My Panther seemingly not right, new member do need some help or suggestions.

[shuyu Yao]

"We just got a panther chameleon nine days ago, and now he's showing some specific signs of being unhealthy. This includes occasionally scratching at the glass (I'm not sure if it's because he doesn't like the environment we've set up. This behavior is especially frequent when he sees me in front of him, and when I open the cage, he tries to climb from my hand onto my head.) Additionally, he's not drinking water to the point that this morning's uric acid crystals showed some yellow and a small orange spot (as shown in the pictures). Even as of this morning, he has started refusing to eating. He's about six months old now, with a body length of approximately 20 to 25 cm. His enclosure is a solid wood panel type with dimensions of 60*45*90 cm, with ventilation mesh on the back (as my seller claimed this is the most suitable setup for the UK). To maintain ventilation, the front glass door is also kept slightly open (as shown in the pictures).

 

[Gloriawood]

Hi and welcome to you are your gorgeous little guy!! I’m not sure what could be going on with him, I would suggest a husbandry review to help narrow things down. If you are open to doing that, copy and paste the form I included and fill it in with as much info as possible. I’ll let someone with more experience review it, but you are in a great place for advice. Everyone is super helpful and sweet here.



Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.



--------------



Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[Gloriawood]

I will say that it can take a couple weeks for them to settle in to a new environment. Sometimes if they are coming up on a shed, they can also have a decrease in appetite.

 

[#Chams4life]

Hi there welcome to the forums! Your little guy is gorgeous! Definitely fill out the a husbandry review. Scratching at the glass is not really an indication that you’re guy is ill. It actually can be a sign that he’s maturing and roaming his territory and or his cage is too small. With the dimensions you provided his cage is way to small for him. Males should be in a 45x45x91 cm or 61x61x121 cm.
I also recommend removing the wood chips as they can cause impactions. I’m also concerned how close the heat lamp is even with the cage around it. If possible can you move the heat lamp on top of the cage?
@Gloriawood mentioned about shedding and in the picture your little guy does look like he may be going into shed which could be influencing his decreased appetite.

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and welcome! @Gloriawood and @#Chams4life have given you some excellent advice so far. A husbandry review would be helpful so we can support you in what changes would be best for your beautiful boy.

I would also add, way more branches for climbing and plants for your boy to hide behind if feeling nervous. I would also (even though it looks really cool) remove the dino at the bottom, our babies stress easily and who knows if your baby might think its a predator or something. You never know what these shy lizards will be scared of. My panther boy does not like my hands or the color red for example. My Jackson's didnt like a purple ball that was in his room a few months ago...they are just funny like that.

 

[shuyu Yao]

Hi and welcome to you are your gorgeous little guy!! I’m not sure what could be going on with him, I would suggest a husbandry review to help narrow things down. If you are open to doing that, copy and paste the form I included and fill it in with as much info as possible. I’ll let someone with more experience review it, but you are in a great place for advice. Everyone is super helpful and sweet here.



Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your ? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.



--------------



Please Note:

1. Your ChameleonThe more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

Chameleon info

1.Your Chameleon: Panther Chameleon, Ambilobe, male, six months old, 20-25cm long, I've just got him for nine days

2.Handling: I have mentioned that my chameleon loves to "wipe the glass" especially when I am near the glass, if I open the cage at this time he climbs onto my hand and then climbs over my head and stops there. I don't know why. Also I have noticed him doing this on video surveillance but only observed it once.

3.Feeding : I feed him every morning between 8-12am, his previous main diet was grasshoppers and he has had some mealworms, I know this isn't healthy for him but he does like them. Because he has recently started refusing to eat grasshoppers. Before that he was eating about 4 grasshoppers a day.
4.Supplements: Arcadia’s EaethPro-A Dietary Supplement. I mix his food and feed him every two days.
5.Watering : I'm using the Premium High Pressure Rainfall System, with the linkhttps://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/swell-premium-high-pressure-rainfall-system. I set it to water every eight hours for 60 seconds at a time with medium rainfall. But unfortunately I never see my chameleon drink water and I'm very worried he'll get dehydrated.
6.Fecal Description : Feces have been occurring every morning . Today his feces appeared a little orange, before that it was all white mixed with brown. He has never been parasites tested, at least not since I bought him.
7.History : He was purchased at a reptile store in London, UK and I'm not sure if he's a captive bred individual. He was already trying to reach me through the glass door when I met him, like the glass wiping behavior I described earlier, which is why I purchased him, but I'm now concerned that he's suffering from stressful behaviors due to a setup that doesn't meet his survival requirements.

