First cham, critique me set up please!

[crapwhereaminow]

Here's my setup for an 11 week old ambilobe panther. For the record I'm adding more plants tomorrow.

Humidity: 60%
Basking spot 85 F
Lamp: 75 watt basking lamp, 7" from screen
Reptisun 5.0 bulb
Food: Silkies, Flies, Crickets, and the occasional butterworm. (so far I've only seen him eat the butterworm).
Proposed supplement plan: Every other day, calcium w/out d3. Every other week calcium with d3. Once a month, multi vitamin.

Any questions I'd be happy to answer!

 

[pssh]

Bring down the baskig temp to 80. More plants are good. You want to dust 5-6 times a week with calcium without d3 for a baby.

 

[graydon]

Put a real plant in there like a ficus or umbrella. You might need to drill holes in the bottom. Prop it up on something, and put a pan underneath. If that is repti-carpet, remove it. Panthers need a lot of foliage.

Also get rid of the analog thermometers. They are inaccurate.

 

[mattgbkk]

That plant looks familiar...lol

 

[crapwhereaminow]

Ok, moved his basking light up, so the (inaccurate I guess) thermometer reads 80. I'm guessing I should go digital? What's a good one?

Like I said, when I set this up I realized I was woefully short on foliage, so that's on the list for petco tomorrow. I'm terrible at keeping plants alive, the only one I've manage to keep is a poinsettia from last christmas, and I'm guessing that's not good for chams.

Its just a plain plastic bottom, nothing else.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Syn]

if the bowl is for water, cover it with screen. Don't want the cham or feeders falling in it.

 

[OOOst16]

ditch the water bowl ...line the bottom with paper towls... and led the dripper drip on the leaves....( get more foliage try live plants....if u cant get live get more plants) and mist with warm water bowls and waterfalls are pointless.

 

[OOOst16]

what i meant was put paper towls over the bottem u have to catch the water...easy clean too ...get more fake plants if u cant get real* more water dropplet surface area is always good

 

[Dave Weldon]

Ok, moved his basking light up, so the (inaccurate I guess) thermometer reads 80. I'm guessing I should go digital? What's a good one?

Like I said, when I set this up I realized I was woefully short on foliage, so that's on the list for petco tomorrow. I'm terrible at keeping plants alive, the only one I've manage to keep is a poinsettia from last christmas, and I'm guessing that's not good for chams.

Its just a plain plastic bottom, nothing else.

Thanks for all the help!

Howdy,

A simple sanity check for basking temps is to stick the back of your hand right at the basking spot. If it feels just a bit warm then the temp is within safe margins. Digital thermometers are good for checking ambient temps but one of the really handy ways to check the actual skin/body temp is with a digital infrared temp gun.

I like the ones with distance to spot ratios of 6:1 or 8:1 or higher. 1:1 means that at 1" away you'll be measuring a 1" spot. It is handy to be a few inches away and still be looking at a spot smaller than 1" .

Don't be overly impressed by the "laser" feature. It is just a laser pointer to aid in pointing at the right spot .

Ex: http://www.tempgun.com/main.html The PE-2 6:1 and the PE-1 is 1:1
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...timers/-/infrared-temperature-gun-with-laser/ (It's the PE-2)
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93984 6:1
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96451 8:1

P.S. If you happen to make it to the next SBCK meeting, I usually have a couple of the low-cost 1:1 Harbor Freight (not on their website today?) units available.

 

[crapwhereaminow]

The bowl is to catch falling water until I decide how to set up a proper drainage system. I'll cover it with a screen for sure.

Do the paper towels have to be changed daily? I'm going to try that tomorrow.

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

Most of the stuff i was going to say has been already said. Try to use a pothos or ficus in the cage. A live plant looks better, and keeps up humidity better.

From what i hear they do well inside homes and are good plants to raise.

Keep us updated with pictures witht he more plants tomorrow

 

[crapwhereaminow]

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone!
I'm going to try and pick up a pothos tomorrow (l like the look of them better) and a couple more fake plants and vines. I'll post update pics tomorrow.

As a side note, I'm soooo stoked! He ate and drank in front of me! I saw him nab two silkworms.