New Owner, Need Advice!

[KingJulien]

Hi there, I'm new here. My husband surprised me with my first chameleon a few days ago. It wasn't out of the blue, I had been looking at them a long time but I hadn't looked into the specifics on keeping one until now. I have a million questions that I hope you all can help with. He's a panther ambilobe, about 6 months old. He is eating lots of silkworms, some crickets, and he goes gonzo for superworms. He has 3 lights; A Repti Glo 5.0 UVB, a Night Glo 25W, and a Sun Glo 50W Basking Light. I put his cage outside in part shade during the day, it's about 90 degrees outside at the hottest part of the afternoon. Here are my questions so far:

1: Does his cage look okay? I have a pothos and a ficus for him that I will add as soon as I figure out how to pot them safely.

2: Is a mister or drip important, or is just squirting him with a bottle several times a day okay? I don't see him drink, so I hope he's getting enough water from his food.

3: Speaking of food, his breeder said he needs silkworms and crickets primarily. What is the easiest and cheapest way to keep enough of them on hand?

4: What should I call him? I was thinking King Julien after the lemur in Madagascar, but now I'm thinking maybe Gonzo might be appropiate too. Or maybe something more dignified. I don't know.


I'm open to suggestions. I've only been looking into this for a few days so I won't be offended if you say I'm doing something wrong.

Thanks!

Teresa

 

[tigermaniac22311]

Put a live plant in your enclosure to start off with. It keeps humidity up and allows for easier drinking.

 

[Psi]

Cage will look good when you get the plants in there

You don't need the night light, as long as your house stays above 60* they wont have any issue needing night time heat.

By the looks of your lighting, it looks like you have a Reptiglo 5.0 compact florescent bulb. That could be problematic for your cham and could cause blindness. The safest (and best) way to go is a Repti-sun linear tube.
Seeing as you live in Cali, if the Cham could access natural sunlight daily, you wouldn't need the UVB tube at all.

As far as cheaper feeders, Crickets are a solid staple, with silkworms being fed more like treats. Some additional variety is also a good thing (supers/wax/butters).
To save money, buy in bulk, but 1000 crickets for a single 6 month old male may not be the greatest thing to your ears

Hope that helps.

 

[Michael Ryan]

Although I'm new here also I think i can be of assistance. Spraying manually is fine as long as you keep his humidity up. If you are only spraying you should also purchase a dripper and have it run certain times a day. For convenience you can purchase a automatic mister such as the mist king, but you dont necissarily need one. If you keep lots of reptiles then you may want to breed your own feeders, but if this is your only one you should buy them in bulk which would be the best way to save money on feeders.

 

[KingJulien]

Oh my gosh, that bulb can cause blindness? How can they sell something like that at the petstore? That's terrible.

Ok, so if he is exposed to outdoor sun daily, then no UVB bulb? That's great! But what about the winter? We get some cold-ish temperatures here, and plenty of wind so at what temp do I have to keep him indoors? Can he get enough UVB through the window glass?

I was thinking about the bulk crickets... I think it might be ok if I keep them in the garage, the noise would be pretty well insulated. Sounds like it might be a little yucky to have that many crickets but probably worth it.

Anyone have experience with keeping bulk amounts of crickets or silkworms?

For the plant, do I need to put it in organic soil, and add rocks to keep him from eating the dirt? I read a thread briefly but I wasn't sure if I missed something.

Thanks so much for your help. I can't believe I gave him a harmful light

 

[Lovereps]

Welcome to the forums!
He really does need plants ASAP--they'll greatly lessen his stress level.
Without plants chams feel very vulnerable to being eaten by predators (they don't know there aren't any around.)
Stress can make him ill.
Be sure to clean the leaves of the plants thoroughly to get rid of any pesticides or fertilizer that the store may have used--your cham will drink from and may eat some leaves.
Use the search button to search the forum posts for potting tips.
It is important to not use any type of bark or any stones small enough to be ingested.
For food, check-out the numerous forum sponsors:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/index.php?page=sponsors
I hope the breeder advised you to purchase calcium powder with vitamin D3, calcium powder without D3 and a multivitamin--as well as advising you on how frequently each should be used.
You can check forum posts for the dusting schedules.
He won't get enough to drink from food alone.
A dripper can be as simple as a cup with a pinhole in it that drips water onto the leaves of a plant. Chams drink off of leaves.
You'll know he's getting enough to drink by looking at his poop (actually the urate part).
Cham poop has 2 components, one brown and the other part should be white.
If the white part is orange or less than snowy white, he isn't getting enough water.
As another poster mentioned, compact fluorescent bulbs have been known to cause serious eye problems/blindness in chams.
The jury is still out as to whether or not the manufacturers have actually resolved the problems, so we tend to avoid compact bulbs.
Using linear (long tube type) fluorescent Reptisun 5.0 bulbs is typically suggested instead.
As for names--choose one that makes you smile. You might just end-up giving him a nickname even after you've decided.
Here's one good link to cham info:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/general-care-true-chameleons-5943/