Cage Info:

1. Cage Type: My cage is more like a Combo one wich is made of solid wooden boards combined with two sides of sliding glass and a plastic mesh at the top of the back. Its size is 45*60*90cm.
2.Lighting :I'm not sure what brand I used for my lighting. The seller set it up for me when I got the chameleon. The light is a lamp about 30cm long being installed on the inside top of the cage near the door. I originally turned it on for 12 hours a day, from 8am to 8pm, but recently I've noticed that the chameleon starts to go to sleep around 6pm so I now turn the light off at 3pm (close to the time the sun goes down in the UK these days).
3.Temperature uring the day the temperature near the heat source is 30 to 28 degrees Celsius and the temperature at the bottom of the cage is around 22 to 20 degrees. At night I will turn off the heat source and it comes between 22 and 20 on my thermometer. I have a thermo-hygrometer with probe set up inside the cage.
4.Humidity: The humidity stays between 50-80% during the day and usually exceeds 80% at night. Because the cage is well sealed if the glass door is pulled shut, it is easy to keep the humidity inside.
5.Plants :Yes. The live plants in there include, a pot of epipremnum aureum, a pot of monstera deliciosa, and some short plants that I don't really know the names. t is worth mentioning that I laid Orchid Bark Fine at the bottom of the cage. I also laid some Hydro Rocks at the very bottom of the cager to prevent mold and water accumulation. Additionally, I have Springtails and woodlice on the bottom to prevent mold.
6.Placement: I placed the set on a 75cm table. ·Overall, the top of the cage is 165cm above the ground. The whole setup is near the balcony, but still indoors in my living room. Also, I live on the fourth floor and the temperature in my flat is probably between 20 and 26 degrees Celsius.
7.Location : I am in London, UK.

Thank you very much for the form, And I've put some of the relevant images in an attachment.（I don't know why my pictures are all sideways, sorry about that）

 

[shuyu Yao]

Hi there welcome to the forums! Your little guy is gorgeous! Definitely fill out the a husbandry review. Scratching at the glass is not really an indication that you’re guy is ill. It actually can be a sign that he’s maturing and roaming his territory and or his cage is too small. With the dimensions you provided his cage is way to small for him. Males should be in a 45x45x91 cm or 61x61x121 cm.
I also recommend removing the wood chips as they can cause impactions. I’m also concerned how close the heat lamp is even with the cage around it. If possible can you move the heat lamp on top of the cage?
@Gloriawood mentioned about shedding and in the picture your little guy does look like he may be going into shed which could be influencing his decreased appetite.

Thanks for the reply, for what it's worth to say, he was only shedding last Wednesday and the whole process went well, and I've added the full Husbandry Review about my chameleon behind.

 

[elizaann2]

Hi @shuyu Yao I'll start on your husbandry review, I've got a couple things going on so it may take a minute.

 

[shuyu Yao]

Hi @shuyu Yao I'll start on your husbandry review, I've got a couple things going on so it may take a minute.

thx a lot!!

 

[elizaann2]

Sorry that took so long! See my answers below in bold:

Chameleon info

1.Your Chameleon: Panther Chameleon, Ambilobe, male, six months old, 20-25cm long, I've just got him for nine days. Awesome

2.Handling: I have mentioned that my chameleon loves to "wipe the glass" especially when I am near the glass, if I open the cage at this time he climbs onto my hand and then climbs over my head and stops there. I don't know why. Also I have noticed him doing this on video surveillance but only observed it once. I personally would take this as a sign that something is not right in his enclosure. Lets look into this as we do the review and see what changes can be made. A typical happy chameleon will just sit and look around, so that is the goal to get to for your beautiful boy. Also be aware that chameleons are very shy lizards. Handling them often can cause unnecessary stress. View them more like a fish pet, they are awesome to observe and fun to feed, but they are not a tactile pet.

