beetlejuice
New Member
hi everyone,
i want a panther chameleon at some point in the hopefully-not-too-distant future, and i am trying to read a lot and ask questions well in advance. i have never owned a reptile, let alone a chameleon, so be gentle if the following is stupid
i gather that the 'standard' size for an adult panther chameleon cage is 2'x2' base and 4' tall, but also, of course, the bigger the better, and so some of you free-range them in a particular room.
now, i don't want to turn a whole room into a mini-rainforest (misters, trees, UV lighting, etc), but i would want to let the little guy roam around outside his cage as much as possible.
so, with that in mind, a few questions:
1) hydration behavior: let's pretend there's an average 10'x10' room with reasonable temperatures, with an appropriately set-up 2'x2'x4' cham cage in one corner.
if a chameleon is out and about in the room and feels dehydrated, will it "know" to seek out humidity and water and go back into its cage, or will it just sit there and continue to deteriorate?
this is more a question of "how aware of their own health are they?" rather than me trying to make excuses for potentially bad husbandry, so don't take it as anticipated negligence!
2) feeding behavior: for those of you who free-range, do you also cup-feed?
i assume what i'll end up doing is 'free-range' feeding, but only confined to the cage so i won't have crickets running around.
the reason i bring this up is: if a chameleon is usually allowed to roam around but is forced to hunt only inside a confined area (its cage), will it get 'used to' this or will it get stressed out?
3) daylight cycle: i know that it is recommended, for the obvious reason, to have the 12-hour daylight cycle match that of the sun as closely as possible.
let's pretend that the chameleon is in a room that has no blinds, so that the outside is always visible behind glass. let's say the sun goes down at 6pm but the light in the chameleon's cage is timed regularly to turn off at, say, 9pm instead.
will the mismatch of outdoor light and indoor light for a few hours be fatally confusing for it, or do they acclimate to situations like that?
i realize of course these questions don't have completely clear cut answers, but i'm just looking to get a better qualitative understanding of their behaviors. i tried to search the forum a bunch of times but i'm not sure my questions, especially #1, were answered that specifically. but of course feel free to point me towards threads i might have missed!
thanks!
i want a panther chameleon at some point in the hopefully-not-too-distant future, and i am trying to read a lot and ask questions well in advance. i have never owned a reptile, let alone a chameleon, so be gentle if the following is stupid
i gather that the 'standard' size for an adult panther chameleon cage is 2'x2' base and 4' tall, but also, of course, the bigger the better, and so some of you free-range them in a particular room.
now, i don't want to turn a whole room into a mini-rainforest (misters, trees, UV lighting, etc), but i would want to let the little guy roam around outside his cage as much as possible.
so, with that in mind, a few questions:
1) hydration behavior: let's pretend there's an average 10'x10' room with reasonable temperatures, with an appropriately set-up 2'x2'x4' cham cage in one corner.
if a chameleon is out and about in the room and feels dehydrated, will it "know" to seek out humidity and water and go back into its cage, or will it just sit there and continue to deteriorate?
this is more a question of "how aware of their own health are they?" rather than me trying to make excuses for potentially bad husbandry, so don't take it as anticipated negligence!
2) feeding behavior: for those of you who free-range, do you also cup-feed?
i assume what i'll end up doing is 'free-range' feeding, but only confined to the cage so i won't have crickets running around.
the reason i bring this up is: if a chameleon is usually allowed to roam around but is forced to hunt only inside a confined area (its cage), will it get 'used to' this or will it get stressed out?
3) daylight cycle: i know that it is recommended, for the obvious reason, to have the 12-hour daylight cycle match that of the sun as closely as possible.
let's pretend that the chameleon is in a room that has no blinds, so that the outside is always visible behind glass. let's say the sun goes down at 6pm but the light in the chameleon's cage is timed regularly to turn off at, say, 9pm instead.
will the mismatch of outdoor light and indoor light for a few hours be fatally confusing for it, or do they acclimate to situations like that?
i realize of course these questions don't have completely clear cut answers, but i'm just looking to get a better qualitative understanding of their behaviors. i tried to search the forum a bunch of times but i'm not sure my questions, especially #1, were answered that specifically. but of course feel free to point me towards threads i might have missed!
thanks!
