Cage setup

[Calimike]

Hello all! I’ve had my Panther Chameleon for about a month and I’m curious if anyone has any tips for his cage setup. Just switched over from the wood chip bedding to butcher paper bc of the ability to clean it easier. Any helpful tips would be much appreciated!

 

[Calimike]

This is Tajín btw!

 

[Crashbandit05]

How old is your panther? That looks like a 36x18x18 which are generally good for juvenile chams,not adults. Bigger is always better though! The coil type UVB are not recommended, look into the linear style of bulb. How are you accommodating for drainage? They require vast amounts of water for proper hydration and automatic misting systems are highly recommended by all experienced keepers. Is the cage sitting on the ground? The higher the better, kind of like cats lol. Post a picture of your panther, they are awesome creatures!

 

[lydiadubb]

I would swing by your local Home depot, Lowes, Walmart or anywere that has plants available and pack your cage with some live plants. They are more natural and helps with humidity makes your cham feel more secure within its home. Just leave a clearing for basking. Like said above they should have linear uvb. Have fun, I love designing the inside of the enclosures!

 

[Calimike]

How old is your panther? That looks like a 36x18x18 which are generally good for juvenile chams,not adults. Bigger is always better though! The coil type UVB are not recommended, look into the linear style of bulb. How are you accommodating for drainage? They require vast amounts of water for proper hydration and automatic misting systems are highly recommended by all experienced keepers. Is the cage sitting on the ground? The higher the better, kind of like cats lol. Post a picture of your panther, they are awesome creatures!

He’s 4 months old I believe. We keep the cage on the counter top in the laundry room. I’m looking into a new UVB build when we upgrade his cage in about a year but I’ll keep that in mind. We hand most for about 20 seconds 4-6 times a day.

 

[Calimike]

I would swing by your local Home depot, Lowes, Walmart or anywere that has plants available and pack your cage with some live plants. They are more natural and helps with humidity makes your cham feel more secure within its home. Just leave a clearing for basking. Like said above they should have linear uvb. Have fun, I love designing the inside of the enclosures!

Any specific type of plants? I’m very paranoid about putting the wrong kind of plants in there.

 

[lydiadubb]

Here is a chameleon safe plant list

https://flchams.com/chameleon-safe-plant-list/

 

[Goose502]

He’s 4 months old I believe. We keep the cage on the counter top in the laundry room. I’m looking into a new UVB build when we upgrade his cage in about a year but I’ll keep that in mind. We hand most for about 20 seconds 4-6 times a day.

You should be looking at larger caging much sooner than at a year. Go big, sooner is better.

 

[JapSolum]

You should be looking at larger caging much sooner than at a year. Go big, sooner is better.

I'd agree, but even if you dont upgrade cage right away, linear tube uvb is important on whatever cage you get. linear means hes getting uvb no matter where he is, not just when basking, and you want to make sure they always have access to uvb no matter what they feel their temp should be. I just got a 24" one that's way to big for my 16x16x30, that way when I upgrade cage, light is already ready for it. the only thing id say is, that basking spot looks really close to the light, have you measured the temp at the basking spot?

 

[Calimike]

I'd agree, but even if you dont upgrade cage right away, linear tube uvb is important on whatever cage you get. linear means hes getting uvb no matter where he is, not just when basking, and you want to make sure they always have access to uvb no matter what they feel their temp should be. I just got a 24" one that's way to big for my 16x16x30, that way when I upgrade cage, light is already ready for it. the only thing id say is, that basking spot looks really close to the light, have you measured the temp at the basking spot?

Basking temp is 80°-84° at his napping net.
Is there any specific brand or is the zoo med linear uvb good?

 

[JapSolum]

I think I use reptisun, but I wouldn't know enough about em yo say if one is truly better than others. I know a lot of people like arcadia, but zoo med is probably fine