3.Feeding : I feed him every morning between 8-12am, his previous main diet was grasshoppers and he has had some mealworms, I know this isn't healthy for him but he does like them. Because he has recently started refusing to eat grasshoppers. Before that he was eating about 4 grasshoppers a day. Around this age he will start to lessen the amount of food he will eat, he should still be eating a decent amount though. My 9 month old for an example eats about 10 bugs daily, sometimes more, sometimes less. What I like to do is provide a large amount of bugs for my guy to pick at throughout the day and then I remove any uneaten bugs at the end of the night just before lights go out. Grasshoppers are an excellent staple feeder, you can also do silk worms, crickets and bsfl. Treat bugs are wax worms and super worms. I'll offer my juvenile 10 crickets daily and about 15-20 bsfl. You'll want to gut load all of your bugs so that the bugs are nice and healthy for your chameleon. Attaching a document that lists good feeders and another one that has great info on gut loading your bugs
4.Supplements: Arcadia’s EaethPro-A Dietary Supplement. I mix his food and feed him every two days. @Beman - can you advise on the supplements? I am not familiar with the Arcadia EarthPro-A. I believe this is similar to the Repashy LoD that I use but I am not sure and I don't want to give correct information just in case.
5.Watering : I'm using the Premium High Pressure Rainfall System, with the linkhttps://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/swell-premium-high-pressure-rainfall-system. I set it to water every eight hours for 60 seconds at a time with medium rainfall. But unfortunately I never see my chameleon drink water and I'm very worried he'll get dehydrated. Chameleons are shy drinkers and you may not ever actually see him drink. How we monitor hydration is actually through their poop and urate (the white/orange part which is actually their urine). The poop you want to be firm but not hard and the urate you ideally want to be white. The more orange it is, the more dehydrated they are. Where he is new to you I would actually suggest offering more drinking opportunities as he will most likely need the extra water due to him traveling, being in the reptile expo and being in a new home. For the first month I would offer 2 drinking opportunities during the day, a dripper would be perfect for that. This is my hydration schedule, you could follow this and make adjustments as you see appropriate, keep in mind that I have hybrid enclosures and live in a very dry place so my hydration schedule may be too much for where you live
7:30 - mist for 2 minutes
8:00 - lights come on, chameleon may drink dew on leaves to top off hydration from the night before
3:00 - install dripper - if I see my chameleon drink, I know I need to make adjustments in my hydration
8:00 - lights turn off
10:00 - mist for 2 minutes
12-6 - fog machine is on for 30 minutes at a time between 12 - 6
6.Fecal Description : Feces have been occurring every morning . Today his feces appeared a little orange, before that it was all white mixed with brown. He has never been parasites tested, at least not since I bought him. A little orange is dehydrated, so as I mentioned install a dripper in the middle of the day to give him an extra drinking opportunity. The rest looks pretty normal. I would strongly recommend getting him tested for parasites asap.
7.History : He was purchased at a reptile store in London, UK and I'm not sure if he's a captive bred individual. He was already trying to reach me through the glass door when I met him, like the glass wiping behavior I described earlier, which is why I purchased him, but I'm now concerned that he's suffering from stressful behaviors due to a setup that doesn't meet his survival requirements. I believe you are correct, chameleons that are trying to get away from their enclosures are usually stressed with them. He was probably stressed at the pet store too if the was doing that there as well.

 

[elizaann2]

Cage Info:

1. Cage Type: My cage is more like a Combo one wich is made of solid wooden boards combined with two sides of sliding glass and a plastic mesh at the top of the back. Its size is 45*60*90cm. Ok this is much too small for your baby boy. The minimum size he should be in is a 60*60*121 CM. This will need to be upgraded asap.
2.Lighting :I'm not sure what brand I used for my lighting. The seller set it up for me when I got the chameleon. The light is a lamp about 30cm long being installed on the inside top of the cage near the door. I originally turned it on for 12 hours a day, from 8am to 8pm, but recently I've noticed that the chameleon starts to go to sleep around 6pm so I now turn the light off at 3pm (close to the time the sun goes down in the UK these days). The lights are SUPER important. When you can, please send me a picture of the box the light came in or the bulb itself. We are looking at the brand and a % somewhere. Your boy needs either an Arcadia 6% or a ReptiSun 5.0. These are a UVB light which your chameleon needs to use the calcium in his supplements to make strong bones and healthy muscles. Without it he will develop MBD with is basically rickets in humans and its very very painful. You need your branches to be about 6-9 inches away from your UVB light and make sure you have one branch running linear with the light. This should gve your boy about a 3.0 UVB at the highest branch which has been proven to be safe and effective for chameleons.
The other light looks like your basking light possibly (referring to the light IN the enclosure) this is actually dangerous for your chameleon because he can climb on that cage thing around the bulb and burn himself. Chameleons do not have the capability of knowing that they are burning for some reason so they will just sit there and get these terrible deep burns. You'll need to be careful with your heat light. Mine is on the top of my enclosure in a deep dome so that IF my chameleon is able to get right under it he still can't get too close to the light (This is one is a nice one because you can adjust the height it is from the enclosure https://www.amazon.com/Flukers-Repta-Clamp-Lamp-Switch-Reptiles/dp/B0002DHOE0/ref=sr_1_7?crid=2CNTDAKKH8UTE&keywords=heat+lamp+for+reptiles&qid=1700530907&sprefix=heat+lamp+for+rep%2Caps%2C215&sr=8-7
With your basking light you will also want to do a check to make sure that the heat from it is not too strong. Place your hand at the closest sight that your chameleon can get to and hold it there for several minutes to ensure that it is a soft warmth rather than an intense heat. Basking light also you want to be 36 degrees, be careful not to go above 29 degrees (80-85F).
3.Temperature uring the day the temperature near the heat source is 30 to 28 degrees Celsius and the temperature at the bottom of the cage is around 22 to 20 degrees. At night I will turn off the heat source and it comes between 22 and 20 on my thermometer. I have a thermo-hygrometer with probe set up inside the cage. 30 is a bit high, with him being 6 months old I honestly would stick to 26 degrees and not go above that. Reptiles die far quicker in the heat than they do in the cold. The gradient you want in his enclosure during the day should be 25 at the top and 22 at the bottom. At night ideally you have a temperature drop, when reptiles experience warm nights they dont get as deep of a sleep. For a panther you'll want 50-21
4.Humidity: The humidity stays between 50-80% during the day and usually exceeds 80% at night. Because the cage is well sealed if the glass door is pulled shut, it is easy to keep the humidity inside. During the day you'll want your humidity to be around 50-60%, anything higher than that and your enclosure will grow mold and all sorts of nasty as well as your chameleon can develop a respiratory infection with high temperatures and high humidity. Humidity at night is PERFECT!! With high humidity you'll want to make sure you have low temperatures, 20 degrees or lower.
5.Plants :Yes. The live plants in there include, a pot of epipremnum aureum, a pot of monstera deliciosa, and some short plants that I don't really know the names. t is worth mentioning that I laid Orchid Bark Fine at the bottom of the cage. I also laid some Hydro Rocks at the very bottom of the cager to prevent mold and water accumulation. Additionally, I have Springtails and woodlice on the bottom to prevent mold. Ok I think thats ok? I'm not sure about the Orchid Bark @MissSkittles - any impaction concerns here?
The plants are fantastic and you'll need to add much much more. You'll want plants in front of the branches so that you little guy can hide behind them to help him feel safe and secure. Basically if you look in your enclosure and can easily spot your chameleon, you do not have enough coverage (attaching a picture of one of my enclosures so you can get an idea on plant coverage). Attaching some documents with chameleon safe plants so you can easily add more plants. The plants you also want in the middle/topish area of the enclosure. Height equals safety to chameleons as well so if all your plants are on the bottom of the enclosure, he can't really use them unfortunately
6.Placement: I placed the set on a 75cm table. ·Overall, the top of the cage is 165cm above the ground. The whole setup is near the balcony, but still indoors in my living room. Also, I live on the fourth floor and the temperature in my flat is probably between 20 and 26 degrees Celsius. Great, as I mentioned previously, height equals safety to chameleons. My enclosures are all on shelves to that the top of the chameleon branches go above my head. Chameleons can also get stressed by high traffic areas so if he is somewhere in your house where other animals or humans walk by often this may also cause him stress.
7.Location : I am in London, UK.

Some great resources for you are:
Chameleon Academy podcast and website
Neptune the Chameleon YouTube and website

This is the care sheet that I follow for my panther

Please let me know what other questions you have!

 

[MissSkittles]

is worth mentioning that I laid Orchid Bark Fine at the bottom of the cage. I also laid some Hydro Rocks at the very bottom of the cager to prevent mold and water accumulation. Additionally, I have Springtails and woodlice on the bottom to prevent mold. Ok I think thats ok? I'm not sure about the Orchid Bark @MissSkittles - any impaction concerns here?

