Greetings from Germany

[JoeT]

Hi all! Great place you all have here.....

Well, why am I here? I am American but have lived in Germany for 24 years now and prefer to speak english. I picked up a life dream last week, a new (hopefully male) Panther - the breeder said that there is a small hump on the base of his tail but I have a hard time agreeing with this.
I was at a reptile convention, and came across a private breeder that offered me a good price so I had to finally do it (Panthers are extremely expensive in Germany). I have many animal friends in my house from 4 dogs, to geckos, frogs, more frogs, and more frogs, our beardie just died after 15 years of having him, and various snakes (did I mention the tons of mantis I breed).

Anyway, I figured I would take this little guy due to my love for them for many years. My son will keep it in his room (great temp, and he has room for the big cage when it gets older). I am looking forward to some good conversation here, and enjoy the information I have already found. He is extremely small right now but eats very well, drinks well and moves around quite a bit hunting FF and pin heads I did find out that it is only 6 weeks old , and hoping I do everything right to make sure he grows up into a very healthy adult.

I am quite busy, so if you write me please do not be offended if it takes a day to get back to you.

Have a great day!
Joe

 

[melric]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new guy. So how much are Panthers in Germany compared to the US?

 

[FurciferLord]

Welcome to the forums, you will find great people on this site. Yes I'm also curious as to how much Panther's cost over in Germany compared to the US. Well good luck with your new addition!

 

[JoeT]

I have been looking around on some US web sites and see that they are not too far off than here. A young one is usually between $170 and $210 (based on todays exchange rate) and adults start at $450 upwards. We were lucky enough to get it for $90 after talking the guy down because I bought 5 Australian tree frogs (the coral blue ones), 8 African Reed Frogs and an electric blue female gecko from him. I would have preferred one of the bigger babies that he had in the cage, but my wife and son instisted on the small one

I have found tons of great info here, and hope to get this little guy through. I appriciate the post by Jannb http://bit.ly/ebQ77R. Lots of excellent information, and I love the fact that they have much in common with my geckos and various types of frogs. Makes it much easier for us.

The biggest mistake I made up to now is I am using a small ExoTerra glass terrarium. The breeder said that would be ok until about 6 months, but here I see everyone speak about no glass. I will have to get a small net one for now, and get a bigger one as he grows.

Do you all think that a ReptiGlow 10.0 (coil version that covers 70% of the cage) is too much for him? It is the only light I use right now due to the temp is just right with this setup.

Have a good day!

 

[melric]

In my opinion growing out babies in Exoterra's is fine. That's what I've done and it's worked for me. I've done research and a lot of people in Europe use them with success. I have not had any complications whatsoever. I have a bunch of them. But, as my chams get older I'm moving them into screen enclosures because glass is way expensive.

The 10.0 is for desert species and is a little much. I would go with a 5.0 uvb light. Tube lights are better, but if you have to use a coil watch out for eye complications. People have said that they cause blindness, but that was years ago and I haven't read about any new blindness issues. Make sure your cham isn't closing it's eyes all the time. Manufacturers have changed the way they make them because of the issues. But, forum members say old stock may be still floating around.

If anyone disagrees with my advice feel free to say something. I'm going off my experience. Which is a little over a year.

Try filling this out copy and paste to see if any more suggestions can be made to your husbandry. It can't hurt.https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[laurie]

Welcome to the group.We have a good number of members in Germany and other areas of Europe. i am not sure where they are all located but maybe the will chime in. For now we will all just enjoy your comapny and get to know you.

Hey melric I have a few years experience on you but you described every thing the same way I would. Like you, I use glass terrarium's with great success. I could not feel safe using a coil UVB since I know they have caused blindness in chameleons.

In my opinion growing out babies in Exoterra's is fine. That's what I've done and it's worked for me. I've done research and a lot of people in Europe use them with success. I have not had any complications whatsoever. I have a bunch of them. But, as my chams get older I'm moving them into screen enclosures because glass is way expensive.

The 10.0 is for desert species and is a little much. I would go with a 5.0 uvb light. Tube lights are better, but if you have to use a coil watch out for eye complications. People have said that they cause blindness, but that was years ago and I haven't read about any new blindness issues. Make sure your cham isn't closing it's eyes all the time. Manufacturers have changed the way they make them because of the issues. But, forum members say old stock may be still floating around.

If anyone disagrees with my advice feel free to say something. I'm going off my experience. Which is a little over a year.

Try filling this out copy and paste to see if any more suggestions can be made to your husbandry. It can't hurt.https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[JoeT]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[melric]

Glad to know I was helpful.