a Couple questions

[ShoniNikki]

Hiii I just had a few general advise questions on caring for ambilobe male and female panthers in Northern UTAH!! the first thing is Humidity levels and how to maintain them in this climate? I have heard several things (bad) about having substrate or dirts in the bottoms of cages! But I have also heard this helps maintain humidity levels also?! I am a stay @home mommy so I am here to make sure everything stays clean and mildew free... I have also heard to not use Glass enclosures but in cases where humidity is low they are great?!!! I want my chams to be healthy and happy! any advise would be great!!! Thanks

 

[Vegas Chad]

Put a large potted plant in the cage, this will help keep the humidity where it needs to be. You should mist the whole cage a few times a day to give your chameleon a chance to drink and also to keep the humidity up. As you are a stay at home mom this can easily be done with a hand mist bottle. When you get tired of that you can upgrade to an automatic misting system.

Depending on your chameleon a screen cage is usually the best way to go.

 

[ShoniNikki]

I have potted plants in with them and have an auto mister as well as hand mist frequently my female seems thirsty all the time! however we cannot get her humidity above 60 and even when we do it falls pretty quickly?!!

 

[mbondy]

I have potted plants in with them and have an auto mister as well as hand mist frequently my female seems thirsty all the time! however we cannot get her humidity above 60 and even when we do it falls pretty quickly?!!

Well it's good that she's drinking!! How do her droppings look?

 

[ShoniNikki]

well last week when we got them her droppings were mostly yellow with some white and her eyes were sunken so that told me she was dehydrated?! so I have paid extra attention to her thirst and her eyes are no longer sunken and her droppings are mostly a greenish brown color with white! also last week she wouldnt eat for us I literally had to bribe her with the water bottle to take a wax worm... she has started to gain an appetite... yesterday she hunted a few crickets and a wax worm... however she only ate in the late morning hoursand wouldnt eat after that?!

 

[Lizardlover]

You could cover the sides of the cage with plastic to try and maintain humidity. Make sure the cage is drenched, 5 minute mistings at a time are great at holding in humidity. Go easy on waxworms as they are very fatty and too many can be bad. Stick to silkworms or hornworms as far as worms go. Especially since your female is dehydrated and a picky eater.

 

[ShoniNikki]

well I've discovered she likes the hunt!! so she has been doing the crickets... but not more than about 3-4 a day! but I have encountered another issue... I mentioned before how her eyes were sunken in when we first got her... well shes been drinking alot and they weren't sunken but yesterday I noticed that her left eye is sunken and she keeps it closed quite often?! I know its not a dehydration issue because wouldn't both eyes be sunken?!

 

[davthevieled]

At that point, it might be best to find out a little about her so if you could fill the form out in this link it would be quite helpful!

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Pictures also help. I hope things go well for her!

As to ways to keep humidity, have you thought about covering a side or two in the terrarium? Possibly setting up plexiglass pannels on two or even three sides so there is still free-flowing air and still ways to collect water and build up humidity?