New to the board and being a panther mom. (advice would be appreciated)

herpluva

herpluva

New Member
Hello,
My name is DiAnn and I live in San Antonio, Texas. I have 3 bearded dragons, 1 panther chameleon, 4 dogs, 1 son and a mali baby on order.
I just got my new panther chameleon yesterday and have some questions. Its been about 5 years since I have owned chameleons and need some advice.
He is in a 38 gal reptarium (Agopee??). There is one live hibiscus and I added some flukers vines, drift wood, fake plants and some dry moss in a bowl to collect the water dripping from the dripper. I currently have a 100 watt Neodymium basking spot lamp, Exo Terra 50watt infrared heat lamp, a 18 inch Reptisun 10.0% UVB (all are on all day) and I have a MVB 100 watt that I have yet to put on him but all other lights listed are on.
I bought a Flukers digital thermo/hygrometer and put it at the top back of his cage. I also have a temp probe so I can get different temp ranges in his cage. I covered one side of his cage with a rubber matt that is ventilated to try and help hold heat in better. Where the digital thermo/hygrometer sits the temp is at 84.2 temp and humidity is at 83% but his cage just got misted about 5 minutes ago. It will go back to normal in about 20 minutes and it will read around 90 degrees and 38% humidity.
I am misting his cage down like every hour to try and keep the humidity up. The temps throughout his cage vary a lot and I am not sure if its to good or not. Under the spot lamp gets around 117, mid cage is around 88, top sides are around 90 and the bottom of the plant is in the low to mid 70's.
My quesitons are:
What plants should I go and buy for his cage? I would like live.
How do I keep the humidity up in his cage all the time without spraying it every hour or two? Does a waterfall or fogger work well?
How do I hold heat in and what are the best temps?
How do I keep from burning holes in the mesh?
How many crix a day should a grown panther eat?
Should I keep his black and infrared light on at night or let the temps drop to about 72? That is the temp in the room.
What substrate should I put at the bottom of his cage? If any? At the moment I lined the bottom with foil and then covered it with paper towel. I have a rock a drift wood log and a bowl with moss sitting on the bottom of the cage also.
Should I add the MVB bulb too?
All advice is needed and appreciated!!
Thanks
HEre are pics of him
000_0004-1.jpg

000_0003-2.jpg

000_0007-2.jpg
 
"Sticky: General Care of True Chameleons
Brad "
I JUST READ THAT POST AND IT ANSWERED A LOT OF MY QUESTIONS!! YOUR THOUGHTS ARE APPRECIATED TOO.
 
New to group.......

First of all......WELCOME..........Second..........That is one awesome male panther! Where did you get him?????? Inquiring minds need to know!!!!........Third, read as much as you can in each of the forum categories. You will find a lot of useful info just reading other people's post and seeing pictures of other cage set ups. Do whatever you have to do to keep that boy healthy. He is stunning and worth all the effort :)
 
Welcome to the forum DiAnn! (neat spelling of your name!)
Your chameleon is a beautiful color!

You said...ther is "some dry moss in a bowl to collect the water dripping from the dripper"...I am not a fan of having a substrate for arboreal chameleons and I am not a fan of using dry mosses in their cages too. I worry about them ingesting things and becoming impacted.

I've never used a Neodymium light...so although I know it has UVB in it I don't know what affect it will have on a chameleon. Certain UVB lights have been causing eye problems with reptiles lately...but that isn't listed as one that was tested. Here's the site in case you want to read about it...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor-tests.htm

You said you use an "Exo Terra 50watt infrared heat lamp"...generally its thought that chameleons look for light as a source of heat...so its likely fine to add heat to your cage as long as you don't expect the chameleon to use it to "bask" near.

You said you also have a 18 inch Reptisun 10.0% UVB (all are on all day) and I have a MVB 100 watt that I have yet to put on him...you may be overdoing the UVB. My cage lids are screen and all I have on the veileds and panthers in the way of a UVB light is a Repti-sun 5.0...and they live good long lives.

My panther basking areas are in the high 80's except for the odd day in the summer when they get into the 90's.

You can use any non-toxic plant such as pothos, hibiscus (which you already have), etc. Make sure they are well-washed, both sides of the leaves...and its usually advised that you cover the soil with something so that the chameleon can't ingest it. Live plants are always better than fake! Live plants should help keep the humidity up in the cage too.

You asked..."How do I keep the humidity up in his cage all the time without spraying it every hour or two? Does a waterfall or fogger work well?"...many people use misters or foggers ...but waterfalls are very hard to keep clean and germfree...so they are not recommended.

You said "How many crix a day should a grown panther eat?"...I don't feed my adult panthers daily...I just feed them every two or three days...maybe 15-20 full grown crickets per time or the equivalent in other insects.

