Hey folks. My BF and I are the proud parents of a panther chameleon. He's about 5 months old, we've had him for one month. We're not entirely new to the chameleon owning area, we had a graceful chameleon that we managed to keep healthy for a full year, which is amazing from what we've heard. That was two years ago, though, and we decided to try our luck again.
Anyways, his name is Toshi. He seems to be in relatively good health, except today when we came home. His left eye where you normally see his pupil was crusted over. We immediately gave him a good misting, and now thirty minutes later the crust is nearly gone and he's opening it just fine. He's been alert and moving during this time, and did not enjoy his shower one bit. I thought I'd post here regardless just to give a heads up and to ask for any suggestions. Here's his info.
Cage Info:
* Cage Type - Combo cage with ten gallon glass bottom, and a double wiring on top. See pics on bottom of the post. We bought the top part from a local family owned store. One of their employee's actually made and used it for his own chameleon.
What are the dimensions? - 27 inches long, 20 tall and 10 wide
* Lighting - We're currently using a 26w Exo Terra Repti-Glo 5.0 UVB, and his basking light is a 60w bulb we have in a reflecter dome. His lights come on around 9 AM and off around 9 PM.
* Temperature - Cage floor temperature is about 78 degrees, up closer to the basking light would be around 85-90. We're using a digital thermometer.
* Humidity - When we bought him, the breeder (who seemed to know what he was doing) told us that for panther chameleons humidity was not so important. However, I want to know otherwise, so I accept any and all suggestions. He's misted a few times a day, and our apartment is a "below ground" apartment, with a little more humidity than normal, if that helps.
* Plants - No, but we will soon be using a golden pothos and I'm currently researching the safety of a Peperomia "Tricolor" magnolifolia. It's listed as safe on the toxic plant list, but I'd like opinions on it as well!
* Location - The cage is in the kitchen, where we have a ceiling fan going for the majority of the time. Traffic is.. ..so-so. We walk in for drinks and to eat and cook, and my BF sits on his computer in there (mostly hidden by his monitors). I'd say the top of the tank is about ... 5'4 off the floor.
Chameleon Info:
* Your Chameleon - Toshi is a blue bar panther chameleon, about five months old, and male. We've had him about a month.
* Handling - Never. He's not a very chatty fellow.
* Feeding - Toshi gets a diet of roughly 10 medium to large crickets a day, dusted with calcium every other day. I've JUST got in some phoenix worms I want to try him on though. I'm trying to get all my lizards switched to them as a staple. He's usually fed in the morning, and has actually realized this by waiting towards the lower half of his tank shortly after the lights are on. The crix are gut loaded with fresh veggies and fish flakes for protein.
* Supplements - I dust the crix with repti cal calcium every other day for Toshi. The phoenix worms will not get dusted with calcium due to having an already balanced calcium to phos count.
* Watering - He's misted with a fine mist spray two-three times a day. Usually we do it like a shower, gently spraying back and forth over his tank until he shows interest, at which time we slow it down to drips right where he chooses to drink. Yes he does drink. We usually do this for about 5-10 minutes.
* Fecal Description - He poops often, and it seems to be of a good consistency with healthy looking white bits. He hasn't been tested for parasites, being born in captivity the breeder said there'd be no chance of it because of how he took care of his chams.
* History - Uuuhhhmmm.. Not too much history. Until now he's been pretty normal for us.
* Current Problem - The pupil area of his left eye was crusted over when we arrived home today. He couldn't open it until we misted him, in which the crust finally gave way. Now he's opening it fine it seems. But we want to be careful.
Review the images below for the tank setup and the chameleon. Any suggestions are welcome, and I'm currently trying to get my bf to agree to purchase an all screened tank, as well as trying to get the humidity situation worked out. The breeder said he wouldn't worry about it, but I think we should.
This is a pic of him the day we got him, and is the ONLY time we've handled him. http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1028.jpg
These are images of his enclosure, I apologize for the sideway ones. =/
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1057.jpg
Top part
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1058.jpg
Bottom part (we just misted)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1059.jpg
His good eye
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1060.jpg
The one that had crusted over
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1061.jpg
Top view
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1062.jpg
extra view
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1063.jpg
Now these images were all taken like ten minutes ago, so he is still active as you can see. Except for the fact he froze at the camera, silly fellow.
