help with hatchling panther setup

[trevev]

Hi, guys. I need help with my hatchling panther chameleon set up. My basking temperature is about 84. I do have reptisun 5.0 florescent lights, but I took them off for a better shot of the cage. I am feeding them fruitflies and pinhead crickets. The feeders keep falling to the bottom of the cage and drownig in water droplets. The wire rack is about 4 inches from the bottom of the setup. I am thinking about lowering it to 2 in. so the chameleons might have better access to the feeders that fall to the bottom. I have 21 chameleons in there right now. My biggest problem seems to be keeping the feeders alive and in easy reach of the chameleons. This is my first clutch, so any advice would be appreciated.

 

[trevev]

let me know if you need any additional information.

 

[mcleodschams]

Line the bottom with papertowel the feeders wont drown thatway also more foliage for droplets to for for the little one to drink and feedres to climb on to help their hunting skills hope this helps.

 

[Cainschams]

Its very time consuming but wiping the bin out before you put the feeders in is the best way to keep the bugs from drowning. Feed them in the morning when the drops have dried up and after you clean all the poops. This way you kill two birds with one stone and the babies wont have a chance to snag a feeder that is hanging out or eating the poops.

I would also suggest trying to set up quite a few bins. This way you wont have so many in one and there will be less of a chance for fighting and food competition. Eventually you will have to separate them by size since they all dont grow the at the same rate. Even one clutch is time consuming to keep up on all the cleaning and feeding but its well worth it

Congrats on your first clutch!

 

[trevev]

Thanks for the tips! Anyone else have any advice our suggestions?

 

[mcleodschams]

That will work aswell I just find it easy to change paper towel every dayyou get the poops and any dead bugs or excess water.

 

[trevev]

update

Thanks for the tips guys! Lat night when i went to feed my baby chams, they went crazy! It was like the shootout out O.K corral!!

 

[Mystic]

Thanks for the tips guys! Lat night when i went to feed my baby chams, they went crazy! It was like the shootout out O.K corral!!

You should make a vid of that eating frenzy next time and post it