First post

[DesertChameleon]

ended up modifying the corner so i can direct the basking lamp straight down instead of at an angle.

 

[DesertChameleon]

Used an old thicker perch as a post to elevate the basking bulb since i gotta make use of my new spot lamps

 

[DesertChameleon]

Now he can bask a little longer from a safer distance from this super strong spot lamp. glad i have a digital probe thermometer to measure the temps of these basking spots and caught it was too hot despite being a lower wattage bulb.

 

[DesertChameleon]

***Healthy Poop Warning***

One thing I can say with confidence. Get husbandry and hydration strategies from the breeder. A lot of information on the web emulates conditions in the wild not suitable for captive bred panthers in the desert. They’ve been spoiled and probably have never even been rained on. Been consistently getting white urates with Aquaman, something that I’ve had issues with caring for my past chameleons (RIP). If you use live plants and a mister, you do not need a fogger even where I live (Nevada). Always air out excess humidity after watering the plants in the enclosure. Aquaman knows when I’m about to mist his cage and prefers to go on the roof as to not get sprayed on.

 

[DesertChameleon]

Update: Aquaman has been using his new basking “spot” lamp more since I lowered the wattage and raising it further away from the enclosure. I noticed that after warming up for about half an hour or a little longer, he climbs up real close to the UVB side and basks there for some time. Do chameleons know how much UVB they need and bask there as well?

 

[DesertChameleon]

Then 15 min later he ate something, I think a black soldier fly, and is inching back towards the heat lamp, I am predicting he will go to the UVB side again after warming up. Should I have UVB shining onto the basking spot as well?

 

[DesertChameleon]

I’ve observed this cycle using the security cam and he has done this about 6x in a row just basking under the heat lamp for about 20 minutes then he goes to the UVB side and does it for another 20 minutes or so (usually longer than the heat side) my concern is how close he gets to his UVB lamp.

 

[DesertChameleon]

Ive placed the UVB lamp in a way where he cant get directly under it but if he could, he would. My UVB was replaced recently only about a month old. Reptisun 5.0

 

[DesertChameleon]

Yes they will bask after eating as it helps them digest properly, so that’s good! I’m betting the whit you are seeing is a shed coming on. As they get older, they will shed in pieces rather than all at once like babies. So he may shed his face now, his legs another day, his back another day etc…

@Gloriawood you called it! His face is shedding and I can see his arm getting ready to shed as well. Hard too see in this photo through the screen but I can see it clear as day now that I can get a closer look at him.

 

[DesertChameleon]

an hour later still switching sides. he is on the heat lamp side in this pic and can see his shed on his casque more clearly.

 

[DesertChameleon]

30 minutes after his first bask in the morning and he retreated to the UVB side looking like a mummy I was afraid he would hunger strike but he ate 2 superworms from me and returned to the heat lamp. I was able to take a closer pic of him under the heat lamp in all his shedding glory.

 

[DesertChameleon]

It is very fun watching him dance and stretch to release the shed. Yawning a bunch accompanied by some twisting and turning. Did not water the plants to keep humidity lower for a little over 24 hours now. Room temperature is about 77 degrees (using space heaters to warm up the room as it reached 48 degrees outside last night). Lower part of the enclosure also about 77 degrees farenheit and 70 percent humidity. At the top, humidity drops to about 50 percent with a temp at about 81 degrees. Highest recorded temp using the probe on his basking site was over 92 degrees farenheit. I allowed the probe to stay under the light for over 30 minutes to achieve that temperature. It slows its climb at around 88.7 degrees farenheit and takes about 15 minutes to get to 92 degrees.

 

[DesertChameleon]

He has already rubbed off most of his shed on most of his body and even his tail all in under less than an hour. I’m no expert but it is lookin like a healthy shed to me. Here he is yawning to clear up more shed.

 

[DesertChameleon]

Practically done shedding with no assistance from me, aside from providing ideal environmental conditions in my bedroom to suit his needs. When it is cold outside he explores the lower regions of his enclosure as it is warm n‘ toasty in here when the space heaters are on.

 

[DesertChameleon]

Back to my original question regarding the UVB as I’ve went on a tangent discussing his current shedding. Do chameleons know how much UVB they need? I’ve surmised that they don’t but are looking for a more comfortable heat source aside from their scorching heat lamp.

I tested it out and placed the heat lamp only an inch away from the enclosure first thing in the morning and he spent a good amount of time under there before eventually retreating high up close to the UVB then climbing the roof to get as close as possible to it.

As soon as he did that, I hoisted up the heat lamp about 6 inches from the enclosure. Lo and behold, he almost immediately returned to his basking spot and tested out the new configuration before eventually returning to the UVB side.

If I’m not mistaken, that leads me to believe, in chameleon talk, that his basking spot is getting too hot, too fast for him to “comfortably” kill time in that particular area.

In the wild he can’t tell the sun to dim, they simply move away, nor do they have a warm UVB lamp to go climb upside down in their cage and warm their belly on.

So I will adjust the heat lamp even higher for these 50w basking “spot” lamps from zoo med. Incandescent bulbs are the sure way to go but new laws are making them a little harder to get for the new generation. I know some of the older generation still have Thomas Edison light bulbs stashed in their attics. So I’ll work with what I can get until stores start selling incandescent bulbs again.

 

[DesertChameleon]

I’m crossing my fingers that this is his comfortable goldilocks zone as it is between the UVB and the heat lamp. That way I can record the temperature thats comfortable for him while using a spot lamp instead of my usual incandescent bulb.

 

[DesertChameleon]

Skin lookin fresh after his shed. Now I have him go to his usual spot on the roof so I can clean his cage. I start off with blowdrying all the shed off the foliage then collecting them at the bottom. I also got the “goldilocks zone” temp that he likes. Once all clean I can water his plants and then air out. He goes back in when he is ready.