Husbandry Check?

[morganmusick]

Hi all,

Just hoping to get a general husbandry check on my guy as a paranoid reptile parent.

Chameleon Info:

•Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?

Yuki is a 10 month old male panther chameleon and I have had him about 4 months.

•Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

Very rarely, I will handle for vet appointments which has only been once, or when needing to rearrange his enclosure. I have been hand feeding on occasion and offering branch hand. I would say less than once a month.

•Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

I just switched to every other day now that he is getting a bit older, i rotate between mostly crickets and dubia roaches, with some treat bugs in the mix like horn worms. Gut loaded with carrots and greens, Josh's frogs cricket quencher for hydration. 5-6 bugs depending on size.

•Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Currently dusting all feeders with repti calcium without D3 at every feeding and I Reptivite vitamins and calcium with D3 once every two weeks.

•Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

He drinks very often in front of me, i use a misting system- I mist 3x daily (once right after lights go off, right after they come on, and once in the early evening once the basking light is off. I live in arizona and it gets under 20 percent humidity so I get anxious about it being way too dry-and occasionally a dripper made from a solo cup (I can't ever get the dripper to consistently drip into the cage rather than pooling on the mesh?)

•Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Poops are fairly consistent, once every couple days, white urate and normal consistency.

•History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Nothing I can think of

Cage Info:
•Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? I have a 24 x 24 x 48 reptibreeze XL cage with live plants and real tree branch sticks/vines to climb around on. Two sides of it are treated with window film for humidity so I guess it is more of a hybrid.

•Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? I have a 24 inch linear t5 5.0 reptisun uvb bulb that is replaced every 6 months. It was just replaced this week. The lights sit about 8 to 10 inches above the branches he mostly sits on. I am looking into plant lights and would love some recommendations here without increasing heat too much? Basking bulb is on a metal basket about 6 inches above the top of the cage (anxious about burns) is this too far away?

•Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?. Basking site temp is 80 to 75ish during the day. At night temp in the cage is low 70s. I have an thermometer on the basking area and one close to the bottom of the enclosure.

•Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?

I just use a hydrometer in the cage and it does not seem to give accurate readings or change much after misting so I am wanting to replace this as well- I monitor his hydration closely.

•Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

I have a large chameleon safe palm, several pothos, and monstera.

•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 in my home office so I work on the other side of the room but other than that is low traffic, the cage is elevated on a stand about 3 feet off the ground.

•Location - Where are you geographically located? I am in northern Arizona.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

I don't have a current problem I just want to see what I can improve. Pics of enclosure and my
Boy for tax thank you so much in advance

 

[ehdee6]

Your little man has sure grown into his colors.

I'm still fairly new myself, but can give you some tips of what I've learned.

About the water from the dripper cup, if you poke a small hole where you want it to drip it will help create a way in, instead of disbursing. This can be as easy as poking a toothpick into the pool and helping it flow, or you can make an actual small hole in the mesh. I've attached a picture of my DIY dripper. It's made of an old juice bottle, a "Lead Free Brass Water Mini Ball Valve Shut Off Switch, 3/8" Hose ID x 3/8 INCH Hose Barb Pipe Tubing Fitting Coupler" from Amazon, and some aquarium tubing. I poke a little hole in the pool of water at the end of the tube where I want it to flow and it seems to work. I'm thinking of making a permanent hole to put the tube in to avoid pooling.

For plant lighting, I tried different grow lights like the mars (with the red and blue lights off, too strong even when dimming), and screw in spectrum lights (not strong enough). I settled with the jungle dawn. It keeps the plants happy and I don't have to worry about my chams eyes or anything.

For your UVB, the sweet spot for your cham to bask is 8" from the light, this will bring him into roughly the Ferguson 3 zone once your light burns in (the example is a new Arcadia 6% bulb - tip, you can also use this bulb in your zoomed kit and it will last a year instead of 6 months). They can also tolerate up to a Ferguson 6 (about 6"), which was the previously recommended distance. The top knob of your reptibreeze is exactly 8", so if you can hang a branch below the UVB light itself at 8" for him to bask, it will help keep him within the right levels. Although they might choose other spots to chill out, he'll probably prefer the one lining up with the light.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Beautiful boy! You’ve got some great larger plants. Are you looking to add smaller ones? Pothos is the workhorse for chameleons and does come in different varieties. If you place it on the bottom and train it to grow upwards, the leaves will grow bigger. Tradescantia zebrina is another favorite and adds a nice touch of color. Nerve plants are super interesting and come in white, red and pink. I have trouble keeping the, alive but prayer plant and calathea are gorgeous. If you get a stronger plant light, croton is also a good one to use. Plants will help increase and maintain your humidity. You can hang plants if you set up a different support system, like Dragon Ledges https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ or attach garden trellis to your frame. Both are easiest when the enclosure is apart or if you have a helper.
What also might help with your humidity is to go bioactive. It’s much easier than it sounds. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/ I used this as a guide. To hold the substrate in my all screen enclosures, I use root pouches. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Root-Po...ge_rr-_-n/a-_-0-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a To measure your temps and humidity, you might want a smart meter, like a Govee. One last thing…your basking temp is a tad low. Ideal for a male panther is around 85.
Very glad that you’re here and hope I’ve been of some help.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Great looking male Furcifer pardalis.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[nightanole]

As with the other setups, i recomend putting the feeder cup in the door so you are not reaching into the cage.