Anyways, his name is Toshi. He seems to be in relatively good health, except today when we came home. His left eye where you normally see his pupil was crusted over. We immediately gave him a good misting, and now thirty minutes later the crust is nearly gone and he's opening it just fine. He's been alert and moving during this time, and did not enjoy his shower one bit. I thought I'd post here regardless just to give a heads up and to ask for any suggestions. Here's his info.
Cage Info:
* Cage Type - Combo cage with ten gallon glass bottom, and a double wiring on top. See pics on bottom of the post. We bought the top part from a local family owned store. One of their employee's actually made and used it for his own chameleon.
What are the dimensions? - 27 inches long, 20 tall and 10 wide
* Lighting - We're currently using a 26w Exo Terra Repti-Glo 5.0 UVB, and his basking light is a 60w bulb we have in a reflecter dome. His lights come on around 9 AM and off around 9 PM.
* Temperature - Cage floor temperature is about 78 degrees, up closer to the basking light would be around 85-90. We're using a digital thermometer.
* Humidity - When we bought him, the breeder (who seemed to know what he was doing) told us that for panther chameleons humidity was not so important. However, I want to know otherwise, so I accept any and all suggestions. He's misted a few times a day, and our apartment is a "below ground" apartment, with a little more humidity than normal, if that helps.
* Plants - No, but we will soon be using a golden pothos and I'm currently researching the safety of a Peperomia "Tricolor" magnolifolia. It's listed as safe on the toxic plant list, but I'd like opinions on it as well!
* Location - The cage is in the kitchen, where we have a ceiling fan going for the majority of the time. Traffic is.. ..so-so. We walk in for drinks and to eat and cook, and my BF sits on his computer in there (mostly hidden by his monitors). I'd say the top of the tank is about ... 5'4 off the floor.
Chameleon Info:
* Your Chameleon - Toshi is a blue bar panther chameleon, about five months old, and male. We've had him about a month.
* Handling - Never. He's not a very chatty fellow.
* Feeding - Toshi gets a diet of roughly 10 medium to large crickets a day, dusted with calcium every other day. I've JUST got in some phoenix worms I want to try him on though. I'm trying to get all my lizards switched to them as a staple. He's usually fed in the morning, and has actually realized this by waiting towards the lower half of his tank shortly after the lights are on. The crix are gut loaded with fresh veggies and fish flakes for protein.
* Supplements - I dust the crix with repti cal calcium every other day for Toshi. The phoenix worms will not get dusted with calcium due to having an already balanced calcium to phos count.
* Watering - He's misted with a fine mist spray two-three times a day. Usually we do it like a shower, gently spraying back and forth over his tank until he shows interest, at which time we slow it down to drips right where he chooses to drink. Yes he does drink. We usually do this for about 5-10 minutes.
* Fecal Description - He poops often, and it seems to be of a good consistency with healthy looking white bits. He hasn't been tested for parasites, being born in captivity the breeder said there'd be no chance of it because of how he took care of his chams.
* History - Uuuhhhmmm.. Not too much history. Until now he's been pretty normal for us.
* Current Problem - The pupil area of his left eye was crusted over when we arrived home today. He couldn't open it until we misted him, in which the crust finally gave way. Now he's opening it fine it seems. But we want to be careful.
Review the images below for the tank setup and the chameleon. Any suggestions are welcome, and I'm currently trying to get my bf to agree to purchase an all screened tank, as well as trying to get the humidity situation worked out. The breeder said he wouldn't worry about it, but I think we should.
This is a pic of him the day we got him, and is the ONLY time we've handled him. http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1028.jpg
These are images of his enclosure, I apologize for the sideway ones. =/
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1057.jpg
Top part
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1058.jpg
Bottom part (we just misted)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1059.jpg
His good eye
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1060.jpg
The one that had crusted over
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1061.jpg
Top view
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1062.jpg
extra view
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b323/rachellajh/panther/HPIM1063.jpg
Now these images were all taken like ten minutes ago, so he is still active as you can see. Except for the fact he froze at the camera, silly fellow.
