_Cham said:
I added a second T5 24" fixture with a standard 6500k daylight bulb and another dome lamp (https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Fixture-5-5-Inch-Black/dp/B002OVDPJQ/ref=sxin_3_ac_d_pm?ac_md=1-0-VW5kZXIgJDIw-ac_d_pm&crid=1UW52VHJZXPGE&keywords=reptile+dome+light+fixture&pd_rd_i=B002OVDPJQ&pd_rd_r=e08ad3ab-78f3-4db7-afa9-4520017af3ee&pd_rd_w=c1b6y&pd_rd_wg=V26Ng&pf_rd_p=aba5dc0d-7593-4752-a14d-357ecc5c98cc&pf_rd_r=V0D20M2SY31TZF1HMQ6S&psc=1&qid=1577726462&sprefix=reptile+dome+l,aps,170) with a Sansi grow light (https://www.amazon.com/SANSI-Houseplants-Commercial-Hydroponic-Horticulture/dp/B07KXBY2YH/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3FXS4IYUJCAV1&keywords=sansi+grow+light&qid=1577726445&sprefix=sansi,aps,167&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyV0VIVlZEUTFLOUJZJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjM0OTE3M1I2VjRaTkxZT1lOUyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODczMjgwMUdDRUM1T0FRQkg5VSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=)
Hope that helps.
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How do you think this one’ll do?
 

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ChamLover04 said:
And that much lighting doesn’t bother the chameleon? Take a picture of the cage if you can please. And yeah every advice is helpful :)
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Actually, he seems to love it. His activity level increased a bit even once I added them. Definitely doesn’t bother him at all.
 
I only have an older cage picture, But you get the idea
 

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Rst_Cham said:
I only have an older cage picture, But you get the idea
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P.S. I know it looks like he's hiding in that pic but it had just stopped misting and the lights had just come on, so he was on his way up from his sleeping spot. He spends most of him time up basking.
 
Thanks :)
Same kind of plant you have, schefflera arboricola. I have to thin it out regularly since it grows like a weed. I do have it raised off the bottom for easy drainage since it gets completely soaked every single day.
 
Rst_Cham said:
P.S. I know it looks like he's hiding in that pic but it had just stopped misting and the lights had just come on, so he was on his way up from his sleeping spot. He spends most of him time up basking.
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Rst_Cham said:
P.S. I know it looks like he's hiding in that pic but it had just stopped misting and the lights had just come on, so he was on his way up from his sleeping spot. He spends most of him time up basking.
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That’s a panther, right? You have a mister turned on in the night, is it good for humidity? I just got a fogger and was wondering if someone could help me with the optimal timers for it to be on. I’m not sure about keeping it on at night cause it can’t really dry and I’m scared that my boy might get a respiratory infection (I might be wrong here), but I also heard they like humidity at night.
 
ChamLover04 said:
That’s a panther, right? You have a mister turned on in the night, is it good for humidity? I just got a fogger and was wondering if someone could help me with the optimal timers for it to be on. I’m not sure about keeping it on at night cause it can’t really dry and I’m scared that my boy might get a respiratory infection (I might be wrong here), but I also heard they like humidity at night.
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Yep, he's an ambanja panther, about 14 months old now. I dont have the Mist King on at night, it comes on first thing in the morning though. I do have a fogger on at night. I used to run it on high between midnight and 5am to get the humidity way up overnight when it's cooler but then he got a respiratory infection and my vet told me to run it on low instead, if at all. I do run it on low now because if I don't it's bone dry at 10% humidty, the low setting on the fogger gets it to 30-40% RH instead of the 80-100% I was getting on high when he got sick. Your timing/intervals will depend on your location, temperatures and room humidity levels. (I live in Denver so humidity is a constant battle and unfortunately my vet sees lots of chameleons and reptiles with RI's here since conditions are so difficult.) I felt HORRIBLE that my boy got an RI when I try so hard to get his conditions right. Luckily I caught it right away and took him in. The month of shots every 3 days was a nightmare. He's all good now though.
 
