Introduction; we're new ambilobe panther parents

azrael

Member
Hello All,

My husband and I have recently become new ambilobe panther parents. I figured a good way to begin being more involved in forums, which have already been a great source of info is to fill out the form with our information. I am also attaching a few pictures, both of when we first brought him home and more current. Any feedback is welcome!

Your Chameleon - His name is Kai (Kaiju, formally) 3.5 month old male Ambilobe Panther. We have had him for 12 days.

Handling - we've attempted to handle him a few times but for a very short time and we leave him alone if he seems scared.


Feeding - We are feeding crickets daily and mealworms every day to every other day. Have tried super worms but he isn't really interested. 6-10 crickets but he doesn't always eat all of them 2 to 4 meal worms. Silkworms are arriving today. We feed in the morning. We are gut loading with a variety of fruits and veggies including collard greens, dandelion greens, endive, carrots, mango, papaya, and oranges.

Supplements - reptical calcium without d3 or phosphorous daily, planning to dust with reptical with d3 and a multivitamin rotation every 2 weeks starting this weekend.

Watering - hand misting 2-5 times daily depending on humidity levels. We do see him drinking.

Fecal Description - Brown to black with white at the end. He has not had a fecal test.

History - we adopted him from a local breeder.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage, 22x24x24

Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 UVB linear 18" bulb and a 60 watt incandescent bulb in a ceramic dome for basking. Lighting is on a 12 hour timer, Turns on at 8:00am CST and off at 8:00pm CST

Temperature - About 70-74 at the bottom of the cage, 80 to 85 in basking spot. Lowest overnight temp is about 72 on average. Two temperature and humidity gauges. A Caliber 4R by the basking spot and an AcuRite at the bottom of the cage.

Humidity - Humidity is between 50-75%. We hand mist and have live plants to control humidity. See above for measuring.

Plants - We have a live rubber ficus and a live pothos. A few fake leaves and a bend a branch

Placement - Cage is near a East facing window in a low-medium traffic area. Vent is close but not above cage. Top of the cage is 4 feet from the floor.

Location - We live in Chicago.

Current Problem - No real problems, He's eating well. Active. Im slightly concerned about juvenile MBD and his skinny legs. I've attached a couple pictures. Would be glad for any feedback, MBD related or otherwise.
 

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Congratulations!! Everything looks pretty good. I would add an automatic dripping system or rain simulator if you can. It makes getting him enough water very easy and reduces the amount of work that you have to do. I would also not feed him meal worms. They really do not have any nutritional value at all. Silk worms, horn worms, and even wax worms are much better choices. I wouldn't worry about they skinniness of his arms. They look perfect to me. With your supplement schedule, gut load, and light, he will not have any MBD problems.
 
Welcome to the forum. It looks like you have a very pretty young man there. He looks healthy. One leg may look a bit bowed, it is in the center picture, but I really can't tell, the picture is not clear.

Question is his cage really 22x24x24? Nothing wrong, just that is not a cage size I am familiar with. It is fine for a baby cage but he will outgrow it very soon.

I am off to bed, just wanted to welcome you to our happy family.
 
Welcome to the forum, and congrats on your first panther boy.

You will fall in love with him in no time, then, the 'addiction' sets in, and before you can say furcifer pardalis, you have a bunch of little cammies :D
 
Hello and welcome! He is adorable and so tiny! Looking forward to watching him grow! Post lots of pics!
 
Congratulations and welcome. I joined this forum as soon as I got my 2nd Panther (about 7 years ago). When I owned my first, this amazing site had not been created yet. In fact, home computers were just beginning to pop up and I didn't even own one yet. Yes I know, I'm old.

I've learned so much from this site, and I'm still learning. Any questions or concerns will be gladly addressed by these members, some who have been in this hobby/field for YEARS.

Heed the warning though..... Chameleon ownership can (and will) lead to addiction and obsession. You have been WARNED!!!!
 
Thank you all for the warm welcome!

Devokid: Thanks for dissuading our concern about MBD and your comment about his arms as well as the tip on the dripper system. I'm planning on setting one up this weekend. The silkworms arrived today so those will replace the mealworms.

Laurie: The cage is really 24x24x22, but because it is a modified 24x24x48. We didn't want to buy two cages so we set up a platform to reduce the height of the cage and will gradually increase the space he has as he gets bigger.

And for the consensus that we will become addicted, we are quickly seeing how that is going to be possible. They are such amazing creatures!
 
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