 

[Psi]

Oh my gosh, that bulb can cause blindness? How can they sell something like that at the petstore? That's terrible.

It's almost exclusively causing the problems to Chameleons due to their eyes. There have been a very select few reports of it happening in Bearded Dragons that I've noticed, but those might have been defective bulbs, hard to guarantee that.

Ok, so if he is exposed to outdoor sun daily, then no UVB bulb? That's great! But what about the winter? We get some cold-ish temperatures here, and plenty of wind so at what temp do I have to keep him indoors?

Now, I don't know what you consider "cold-ish" in Cali but assuming it doesn't get excessively lower then 60*F most nights (I know it can, just not exactly sure on your climate)

Can he get enough UVB through the window glass?

No, Glass blocks out most UVB bands (that's why we don't burn sitting inside).
He would need a UVB bulb for when you bring him inside during the winter.

I was thinking about the bulk crickets... I think it might be ok if I keep them in the garage, the noise would be pretty well insulated. Sounds like it might be a little yucky to have that many crickets but probably worth it.

Anyone have experience with keeping bulk amounts of crickets or silkworms?

I only buy 1k crickets minimum at a time, too costly otherwise.
Silkworms I've never bought in bulk, they're a really expensive (but really good) feeder.

For the plant, do I need to put it in organic soil, and add rocks to keep him from eating the dirt? I read a thread briefly but I wasn't sure if I missed something.

Thanks so much for your help. I can't believe I gave him a harmful light

Ya I believe Organic soil would be fine. I think you're just looking for a pure dirt soil with no Perlite(small white things) mixed in.
You can use the rocks, it will deter him from eating any dirt, I don't since none of my Chams eat dirt.

 

[buzz]

Oh my gosh, that bulb can cause blindness? How can they sell something like that at the petstore? That's terrible.

Ok, so if he is exposed to outdoor sun daily, then no UVB bulb? That's great! But what about the winter? We get some cold-ish temperatures here, and plenty of wind so at what temp do I have to keep him indoors? Can he get enough UVB through the window glass?

I was thinking about the bulk crickets... I think it might be ok if I keep them in the garage, the noise would be pretty well insulated. Sounds like it might be a little yucky to have that many crickets but probably worth it.

Anyone have experience with keeping bulk amounts of crickets or silkworms?

For the plant, do I need to put it in organic soil, and add rocks to keep him from eating the dirt? I read a thread briefly but I wasn't sure if I missed something.

Thanks so much for your help. I can't believe I gave him a harmful light :
(

I think they sell the bulbs cause they are ok with other pets. But in the winter you will need to get a reptisun 5.0 (linear bulb). glass filters out the uva and uvb rays so that wont wrk. The feeders that you buy in bilk will really help if you can take care of them. i had horrible luck with crickets but dubias were ALOT easier and my veiled loved them. But be careful with size cause they can get a little to big very easy.

 

[buzz]

with the plant wash the leaves well with water and dish soap. And ontop of that re-pot the plant with organic soil. then you should be fine. I washed the leaves and then i would water the leaves dwn very well everyday for a couple days before i put it in. and yea you can put some rocks there just make sure they arent small enough to where they can eat the rocks.

 

[KingJulien]

So,
Get rid of the CFL light, hurry up with the plant, and add a drip. Got it!

I do have the vitamin supplements and instructions for that.

I'm sure I will have many more questions but it's late and I'm sleepy, so I'll get to them tomorrow. Many thanks to everyone who took the time to answer, you guys are really helpful.

Teresa

 

[KingJulien]

Update

Thanks again for all the help. I added a little yogurt cup with a pinhole and he really seems to like it. He is staying right under it. I also put in the pothos, after I washed it and put in organic soil. Those two changes have brought the humidity from 45 to 80. I also put in a little soup box for the crickets and some cricket food so they don't bother him. About how many crickets a day should he be eating?