Orchid bark does give me concern that by itself it could pose an impaction risk. It seems you are trying for a bioactive set up, which are awesome but need to be done properly. You need a drainage layer that is separated from the substrate and you have to have a way to remove the excess drainage. Without that, your plants will get root rot, mold and other nasties will grow and it will start to smell bad. Setting it up properly isn’t all that hard…it just looks that way. This is what I used as a guide when I set mine up. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/ Here’s a clear and simple graphic of how to set up the drainage system by a member who‘s name I no longer recall. PVC pipe lends itself very well to be used to access the drainage layer to remove excess drainage, for which you’d use any type of siphon hose or pump. Don’t forget to place a cap over the pipe when not being used.

 

[shuyu Yao]

Cage Info:

1. Cage Type: My cage is more like a Combo one wich is made of solid wooden boards combined with two sides of sliding glass and a plastic mesh at the top of the back. Its size is 45*60*90cm. Ok this is much too small for your baby boy. The minimum size he should be in is a 60*60*121 CM. This will need to be upgraded asap.
2.Lighting :I'm not sure what brand I used for my lighting. The seller set it up for me when I got the chameleon. The light is a lamp about 30cm long being installed on the inside top of the cage near the door. I originally turned it on for 12 hours a day, from 8am to 8pm, but recently I've noticed that the chameleon starts to go to sleep around 6pm so I now turn the light off at 3pm (close to the time the sun goes down in the UK these days). The lights are SUPER important. When you can, please send me a picture of the box the light came in or the bulb itself. We are looking at the brand and a % somewhere. Your boy needs either an Arcadia 6% or a ReptiSun 5.0. These are a UVB light which your chameleon needs to use the calcium in his supplements to make strong bones and healthy muscles. Without it he will develop MBD with is basically rickets in humans and its very very painful. You need your branches to be about 6-9 inches away from your UVB light and make sure you have one branch running linear with the light. This should gve your boy about a 3.0 UVB at the highest branch which has been proven to be safe and effective for chameleons.
The other light looks like your basking light possibly (referring to the light IN the enclosure) this is actually dangerous for your chameleon because he can climb on that cage thing around the bulb and burn himself. Chameleons do not have the capability of knowing that they are burning for some reason so they will just sit there and get these terrible deep burns. You'll need to be careful with your heat light. Mine is on the top of my enclosure in a deep dome so that IF my chameleon is able to get right under it he still can't get too close to the light (This is one is a nice one because you can adjust the height it is from the enclosure https://www.amazon.com/Flukers-Repta-Clamp-Lamp-Switch-Reptiles/dp/B0002DHOE0/ref=sr_1_7?crid=2CNTDAKKH8UTE&keywords=heat+lamp+for+reptiles&qid=1700530907&sprefix=heat+lamp+for+rep%2Caps%2C215&sr=8-7
With your basking light you will also want to do a check to make sure that the heat from it is not too strong. Place your hand at the closest sight that your chameleon can get to and hold it there for several minutes to ensure that it is a soft warmth rather than an intense heat. Basking light also you want to be 36 degrees, be careful not to go above 29 degrees (80-85F).
3.Temperature uring the day the temperature near the heat source is 30 to 28 degrees Celsius and the temperature at the bottom of the cage is around 22 to 20 degrees. At night I will turn off the heat source and it comes between 22 and 20 on my thermometer. I have a thermo-hygrometer with probe set up inside the cage. 30 is a bit high, with him being 6 months old I honestly would stick to 26 degrees and not go above that. Reptiles die far quicker in the heat than they do in the cold. The gradient you want in his enclosure during the day should be 25 at the top and 22 at the bottom. At night ideally you have a temperature drop, when reptiles experience warm nights they dont get as deep of a sleep. For a panther you'll want 50-21
4.Humidity: The humidity stays between 50-80% during the day and usually exceeds 80% at night. Because the cage is well sealed if the glass door is pulled shut, it is easy to keep the humidity inside. During the day you'll want your humidity to be around 50-60%, anything higher than that and your enclosure will grow mold and all sorts of nasty as well as your chameleon can develop a respiratory infection with high temperatures and high humidity. Humidity at night is PERFECT!! With high humidity you'll want to make sure you have low temperatures, 20 degrees or lower.
5.Plants :Yes. The live plants in there include, a pot of epipremnum aureum, a pot of monstera deliciosa, and some short plants that I don't really know the names. t is worth mentioning that I laid Orchid Bark Fine at the bottom of the cage. I also laid some Hydro Rocks at the very bottom of the cager to prevent mold and water accumulation. Additionally, I have Springtails and woodlice on the bottom to prevent mold. Ok I think thats ok? I'm not sure about the Orchid Bark @MissSkittles - any impaction concerns here?
The plants are fantastic and you'll need to add much much more. You'll want plants in front of the branches so that you little guy can hide behind them to help him feel safe and secure. Basically if you look in your enclosure and can easily spot your chameleon, you do not have enough coverage (attaching a picture of one of my enclosures so you can get an idea on plant coverage). Attaching some documents with chameleon safe plants so you can easily add more plants. The plants you also want in the middle/topish area of the enclosure. Height equals safety to chameleons as well so if all your plants are on the bottom of the enclosure, he can't really use them unfortunately
6.Placement: I placed the set on a 75cm table. ·Overall, the top of the cage is 165cm above the ground. The whole setup is near the balcony, but still indoors in my living room. Also, I live on the fourth floor and the temperature in my flat is probably between 20 and 26 degrees Celsius. Great, as I mentioned previously, height equals safety to chameleons. My enclosures are all on shelves to that the top of the chameleon branches go above my head. Chameleons can also get stressed by high traffic areas so if he is somewhere in your house where other animals or humans walk by often this may also cause him stress.
7.Location : I am in London, UK.

