New panther enclosure!

[HerpsAnonymous]

Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum. Here is the setup so far for my first panther chameleon I will be getting it in about a month. I have a reptibreeze 3'X18"X18" with a drainage pan I made, 18" reptisun 5.0, 40 watt incandescent for heat, bamboo sticks, and a golden capella plant. I have a thermometer in the high basking area and a thermo/hyrgometer lower by the plants. Now just waiting for my mistking misting system to get here. I just want to get everyones opinions on the setup. Any constructive criticism? Questions? This is my first chameleon and I'm super excited!

 

[pssh]

It looks pretty good. I would suggest thinking about adding a few more branches under his basking area. It can really help prevent burns if you give them several temp levels to choose from under the basking lamp. You might not need to right away if you are getting a baby/younger panther and you are keeping the basking spot at 85 or lower, but if you raise the temp when he gets older, it's very helpful!

Other than that, maybe just a few more horizontal and diagonal branches for extra climbing pathways. My youngin's always seem to like to use tons of branches for climbing around all over.

 

[HerpsAnonymous]

It will be a young one. And I guess you cant really tell in the pictures but I have about 6 branches that zig zag all the way from the top to the plants pot at the bottom. Most of them are just covered by the plants. Maybe I'll add a couple more though just to make sure he has plenty! Thanks for the suggestion
Do you think I should add another small plant? Maybe pothos, I have a couple laying around the house. I just don't want to overcrowd the enclosure.

 

[CarlC]

Looks good. Are all the branch's bamboo? If so I always found that roughing up the surface makes it easier to grip.

Carl

 

[pssh]

You could add a lithos if you want. I hang them from the top using fishing line so they look like they are floating. Then you can hang the vines down and around the branches to add more climbing space for free

 

[HerpsAnonymous]

Ok I'll try sanding the bamboo a bit. Thanks for the tip!

And I'll have to look up lithos when I get home, maybe I'll do that

 

[pssh]

Sorry. I was on my phone and it changed pothos to lithos. I meant pothos!

 

[junglefries]

You may want to repot the umbrella into a larger pot. 3g. try eggshells and banana peels: ground up as a natural fertilizer. otherwise, all nutrients from soil will be used up quickly.

 

[HerpsAnonymous]

You may want to repot the umbrella into a larger pot. 3g. try eggshells and banana peels: ground up as a natural fertilizer. otherwise, all nutrients from soil will be used up quickly.

Ya I'll definitely do that before I get the chameleon. I was already planning to repot it because when I changed out the soil it seemed pretty root bound. Didnt think of using egg shells or banana peels as fertilizer though! Thanks for the tip

 

[pssh]

You can also use bug poop in water as fertilizer. Cricket/roach farms sell the poop to gardeners! Don't put the (non-watered) poop on the roots though. It can burn/kill the plants.

 

[HerpsAnonymous]

You can also use bug poop in water as fertilizer. Cricket/roach farms sell the poop to gardeners! Don't put the (non-watered) poop on the roots though. It can burn/kill the plants.

I'm going to be breeding dubia roaches here real soon so that would be perfect! I'll do some looking into it. Thank you.

So far I like this forum, seems really helpful. Thank you everyone!

 

[exoherppy]

Sorry to hijack this thread. Can you elaborate on using bug poop as fertiliser? Do you mean that I add it to the water before pouring into the soil?