Getting another cham and need advice

[joneill]

Hi everyone, I am getting a baby panther chameleon next month and would like to know if anyone has advice regarding the correct husbandry of this type of cham? I already own a veiled who has just turned 1 year and need to find out if the setup and care would be similar or the same for the panther. It is a male and he is a red bodied blue barred locale (if that makes any difference). He is also only 4 weeks old and will be around 10 weeks when I bring him home. Is there anything special that I should know about taking care of such a young cham? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[carol5208]

yes pretty much everything is the same. How old was your veild when you got him? At 10 weeks be sure to feed him alot! 20 feeders a day or so. Same supplements as a veild. Basking temp around 85 or so.

 

[laurie]

Carole has you covered, unless you want to send him to me - that would reduce your stress on setting him up.

 

[joneill]

My veiled was around 7mths which is what the pet store told me so hopefully they are correct. I saw another veiled in a different pet store and they told me he was almost 2 years old which I found interesting cos my boy was much bigger than him at only 9mths??? Anyway, since I got my veiled as a sub-adult, I have not had experience with keeping a baby cham so wanted to get advice from the experts first. I have read that babies need a lower basking temp - is this correct?

 

[joneill]

Carole has you covered, unless you want to send him to me - that would reduce your stress on setting him up.

Ha ha Laurie!!! I could send him to you but that would take all my enjoyment away. Plus I am on the other side of the world being in Durban, South Africa.

 

[carol5208]

85 for a young panther is ok for the basking. You can raise it 5 or so degrees when they get older. My adult panther basks in the Florida sun and it is way hotter than 90. The kammers who are a popular and respected breeder here on the forum have a basking of 95-100 for adults and 90-95 for babies on their care sheet. Some will argue that is too hot, but they have been breeding chameleons for ever and are very successful in doing so. If your chameleon is basking and constantly opening his mouth, then the temps are probably too high, so just play around with that. You are getting a panther at 10 weeks old so yes, he is still classified as a baby but not as fragile as a newborn would be.