You asked..."Should I keep his black and infrared light on at night or let the temps drop to about 72? That is the temp in the room"...unless your room temperature falls below the mid 60's you don't need any heat sources on at night.

I assume that since you have other reptiles you aware of gutloading and supplement use?

Here are some sites that have good information that you might like to look at...
http://adcham.com/
http://www.chameleonnews.com/
 
Thanks for all your adivce! He is an awesome specimen that I got for free due to he is blind in one eye. We are actually going to day to buy new plants for his cage and found a nursery that has organic plants.
I don't remember the guys name that I got him from but I have his email and he has another male with 68 gal set up for 150.00. He is a feisty but an awesome specimen and actually much nicer than the guy I have.
If you want I can give you his email. He kept this guy outdoors and wish I could do the same but I would worry to much and my dogs would be to curious.
What can I use in the cage to collect the water dripper? I have a plastic bowl with moss in the bowl only. I put it under the drip. The rest of the bottom of the cage is paper towel so I can change it daily. I covered the bottom of the plant with a climbing branch and a bowl for his worms is covering the dirt too.
His humidity stays at about 30% except for when I spray him it is around 80-90% for about 30 minutes. I do that 4-5 times a day. Is that enough? I also have a humidifier pointed towards his cage but it doesn't seem to make a big difference.
I have been reading and reading till my head hurts. I have a lot of knowledge but second guess my self a lot. I just want this guy to be comfortable. I love watching him and he loves crix but not worms.
He ate some mango?? :confused:
He moves around his reptarium a lot so I have a bigger one on order to give him some more space.
I read that a 10% is alot for a chameleon but if they are in a mesh enclosure that its fine because they do not sit under it and the mesh filters some of the UVB out.
I will replace his neodymium light with another basking bulb just to be on the safe side. He has two basking spots that keep the top of his enclosure 90-95 depending on the time of day. The red heat bulb is on the side of the enclosure pointing to the middle that keeps the middle of the enclosure around 80's and the lowest point of his plant and vines is around 72. So it is taking a lot of heat to keep him with options to go for heat and cool during the day. He is pretty active for the most part and explores his cage and chills the rest of the time.
I hope I am doing alright but I am not 100% sure with myself.
Thanks for the comps and help:D
 
Depending on the species, I use Repti-Glo 2.0-10.0, also depending on the mesh that the light has to go through. The thicker and darker the mesh, the less UV that's going to penetrate through it.
 
I use Zoomed 10.0's on all of my Reptariums due to the black mesh. Someone on this forum with a UVB meter tested it and the dark mesh filters out alot of the rays. On screen cages I use 5.0's.
That is a gorgeous chameleon!
 
I made a drip system to drain my water its very easy and works well do a search on this forum to find "drain systems" i hope this works for you then you dont have to worry about the water getting bacteria if it drains chameleon wont have access to it. I use a repti glo 8.0 for uvb and uva

Post more pics throughout his lifetime. Whats the guys email.
 
With respect,
I would still be concerned about using the [edited compact lights] 10.0's as their UVa /UVb ratios are all out of wack.
That is, IF I read the report well enough with my quick scan this morning.
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
If I remember correctly, the UBb peak is on the lower end of the scale and may not be picked up by some meters.
IF that's correct, it may explain that's how the products got past the testing.
 
Last edited:
Howdy,

Without going back and re-reading the report again myself :)o), my take-away was that the Desert Series 50 R-Zilla was the most troublesome health-wise, followed by the Mystic products, and then the Reptisun 10.0 COMPACT, and to a much lesser extent the Reptisun 5.0 COMPACT (if not positioned properly). The Reptisun 5.0 linear tubes are very good and the Reptisun 10.0 linear tubes are good too so long as you place them properly. The same might be said about the placement of the others to some extent but there is too much of an opportunity for animals to get too close if they are climbing on the screen etc. that could easily result in severe health problems that the Reptisun linear tubes are not likely to create.

The Reptisun compacts are not made with the same phosphors and are not even made by the same company. Linears are German and compacts are Chinese.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Orangejuiceman
Need advice please
Replies
6
Views
275
Beman
Beman
R
Just filled out the questionnaire, any tips or help is much appreciate,
Replies
5
Views
243
ElijahCooper
E
R
New Veiled Chameleon Owner, would like helpful advice on anything I should fix?
Replies
8
Views
534
Beman
Beman
BryanP
Chameleon likes to hang out close to basking light
Replies
12
Views
425
BryanP
BryanP
TheMotherChameleon
Husbandry review for male panther
Replies
11
Views
333
Beman
Beman
Back
Top Bottom