Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon.
Furcifer pardalis (Panther Chameleon) Locale: Nosy Be, Male, 5-6 months
How long has it been in your care?
About 1 week.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Never try to, but i'll explain in my current problem.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Small/medium sized crickets, 10 a day, feeding everyday.I gutload with carrots, zucchini, Chinese mustard greens, oranges, apples, & sometimes squash.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you using?
Everything is Rep-Cal brand.
Are you dusting your feeders if so with what? and whats your schedule? I
dust with calcium w/ no d3 everyday, herptivite 2 times a month and calcium with d3 2 times a month. Basically everyother Monday of the month I switch off between the multivitamin and calcium with D3.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Haven't seen my cham drink, But i have a MistKing starter system that mists his cage 3 times a day for 4-5 minutes each mist. 7am lights on, mist at 8am for 4 minutes, 12pm 5 minutes, and 4pm 5minues. Lights cut out at 7pm sharp. Also I have a little dripper that drips on leaves all day.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
Fecal color was kind of off since I've had him. He did eat a few silkworms prior to my ownership, so I'm assuming he's feces was jelly like due to the silkies.
Have not got a decal yet, I plan on dropping one off soon. Hopefully this week. I know this is always the first thing to do when getting a cham from an unreliable source.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. I got him from a local breeder, Asked him questions about supplementing, housing, lighting, etc. Just to be sure he knew what he was doing before i took the little guy home. So he checked out healthy when I got him.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
DIY screen cage - 2x2x4'
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
24" t5ho double fixture. Has a 6500k reptisun grow light + 6.0 arcadia light. Heat light is a 75w reptisun basking bulb in a 8.5" clamp lamp fixture. Lights on 7am, lights off 7pm.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)?
Up high ranges from 70's - 80's. Basking spot is clocked in at high 80's.
Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
[/B]Bottom of cage is mid 60's maybe low 70's. I have 2 digital thermometers + a temp gun.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Averages 50%-80%. 80% being after a 5 minute mist. Maintaining levels by mister on a timer. I use a analog humidity gauge + digital.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Ficus Benjamin
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Cage is located in our bedroom. We live in a studio apartment. It's also about 2 1/2 feet off of the floor. I guess you can say he's in a high traffic area since we're always moving around doing our daily things. We have a rack that has curtains that can block light for him at night.
Location - Where are you geographically located?
Los Angeles, California
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
Well, my cham is fairly new to our home. We have another boy aswell, so i'm pretty good with chameleons by now. I just don't understand this guy we have now. He seems a bit shy and doesn't like to move around his cage. He does laps, but it'll literally take him a few hours to peep out the scene. He never basks (which is my problem). I get worried that he's not digesting his food properly. He has pooped twice within this past week. His feces doesn't smell at all so i didn't have any assumptions he had parasites. Also he eats free ranged crickets that happen to get out of his feeder cup. Also goes to his feeder cup and eats about an average of 7 crickets a day. He just never wants to bask...Sometimes I get worried that he's too cold, so i'll pick him up and hold him in the warm light and he'll flatten out, turn brown and absorb the heat. Then i'll sloooowly let him onto a branch and he'll start to bask by himself. I just don't get why he's not basking. But he eats well. Haven't seen him drink yet but his eyes aren't sunken in so i'm assuming he's well hydrated. His feces urate is pretty white as well.
Anyone have any ideas to why he doesn't bask? Is my ambient temp to controlled up top? So he doesn't feel the need to bask? Or is he in too much of a high traffic area and is still in shock from the move? I really get worried he's not warm enough. The times I do pick him up he's really cold so thats why I hold him up to the light.
Any help will be appreciated. I've been lurking on these forums for years, just never made an account. I've learned allot from searching around the web and talking with breeders.
Ari
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon.
Furcifer pardalis (Panther Chameleon) Locale: Nosy Be, Male, 5-6 months
How long has it been in your care?
About 1 week.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Never try to, but i'll explain in my current problem.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Small/medium sized crickets, 10 a day, feeding everyday.I gutload with carrots, zucchini, Chinese mustard greens, oranges, apples, & sometimes squash.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you using?
Everything is Rep-Cal brand.
Are you dusting your feeders if so with what? and whats your schedule? I
dust with calcium w/ no d3 everyday, herptivite 2 times a month and calcium with d3 2 times a month. Basically everyother Monday of the month I switch off between the multivitamin and calcium with D3.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Haven't seen my cham drink, But i have a MistKing starter system that mists his cage 3 times a day for 4-5 minutes each mist. 7am lights on, mist at 8am for 4 minutes, 12pm 5 minutes, and 4pm 5minues. Lights cut out at 7pm sharp. Also I have a little dripper that drips on leaves all day.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
Fecal color was kind of off since I've had him. He did eat a few silkworms prior to my ownership, so I'm assuming he's feces was jelly like due to the silkies.
Have not got a decal yet, I plan on dropping one off soon. Hopefully this week. I know this is always the first thing to do when getting a cham from an unreliable source.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. I got him from a local breeder, Asked him questions about supplementing, housing, lighting, etc. Just to be sure he knew what he was doing before i took the little guy home. So he checked out healthy when I got him.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
DIY screen cage - 2x2x4'
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
24" t5ho double fixture. Has a 6500k reptisun grow light + 6.0 arcadia light. Heat light is a 75w reptisun basking bulb in a 8.5" clamp lamp fixture. Lights on 7am, lights off 7pm.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)?
Up high ranges from 70's - 80's. Basking spot is clocked in at high 80's.
Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
[/B]Bottom of cage is mid 60's maybe low 70's. I have 2 digital thermometers + a temp gun.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Averages 50%-80%. 80% being after a 5 minute mist. Maintaining levels by mister on a timer. I use a analog humidity gauge + digital.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Ficus Benjamin
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Cage is located in our bedroom. We live in a studio apartment. It's also about 2 1/2 feet off of the floor. I guess you can say he's in a high traffic area since we're always moving around doing our daily things. We have a rack that has curtains that can block light for him at night.
Location - Where are you geographically located?
Los Angeles, California
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
Well, my cham is fairly new to our home. We have another boy aswell, so i'm pretty good with chameleons by now. I just don't understand this guy we have now. He seems a bit shy and doesn't like to move around his cage. He does laps, but it'll literally take him a few hours to peep out the scene. He never basks (which is my problem). I get worried that he's not digesting his food properly. He has pooped twice within this past week. His feces doesn't smell at all so i didn't have any assumptions he had parasites. Also he eats free ranged crickets that happen to get out of his feeder cup. Also goes to his feeder cup and eats about an average of 7 crickets a day. He just never wants to bask...Sometimes I get worried that he's too cold, so i'll pick him up and hold him in the warm light and he'll flatten out, turn brown and absorb the heat. Then i'll sloooowly let him onto a branch and he'll start to bask by himself. I just don't get why he's not basking. But he eats well. Haven't seen him drink yet but his eyes aren't sunken in so i'm assuming he's well hydrated. His feces urate is pretty white as well.
Anyone have any ideas to why he doesn't bask? Is my ambient temp to controlled up top? So he doesn't feel the need to bask? Or is he in too much of a high traffic area and is still in shock from the move? I really get worried he's not warm enough. The times I do pick him up he's really cold so thats why I hold him up to the light.
Any help will be appreciated. I've been lurking on these forums for years, just never made an account. I've learned allot from searching around the web and talking with breeders.
Ari