7 month Panther Chameleon Very dark and hiding all day.

[Darkside yautja]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Red bar Amibilobe Panther Chameleon.
Handling - Every other day.
Feeding - Gut loaded crickets.
Supplements - Calcium plus d3 powder (dont know the name.)
Watering - Cup with a pinhole on top of the viv, and a daily misting.
Fecal Description - looks grey-ish
History - only picked him up last week.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - exo terra terrarium 60x45x60
Lighting - exo terra compact top with 3x 5% uv bulbs
Temperature - use a ceramic heater to create a basking spot of 87f and the rest of the terrarium around 80f
Humidity - around 60% by misting daily.
Plants - Live Hibiscus.
Placement - in my bedroom on a table.
Location - Lancashire, england

Current Problem - I picked him up last week and put him in the terrarium and he was super happy, eating well, showing nice colours etc. But over the last 3 days he's been very dark (almost black) and he hides out of site behind all of the plants and never comes out. I can usher him out onto my hand and he changes to lighter colours and becomes happy again, but as soon as i put him back in the terrarium he darkens and hides again

 

[CBPanther]

Noticed a couple of things, though I am on a tight schedule right now but heres a quick reply.
Supplements should be Calc with D3, twice a month. Calc without D3 every feeding and multi vitamins twice a month. It is preffered a chameleon be in a screen cage, not glasss (NOt sure if your exoterra is or is not). Also, the compact UVB bulbs are BAD! They can cause several site effects such as blindness. (Could be why he is hiding all day from it?) You can drop the ceramic heater as well and just use a household bulb, 40-75W whatever works for your temps. Goodluck, let us know!

 

[millerman6401]

id just give him some time and try to get a repti-sun 5.0 LINEAR tube light. get rid of that compact and never even think about it again. he may be hiding from the light because they have been known to leak way more vub than they should and can also cause blindness. try that and see if it works.

 

[Picasso123]

Powersun bulbs are bad?

 

[CBPanther]

Powersun bulbs are bad?

Typically .

 

[Darkside yautja]

Thanks very much everyone,

The exo terra is glass, but i've just ordered a Zoo Med reptibreeze, hopefully that will help.

I'll address the lighting situation as well, but i'm a bit skint untill next payday so i'll take one of the three uv bulbs out, so theres not as much uv.

Thanks again and i'll get some pictures up soon!

 

[mbondy]

Also try to get your temps down, your basking is fine as he is an adult but your ambient temps should be in the low 70s at the bottom and go higher from there. He could be too warm.

 

[Darkside yautja]

Heres some pictures of Royce and his temporary terrarium (constructive criticism welcome)...

 

[Psi]

Noticed a couple of things, though I am on a tight schedule right now but heres a quick reply.
Supplements should be Calc with D3, twice a month. Calc without D3 every feeding and multi vitamins twice a month.

Unless you know his brand you can't state this.
This is only true while using RepCal Brand Calcium + D3.

id just give him some time and try to get a repti-sun 5.0 LINEAR tube light. get rid of that compact and never even think about it again. he may be hiding from the light because they have been known to leak way more vub than they should and can also cause blindness. try that and see if it works.

This is just completely wrong.
There has yet to be a problem with Exo-Terra CFL Bulbs.

 

[Ozzie2011]

For now since your guy is a baby so the only thing I would change is get the bedding in the bottom out. You can use the brown or green carpet that you can cut to fit your exo terra. I am using my glass exo terra also but my new glass habitat is on the way. Once he gets bigger you will want to remove alot of the stuff you have in there or he will not be able to find his feeders.

 

[lumbasammler]

Short version: you handle your cham way too often. Only take him out if ABSOLUTELY necessary.
He´s still new to his cage so he needs some time to get used to it as well as he needs to get used to you so you should not take him out at all if possible.
Also he´s still young and as you´re from england and not abled to keep him outside where he can catch some sun that often, you may give D3 about twice a week and calcium every day. A good product to provide D3 is korvimin ZVT+Replit, just look it up on ebay.
For Calcium you may use Herpetal Mineral.