He's outside this morning, and seems pretty happy with that. It's only 60 degrees outside now but it will definitely warm up.

I'd welcome any other suggestions. My next step is to figure out how to keep bulk crickets and silkworms.

Thanks,

Teresa

 

[tdotcham]

I am in the same boat of being new as you. Looks like you've come to the right place as this site has tons of awesome information that you would search endlessly for on the internet.

Looks like your cage is doing awesome, but me personally I would add something for the chameleon to hide in at the top

 

[PedroANDAshley]

Oh and if you cant find a reptisun 5.0 around in your area a reptiglo 5.0 LINEAR bulb is fine. I dont have reptisun around me and I use reptiglo since Ive had pedro and hes fine, so reptiglo is a good solution until you can go out and buy a reptisun.

If its the panther in your avatar then he looks to be around 5-6 months old.
At that age pedro was eating 5-8 crickets and some silk worms every DAY lol.
Hes a little hog.

Crickets are easy to keep in bulk you can breed them if you want to or just order them online.
I use joshsfrogs.com its like 30 bucks for 1000 crickets SHIPPED.
At any pet store you only get about 300 crickets for 30 bucks.
So this is deals

silk worms are a bit harder to keep in bulk because you always have to clean clean clean.
Silk worms require a VERY clean enviroment because theyre prone to dieing because of bacteria that means always washing your hands and cleaning their poo. It even come down to how perfect you cook their food. (too mushy they die, too hard they die, ect ect)
But once you get the hang of it its pretty easy

 

[KingJulien]

For the hiding concern, I have read that panthers do not require or prefer a hiding spot. Can anyone verify this?

I was thinking I would re-pot the pothos in a terracotta pot, since they evaporate water well from the sides. The plastic pot may keep too much water in the plant, since I'm dripping onto it.

For the crickets I have bought some orange cubes, but for silkworms, maybe it would be best for me to buy the premade food for now. It sounds like you keep them, can you direct me to instructions on this? My breeder said to buy silkworms here: http://coastalsilkworms.com but there is not a lot of info except to grate the food over them. Can I just keep the crickets and silkworms in 10 gallon aquariums or rubbermaid tubs? What size and kind of housing is ideal for buying in bulk?

I appreciate your help.

 

[KingJulien]

Oh, and yes, my avatar is my chameleon. Ain't he purty? The breeder says he was born in February, so 5-6 months is right.

 

[KingJulien]

He's been eating a lot. Yesterday he had 2 superworms and 3 crickets and 2 silkworms. Today he's not showing much interest in his crickets yet, I guess he's a little full. lol.

 

[PedroANDAshley]

I buy my silk worms from that website coastal silk worms and recently from nick barta here on the forums. I learned how to keep them by reading threads and from what nick told me.

You can keep the silk worms in tupper wear if you want but the bigger the container the better. They tend to get stuck to each other so alot of them in one area is a mess LOL.

You can buy your food or make it. I would start buying the powder mix and learning how to cook it your self (its cheaper that way). It isnt too hard and if you know what to look for your golden. (i.e poo its too soft, the silk worm poo if food is made right should be hard)

You also dont want to make sure you have a nice air flow going. I learned that the more condensation build up the more silk worms die, lol the first time I had silk worms almost all of them died because of that :/.

Also silk worms are very very sensitive you got to wash wash wash and wash some more. When handleing your silk worms make sure your had are clean and all the equipment you use for them are clean (i.e grate)

I clean my container almost every day because the eat and poop ALOT and Ive also learned the cleaner you keep their enviorment the more likely the survival rate LOL!
You want to pick up the old uneaten food, if any, because it gets their poo in it some times. You also want to get the poo out too and all the dead silk worms you come across also need to go to the trash DAILY.

I dont keep silk worms alot but this is what Ive learned so far. Hopefully others with mroe experience will chime in

 

[Kbullock]

Kj

I just wanted to say I love the name hehe... My 8mo old Chameleon is also named King Julian... Got to love cartoons...

 

[sandrachameleon]

For the hiding concern, I have read that panthers do not require or prefer a hiding spot. Can anyone verify this?

Some do, some dont. Try to offer both options. Have half /one side of the cage full of leaves and the other side left more open.

 

[KingJulien]

Some do, some dont. Try to offer both options. Have half /one side of the cage full of leaves and the other side left more open.

Are plastic vines ok?