simplified starter supplementation supplements for baby panther

[Franquixote]

Hi-
I'm expecting my chameleon to arrive today!
The enclosure is set up - a custom 4' tall by about 2' corner enclosure with screen top, glass on 3 sides and 2 walls of a semi-breathable foam simulated rock background. The lighting is a 12% arcadia and spot light fromlightyourreptiles and have since added a 150W basking light turned down about 80% so the basking spots are around 80-85 degrees. The attached photo is before some of the latest mods.

I am getting him with a starter colony of dubia, but obviously need to place an order today for some stuff.

I am leaning toward the Repashy no D to dust about half the feeders daily, I plan on feeding from a bowl so I can keep track of what he is eating.

I have a snail colony going but not sure how confident I am about offering even little ones at this stage.

My question is if feeders are gutloaded, is the No-D Repashy calcium daily a reasonable place to start, offering Repcal D once a week? (40,000 units D I believe)

On the way today I want to get some blue fly spikes and silkworms and look into stick insects in the near future.
I am trying to stay away from Petco bugs but think I will probably use a few waxworms or superworms until I get colonies up and running at full capacity.

Any thoughts?

Will post pics later when I get him! Here is the enclosure a few weeks ago and the sire of the panther I am getting!

 

[nightanole]

Make sure that cage is well fullaged if you are using a 12%, since everything but the last 8-12" of cage will have the full recommended uvb.

Running a 150 bulb at 25-50 watt will cause a massive red shift, and the bulb will be putting out a lot more heat per lum of light output. It would be better to just get the correct wattage for your 85-95 basking area.

You are using "open cell foam" for your fake rock sides. In my experience, it is uncleanable, and will turn into a giant sponge that will start to smell after a few months. They are great for desert reptiles, but not daily misters.

Your "half feeder every day" is a bit complicated vs just dusting every other day.
Yes non adults need weekly D3 suppliments. Adults it can be one dose every 2-3 weeks.
Gut load is not going to affect the feeders caclium/D3 amounts that much. Even the best gut loaders (crickets/dubia) only have 25% of their body weight dedicated to gut weight, and most of that is water content. meal/super worms its only 10% of body weight. So gut load is mostly for vitamins etc.

Silkworms are one of the few feeders that are naturally high in calcium, so they are a very good choice for a summer staple if you have a mulberry tree in your area.


finally, i see nothing about misting, or humidity control...

 

[Franquixote]

thanks- I have the monsoon multi for misting, right now set to go off 3X per day for 8 seconds per cycle. There are 3 different sensors in the cage to monitor humidity at various places. I see your point about light exposure- I should provide some sort of shade is what you are saying with "fullaged", yes? If you think 90 degrees in right for basking I can turn up the basking bulb to about 50%. The 60 watt household bulb was not reaching down more than 6"and I do not want the animal clinging to the top screen, I would like him to be able to bask 1/3rd the way down if so desired and not limit masking to top 10% of enclosure.

The sides do not absorb much if any water which makes me think that I may need to cut a hole and screen in a small fan (like a computer fan) for better circulation.

 

[Scottsquatch]

Do you have another mister going besides the monsoon? 8 seconds three times a day is not going to be anywhere near enough moisture. Even with the solid walls allowing for higher humidity, his drinking response will probably not be triggered. I don't know as much as other more experienced keepers, but I would increase the length of those misting times to a couple of minutes each.

 

[nightanole]

"semi-breathable foam" is code for sponge. Foam only comes in 2 flavors, closed cell and open cell. Closed cell can not absorb moisture or let air pass, its for insulating pipes. Open cell can let water and air pass, such as filter material, bath sponges, etc.

 

[Franquixote]

The length it is at now allows for droplets to remain on most surfaces for several hours. My goal was to have the enclosure just about completely dry out before the next cycle. If I were to allow it to go several minutes I would end up with standing water in many areas, including the bottom.
There are 2 misting heads at the top covering most of the enclosure starting about 8 inches from the top- any closer and I was concerned that water hitting hot bulbs would cause them to explode and I can't imagine how you would deal with shards of glass all over- I'd worry for years that a stray shard would get ingested!

 

[Scottsquatch]

Ah, two heads, that makes more sense.