Lumi
Member
I got Poppy a few days ago for my birthday and of course, as my first chameleon, I've been stressing ever since. She is a female Panther Chameleon. While she's awake she's mostly dark colored, but to be fair its only her second full day in the new enclosure so she may calm down? She is roughly 6 months old, and now that I've been reading the forums I'm concerned about a few things. If I've done stuff wrong please be kind, I'm new to this and that's why I'm asking for feedback to help my chameleon.
Notes:
She's eaten both days since she's been home 6 crickets (gutloaded) the first day and 6 the second. And I've seen her drink from off the leaves after the mister goes off.
1. Is the cage just too small for her already? We figured it would be a good starter cage but now I'm worried she's already too big for it at six months old (ish).
It's 22x11.1x25 which i know is not the ideal size, but is it ok for this age? If it is when should I upgrade her?
I'd like to move it up with a higher shelf but I'm also confused because at petco she had on her happy colors and was at knee level.
2. the temperature and humidity gradient
The mister is on the left side and at the bottom of the tank on the left side the temp is about 70 degrees F and the humidity is at 80%. We live in MT and it's very dry so I have the mister go off for 1 min every 3 hours. (it can't be set to go for over a minute). Under her basking ceramic the temp is roughly 88 and humidity is 25% (the basking heater seems to dry it out). But lower on that side the humidity increases to more around 50-60%. it's just dry under the light. I have a bioactive tank so it helps keep in the humidity. I know the humidity values aren't absolutely perfect, but since she can move around the cage are they good or no? I'm unsure how to keep the perfect humidity and temp at all places in the tank, plus the chameleon academy website said 40-50% during the day + 80-100% at night which is different from other things I've read (why is all the information contradictory!)
Light(tank left side): Exoterra 26W reptile UVB 100
Ceramic heat source(tank right side): zoomed ceramic infrared heat emitter 60W
3. She doesn't spend a lot of time under the basking light. I've held my hand under there and it feels pleasantly warm and I've hidden it almost completely behind leaves (all my leaves are fake at this point). When she's dark all the time I'm worried she's cold, but then she doesn't go to the basking spot. She does move around, and does lighten up when I feed her and when she sleeps. I've included a picture of her being slightly lighter, but her "happy colors" she had on when we bought her was just mostly straight pink, and I don't see that unless she's asleep. Again, maybe it's just because she's new to her enclosure, but I'm worried i've screwed something up.
Notes:
She's eaten both days since she's been home 6 crickets (gutloaded) the first day and 6 the second. And I've seen her drink from off the leaves after the mister goes off.
1. Is the cage just too small for her already? We figured it would be a good starter cage but now I'm worried she's already too big for it at six months old (ish).
It's 22x11.1x25 which i know is not the ideal size, but is it ok for this age? If it is when should I upgrade her?
I'd like to move it up with a higher shelf but I'm also confused because at petco she had on her happy colors and was at knee level.
2. the temperature and humidity gradient
The mister is on the left side and at the bottom of the tank on the left side the temp is about 70 degrees F and the humidity is at 80%. We live in MT and it's very dry so I have the mister go off for 1 min every 3 hours. (it can't be set to go for over a minute). Under her basking ceramic the temp is roughly 88 and humidity is 25% (the basking heater seems to dry it out). But lower on that side the humidity increases to more around 50-60%. it's just dry under the light. I have a bioactive tank so it helps keep in the humidity. I know the humidity values aren't absolutely perfect, but since she can move around the cage are they good or no? I'm unsure how to keep the perfect humidity and temp at all places in the tank, plus the chameleon academy website said 40-50% during the day + 80-100% at night which is different from other things I've read (why is all the information contradictory!)
Light(tank left side): Exoterra 26W reptile UVB 100
Ceramic heat source(tank right side): zoomed ceramic infrared heat emitter 60W
3. She doesn't spend a lot of time under the basking light. I've held my hand under there and it feels pleasantly warm and I've hidden it almost completely behind leaves (all my leaves are fake at this point). When she's dark all the time I'm worried she's cold, but then she doesn't go to the basking spot. She does move around, and does lighten up when I feed her and when she sleeps. I've included a picture of her being slightly lighter, but her "happy colors" she had on when we bought her was just mostly straight pink, and I don't see that unless she's asleep. Again, maybe it's just because she's new to her enclosure, but I'm worried i've screwed something up.
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