Hello forum.

[Riddell1984]

Hello chameleon enthusiasts.

I'm Dave. Me and my family have just got a four month old panther chameleon.
We named him Pascal. I had veiled chams as a child. My fiance vowed never to allow me to get one as they eat insects which of course bring on the apocalypse once escaped into the house. However she recently had a change of heart when she realised how amazing they are to watch.
But if a locust or cricket scurried across the floor whilst shes watching tele I'm gonna get it.

Could do with some advice on supplements as I'm reading so many different brands and minerals I'm baffled.

Also not sure if I'm feeding him to much cos he just eats everything.

 

[Redman]

Great looking Cham! Looks nice and healthy too, congratulations. As you are in the UK, I am not sure how easy it is for you to get, but Repashy Calcium plus LoD is a great daily supplement to use. It greatly simplifies supplementation being all you need to use for calcium.

 

[Redman]

Also, younger males can eat daily, but when he gets to be a year old I would drop him down to about 5-7 feeder insects (depending on size) every other day, dusted with the Repashy Calcium plus LoD.

 

[Riddell1984]

Great looking Cham! Looks nice and healthy too, congratulations. As you are in the UK, I am not sure how easy it is for you to get, but Repashy Calcium plus LoD is a great daily supplement to use. It greatly simplifies supplementation being all you need to use for calcium.

The shop I got him from sold me nutrabol should I stop using that. I was lightly dusting the food every other day.
I can buy repashy on the internet easily enough.

 

[Redman]

I have never heard of that brand, so I really can't advise you without research. But I CAN say that you cannot go wrong with the Repashy Calcium plus LoD. So, yeah, if you want to be sure I would start that asap and then stop the other. The only additional supplement you will need otherwise is once every other week also dust with a good reptile mineral supplement. I don't think there is any one brand that is way better than any other to my knowledge. The other key is lighting. Do you have a good handle on correct lighting for your cham?

 

[Riddell1984]

I have never heard of that brand, so I really can't advise you without research. But I CAN say that you cannot go wrong with the Repashy Calcium plus LoD. So, yeah, if you want to be sure I would start that asap and then stop the other. The only additional supplement you will need otherwise is once every other week also dust with a good reptile mineral supplement. I don't think there is any one brand that is way better than any other to my knowledge. The other key is lighting. Do you have a good handle on correct lighting for your cham?

Ok. I will swap for repashy. And I will search for a rep min sup. I have a 12 uvb bulb. Inside his enclosure. That stays on for 14 hrs. He also close to a window. But not in direct sunlight.
All this advised by the shop.

 

[Redman]

What kind of bulb? The standard dome light type are all pretty useless, sadly. It's best to have a basking spot bulb in one area that doesn't get above 90 degrees where he basks as well as most importantly a t5 type fluorescent tube fixture with a 5.0 or 10.0 UVB bulb (I use the higher option as long as there are plenty of plants so the cham can get shade if he needs it. Without proper UVB lighting a Cham can't digest properly and can his health can decline over time. Also, lighting shouldn't ever be in with him, but above the top of the cage.

 

[Riddell1984]

What kind of bulb? The standard dome light type are all pretty useless, sadly. It's best to have a basking spot bulb in one area that doesn't get above 90 degrees where he basks as well as most importantly a t5 type fluorescent tube fixture with a 5.0 or 10.0 UVB bulb (I use the higher option as long as there are plenty of plants so the cham can get shade if he needs it. Without proper UVB lighting a Cham can't digest properly and can his health can decline over time. Also, lighting shouldn't ever be in with him, but above the top of the cage.

Fluorescent bulb. 75 cm long mounted directly inside the top of his enclosure. He cant get to it. Yet. He has a basking vine 6 inches below it. And a 150w ceramic heat lamp sat on top of enclosure with a basking spot about 6 inches below that. He has plenty of shade if he wants it and lower down basking.

 

[Redman]

Basking bulb seems like it might be too hot and absolutely shouldn't be inside the cage, no way. Thermal burns are no joke. A cham will climb on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING he possibly can. Trust me on this one, you do not want them inside the cage. As for the fluorescent bulb, do you have a brand and model? we can look it up for suitability.

 

[Riddell1984]

Basking bulb seems like it might be too hot and absolutely shouldn't be inside the cage, no way. Thermal burns are no joke. A cham will climb on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING he possibly can. Trust me on this one, you do not want them inside the cage. As for the fluorescent bulb, do you have a brand and model? we can look it up for suitability.

Basking bulb isnt in cage it is a dome light sat on top of th cage. It is rigged up to a thermostat with the sensor in his basking zone. It will cut out at 35 celcius. UV bulb is and I will look to move it out soon. But dont want to disturb him too much at the mo. I beleive it is an Arcadia pro t5. 12 uvb

 

[Redman]

That's a great bulb, from all I've heard. So, that's all to the good.

 

[janjan20]

Basking bulb isnt in cage it is a dome light sat on top of th cage. It is rigged up to a thermostat with the sensor in his basking zone. It will cut out at 35 celcius. UV bulb is and I will look to move it out soon. But dont want to disturb him too much at the mo. I beleive it is an Arcadia pro t5. 12 uvb

Hi and welcome! I was just browsing through the thread, looks like Redman is hookin you up with some great advice on set up and supplements. I did notice you have the basking temp at 35 Celsius (95 degrees) that’s a little too hot for a 4 month old. I would recommend dialing that down to around 29 Celsius max temp. They can over heat pretty quickly when they are young and don’t really get out of the heat like they are suppose to lol.