mkoe
Member
Hi everyone I am getting my first chameleon soon! I have always kept snakes and frogs but decided about 9 months ago to get a chameleon. I have been reading this message board for several months trying to get everything ready. I made an enclosure from scratch which I am pretty proud of but also worried that it is not standard and want to make sure everything is acceptable. I already planned to use cedar wood before finding out very recently that that is not a good idea so now I am very worried about other mistakes I may have made. I would really appreciate any advice and I have filled out the help form to give more details on the vivarium. I will also update with pictures as needed and the enclosure is at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Chameleon Info:
Cage Info:
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
No problems. Just trying to get everything ready and make sure it’s not going to kill the cham when I get it.
Chameleon Info:
- Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
- Getting a male panther chameleon soon
- About 3 months of age
- Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
- Don’t have it yet
- Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
- Planning to use mostly crickets gut-loading with mostly collared greens in a feeding cup
- Not 100% sure on feeding schedule yet. Research I have seen says just offer about as much as they’ll eat every day until they get close to full size but if anyone has better information please let me know.
- Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
- have repashy calcium NOD that I plan to use for most feedings. Also have calcium plus with d3 and supervite which I use for my frogs. Any need to use these ever? I think I’ve seen I should use the calcium with d3 every once in a while but not totally sure.
- Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
- Ok honestly terrified for watering. Correct me if I’m wrong but basically all I can do for watering is mist and allow the cham to drink off the plants.
- I plan to hand mist a few times a day and use a fogger at night.
- Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
- Of course don’t have the cham yet
- History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
- Getting it from ipardalis saw that this was one of the more reputable breeders
Cage Info:
- Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
- Glass and acrylic on front and doors
- Screen on top
- Using a fan to pull air through the top for ventilation
- Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
- Using arcadia t5ho 6% light
- Do I still need a heat lamp as well? If so is there a certain wattage or something? I couldn’t really find this in my research
- Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
- Have not installed the doors or screen on top yet so I will have a better idea of this soon
- Have two vivarium electronics thermometer/hygrometer with probes. One will go by basking spot and one will go lower
- As I understand it the thermocline should be ~75-80 for a panther?
- Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
- Measuring as described above
- Will maintain with hand misting and using a fogger overnight
- Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
- All live plants from glass box tropicals will update with what kinds later
- Considering getting a money tree or something for the centerpiece. Do I need this or can I just wrap the dead tree I get in vining plants?
- 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?
- One air vent kind of near but it’s turned away
- A fan in the room but never used
- Cage is unfortunately on the floor right now so the top is just over 4 feet above the floor. Hoping to prop it up on something at some point soon
- Location - Where are you geographically located?
- North Carolina
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
No problems. Just trying to get everything ready and make sure it’s not going to kill the cham when I get it.