New chameleon - would love feedback

lemonpeachy

New Member
Am a first time chameleon owner. Just got Zeppelin two days ago. Am basically filling this out to get feedback on what I can do better. Noticed he was closing his eyes today, more details: Please read below:

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Panther Ambilobe Chameleon, male, 3.5 months. With me for 2 days.
Handling - Not going to until next week.
Feeding - fed him 10 1/2" crickets per day. First time two hours after lights on. Last time 3 hours before lights out. Gut-loading with repti-cal. No D3 daily. Repashy multivitamin weekly (Fridays). Calcium with D3 monthly(last day of the month). The daily I did with both feedings as he did not eat on the day of his arrival. Is it best to dust only 1 per day regularly? As this was what Ive read.
Watering - have a manual mister. Am misting 3 times a day. Allowing to dry between. Using about 1L of water and soaking all surfaces (hygrometer peaks to 78%). Using only distilled water.
Fecal Description - have not yet found any to note. His breeder was very adamant about fecal testing, if tests were done the results were good and not discussed with me.
History - He arrived a short time ago, so any health issues are difficult to determine... but hopefully this helps?

Cage Info:
Cage Type - the enclosure is wood and screen. it is sealed with a no-voc water based exterior clear coat. it has openings on all 4 sides with screen mesh. the top is metal screen and the light fixtures sit on top of it. It is 18"Dx18"Wx24"h.
Lighting - using two dome fixtures. One has a halogen 75W basking bulb. The nearest basking point is 6"away, which heats to 87F degrees. The other is the UVB, reptisun 5.0 bulb mini CFL. the nearest perch to that bulb is 4". Since the UVB output is lower Ive assumed being this close is ok. lights go on at 7, they go off at 7.
Temperature - using a hygrometer: daily floor temperature is 70-72F. Basking is 87F. Lowest overnight was 65.
Humidity - ranges from 68% between mistings. To 78% after misting. Am maintining them mostly by remisting when the moisture reduces.
Plants - have a star jasmine, along with a hibiscus.
Placement - Top of the cage is 5' off the floor, they like to be high, is this high enough? Its a small room overall. Tucked behind a corner in the dining room. no air vents. no fans. Lowest traffic room in the house.
Location - ontario Canada. extreme heat summer and extreme cold winter.

Current Problem - Noticed one eye was closed for a bit today, he would close for 20 seconds and then alternate to the next eye. He blinked about 10 times with his left eye. Is this a vitamin deficiency? Or dehydration? Am also worried after reading that CFLs were once a problem. is that really resolved? My photos via iphone are difficult to see and was unable to capture his eyes closed. But maybe his overall appearance will help.


Any feedback will help. After researching for several months, before he arrived, I still learn new things everyday.
 

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Great advice

Thank you for the feedback. Have lowered the temp and moved the light away.

He was hatched at the end of February, but he is much bigger than I thought. Just a good eater maybe, why he fits in our home, lol.
 
Yeah, he is awesome for 3-1/2 months. panthers mature super fast compared to ousties which is what I'm good at keeping. Rex my oustie is 260g and grows 20 grams every 2 weeks.
 
Hi welcome to the forum. Gut loading comes in two parts. Dry gutload is lots of goodies you can make yourself. Check out sandrachameleons blogs for the recipe or you can buy cricket crack, dinofuel or bugburger. The other part is fruit and veg that give to provide nutrients and moisture to keep bugs alive. What you put into your bugs goes into your Cham. You might want to look at your supplements. If your Cham doesn't go outside calcium without d3 everyday, calcium with d3 twice a month and a multivitamin twice a month. I dust all inscects.
 
It could well be he cfl. The are not very good as the cover a small area and are known to cause eye problems. Change it over to a linear tube and you should see an improvement.
 
Forgot to mention, have been feeding the crickets with the multivitamin jelly cubes. Along with hydrating them with the blue hydration jelly. Will try those recipes also. Dusting all insects I will do also, was doing it once a day.

The linear tube might be a better choice. Will find one that fits his enclosure.

Thank you all again!
 
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