Rst_Cham said:
Yep, he's an ambanja panther, about 14 months old now. I dont have the Mist King on at night, it comes on first thing in the morning though. I do have a fogger on at night. I used to run it on high between midnight and 5am to get the humidity way up overnight when it's cooler but then he got a respiratory infection and my vet told me to run it on low instead, if at all. I do run it on low now because if I don't it's bone dry at 10% humidty, the low setting on the fogger gets it to 30-40% RH instead of the 80-100% I was getting on high when he got sick. Your timing/intervals will depend on your location, temperatures and room humidity levels. (I live in Denver so humidity is a constant battle and unfortunately my vet sees lots of chameleons and reptiles with RI's here since conditions are so difficult.) I felt HORRIBLE that my boy got an RI when I try so hard to get his conditions right. Luckily I caught it right away and took him in. The month of shots every 3 days was a nightmare. He's all good now though.
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Sorry to hear that, but I’m glad he’s over it and doing great now by the looks of your picture. Also thanks for the warning not to turn it on at night. Usually the readings are 25-35% but it’s pretty close to the basking spot so that isn’t accurate (so probably add 15-20% to that). I mist the cage 3-4 times during which I also turn on the fogger for 30 minutes and the readings can spike to about 50% (also add 15-20%). At night it’s about 30%. Had the fogger turned on last two nights, but not gonna do that anymore now.
 
ChamLover04 said:
Sorry to hear that, but I’m glad he’s over it and doing great now by the looks of your picture. Also thanks for the warning not to turn it on at night. Usually the readings are 25-35% but it’s pretty close to the basking spot so that isn’t accurate (so probably add 15-20% to that). I mist the cage 3-4 times during which I also turn on the fogger for 30 minutes and the readings can spike to about 50% (also add 15-20%). At night it’s about 30%. Had the fogger turned on last two nights, but not gonna do that anymore now.
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I know lots of experienced keepers on here are very successful with the Naturalistic Hydration approach which shoots for very high nighttime humidity to mimic what's happening in the wild where fog rolls in during the cool late night/early morning hours and humidity gets up to around 100%. But my cham did get sick when I tried to follow this approach so obviously I was doing something wrong. I trust my vet since she is a very well-respected reptile vet with lots of chameleon experience and she told me the 30-40% RH was OK overnight for my panther and he IS healthy again following her advice. It really all depends on your individual conditions based on your location and the conditions in your house.
 
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Rst_Cham said:
I live in an extremely dry climate so my scheffelera gets a ton of water since my mist king goes off every few hours to keep humidity up for my Cham. At first it wasn’t doing well but once I added both a 6500k T5 daylight bulb and a Sansi LED grow bulb in addition to my UVB lighting; it improved drastically and now grows fast and requires trimming back even. So it might not be too much water in your case but not enough light.
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Could you link these lights you purchased??
 
Gabriellehernandezxxx said:
Thank you so much this helps me greatly!! Do you use all 3? Or do you think I only need one or two or which? Sorry for the questions! I’m in the process of getting my first real live plants!
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It’s actually just two lights that I linked to, plus a dome fixture to house the Sansi light. So I have three lights total on my enclosure, plus basking heat lamp (Sansi grow light LED bulb, 6500k daylight T5 bulb, Arcadia 6% UVB T5 bulb, and my CHE heat bulb.)
 
Rst_Cham said:
It’s actually just two lights that I linked to, plus a dome fixture to house the Sansi light. So I have three lights total on my enclosure, plus basking heat lamp (Sansi grow light LED bulb, 6500k daylight T5 bulb, Arcadia 6% UVB T5 bulb, and my CHE heat bulb.)
Click to expand...
So about the new light I got, my chameleon is under it almost all the time, which is okay if he likes it that much, but he is ignoring the basking spot completely (since I got this daylight bulb) which is important for normal digestion and that’s kind of worrying me. I mean I know he’s not stupid and he knows what to do and what’s best for him. He is also pretty much dark in color all the time under this new light. Should I keep it on for just 6 out of 12 hours a day so he can roam the cage more and hopefully be under the basking spot more?
 
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