Some great resources for you are:
Chameleon Academy podcast and website
Neptune the Chameleon YouTube and website

This is the care sheet that I follow for my panther

Please let me know what other questions you have!

thank you so much for this detailed answer, but bad news he was escaped the cage last night, I already found hem few minutes age, he still reject food and drink（Even when I put the dropper to his mouth he wouldn't drink). I'm already starting to wonder if I'm going to be able to look after him well enough, and following your advice I should get a new cage, but it's going to take me a week or more to set them up, and I can't guarantee that he's going to be healthy enough in the meantime.

 

[elizaann2]

thank you so much for this detailed answer, but bad news he was escaped the cage last night, I already found hem few minutes age, he still reject food and drink（Even when I put the dropper to his mouth he wouldn't drink). I'm already starting to wonder if I'm going to be able to look after him well enough, and following your advice I should get a new cage, but it's going to take me a week or more to set them up, and I can't guarantee that he's going to be healthy enough in the meantime.

I am sorry to hear that, chameleons are very specific to care for and unfortunately there is not a lot of 'correct' information out there. We find that many people who wander onto this forum usually need to make a decent amount of changes (myself included). Its tough for sure. My first girl I had everything wrong and had to make a lot of changes really quickly, I get it was super stressful and super expensive. I totally get it.

 

[Beman]

Hi there so Earth Pro A is part of the Arcadia supplement system. This is essentially a plain calcium without D3 that has added water soluble vitamins in it and bee pollen. This would need to be paired with a multivitamin. Either Arcadia's Revitalize D3 or something like Repashy calcium plus LoD version. Either of these multivitamins would only be used 2 times a month say the 1st and the 15th. Both have Calcium with D3 and Vitamin A along with other vitamins. These are fat soluble so you want to stick to 2 times a month. Note if using the Arcadia revitalize D3 this one is extremely low in fat soluble vitamins so this one could actually be used more frequently if your following Arcadia's 8 feed cycle.

Arcadia supplements and the 8 feed cycle they recommend for chameleons.

So arcadia is a 3 product system done in an 8 feed cycle. This is why you want to chart it on a calendar. It is in the following rotation and you stay in that order no matter how many feeding days are skipped.

EP-A 1st feeding
EP-A 2nd feeding
EP-A 3rd feeding
Calmg 4th feeding
EP-A 5th feeding
EP-A 6th feeding
EP-A 7th feeding
Revitalize D3 8th feeding
Cycle starts again from the beginning.

Arcadia revitalize is your multivitamin. It has very low levels of D3 and A so you have to ensure that UVB is spot on. Now you could swap the other direction.... Use the repashy supercal NoD as your everyday and then pull in the arcadia Revitalize D3. Like I said this one has very low levels of fat soluble vitamins. Then use it 2 times a month. But you still want to make sure that your UVB bulb, fixture and distances are checked.

