Constructive criticism welcome!

[Dollarz81]

A little history first: My kids fell in love with a chameleon a while back while at our local pet store while buying crickets for our pet bearded-dragon and scorpion. I did lots of reading for a few months and took the plunge on a chemeleon. She was a female Graceful, wild caught and still young. She did fine for a few weeks, then I made the mistake of leaving the fogger off for a week because I had read that the humidity did not need to be high constantly. Well, the humidity fell well below 40% for a few days before I noticed our chameleon was severly dehydrated. I did my best, but she did not make it. I am not discouraged and want to try again with a captive bred Panther chameleon. Please critique my cage and let me know if I am on the right track.

It is a 18"x18"x24" cage.

Substrate is coconut husk mixed with organic potting soil. I have Codiaeum variegatum live plant, hens and chicks succulent, and devil's ivy. My research has shown these are all safe. I put a few earth worms bought from the pet store to remove any decaying matter from the soil. I want the habitat to mimic it's natural environment as much as possible, and I am sure these animals come into contact with soil in nature. A completely sterile environment does not seem right. I was thinking of adding layer of flagstone rock over the soil to minimize contact between the chameleon and the soil.

Lighting is (2) 5.0 UV bulbs. I've added a 4" computer fan behind the lights on the lid to gently push fresh air into the cage. It is set in a time on/off in 15 minute cycles. Humidity is maintained at 60-80% using a fogger on a time set on 15 minutes per hour.

Fogger hidden by plants in this photo.

I think I have done my research and am provided a great habitat that closely mimics nature, not a sterile habit. Of course I will clean the cage monthly or as needed. Am I ready?

 

[madi]

you should have a screen cage

 

[Tattooface]

Your set up is looking good, but NOT for a panther.
This style setup would be ideal for any number of Pygmy Chameleon species. A cage that size could house a decent breeding group. Or simply a pair. Flchams has some pitted pygmys (temporalis) available right now.

As mentioned before this post, Panthers will need/prefer a screened setup that will eventually need to be taller than your 24.

Good luck.

A little history first: My kids fell in love with a chameleon a while back while at our local pet store while buying crickets for our pet bearded-dragon and scorpion. I did lots of reading for a few months and took the plunge on a chemeleon. She was a female Graceful, wild caught and still young. She did fine for a few weeks, then I made the mistake of leaving the fogger off for a week because I had read that the humidity did not need to be high constantly. Well, the humidity fell well below 40% for a few days before I noticed our chameleon was severly dehydrated. I did my best, but she did not make it. I am not discouraged and want to try again with a captive bred Panther chameleon. Please critique my cage and let me know if I am on the right track.

It is a 18"x18"x24"

Substrate is coconut husk mixed with organic potting soil. I have Codiaeum variegatum live plant, hens and chicks succulent, and devil's ivy. My research has shown these are all safe. I put a few earth worms bought from the pet store to remove any decaying matter from the soil. I want the habitat to mimic it's natural environment as much as possible, and I am sure these animals come into contact with soil in nature. A completely sterile environment does not seem right. I was thinking of adding layer of flagstone rock over the soil to minimize contact between the chameleon and the soil.

Lighting is (2) 5.0 UV bulbs. I've added a 4" computer fan behind the lights on the lid to gently push fresh air into the cage. It is set in a time on/off in 15 minute cycles. Humidity is maintained at 60-80% using a fogger on a time set on 15 minutes per hour.

Fogger hidden by plants in this photo.

I think I have done my research and am provided a great habitat that closely mimics nature, not a sterile habit. Of course I will clean the cage monthly or as needed. Am I ready?

 

[heartben]

im going to tread lightly here, and i mean nothing negative by anything i write so dont take offense.

the fogger is good for humidity, but it doesnt really bead up as much as youd want for a chameleon (or anything really) to drink. misting by hand or a misting system (i have an aquazamp, love it) would be a better option.

you will likely be told that glass enclosures (at least ones with out a mesh top and front) are bad for chameleons, that cfl uvb bulbs are bad and can hurt the chams eyes, to remove the substrate...

however some do use glass with success (some have many glass enclosures that are working great) so you might want to search for that and see what they are doing to make it work. the size isnt big enough for an adult but youll have plenty of time to upgrade.

the cfl issue has a lot of back and fourth between people, i dont have an opinion. if thats what you have to work with i say try it out. if your cham is squinting a lot.. switch it out asap? if you keep an eye on it i dont see how it could do any major damage. most use the tube fluorescents though.

ok, substrate i kind of agree on removing. if you arent careful they can get eat some on accident and become impacted. some never have a problem with it and some do. i will say that most people tend to cover the soil on their potted plants with rocks though, so if nothing else maybe just cover the soil up so the plants can still grow where they are.

one problem i see is - no basking light? - i have a feeling with a basking light if you arent careful you might warm up the whole enclosure too much so make sure you have 2 thermometers to monitor the basking and ambient temps.

im tired so i hope everything was somewhat constructive and made sense. you sound like you want to do a good job - and those who are determined to do so usually do. just keep an open mind as far as suggestions go, everyone here just wants the best for the chams.

hope it all works out for ya!

