New Chameleon Parent

Welcome to the forum! How exciting!!! Have you checked out Neptune the chameleon on you tube? She is amazing right from the beginning. Her videos pretty much cover all basics. We also have a husbandry form of you like to fill it out to ensure we give these babies the best life possible! If you want to do it let me know I’ll copy and paste it for you. 😊
 
GrannyK said:
Welcome to the forum! How exciting!!! Have you checked out Neptune the chameleon on you tube? She is amazing right from the beginning. Her videos pretty much cover all basics. We also have a husbandry form of you like to fill it out to ensure we give these babies the best life possible! If you want to do it let me know I’ll copy and paste it for you. 😊
Click to expand...
I will check it out! And yah sure, I could use the husbandry form.
 
Welcome to the forum and the crazy world of chameleons! This is a great sight full of good information that will help you the main mistakes newbies make. You’ve been given more good sites to check out too.
 
I’ve attached the form below, you can copy and paste with your response. I see in another thread you are custom building an enclosure, you could use the form for the current enclosure and move the important factors to the new.
What an adventure it’s going to be for you! 😃
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?
 
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Male Rainbow Panther Chameleon. He is 5-6 mo old. We have had him 2 weeks.
  • Handling - I handle him about every other day. My wife likes to try and handle him several times a day. (I have told her she needs to dial it back a bit)
  • Feeding - His main diet is calcium dusted small crickets gut loaded with Nature Zone Total Bites. We were feeding 10-12 a day but we noticed him getting a bit pudgy so we are dialing it back to 8. 6 in the morning and 2 at night. We have been trying some other food options. He does not seem to be interested in small roaches or mealworms. He does like soldier fly larve. Have yet to try hornworms.
  • Supplements - We use Repashy SuperCal LoD. All his crickets gets dusted with it.
  • Watering - We have a 2 nozzle mister that runs just before lights on and just after. it runs for 2 min each cycle. We also have a 6 disk fogger that runs from lights out to light on in the morning. He seems to like to drink the droplets on the top mesh from the fogger.
  • Fecal Description - some brown logs and some white and a bit runny. He has not been tested for parasites.
  • History - We picked him up from Kaleidoscope-chameleons. In the Orlando area.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - 18in x 18in x 36in mesh.
  • Lighting - Reptisun t5HO UVB light and a 75w basking bulb. the lights run 7am to 7pm.
  • Temperature - The bottom runs about room ambient between 72 and 75, The top runs 85 to 90 under the basking lamp. We monitor this with one of the cheap dual probe monitors. The house can get as cold as 65 degrees at night here in the winter.
  • Humidity - Daytime it sits arround 40-50%. Night it sits arround 90-100% all night. We are using the mister in the morning and evening and then a fogger at night. These are monitored by one of the temp/humidity monitors.
  • Plants - We have a single airplant for live. the rest are plastic plants and vines.
  • Placement - The tank is in a corner of our living room. It sits about 30in off the ground and the top is 36in above that. It is relatively out of the way.
  • Location - We are located in Orlando, Florida
 
GrannyK said:
This looks ok overall! I know you are upgrading the cage and lights so those are good now. My only thoughts are on supplements? @MissSkittles or @Beman @LizardLurkin I feel something is off but please verify.
He has another thread with his new lights and enclosure but the supplements seem off I’m having a brain fart right now…
Click to expand...
Do you have any recommendations on a good regiment to keep him on? Our current additive is based on what we were recommended from the reptile shop when we were getting the decorations for the intro setup.
 
diablomaster9045 said:
Do you have any recommendations on a good regiment to keep him on? Our current additive is based on what we were recommended from the reptile shop when we were getting the intro setup.
Click to expand...
Routinely it’s calcium no d daily then a vit and d3 2x a month like the 1st and 15th.
Example Repashy calcium no d everyday and then Repashy lod 2x a month (the lod has the vitamin and d3 in it needed) .
But with your current lighting if the uvb is not linear and is the double dome you may need the current supplement your using daily.
That is where I was a bit confused. The double dome screw in fixtures do not put out sufficient uvb so some breeders use the d3 daily to assist.
Like I said 😂 I’m a bit confused sometimes on what works and doesn’t work with supplements, different breeders do different things and it works for them.
 
Frams chams has silkworms they’ll ship right to you. Grab chow for them too because they can live a bit, but my guys love them and they are very healthy!
 
The supplementation schedule can be confusing to digest in text form, so maybe an image will be helpful for you!
1769821631811.png

The problem with d3 is that it is fat soluble, as opposed to water soluble like plain old calcium, and you don't want your little guy to get overloaded with it (or vitamin A) because while it is a totally necessary vitamin, too much of a it can stress their organs and cause complications, just the same way too little or too much vitamins can do to us.
@Beman is a lot more eloquent on the subject, and I'm trying my best to absorb her knowledge 😅
 
diablomaster9045 said:
is there a staple calcium that most people use? or just any calcium without d3?
Click to expand...
I personally use repti calcium. It looks like this, and is pretty commercially available at most pet stores.
1769825939403.png

Everyone seems to have their own preferences, though. Some adhere nicer to bugs, while others clump. This one is admittedly a bit clumpy, but i tend to wipe away some of the excess with a paper towel for a more even coating.
 
Hi and welcome! I haven’t read over your husbandry (very rough night at work) but you’ve gotten help and advice from some excellent keepers already. I’m just here to say hi, give you some feeder graphics and let you know that we have some great vets in central Florida, if you ever need. There is Dr Alphonso who actually is a mobile vet in Orlando and every so often has a clinic at a pet store in Lakeland. (Attaching the graphic for the most recent as it has his contact info) While Dr Bogoslavsky just retired, he is still working a few days at a clinic in Kissimmee…this is from his FB page. Osceola Animal Emergency, soon to be know as the Osceola Animal Hospital (fingers crossed) 2611 Vine Street, Kissimmee. I am there on Monday and Tuesday from 8-6. Beginning next year (2026) I will be there Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays. Give them a call at 407-910-4771, to schedule an appointment. In Orlando, there is https://www.orlandoexoticveterinarian.com/ who is good, but maybe not as good as the other two. *any vet who tells me to soak my chameleon loses my faith in them.
A great source for feeders is https://www.lindasgonebuggie.com/page/397479218 She’s based here in Florida - the panhandle or west coast and has healthy feeders at very reasonable prices. While dubia roaches are illegal here, we can have discoids, which are very similar and some sources say healthier. I like offering my critters a variety of feeders, which is best for them anyhow. My primary staples are discoids, crickets and silkworms, but I always also have bsfl along with various treat bugs. While I and some others don’t specifically gutload, I/we do keep our buggy feeders healthy by keeping them well fed with a variety of fresh healthy produce. Many of the insect food gels and cubes which you’ll find in pet stores have poor nutritional value.
Do keep asking as many questions as you need or want. Many of us are always checking in here at least once daily. Don’t forget to share too. We love seeing pics and hearing about each other’s little beauties.
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