a couple of newbie questions

[asianer]

1) Can a male and female Panther live together successfully in an 18x18x36 enclosure?
2) what is the process of dusting? do you put the crickets in a bag with the supplement and shake, a la shake'n'bake? do you coat the crickets with water first to help retain the dusting?
3) I understand that you need to keep 2 lights over the cage, a basking lamp and a UVB, but if you plan on keeping live plants in there do you need to also have a 6500k lamp over it as well?
thanks in advance...

 

[jdog1027]

1) Can a male and female Panther live together successfully in an 18x18x36 enclosure?
2) what is the process of dusting? do you put the crickets in a bag with the supplement and shake, a la shake'n'bake? do you coat the crickets with water first to help retain the dusting?
3) I understand that you need to keep 2 lights over the cage, a basking lamp and a UVB, but if you plan on keeping live plants in there do you need to also have a 6500k lamp over it as well?
thanks in advance...

1. I don't do Panthers, but an 18x18x36 is just big enough for a single chameleon. You'd need a huge free range room for a pair and even then only under close supervision.
2. You don't have to coat them with H20 first, just throw 'em in a bag and 'batter 'em up'
3. Not a 6500k lamp over a cage that small.

 

[kongchi]

1) No you cannot (in most cases) house a male and a female together. You can try but they just end up getting stressed out possibly fight or possibly starve themselves.

2) Yes but don't put so much in as to make them look like little ghosts. No you don't need the water, dust supplements are made to stick on to stuff.

3) It is not uncommon for people to put a third light for growing plants over the enclosure, although I don't do it myself because my chams and enclosures are almost always outside, I heard it can be done with no negative effects (other than the crazy growth of plants)

4) Have a DANDY day!

 

[asianer]

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

 

[renzo0684]

Please fill this out so we can get you going in the right direction

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

 

[asianer]

Please fill this out so we can get you going in the right direction

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

I actually don't have a chameleon yet, just doing preliminary research before I buy.

 

[Killjoy]

hi and welcome to the hobby!
glad to hear you are asking questions like these prior to making yiur purchase. im not gonna bother to answer those question as the other members already answered them perfectly. but what i will suggest is fir you to continue to ask thise types of questions. you will find that this forum is filled with really cool people willing to help. good luck with your first chameleon. i suggest buying one from one of the sponsors. my favorite is liddy at chameleonsonly.com.

 

[asianer]

hi and welcome to the hobby!
glad to hear you are asking questions like these prior to making yiur purchase. im not gonna bother to answer those question as the other members already answered them perfectly. but what i will suggest is fir you to continue to ask thise types of questions. you will find that this forum is filled with really cool people willing to help. good luck with your first chameleon. i suggest buying one from one of the sponsors. my favorite is liddy at chameleonsonly.com.

Thank you, I am trying to prepare in anticipation of getting a couple of panthers at the reptile show in September. Glad see you're from NY as well, there seems to be a fair number of us in the tri-state area into this hobby which is really cool, but all the breeders seem to be on the West Coast

 

[sandrachameleon]

1) Can a male and female Panther live together successfully in an 18x18x36 enclosure?
2) what is the process of dusting? do you put the crickets in a bag with the supplement and shake, a la shake'n'bake? do you coat the crickets with water first to help retain the dusting?
3) I understand that you need to keep 2 lights over the cage, a basking lamp and a UVB, but if you plan on keeping live plants in there do you need to also have a 6500k lamp over it as well?
thanks in advance...

1 - No, unless they are very young (a couple months old). they need to be kept in separate cages after sometime between 3 and 4 months old. Even a single adult needs a larger enclosure than that.

2 - yes you can "shake and bake", or I just put mine in a plastic container with a bit of supplement on the bottom and "swirl" it a bit.

3 - its not necessary, if you choose a plant that does well in low light. I kept pothos and fiscus for years without supplementary light. But certainly it will help plant growth to have a 65k lamp. and something like a hibiscus will require the extra light.

 

[asianer]

1 - No, unless they are very young (a couple months old). they need to be kept in separate cages after sometime between 3 and 4 months old. Even a single adult needs a larger enclosure than that.

2 - yes you can "shake and bake", or I just put mine in a plastic container with a bit of supplement on the bottom and "swirl" it a bit.

3 - its not necessary, if you choose a plant that does well in low light. I kept pothos and fiscus for years without supplementary light. But certainly it will help plant growth to have a 65k lamp. and something like a hibiscus will require the extra light.

Thank you!

 

[PedroANDAshley]

And one more thing to add

PLEASE try and stay AWAY from coiled UVB lights.
Theyre a risk and its better to just buy a linear tube UVB 5.o reptiGLO but reptiSUN is most recommened.

Just putting that in since its one of the biggest mistakes made by new comers

 

[asianer]

And one more thing to add

PLEASE try and stay AWAY from coiled UVB lights.
Theyre a risk and its better to just buy a linear tube UVB 5.o reptiGLO but reptiSUN is most recommened.

Just putting that in since its one of the biggest mistakes made by new comers

Thank you very much, I just received my order yesterday - Reptisun 5.0 UVB 18" and Sun Glo 75W tight Beam basking spot lamp (I hope I got the correct one)

 

[PedroANDAshley]

The tight beam 75 watt might get a little too hot depending on how high you suspend it. make sure you moniter with a digital thermometer

 

[asianer]

The tight beam 75 watt might get a little too hot depending on how high you suspend it. make sure you moniter with a digital thermometer

doing a really quick search i assume the basking spot of ~83f degrees is optimal?

 

[PedroANDAshley]

For adults 85-90F is best.
A couple degrees under like 85-87 for juvis would be ok too.

 

[asianer]

For adults 85-90F is best.
A couple degrees under like 85-87 for juvis would be ok too.

again, thank you for the direction!

 

[Silkyslim]

Another great tip I got from a member was to provide a few crossing sticks so that you create a few different zones of height within the cage thus creating a few different temperature zones for your guy to hang at in case your set up basking spot is too hot. It also really helps to fill in the cage to provide lots of walking room and paths.

 

[asianer]

Another great tip I got from a member was to provide a few crossing sticks so that you create a few different zones of height within the cage thus creating a few different temperature zones for your guy to hang at in case your set up basking spot is too hot. It also really helps to fill in the cage to provide lots of walking room and paths.

Yes, my friends father has tons of dried bamboo that I am going to connect using some sort of twine to create some vertical and horizontal climbing areas.