 

[laurie]

A little history first: My kids fell in love with a chameleon a while back while at our local pet store while buying crickets for our pet bearded-dragon and scorpion. I did lots of reading for a few months and took the plunge on a chemeleon. She was a female Graceful, wild caught and still young. She did fine for a few weeks, then I made the mistake of leaving the fogger off for a week because I had read that the humidity did not need to be high constantly. Well, the humidity fell well below 40% for a few days before I noticed our chameleon was severly dehydrated. I did my best, but she did not make it. I am not discouraged and want to try again with a captive bred Panther chameleon. Please critique my cage and let me know if I am on the right track.

It is a 18"x18"x24" cage.

Substrate is coconut husk mixed with organic potting soil. I have Codiaeum variegatum live plant, hens and chicks succulent, and devil's ivy. My research has shown these are all safe. I put a few earth worms bought from the pet store to remove any decaying matter from the soil. I want the habitat to mimic it's natural environment as much as possible, and I am sure these animals come into contact with soil in nature. A completely sterile environment does not seem right. I was thinking of adding layer of flagstone rock over the soil to minimize contact between the chameleon and the soil.

Lighting is (2) 5.0 UV bulbs. I've added a 4" computer fan behind the lights on the lid to gently push fresh air into the cage. It is set in a time on/off in 15 minute cycles. Humidity is maintained at 60-80% using a fogger on a time set on 15 minutes per hour.

I think I have done my research and am provided a great habitat that closely mimics nature, not a sterile habit. Of course I will clean the cage monthly or as needed. Am I ready?

Hello, welcome to the forum. Cage setups vary almost as much as those of us setting them up. Where in the big world are you located? I have never kept a panther in a terrarium but the smallest screen cage I have housed an adult female panther in was 18x18x36. A male must have a larger home. I fell bigger is better but would not use a smaller size personally. Also chams climb and after you add substrate in a 24" you will have very little space for your cham to climb up. They guys do go up.

How will you handle drainage with the substrate? For you cham to have adequate drinking water, you will need to figure out drainage for a dripper and mistings.

Your hen & chicks will completely take over the bottom and they can get big. I am not sure they will like it that wet, but it might be ok.

Using 2 of the 5.0 uvb's could be a bit much for a baby in that setting, I would only use one.

Those are just my first thoughts.

 

[burnedrose]

Two things that stuck out to me.

1- the cage is glass. Panthers need screen.
2- Substrate. I have seen this happen a few times, where the cham goes to grab a snack off the ground and BLAP, gets some substrate too. This can cause intestinal blockages. So hold off on the substrate.

Also, that size is fine for a baby, but an adult cham will need something two to three times larger.

 

[sophiechameleon]

like burnedrose and many others said the cage should be aluminum screen, and with your new cham you should remove the substrate because the chameleon can ingest this and it can cause severe digestion problems and a possible trip to the vet for your cham. the foliage that you have in your cage does look very nice though and im sure that your new cham will enjoy that i also suggest hand misting instead of only relying on your fogger which will help keep your cham hydrated. i also think that 80 percent humidity seems a little high to me but im not too sure. i would also consider to remove one of the uvb lights and add a basking light. i hope you have better luck with this new chameleon! this forum is awesome and because of it my cham is very healthy and is set up perfectly! and one more word of advice, dont listen to the people at the petstores most of the time they are poorly educated on chameleons! the workers petco and petsmart where i live cant even tell the difference between a male and a female chameleon! i rely on this forum for all of the information i need which has really helped me out. Good luck!

 

[burnedrose]

I agree with sophie about not listening to the pet store folks. My poor baby girl, K2 (RIP), was a rescue case from one of those chain pet stores. I got her and she had a horrid case of MBD and was only 2-3 months old. They kept her in a glass enclosure, with 1 plant and a bowl of water. I rescued her because I couldn't stand to watch her suffer like that. She lived for almost 6 more months before the MBD became her ultimate demise.