Panther Chameleon joining our home soon - Need some advice

Hello, all. This is my first time posting, so please be kind I ordered a 3.5 month old Ambilobe panther chameleon (male) from a breeder. We aren't having him shipped until we feel secure in our setup. I will be honest, this is my first time with a reptile in general, but not my boyfriend's. However, I am home more often so it will be in my care for the most part. I've read a lot of horror stories about people who knew nothing about these beautiful creatures, bought them, mishandled them, and let them get sick or even die. This is why I'm trying to do a lot of research, and will continuously, about their nutrition, enclosure setup, and all the dos and donts when it comes to keeping them as stress free as possible. Annoyingly, we got a X-Large ReptiBreeze, and they sent us 2 of the same pieces, so we have to wait for a replacement piece which will give us more time to complete his setup, regardless.

Question 1 - I am wondering if it is okay to just use a dripper for now (we ordered something called "The Little Dripper" on Amazon). At first, we were going to order the ReptiFogger from ZooMed, but after reading numerous posts on this site, I think I'd rather hold off and get the Mist King from LLLReptile. Would it be okay to start him off just using the dripper or should we get the Mist King right away? I also have a spray bottle. If it'd be okay to wait a couple of months or so until funds are replenished, I'd be able to spend a bit more on items for inside his enclosure (live plants, fake plants, a good substrate, etc.)

Question 2 - Will the chameleon be bothered by my dog walking around, or should I always keep the door shut to the room he (the chameleon) is in? My dog is not aggressive at all and probably won't even notice the cham, but she IS nervous when we're not home, pacing around and whatnot and sometimes even whining. I will certainly close the door when we're not home, but will the dog walking around when we are home cause him stress? We are going to put the terrarium about 3 ft off the floor, if that helps.

Question 3 - We live in NYC, obviously with some brutally cold winter months. We have the UVB & Heat Lighting set up, but should the area he's in be warm as well, like, in proximity of a radiator? My apologies if the answer to this is an obvious yes. Lol.

I am going to post pictures of our setup once we complete it, since that seems to be okay around here

Thanks!

Angela

Welcome to the forums. I'll try to answer a few of your questions and also link you to my blog for new keepers. It's the way I have successfully kept panthers and veileds over the years. It tells you everything you need, with links to pictures and where you can buy each item.

A hand mister is fine but you will want to mist and then drip. The misting gets them in the mood to drink.

My chameleons have never had any reactions to my dog. You will just have wait and see if yours does.

His basking spot should be in the low 80's to start with until he's a little older then he can bask in the mid 80's. The middle part of your enclosure in the upper 70's and the bottom in the lower 70's. He will need a 10 degree drop in temps at night.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
More chameleon info found here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

Welcome to the forum!
Jan answered your questions so all I can do is repeat most of her answers and add a bit of useless info-
I used just a dripper and hand spraying when I got my flapneck and was keeping him separate from my other two- I found that the pump up sprayer that you can get at Home Depot was better than the hand pumping - finer spray and easier. They have them at some pet stores but they are twice the price- they are under 20 at the Lowes or HD. A misting system is nice but if you can hand spray twice a day he should be fine with it. It's good to plan some drainage before he gets there -

Your plan of having your cage up is good with a dog - most will totally ignore them- I've heard of some being aggressive toward them but it's pretty rare- I secure my cages so they can't be knocked over by my cats jumping on the cage even though they don't normally go into the room they are in - If the cats happen to follow me into the room it doesn't seem to bother the chameleons - I'm more afraid they might go after a cricket or something on the side of the cage or think the top would be a nice place to sleep.

I've found that the drop in night temps are quite important for mine - mostly with my jackson but also with the other two - they seem to be more sluggish with out it and not quite as active.

