MAle Panther Dehydrated with a super tall cage 18x18x60"

[nj011908]

Is it too tall for the 16 week panther, he gets some crickets but not all and I have a dripper running all day the I mist really good twice a day like the breeder said and the humidity varies all over and so does the temperature...

Your Chameleon - Ambilobe panther male
Handling - never
Feeding - Crickets I put out 10 lightly dusted with calcium and d3 a few times a week and multivitamin 1 a week and liquid vitamin once a month ( will be the schedule)
Supplements - Rep-cal w/d3, reptivite powder and emphimil poly-vi-sol infant formula for liqiuid vitamins
Watering - misting 2x a day and dripper going all day i drop per 7-10 seconds.
Fecal Description - soft but firm, but orange urate, i think its because he just got stuck in the mail system for two days, I asked the breeder and he said that a shower would stress him out to much to just keep the dripper going
History - he just got here wednseday after being shipped for two days since fedex messed up but he was still warm when he arrived just hungry and im sure dedrated,

Cage Info:
Cage Type -Glass bottom 24"high and screen reptibreex top 36" high = total 60" high x18wx18L
Lighting - two CPL reptisun 5.0 uvb
Temperature - 85-90 basking spot 70 at the bottom, middle abput 74, measured by digital thermometers and analog
Humidity - hygromoter at the top by basking area measures 20% the bottom and middle read at about 50 % except after misting its spikes to 80-90%
Plants - GZolden pothtos and umbrella tree
Placement - located in dinner room, is near a fan that stays off or on low
Location - northern illinois

 

[carol5208]

I think you mean Ambilobe panther! lol Anyways, no nothing wrong with a tall cage. As far as your supplements, you need to make a few changes. Do not give your chameleon d3 but a couple of times a month. Just a plain calcium at most or every feeding. Also, you need to get a regular reptile multivitamin such as herptivite. Give that twice a month also. Who advised you to use the infant liquid vitamin?

 

[nj011908]

JIm from The chameleon company, the one you recomended... He also said that if im going to use vitamin powder go with reptivite, it has a real vitamin A where as the herptivite uses Beta Caratene (not as good) HE also said that one drop per 100grams of infant vitamin liquid is way better and more effective. this guys has been doing this for decades.

 

[nj011908]

ANd he said to use D3 calcium a 2-3 times a week that his chamleons havent seen a problem with this ever and a lot of people over hype it

 

[nj011908]

My main issue is the hydration, he had his first poop in his new home but the urate was orange

 

[carol5208]

Oh, ok, never heard of using that before. If it is proven that it works, then go ahead by all means. I was not sure who told you to do that. I was just going by what works also and that is not using d3 that often. It also depends on what brand of d3 you are using as all the brands have different concentrations of it. Every breeder has a different supplementation program and they all seem to work..

 

[nj011908]

What about water should I be worried, his eyes are NOT sunken but everyone says that the urates need to be white and thery ARE orange

 

[MelissaB]

Is there anywhere near you that you can pick up some hornworms? Those are excellent for helping rehydrate chameleons. Sometimes the reptile store in Plainfield has them, but they've always been huge when I've gone there. I usually order mine from GreatLakesHornworms, but it might still be too cold for a guaranteed live delivery.
Try misting the cage more often, hitting the leaves where he's hanging out, and make sure the dripper is hitting somewhere where it's easy for him to get to the water. Have you seen him drink at all?

 

[CarlC]

Are you sure Jim said 2-3 times per week for calcium with D3? From what I remember he recommended calcium WITHOUT D3 a few times a week.

Carl

 

[nj011908]

Are you sure Jim said 2-3 times per week for calcium with D3? From what I remember he recommended calcium WITHOUT D3 a few times a week.

