New juv ambilobe
- Thread starter Bschucher
- Start date
White urates should mean he's hydrated enough.
You said..."Actually just finally witnessed him drinking as I was spraying with bottle"... Don't spray water directly in his mouth.
The dripper can be a deli cup with a tiny hole in the bottom so that it drips at the rate of one or two drips pets second.
His left eye looks swollen...is it always like that? Does he rub it on things? Does he's swell it up then contract it down again?
You said.."I have yet to see his eyes wide open in days"... This is not good. What is the exact UVB light you are using? Is it long and linear or curled or what? Strength? Your basking temperature should be closer to 80F for a chameleon that age IMHO.
You said..."Feeding small crix, gut loading with apple, carrot and lettuce"... I would add dandelion greens, kale, collards, squash, zucchini, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, etc to the insects' diet.
You said..."Actually just finally witnessed him drinking as I was spraying with bottle"... Don't spray water directly in his mouth.
The dripper can be a deli cup with a tiny hole in the bottom so that it drips at the rate of one or two drips pets second.
His left eye looks swollen...is it always like that? Does he rub it on things? Does he's swell it up then contract it down again?
You said.."I have yet to see his eyes wide open in days"... This is not good. What is the exact UVB light you are using? Is it long and linear or curled or what? Strength? Your basking temperature should be closer to 80F for a chameleon that age IMHO.
You said..."Feeding small crix, gut loading with apple, carrot and lettuce"... I would add dandelion greens, kale, collards, squash, zucchini, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, etc to the insects' diet.
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Thanks for all the input folks. I originally think I didn't appreciate just how fine a mist I was getting and as such wasn't getting the amount of water on leaves as I thought. The uvb is 5.0 reptisun. There are several cross vines but I'll add some more when my dragon ledges get here. I'm also going to change out some of that fake stuff that I've attached to the exo vines
@Bschucher Please see my feedback in red bold.
Ambilobe Panther, male 2-3 months old I'm told
Have only handled a cpl times as not to stress
Feeding small crix, gut loading with apple, carrot and lettuce. What size are you actually feeding. He looks like he is quite tiny. This means you will be feeding a ton of 1/8 inch size crickets. They have to be small enough for him. So if he is hesitating on eating and you see that then you may be feeding too large of a size. Drop 20 or so feeders into the feeder run so he sees the movement. Once he learns that is where the food is he will start going after them.
Gutload should be either a variety of fresh greens and a fruit or buy something like Repashy bug burger and follow the directions on mixing it.
Reptivite with6d3. Repti calcium with d3.... Too much D3. You need to buy calcium without D3. This would be given at all feedings and then you would use the reptivite with D3 two times a month say the 1st and the 15th. Drop the repti calcium with D3.
Misting with mistking three times a day was only doing like ten secs but have adjusted to 30 seconds.. Change this up. 2-3 minute mist in the morning and 2-3 minutes in the evening. You may need to add a solo cup dripper to the top of the cage. poke a small hole in the bottom of it so it drips through the screen on to the plants below. Do this about 11am so he has the opportunity to drink during the day.
Have only found one fecal and it was white and black
Cage info
All screen 18x18x36. Will need to be upgraded in a few months to a 2x2x4 minimum.
Dont recall lighting that was sent (got from FLCHAMS but have heat lamp and uvb strip. You said it was a 5.0 reptisun. So with this I need to know if it says it is a T8 fixture or a T5HO. This is very important and make s a big difference.
Basking is runnniing in the 90° range and lower level high 70° overnight is about 75° checking with thermometer in cage. Way too hot at basking for a baby... Max temp would be 80 at basking. Can be even lower sitting 75-79 as well since baby is so young.
Not sure on humidity level as I need to buy that.. Panthers should have a daytime humidity level of 50-60% and then it can be up to 100% at night when cage temps drop.
Fake vines with artifical leaves but added originally a hibiscus but it was to big so I just bought ficus which is6a little small at moment but gonna raise it a bit higher.. They have the coated wire stacking shelves for your kitchen these work great to get a plant a bit higher. closet mate makes one. Live plants list https://chameleonacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Chameleon-Plants-122819.pdf
I did have cage in very high traffic area and next to a TV. I moved him yesterday to area with very lil traffic
Live in south fla
Curent concern is what I think is lack of drinking and lack of eating. Im pretty sure he has eaten a couple of crix but not positive. He has only been here since Wed.. I'm prob being a good friend bit impatient with him. once temps are correct and he starts to settle in it will help. Right now it is too hot not long enough mistings to trigger drinking and new enclosure.
