Little Worried

Zilla23

Established Member
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Male Ambilobe Panter, about 6 months old, I have had him about 3 months
  • Handling - Not much but lately he has been coming to the door of the cage more often and will sit on my hand for a bit.
  • Feeding - Crickets are his fave, I have added silk worms (currently waiting on new batch to hatch), horn worms occasionally (sometimes he doesn't want them) blue bottle flies (if they would ever hatch) and super worms a few times a week. I gutload with mango, paypa and watercress, a little honey for the flies and the silkworm/hornworm chow for the silk worms/hornworms
  • Supplements - Reptivite Calcium without D3 every feeding, Reptivite multivitamin WITH D3 every other week.
  • Watering - Mist King with 1 min at 8:00 am 5 min at 12:00 noon, 1 min at 3:00 p.m. and 1 min at 6:00 p.m. he does drink from the pothos leaves
  • Fecal Description - Brown good consistency, white urates, tested negative for parasites in February
  • History - none

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Reptibreeze 24x24x48 Bioactive with planter box underneath.
  • Lighting - Quad Fixture with Arcadia 12% uvb and 3 daylight T5 bulbs, 75 Watt basking spotlight, Jungle Dawn LED spot towards bottom, 12 hours on, 12 hours off on all.
  • Temperature - Basking Temp 85-90, mid level 75-80, lowest point 72-76, I have two probe type thermometers and one disc type that measures temp and humidity in the middle, plus I have a laser temp gun
  • Humidity - 45-55% most of the day, higher at night with humidifer next to enclosure, I have a hygrometer in the middle section of the enclosure.
  • Plants - All Live plants, schefflera, draecena, bromeliad, photos, orchids and air plants (sorry for spelling)
  • Placement - Cage is in corner near a window but not up against it, it is on a table with the highest point about 6' high, I have closed and covered the nearest air vent to cut out drafts.
  • Location - Alabama
Current Problem - Ripley has been a ton more active since being in large enclosure the last few weeks. However lately has has spent most of his time near the lower portion, he has taken to basking in front of the Jungle Dawn spot light which is super bright. lately he is laying on his branch with his eyes closed and a few time I found him at the bottom of the enclosure, he is in my office right behind my desk so I don't think he fell because I would have heard him, I did notice a cricket down on the bottom but he didn't seem to be going after it. His color is good and he is eating and pooping and he looks well hydrated, he is just acting odd with closing his eyes, I was worried that the lights might be too bright but I consulted Todd with LightYourReptiles and these are the lights he recommended I get for his new enclosure.
 
Last edited:
Hmmm. Closed eyes is a big source of concern, but most of your husbandry looks good. The one thing I see that could be changed is the 12% UVB bulb could be too much. 6% is recommended for panthers. 12% is reserved for veileds or enclosures with extremely dense canopies
 
Hmmm. Closed eyes is a big source of concern, but most of your husbandry looks good. The one thing I see that could be changed is the 12% UVB bulb could be too much. 6% is recommended for panthers. 12% is reserved for veileds or enclosures with extremely dense canopies
I thought the same thing and I brought that up to Todd with LightYourReptiles but he said he recommended the 12%, should I maybe but another plant in at the top to dapple it a bit? I’ll attach a photo of enclosure, maybe put something in the top left corner?
ACDF571C-6BFF-4D3A-B734-7737BCA377A8.jpeg
 
I would just switch to a 6%. With that enclosure, you're risking the human equivalent of "sun burns" to your chameleon. There is absolutely nothing blocking the UVB in your setup and even one more large plant will not make a difference.

Respectfully, I disagree with Todd here and so will most of the forum.
 
I would just switch to a 6%. With that enclosure, you're risking the human equivalent of "sun burns" to your chameleon. There is absolutely nothing blocking the UVB in your setup and even one more large plant will not make a difference.

Respectfully, I disagree with Todd here and so will most of the forum.
I absolutely agree with you @Syreptyon ! Sorry, you are mistaken Todd! Too much/intense of lighting Todd!
 
Last edited:
Here is the reply from Todd, good info!!

Number 1
You should put the legs back on.
You do not realize... but that effects UVB and drops it by about 20% with the added distance.
The added 3" inches w/ a 12% bulb makes the UVB PERFECT.

Plus, there could be more shade at the top.
I would get some more shade up top / plant thickets

I doubt that is effecting your animals eyes,
most folks using quads use 12%.
And I have tested these and been doing this for 40 years --
and unlike people that "try" to give advice on the forums ....
I actually test UV levels with a meter in actual cages.

FYI
The UVB levels at the top Basking perches in your cage should be about 3.5 as tested on a solarmeter model 6.5 for a panther chameleon.

having said that ....
**since you are not using the legs and have so little shade up top, maybe you should switch to a 6%.

I advise folks as always to check their cages with a solarmeter.

Thanks and I hope this helps...
:)
 
@Syreptyon @Matt Vanilla Gorilla
Do you think having it lifted is going to drop that uvb down quite a bit? It did in my enclosure with the same quad and 12%. The legs lift it up about 3 inches above the screen. Based on what my levels did if the basking was at 6-7 inches down with the legs 3 inches above and the 12% it would drop the uvi to a 1.4. These were the readings I got using my solarmeter. I had to take the legs off to get the proper UVI for my Veiled.

Maybe you can help me understand why does Arcadia recommend a 3-4 UVI level at basking for a Panther as well as a Veiled. Even in that message Todd says this would provide a 3.5 level for a panther. This often confuses me since I know all the experienced Panther keepers prefer a 5.0 or 6% bulb which would in turn give much lower UVI levels.
 
@Syreptyon @Matt Vanilla Gorilla
Do you think having it lifted is going to drop that uvb down quite a bit? It did in my enclosure with the same quad and 12%. The legs lift it up about 3 inches above the screen. Based on what my levels did if the basking was at 6-7 inches down with the legs 3 inches above and the 12% it would drop the uvi to a 1.4. These were the readings I got using my solarmeter. I had to take the legs off to get the proper UVI for my Veiled.

Maybe you can help me understand why does Arcadia recommend a 3-4 UVI level at basking for a Panther as well as a Veiled. Even in that message Todd says this would provide a 3.5 level for a panther. This often confuses me since I know all the experienced Panther keepers prefer a 5.0 or 6% bulb which would in turn give much lower UVI levels.
You have a vailed my dear. It's all good!
 
I feel that I already made a statement regarding this that I am sticking with! If you have a room size cage it is a different story!
I wasn't intending to offend, I simply copied and pasted the reply I received when I asked if I should swap to the 6% uvb. I am getting conflicting advice and it was recommended that I consult LightYourReptiles as an "expert" in lighting. I just want what is best for my chameleons health and overall well being. I also have the same question as @Beman about if having the added height with the legs lowers the actual uvb of the 12% to 3.5 at the basking level wouldn't the 6% bulb then be too weak?
 
OMG, I think I figured out why Ripley has been closing his eyes lately!! I feel like such a horrible mom!! I was at work late tonight (he stays at my office) and his basking light and LED spotlight didn’t turn off at the set time, I thought maybe the time on the timer was off so I checked and realized that the timer wasn’t even on!!! When I got the new fixture (that has built in timer) I had to rearrange everything and plug his basking light and spot light in to the manual timer, and I guess I forgot to turn the timer on so the lights were always on!! Poor baby, no wonder he is closing his eyes, he must be exhausted! I’m so glad I found it now and it has only been a few days!! As soon as I turned off the two lights he was like “thank god!!!” And promptly rolled his tail and settled in for sleep. I’m glad it wasn’t anything health related but I still feel so bad
 
Back
Top Bottom