Carl

he said to do calcium around 2 times a week and i said i have the rep-cal with d3 and he said thats fine, but he said without is fine too, the vitamin drops give plenty of the vitamins anyways. i wrote it all down while we were talking and then told him my schedule, he said it sounded good to him. If i heard him wrong i would not argue with an expert. so if you heard different from him, please let me know i will reconfirm with him in a week or so, poor guy has had me blowing up his phone as a new cham owner i have extreme anxiety

 

[cambech]

Always worked for me when i put one my panthers on a plant in the shower if he or she seemed dehydrated. I would set the water to just warm, not hot and not cold and don't spray the plant or him directly but aim the spray at the wall or something close so that the plant and your panther get misted by it. Always seemed to do the trick for me and they loved the shower.

 

[nj011908]

Always worked for me when i put one my panthers on a plant in the shower if he or she seemed dehydrated. I would set the water to just warm, not hot and not cold and don't spray the plant or him directly but aim the spray at the wall or something close so that the plant and your panther get misted by it. Always seemed to do the trick for me and they loved the shower.

thank you I am going to wait for his next poop and if it looks as if he isn't more hydrated than i will do that, My breeder told me not to be so worried as a 2 day shipment is probably the culprit. He is a very respected breeder so I will see how the next poop looks and then go from there. He does NOT have a lethargic look or sunken eyes so i think im in the clear.

 

[CarlC]

he said to do calcium around 2 times a week and i said i have the rep-cal with d3 and he said thats fine, but he said without is fine too, the vitamin drops give plenty of the vitamins anyways. i wrote it all down while we were talking and then told him my schedule, he said it sounded good to him. If i heard him wrong i would not argue with an expert. so if you heard different from him, please let me know i will reconfirm with him in a week or so, poor guy has had me blowing up his phone as a new cham owner i have extreme anxiety

Jim is the one that raised the animal to this point so I would stick with his advice.
Most people only use D3 a couple to a few times a month. Calcium is used daily in young animals and breeding females.

Carl

 

[nj011908]

Jim is the one that raised the animal to this point so I would stick with his advice.
Most people only use D3 a couple to a few times a month. Calcium is used daily in young animals and breeding females.

Carl

yeah i plan on sticking with jims advice he gas been doing this for decades, the main reason for my thread though wasnt about supplements, only a few replies getr the point which is hydration

 

[misshissingroaches]

hmm im not a cham expert but me personally would mist 3x a day.

 

[Carlton]

hmm im not a cham expert but me personally would mist 3x a day.

3 times a day may or may not be correct. How often anyone would need to mist is going to depend on their particular cage situation...the temp and humidity in the room and the house, how the cage is heated, how water is offered, the local weather, how the room is heated or cooled (forced air will dry the cage out faster). It takes experimentation to figure out what works for each one of us.

 

[nj011908]

3 times a day may or may not be correct. How often anyone would need to mist is going to depend on their particular cage situation...the temp and humidity in the room and the house, how the cage is heated, how water is offered, the local weather, how the room is heated or cooled (forced air will dry the cage out faster). It takes experimentation to figure out what works for each one of us.[/QUOTE

I totally agree , it seems as if y humidity in the bottom of the cage doesn't drop below 55% and max's out 90 just after misting and the top by the basking stays aorund 15-40% depending on misting whilst the middle stays at around 30-50. I think I'm doing ok now and the dripper goes off about every 7 secs. I also run a walgreens well humidifier in the same room on low to keep the room more humid in general without causing the cage / terrarium to be dampm and a umbrella tree and pothos at the bottom with near future plans to get some pothos at mid level of this 5 foot monster cage to keep the humidity stable. Thanks everyone. OT if someone can explain how to level jump from junior member to member, that would be great, I have done way more research obssesively through the internet and breeder websites to studying peoples problems on this website as well as made many posts and posted pictures than most junior members on here than I can see and still im stuck in the junior status... just curious

 

[nj011908]

here is my baby boy
16 weeks

 

[Kath44]

He looks great. As does his home. You've got to use a step or ladder to fill that dripper, surely? Lol.
As for moving up from a junior member, it goes off how many posts you do I think.
Kath.

 

[MelissaB]

He's adorable. Looks like he's on the hunt. Are his bars red?