Thanks! My feedback and any questions will be in red:
1.Panther chameleon about 11wks old had for 2 wks now.
2.I held it yesterday when it climbed onto my hand after feeding from cup.
3.I feed nymph lobster or dubia roaches. I try to feed 2-3 times a day. Lobsters it will eat about 20 each time dubias it eats less of because of size difference maybe 5 or so. They eat roach chow and fresh greens along with squash and carrots.
4.I dust with calcium without D and I have not yet done other vitamins since it has only been 2wks.
Does your calcium have phosphorus with it? What other supplements do you have? A good schedule is use a multivitamin with D3 (like Zoo Med Reptivite with D3) once every two weeks, and phosphorus-free and D3-free pure calcium (like Zoo Med ReptiCalcium without D3) on every feeding (except when using the multivitamin with D3).
5.I spray the pen down first thing in the morning then twice through out the day. I have a fogger on top that helps with humidity plus it let's water droplets develope on the screen which then drips onto a plant I have in there for him to also drink from. I have seen him drink from the flower pedals.
How long do you spray for? A humidifier should only be used at night and properly cleaned thoroughly and often.
6.The fecal looks good dark brown you could say with white urine. No pesticide testing yet we will be going to the vet shortly to get a full look over and sample done then. All my reptiles must see the vet once they enter my house but first for stress reasons I wait about a month for them to acclimate to there new home before I stress them out more. So when they come back they have there (safe place) back.
Cage
1.Screen med size chameleon cage from Zoo med it was a chameleon kit.16x16x30.
Eventually your cham will need an enclosure at least 2’ x 2’ x 4’ tall, preferably 4’ x 2’ x 4’ tall or bigger. If your cham is a female, she’ll need a proper lay bin in her cage 24/7.
2. The lighting that came with the kit i use. It goes on around 7am and off 7pm.
So both lights in the Zoo Med Chameleon Kit are bad. You’ll need a linear fixture (T8 or T5 High Output-preferably T5 HO) that is either the length of your cham’s adult cage or a foot longer (same length to go straight across the middle on the top or a foot longer to go diagonal) and a linear UVB bulb of a matching length (strength depends on the strength of the fixture, only use either Arcadia or Zoo Med for brands-if you go with a T5 HO fixture, get an Arcadia 6% and either raise the fixture or lower the basking branch or both to achieve a 8-9” distance between them). If you use a Zoo Med, the UVB linear bulb will need to be replaced at max 6 months of use, while Arcadia’s is at max once a year. Either way, definitely invest in the Solarmeter 6.5 UVI meter! Replace the blue bulb with a regular white light household incandescent bulb. The wattage depends on your cage and household temps and what you need to get the basking branch the correct temp. Try to keep an 8-9” distance between the heat bulb and basking branch, too, You’ll have to play around with wattages until you get the correct one.
3.Basking is 91 F, middle is 79 F, floor is 72 F. At night I have a 60w heat emitter I added to the kit so Temps stay around 80 F in the top section. I have digital gages I switch out and around to check all over the pen so make sure all is good.
Basking is way too high! I haven’t had a panther baby that young, so someone else will have to tell you the correct basking temp. Definitely don’t go over 85*F though. Take out the heat emitter ASAP! They are known to cause burns and aren‘t needed unless temps get below 60*F at night. Chameleons actually need a nighttime temp drop.
4.They range from in the 80% range down to 50% before I spray again. I also have 2 different digital meters I use for that as well. I always make sure the pen dries I between spray downs. Like I said before I do have a fogger as well to help.
Keep the humidity between 50-60/70% for the day. It can go up to 100% at night. Again, use the fogger at night only.
5.No live plants yet. I always am nervous I will get the wrong kind or not prep them right. Plus not sure where to get from besides home dopt.
The Chameleon Academy and FL Chams both have great chameleon-safe plant lists, I’ll link them at the end, along with other helpful links and care images. I use Physan to prepare my plants (make sure to rinse off all plants in clean water thoroughly and multiple times afterwards!). People also use dilted bleach or hydrogen peroxide and more to clean their plants. Get rocks too big for your chameleon to eat to cover the soil in the pots. Live plants add much needed foliage to drink off of and hide in, plus help add and stabilize humidity.
6.My cage is at the one end of my house where my bedroom is. Opposite from my main entrance way but where I always stop to check in. The top of the pen is just above my eye level which then makes the basking branch my eye level. No vents or fans in that area as well.
7. I live in NJ
1.I have a 2x2x4 ft cage waiting i just didn't want the baby lost in it.
Honestly, put your cham in there now.
2.I will get the strip light for the large pen just using what I got with this one.
3.I will work on the real plants just need to get my courage up on that one.
4.I actually just keep it down there empty because I have been holding it so I know the baby is eating. I know bad mommy but I can't help it.
As @userBandit said, bring the feeder up higher. Chams prefer to eat up higher, it isn’t natural for them to go down to get food.
5.And the dish on the bottom is just to catch the drips from the fake orchid that the fogger gets drips and drips on that. I empty it 3 times a day so it never has water to deep in it just incase she wonders all the way down there. I said in my last post I do mist 2 to 3 times a day for drinking and humidity purposes. They say don't let the drips go all over so I try not to saturate the bottom of the pen.
Install a proper drainage system outside of the cage instead.
You need TONS more branches, vines, and plants throughout your cage! Definitely switch to your bigger cage and get the proper lights and cage furnishings ASAP, too! Here’s great links:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/external-resources/
https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
https://chameleonacademy.com/panther-chameleon-care/
http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/
http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2012/04/how-to-set-up-proper-chameleon.html
https://www.madcham.de/en/
https://flchams.com/chameleon-safe-plant-list/