Jan's blog is great - and so are the resource sections here - you can save a bunch of time and effort with a little research - It's great your doing it before you get him- I think you'll find with your research that there are a bunch of women on this site who's boyfriend or child got them interested in chameleons originally and now have a couple of their own. There quite a few that had the original interest themselves. With some of the user names it's sometimes very hard to tell.

jannb said:

Welcome to the forums. I'll try to answer a few of your questions and also link you to my blog for new keepers. It's the way I have successfully kept panthers and veileds over the years. It tells you everything you need, with links to pictures and where you can buy each item.

A hand mister is fine but you will want to mist and then drip. The misting gets them in the mood to drink.

My chameleons have never had any reactions to my dog. You will just have wait and see if yours does.

His basking spot should be in the low 80's to start with until he's a little older then he can bask in the mid 80's. The middle part of your enclosure in the upper 70's and the bottom in the lower 70's. He will need a 10 degree drop in temps at night.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
More chameleon info found here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

Click to expand...

Thank you so much, this was all very helpful! I haven't had him shipped yet because I got a little nervous that I was under prepared. Still waiting on the replacement piece as well. If it's okay, I'll list the items that I've put together for now. I plan on getting more in a couple of weeks or so.

Repti Breeze Screen cage XL (2'X2'X4')

Large Ficus Tree (live) 8" Pot


Zoo Med Tropical UVB & Heat Lighting Kit (5.0 UVB & 60 watt UVA)

Zoo Med Natural Cork Tile Background (18" Long x 24" Wide) - I got this when I really didn't know much about what I was doing with the terrarium. Not quite sure about how I'm going to use it...

2 Zoo Med Terrarium Accents Cork Branches (23" long)

Zoo Med Naturalistic Flora Flexible Hanging Vine

Fluker's Medium Bend a Branch

Zoo Med Naturalistic Bush Plant Cannabis, Large

Fluker's Repta Vines-Pothos

Zoo Med Reptile Calcium with Vitamin D3 (to use once per month, right?)

Zoo Med Reptile Calcium without Vitamin D3

Zoo Med The Big Dripper, Gallon

Exo Terra (Pressurized) Spray Bottle, 2 quarts

Zilla Hygrometer + Digital Thermometer

Cricket Food - Custom milled by Catawba Cricket Hatchery

Sterilite Container for crickets


I hope this sounds okay. Thanks again, I would be complete lost if it was not for this website and all of the helpful members on it

kplatvoet said:

Welcome to the forum!
Jan answered your questions so all I can do is repeat most of her answers and add a bit of useless info-
I used just a dripper and hand spraying when I got my flapneck and was keeping him separate from my other two- I found that the pump up sprayer that you can get at Home Depot was better than the hand pumping - finer spray and easier. They have them at some pet stores but they are twice the price- they are under 20 at the Lowes or HD. A misting system is nice but if you can hand spray twice a day he should be fine with it. It's good to plan some drainage before he gets there -

Your plan of having your cage up is good with a dog - most will totally ignore them- I've heard of some being aggressive toward them but it's pretty rare- I secure my cages so they can't be knocked over by my cats jumping on the cage even though they don't normally go into the room they are in - If the cats happen to follow me into the room it doesn't seem to bother the chameleons - I'm more afraid they might go after a cricket or something on the side of the cage or think the top would be a nice place to sleep.

I've found that the drop in night temps are quite important for mine - mostly with my jackson but also with the other two - they seem to be more sluggish with out it and not quite as active.

Jan's blog is great - and so are the resource sections here - you can save a bunch of time and effort with a little research - It's great your doing it before you get him- I think you'll find with your research that there are a bunch of women on this site who's boyfriend or child got them interested in chameleons originally and now have a couple of their own. There quite a few that had the original interest themselves. With some of the user names it's sometimes very hard to tell.

Click to expand...

I bought a brand pump because I haven't had time to go to Home Depot or anything like it to search for sales. It was like 17 bucks. It should work until I get one of those fancy shmancy misting systems, which I definitely well, as I have a habit of spoiling my pets

Thank you so much! Sorry I didn't write that sooner, I've been doing nothing but reading