Accurate info and Product links for things I like:
https://chameleonacademy.com/
https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/NeptunetheChameleon?sub_confirmation=1
www.dragonstrand.com
https://tkchameleons.com/collections/accessories/products/shooting-gallery
Ambilobe Panther, male 2-3 months old I'm told
Have only handled a cpl times as not to stress
Feeding small crix, gut loading with apple, carrot and lettuce. What size are you actually feeding. He looks like he is quite tiny. This means you will be feeding a ton of 1/8 inch size crickets. They have to be small enough for him. So if he is hesitating on eating and you see that then you may be feeding too large of a size. Drop 20 or so feeders into the feeder run so he sees the movement. Once he learns that is where the food is he will start going after them.
Gutload should be either a variety of fresh greens and a fruit or buy something like Repashy bug burger and follow the directions on mixing it.
Reptivite with6d3. Repti calcium with d3.... Too much D3. You need to buy calcium without D3. This would be given at all feedings and then you would use the reptivite with D3 two times a month say the 1st and the 15th. Drop the repti calcium with D3.
Misting with mistking three times a day was only doing like ten secs but have adjusted to 30 seconds.. Change this up. 2-3 minute mist in the morning and 2-3 minutes in the evening. You may need to add a solo cup dripper to the top of the cage. poke a small hole in the bottom of it so it drips through the screen on to the plants below. Do this about 11am so he has the opportunity to drink during the day.
Have only found one fecal and it was white and black
Cage info
All screen 18x18x36. Will need to be upgraded in a few months to a 2x2x4 minimum.
Dont recall lighting that was sent (got from FLCHAMS but have heat lamp and uvb strip. You said it was a 5.0 reptisun. So with this I need to know if it says it is a T8 fixture or a T5HO. This is very important and make s a big difference.
Basking is runnniing in the 90° range and lower level high 70° overnight is about 75° checking with thermometer in cage. Way too hot at basking for a baby... Max temp would be 80 at basking. Can be even lower sitting 75-79 as well since baby is so young.
Not sure on humidity level as I need to buy that.. Panthers should have a daytime humidity level of 50-60% and then it can be up to 100% at night when cage temps drop.
Fake vines with artifical leaves but added originally a hibiscus but it was to big so I just bought ficus which is6a little small at moment but gonna raise it a bit higher.. They have the coated wire stacking shelves for your kitchen these work great to get a plant a bit higher. closet mate makes one. Live plants list https://chameleonacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Chameleon-Plants-122819.pdf
I did have cage in very high traffic area and next to a TV. I moved him yesterday to area with very lil traffic
Live in south fla
Curent concern is what I think is lack of drinking and lack of eating. Im pretty sure he has eaten a couple of crix but not positive. He has only been here since Wed.. I'm prob being a good friend bit impatient with him. once temps are correct and he starts to settle in it will help. Right now it is too hot not long enough mistings to trigger drinking and new enclosure.
Accurate info and Product links for things I like:
https://chameleonacademy.com/
https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/NeptunetheChameleon?sub_confirmation=1
www.dragonstrand.com
https://tkchameleons.com/collections/accessories/products/shooting-gallery
Ugggg ok well that means you are running a T8 fixture with a 5.0 bulb. Issue with this is that it does not have the output a T5HO fixture will.
You want to get a 10.0 bulb for your fixture because the 5.0 will not be able to push UVB down far enough. Then basking would be about 6 inches down to be in a 2-3 UVI level. This is really important. Now if baby is screen climbing the top of the enclosure you want to lift the fixture up 2 inches then basking branch would be 4 inches below the screen for a total distance of 6 inches. Then have additional branches going down below this one.
IF you can not get a 10.0 T8 bulb for it right away... then you can raise your basking branch to 3-4 inches below the fixture directly on the top of the cage. This will give about a 2-3 UVI level. Issue is if he screen climbs the top panel he will get much higher UVI level then he should be exposed to. But in a pinch this is a good option if you can not get the 10.0 bulb
