Looking for feedback on my lighting layout (Panther Chameleon enclosure)

[Atlas.Orion]

I bought Atlas's enclosure pre-built from his breeder because I wanted to keep his transition as stress-free as possible, so the branch layout is pretty much fixed (everything is hot-glued in place). The only thing I can realistically move around is the lighting on top. Right now I'm running an Arcadia T5 HO UVB diagonally corner-to-corner, a SEAOURA full-spectrum LED aquarium light straight across the back for the live plants, and my basking dome over the front horizontal basking branch. I've read that panther chameleons regulate both their heat and UVB exposure by moving around the enclosure, so before I start rearranging things I'd love to hear what the experienced keepers think. If this were your enclosure, would you leave the lights where they are or reposition anything?

I will say that he does have climbable area that is hard to see, but I do also plan on adding more climbing area for him in the coming months so that may change the lighting situation again, but I'd prefer him to get settled a bit more before since I just added all those smaller plants in the bottom, to which he immediately became intrigued with. Photo's attached for reference.

 

[MissSkittles]

Very nice! Your lighting looks fine. You may want to put your plant lighting on the diagonal too. Your plants will grow towards it and it could leave them with some wonky shapes. Definitely need many more branches for your guy to travel. Make sure they are different diameters to properly exercise his little mitten and leg muscles. Is that reptile carpet on the bottom? Bare floors are best for hygiene and cleaning. The carpet tends to become bacterial breeding grounds. If it’s there primarily because of water drainage, you may want to look into better ways to manage drainage. Dragon Strand has a drainage tray that many use and like. ReptiBreeze makes a substrate tray that is molded plastic and will hold the water until you can wet vac or whatever. Drainage management is only as limited as imagination. I also want to ask about the blue item about halfway down. Is that a feeding station? If so, those are best a bit higher, where your chameleon feels safest. You’ve got a fantastic start and just need a few tweaks.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Good start! Definately the enclosure requires more branches for your Furcifer pardalis to roam his enclosure effectively.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[Atlas.Orion]

Very nice! Your lighting looks fine. You may want to put your plant lighting on the diagonal too. Your plants will grow towards it and it could leave them with some wonky shapes. Definitely need many more branches for your guy to travel. Make sure they are different diameters to properly exercise his little mitten and leg muscles. Is that reptile carpet on the bottom? Bare floors are best for hygiene and cleaning. The carpet tends to become bacterial breeding grounds. If it’s there primarily because of water drainage, you may want to look into better ways to manage drainage. Dragon Strand has a drainage tray that many use and like. ReptiBreeze makes a substrate tray that is molded plastic and will hold the water until you can wet vac or whatever. Drainage management is only as limited as imagination. I also want to ask about the blue item about halfway down. Is that a feeding station? If so, those are best a bit higher, where your chameleon feels safest. You’ve got a fantastic start and just need a few tweaks.

Awesome! Thank you so much this makes me feel so much better! Just to touch on your questions, the green thing at the bottom is a gardening matt. lol It's a smooth tarp that has buttons on the corners that snap up to create a working area where dirt can stay in place. It fit almost perfectly on the bottom, so for right now it is temporary to catch extra water and such until I can get a hold of a proper stand for this enclosure, I am 99.9% sure it's a XL reptibreeze so I will def be buying one of those drainage trays as soon as I get a proper stand for this guy. For now though, it is just there to help catch any extra water. I've been very meaningful about cleaning up this poops on a daily basis when I see them (though yesterday and today's poops have eluded me... hmm...). After the amount I spent on him, plus his ready to go enclosure (and the weirdly expensive light set up...) my wallet needs a break for at least a couple weeks. lol He does seem to be settling in and happy enough that his personality is starting to come through.

The blue item is a feeding dish, it's actually the 2nd feeding dish in there. I am not sure why the breeder put a 2nd one down so low, but the other feeding dish is up top and sits level with his basing branch on the other side of the enclosure. I've tried using the one below, even put some very active roaches in there this morning (which he stopped and stared at for 15 minutes before decided it was too much work to leave his branch). The only thing that has drawn him down past the middle of the enclosure is the one day it was really hot and he needed somewhere cooler to sleep last week, and yesterday when a red runner got loose in his enclosure and he zoomed down there in ultimate mini-predator mode to grab it. I may actually use it as a base to position a new branch or plant on. If he won't use it for food, it's going to be used or something since it's hot glued to the side of the cage.

 

[Atlas.Orion]

Good start! Definately the enclosure requires more branches for your Furcifer pardalis to roam his enclosure effectively.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

Thank you!! I'll work on getting some branches this week or early next week. Do you know if those fancy wavy branches in the aquarium sections of some pets stores would be suitable? I can't recall the name of them of the top of my head, but from the sounds of it, not all woods are created equal for climbing.

 

[MissSkittles]

Seems that for some animals, roaches are an acquired taste. Keep offering them though, along with a variety of other healthy staple feeders. I have no idea what you know/don’t know, so forgive if I act like a mother hen. Adding a graphic for feeders and what to gutload/feed them with. I like to use branches that I scavenge from my neighbor’s when they trim their oak trees or find elsewhere. I wash with soapy water to get dirt, bugs and bird poo off, rinse very well, sun dry and use. The lichen that doesn’t come off from my little scrub gets to stay. While I like the natural look, I often also will add at least one commercial vine (Fluker’s bend a branch) to fill in awkward areas.

 

[Atlas.Orion]

Seems that for some animals, roaches are an acquired taste. Keep offering them though, along with a variety of other healthy staple feeders. I have no idea what you know/don’t know, so forgive if I act like a mother hen. Adding a graphic for feeders and what to gutload/feed them with. I like to use branches that I scavenge from my neighbor’s when they trim their oak trees or find elsewhere. I wash with soapy water to get dirt, bugs and bird poo off, rinse very well, sun dry and use. The lichen that doesn’t come off from my little scrub gets to stay. While I like the natural look, I often also will add at least one commercial vine (Fluker’s bend a branch) to fill in awkward areas.

Thank you so much! That helps tremendously! I have a few young oaks around me that always seem to have nice sturdy branches break after a good windstorm. Lol as for the roaches, normally that’s his number 1 go to food. He won’t usually touch a super worm unless he’s really hungry. Today was just an “it’s not worth moving to eat” kinda day. Which are very rare for him from what I’ve noticed. he also been eating like a pig the last few days so it doesn’t surprise me he decided not today. Lol