Best housing for a tiny panther?

[jaimeerosko]

Greetings. I have an (allegedly) 3 or 4 month old panther. I have had him three and a half weeks and was told he was 3 months old when I got him. Anyway, we went to the vet last Thursday and the doc predicted he was about three weeks old. I did see some 12 week old panthers at an expo last week that were similarly sized but I don't *actually* know his age.

Anyway, he has hardly grown since coming home with me so I need a better cage. His cage now was a temp until he became/got something larger (which I thought would be soon) but I hate it and I really prefer he was in something better like now. Since he has not grown really in the last month, I just need to change his arrangements now and possibly get two additional cages as he grows; I don't care-whatever it takes.

He is about one inch snout to vent and weighs 1 gram. He is a passionate and avid hunter but his food is obviously tiny (fruitflies, pinheads, phoenix worms), so that needs to be taken into consideration. He just experienced cup feeding today as he has an eye issue and the vet suggested it as his vision does not seem to be on point at this time. This also means that his cage can't be especially tall (basking spot to floor) since he is clumsy and isn't "seeing" much on his right side.

Please help.

What would you do? What have you used? What should I avoid?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jaimeerosko]

That's a chopstick.

 

[maryanne27]

I've never had a panther so I'm no help, but I just had to comment because that little guy is so stinkin adorable!!! Sorry I'm useless... good luck!

 

[jajeanpierre]

He's quite a cute little thing!

Why exactly do you think you need to change his cage? What is it that you think is lacking?

If he is not growing as you think he should, it is usually because he is simply not eating enough to grow. I don't know how other breeders do it, but I always put in a lot of food for little babies, much more than they can possibly eat. I don't look at it as the amount that will be eaten but as a prey density issue. The bigger the cage, the more prey items need to be in the cage. A bigger cage wastes more food, which can get quite expensive.

There can be other reasons for poor growth. They don't always grow evenly and often experience growth spurts. Some are more slower growing than others no matter what you do.

Temperatures and light are the biggest things I've found to influence activity and appetite (in an otherwise healthy animal). Make sure the temperatures are correct for a baby that size. If they don't get enough light--just plain brightness--they'll slow right down and not eat. I find most reptile habitats people keep are very dark. Babies are also very easy to dehydrate, so that needs to be factored in. Obviously, the higher the temps the higher their water requirements are.

I notice your baby has lots of abrasions, more than I would expect to see on a baby housed alone. Is that how he came to you? (Marks take forever to clear up and it is really easy to mark their very delicate skin.) Are you handling this baby? I feel tiny babies are absolutely hands off. They are very delicate physically and don't have as much reserve to bounce back from things. If he is stressed, he won't grow. Could stress be a reason he is not growing and has health issues already (his eye)?

 

[jaimeerosko]

Why exactly do you think you need to change his cage? What is it that you think is lacking?

>>The breeder gave me an aquarium basically but I am worried about ventilation/bacteria/fungus. I also worry that it can get too hot in there for him sometimes when I am not home to check/mist. I was not excited about this option but I figured it would not be for long and I would get something bigger/better soon. I feel like it's going to take longer than expected for him to be large enough to fit in his big boy cage.

I notice your baby has lots of abrasions, more than I would expect to see on a baby housed alone. Is that how he came to you? (Marks take forever to clear up and it is really easy to mark their very delicate skin.) Are you handling this baby? I feel tiny babies are absolutely hands off. They are very delicate physically and don't have as much reserve to bounce back from things. If he is stressed, he won't grow. Could stress be a reason he is not growing and has health issues already (his eye)?[/QUOTE]

>>He has abrasions? Where? I had no idea. We were at the vet the other day and she didn't seem to notice? At least she didn't mention it.

 

[jaimeerosko]

Soory. I don't know how to respond with the original posts and all that. Thanks for responding,.

 

[jaimeerosko]

Screen cage or will an Exo Terra be acceptable? Someone please tell me.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Soory. I don't know how to respond with the original posts and all that. Thanks for responding,.

Most breeders keep them in a plastic tote, which is basically the same as your aquarium. The advantages are that it keeps the humidity in, a big issue with such a tiny baby. He is really small. I would want to be sure he was humid enough. (I have zero experience with panthers and breed a montane species that has high humidity/low temperature requirements.) I wouldn't use a screen cage for such a tiny baby. How big an aquarium do you have? How tall? You can also put in a lot of live plants to keep up the humidity. With any terrarium/aquarium heat control is a really big issue. A screen cage can still have heat issues if you are not careful but it also is difficult to keep humid enough, especially for a little baby that can dehydrate much more easily.

The abrasions I noticed are the black marks on him--look at his knees, ankles, wrists and tail. He has quite a few. They have very thin delicate skin and they can do that just banging into branches but he has a lot of marks. I was wondering if you were handling him and that was why he has the marks. He might have been shipped to you that way. Breeders keep them in groups when they are so young and they can mark up each other. I never handle babies so small unless it is for a reason such as getting a weight.

Growth is not always even. Sometimes they seem to not grow for a bit then suddenly grow. He does look round and plump--his appearance doesn't worry me. If he only weighs a gram now, assuming that is an accurate weight, a 20% growth would still only put him at 1.2 grams and I doubt you would see the difference. You would see the difference it the baby started at 4 grams and gained 20%. I don't know how many scales are really accurate down to less than a gram. I use a mechanical balance scale that is accurate down to 1/100th of a gram.

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