 

[shuyu Yao]

I am sorry to hear that, chameleons are very specific to care for and unfortunately there is not a lot of 'correct' information out there. We find that many people who wander onto this forum usually need to make a decent amount of changes (myself included). Its tough for sure. My first girl I had everything wrong and had to make a lot of changes really quickly, I get it was super stressful and super expensive. I totally get it.

Once again, thanks all for your help and suggestions. I genuinely want to care for him well, so getting back to the issues: first, what I'm curious about is that I've observed he only stays in the front half of the cage, almost never venturing into the densely planted area at the back. Any idea why this might be? Secondly, is there any way I can address his short-term feeding and water intake issues, at least until my new setup is constructed? Additionally, he did defecate this morning, and the quantity was decent, but I'm sure he didn't eat yesterday, so could he be in a state of reduced appetite due to indigestion? Finally, I've found some information about the lighting he's currently using. I've attached relevant pictures below.

 

[elizaann2]

Once again, thanks all for your help and suggestions. I genuinely want to care for him well, so getting back to the issues: first, what I'm curious about is that I've observed he only stays in the front half of the cage, almost never venturing into the densely planted area at the back. Any idea why this might be? Secondly, is there any way I can address his short-term feeding and water intake issues, at least until my new setup is constructed? Additionally, he did defecate this morning, and the quantity was decent, but I'm sure he didn't eat yesterday, so could he be in a state of reduced appetite due to indigestion? Finally, I've found some information about the lighting he's currently using. I've attached relevant pictures below.

He only stays in the front half of the cage, almost never venturing into the densely planted area at the back. Any idea why this might be? Its hard to say, @MissSkittles any insight on why he is doing this?

He only stays in the front half of the cage, almost never venturing into the densely planted area at the back. Any idea why this might be? I would reach back out to the breeder and see what they were feeding him and HOW and mimic that. He may need a feeder run to eat better. Also keep in mind that he is in a new environment and it may take him some time to start eating again. For hydration misting his enclosure will provide extra drinking opportunities for him. Keep in mind that chameleons are shy drinkers and you may never see him drink. Monitor his hydration through is poop. The picture you shared today looks perfect. The poop is hydrated and the white part (urate/chameleon pee) is in fact white. When they are dehydrated it will be orange.

 

[elizaann2]

Once again, thanks all for your help and suggestions. I genuinely want to care for him well, so getting back to the issues: first, what I'm curious about is that I've observed he only stays in the front half of the cage, almost never venturing into the densely planted area at the back. Any idea why this might be? Secondly, is there any way I can address his short-term feeding and water intake issues, at least until my new setup is constructed? Additionally, he did defecate this morning, and the quantity was decent, but I'm sure he didn't eat yesterday, so could he be in a state of reduced appetite due to indigestion? Finally, I've found some information about the lighting he's currently using. I've attached relevant pictures below.

Ok I can see you have a Shade Dweller 7% UVB. For chameleons we typically recommend a 6%. @Beman with a 7% UVB how far below should the branches be from the light?

 

[MissSkittles]

He only stays in the front half of the cage, almost never venturing into the densely planted area at the back. Any idea why this might be? Its hard to say, @MissSkittles any insight on why he is doing this?

It looks quite dark in the back and like a beautiful flower, chameleons gravitate towards the sunshine. Also, it’s hard to tell how far back your heat light is, but he may not care for the temperature in the back. He very definitely needs a much larger enclosure that will provide him a wide range of different temps and humidity at different areas. I don’t know how things are done in the UK, but perhaps there are some good holiday sales starting that you can save a little on upgrades.
The 7% uvb and its fixture both need to be replaced. The fixture is specific for that strength of bulb and will not effectively handle any other strength uvb. The 7% uvb is specific for nocturnal or crepuscular animals, such as most geckos.

 

[shuyu Yao]

Hi guys, everything I need for upgrade my cage was papered now. before that may I ask few questions about, firstly my flat is very dry(usually the humidity is 40% or less), so I want have something like expanding foam to cover the three side of my new Screen Cage, is that well works? if well, do you have any recommend about the brand of that product is harmless for my animal. on the other hand, I also hope my rainfall system doesn't wet the furniture around the cage. @elizaann2 , @MissSkittles . Also, his appetite still hasn't been great lately he didn't eat anything yesterday, he has completely refused to eat grasshopper, but he still holds some interest in Mealworms, which I've stopped giving him considering it's not healthy for him. The good news is that he ate a rather large silkworm this morning (I'm trying to switch him to a different staple). He's not interested in dubia at all either