And id put some escape sticks in the tub just incase he goes in there looking for bugs or just happens to fall. I had a sleeping stick rot and ended up with a very wet annoyed sleepy cham in the basin.

 

[morganmusick]

As with the other setups, i recomend putting the feeder cup in the door so you are not reaching into the cage.

And id put some escape sticks in the tub just incase he goes in there looking for bugs or just happens to fall. I had a sleeping stick rot and ended up with a very wet annoyed sleepy cham in the basin.

Thank you! It is on the door now with magnets I will add some sticks into the tub also just in case!

 

[morganmusick]

Hi. Beautiful boy! You’ve got some great larger plants. Are you looking to add smaller ones? Pothos is the workhorse for chameleons and does come in different varieties. If you place it on the bottom and train it to grow upwards, the leaves will grow bigger. Tradescantia zebrina is another favorite and adds a nice touch of color. Nerve plants are super interesting and come in white, red and pink. I have trouble keeping the, alive but prayer plant and calathea are gorgeous. If you get a stronger plant light, croton is also a good one to use. Plants will help increase and maintain your humidity. You can hang plants if you set up a different support system, like Dragon Ledges https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ or attach garden trellis to your frame. Both are easiest when the enclosure is apart or if you have a helper.
What also might help with your humidity is to go bioactive. It’s much easier than it sounds. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/ I used this as a guide. To hold the substrate in my all screen enclosures, I use root pouches. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Root-Po...ge_rr-_-n/a-_-0-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a To measure your temps and humidity, you might want a smart meter, like a Govee. One last thing…your basking temp is a tad low. Ideal for a male panther is around 85.
Very glad that you’re here and hope I’ve been of some help.

Thank you! There are like 3 smaller ones attached to the branches, kind of hard to tell in photos I guess. I recently moved his basking light up because I've been really anxious about it getting too hot or him getting burned so I will move it back down a touch to get it warmer. That is very helpful and I will look into the govee. How hard is it to switch to bioactive in an enclosure that already has a lil guy in it? I would imagine it's easier with a new enclosure.

 

[morganmusick]

Great looking male Furcifer pardalis.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

Thank you!

Your little man has sure grown into his colors.

I'm still fairly new myself, but can give you some tips of what I've learned.

About the water from the dripper cup, if you poke a small hole where you want it to drip it will help create a way in, instead of disbursing. This can be as easy as poking a toothpick into the pool and helping it flow, or you can make an actual small hole in the mesh. I've attached a picture of my DIY dripper. It's made of an old juice bottle, a "Lead Free Brass Water Mini Ball Valve Shut Off Switch, 3/8" Hose ID x 3/8 INCH Hose Barb Pipe Tubing Fitting Coupler" from Amazon, and some aquarium tubing. I poke a little hole in the pool of water at the end of the tube where I want it to flow and it seems to work. I'm thinking of making a permanent hole to put the tube in to avoid pooling.

For plant lighting, I tried different grow lights like the mars (with the red and blue lights off, too strong even when dimming), and screw in spectrum lights (not strong enough). I settled with the jungle dawn. It keeps the plants happy and I don't have to worry about my chams eyes or anything.

For your UVB, the sweet spot for your cham to bask is 8" from the light, this will bring him into roughly the Ferguson 3 zone once your light burns in (the example is a new Arcadia 6% bulb - tip, you can also use this bulb in your zoomed kit and it will last a year instead of 6 months). They can also tolerate up to a Ferguson 6 (about 6"), which was the previously recommended distance. The top knob of your reptibreeze is exactly 8", so if you can hang a branch below the UVB light itself at 8" for him to bask, it will help keep him within the right levels. Although they might choose other spots to chill out, he'll probably prefer the one lining up with the light.

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Thank you this is really helpful!

 

[morganmusick]

Thank you! There are like 3 smaller ones attached to the branches, kind of hard to tell in photos I guess. I recently moved his basking light up because I've been really anxious about it getting too hot or him getting burned so I will move it back down a touch to get it warmer. That is very helpful and I will look into the govee. How hard is it to switch to bioactive in an enclosure that already has a lil guy in it? I would imagine it's easier with a new enclosure.

I moved it down and he's already looking lighter in color and vibin on his basking branch so thank you.

 

[MissSkittles]

How hard is it to switch to bioactive in an enclosure that already has a lil guy in it? I would imagine it's easier with a new enclosure.

I would take him out while you set it up and make sure to have everything that you need right there. I had brought in an extra tall plant just to put my chameleon on to hang out while I redid everything. I made sure to be quick and I did keep a close eye just to make sure there wouldn’t be any escapes happening. I think the hardest part is fitting the tall or bushy plants in between your network of branches. The space is there for them already, but you have to remove them and then fit them back in, which can induce some colorful language.