 

[CBPanther]

Get rid of the substrate, use paper towel or, if it has plastic, nothing at all.

 

[chevyluv]

Definitely way to much handling way to early he needs time to settle I'n also I've been reading alot of negative about the compact flourescent bulbs as thu are wat to intense for reptiles and you have 3 of them on the tank. I would recome d switching them for a floursent tube and give him a couple weeks to settle I'n before doing any handling.

 

[lumbasammler]

Definitely way to much handling way to early he needs time to settle I'n also I've been reading alot of negative about the compact flourescent bulbs as thu are wat to intense for reptiles and you have 3 of them on the tank. I would recome d switching them for a floursent tube and give him a couple weeks to settle I'n before doing any handling.

Agreed. How aout using one Repti Glo 5.0 neon tube and two daylight tubes?
The lamps you use might just be to bright for him. Please don´t handle him for at least 1-2 weeks. Don´t even think about changing the earth into towel at least for this time.
Don´t get near the cage if not necessary, which means only for feeding and watering, and when you do so, move carefully and slow.
I don´t really get why everyone is so in trouble with using earth, many people do so, whre´s the problem?
Did you have his poo checked for parasites?

 

[sdheli420]

Typically .

NO, they are not..these are proven light systems..i have been using them for around 13 years now..basically when they came out, because i was using metal hilide lighting in huge free ranges and the uvb output over distance cannot be beat..but however for a cage or enclosure i DO NOT reccomend them..too much out put, IMHO they are only to be used with large free ranges..

 

[Psi]

I've been reading alot of negative about the compact flourescent bulbs as thu are wat to intense for reptiles and you have 3 of them on the tank. I would recome d switching them for a floursent tube

Agreed. How aout using one Repti Glo 5.0 neon tube and two daylight tubes?
The lamps you use might just be to bright for him.

There's nothing wrong with exo-terra CFL.

 

[lumbasammler]

It´s not the light quality i thought of.
More that 3 of them might be too much because from what i´ve seen, they´re pretty bright aren´t they?
Maybe he just doesn´t like that so tubes would be better as they are not that bright.

 

[allencg101]

there seems to be alot of green plants in there bro. how do you moniter his food intake. just wondering just looks like his crickets can hide and it might be a little to hard for him to find his grub unless you hand feed him. he is showing some awesome coloring already what kind is he and where did you get him from.

 

[Justin Ward]

Agreed. How aout using one Repti Glo 5.0 neon tube and two daylight tubes?
The lamps you use might just be to bright for him. Please don´t handle him for at least 1-2 weeks. Don´t even think about changing the earth into towel at least for this time.
Don´t get near the cage if not necessary, which means only for feeding and watering, and when you do so, move carefully and slow.
I don´t really get why everyone is so in trouble with using earth, many people do so, whre´s the problem?
Did you have his poo checked for parasites?

if by earth, you mean the substrate the problem is that it can be ingested by they cham and cause impaction, also it soaks up the water and is a breeding ground for bacteria...there are no positives to it really besides aesthetic appeal...when it comes to the floor of your cage, bare is best...and as for the compacts, they are fine...i dont use them, but there are many people that do...i think the older ones were too strong and caused eye problems, but its been fixed and people use them all the time with no problems

 

[Chris Jury]

In general, there are two major reasons a chameleon displays dark colors: 1) it is too cool and is trying to warm up, or 2) it is stressed out/frightened of something.

Given its hiding behavior, it sounds like something might be frightening it. Are there any other animals in view? I'd observe him for a while and see if you can find anything outside the cage he might be reacting too.

Of course, it's possible he's too cool. What are the ambient and basking temps?

Also, as above, the three CFL bulbs may be providing more UV than it wants or needs. These animals appear to regulate their exposure to UV light via basking. I'd remove 2 of the 3 bulbs and see if this improves the situation. They need UV, but too much is harmful and could cause it to seek shelter.

cj