New Panther Owner

IdyllBeast

New Member
Good evening all,

I tried posting in the Lizard Lounge and got no responses. I'll try my luck here. My awesome wife gave me a Panther Chameleon ( Pascal ) for Christmas. She bought him from one of our good friends who owns a reptile company ( Roscoes Reptiles ). My buddy Mike said he sourced it from a very reliable Chameleon breeder here in So Cal. I've been reading posts on here for a few days and thought I should join. I definitely have a ton to learn and have been soaking up info for the past few days. I filled out the questionnaire below. Thanks for reading, I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions.


  • Your Chameleon - Panther ( Pascal ) When I got him for Christmas he was 2-3 months old. My buddy said he got him when he was a little over a month old.
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Honestly not very often. At first he would escape into his Ficus tree If I tried to handle him. He has been recently starting to climb into my hand.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? I was told to feed him small to large crickets for the first few months. I usually drop 5-7 crickets in his enclosure in the morning. Is it better to let him hunt or should I hang a cup? I've been temped to feed him some horn worms.
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I put Fluker's High-Calcium Cricket Diet and Fluker's Cricket Quencher along with carrots, spinach, and broccoli in my cricket cage. I also have been dusting the crickets with Repti Calcium without D3 before I put them in Pascal's enclosure.
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I spray the Ficus tree with a spray bottle first thing in the am. And during the day I have a Little Dripper ( which I hate, I'm ordering a Mist King tomorrow ) slowly dripping water into his Ficus. I also spray his Ficus tree when I get home. Yes, Ive seen him drinking off the leaves and have seen him drink off the Littler Dripper directly.
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Droppings are brownish / black and urine is white. It has been mostly firm, but today it looked a little wet. I haven't tested him for parasites, should I ?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. He was purchased from a local Chameleon breeder here in So Cal. I'll find out who he sourced him from tomorrow.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Pascal came with a screen Zoo Med ReptiBreeze Chameleon Kit. His enclosure is 16W x 16D x 30H.
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? It came with a Zoo Med Light. Its a mini combo deep dome lamp fixture. I have a Daylight Blue Reptile Blub ( 60 watt ) and Reptisun 5.0 mini compact fluorescent ( 13 watt ). Pascal's light is on from 7am to 7 pm. Its centered on top of the enclosure. He likes to bask on top of his Ficus. I made sure to trim it so its 6-7 inches under the light. At night he sleeps in the lower branches of his Ficus.
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? The cheap thermometer that came with the set has been giving me bad readings. In the beginning it was saying the top of his cage was 75 degrees. I keep my house between 62 and 70 in the winter.
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? I really struggling with keeping the humidity up. I read on here to wrap three signs of his cage with a shower curtain. I'm going to be doing that tomorrow. I've been thinking about buying a three seed glass enclosure with a screen front and screen top.
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? A small Ficus tree. I want to add some more plants soon.
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? Pascal's cage on top of my filing cabinet in my office. The air vent is on the other side of the room. The fan is off and its pretty warm in the room. My two dogs also sleep in crates so I'm sure that helps keep the temp up.
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? Southern California.
Please let me know if I should change anything. I've never owned a reptile of any kind. I'm open to all suggestions.
 
Here are some pictures of Pascal and his enclosure
 

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Good evening all,

I tried posting in the Lizard Lounge and got no responses. I'll try my luck here. My awesome wife gave me a Panther Chameleon ( Pascal ) for Christmas. She bought him from one of our good friends who owns a reptile company ( Roscoes Reptiles ). My buddy Mike said he sourced it from a very reliable Chameleon breeder here in So Cal. I've been reading posts on here for a few days and thought I should join. I definitely have a ton to learn and have been soaking up info for the past few days. I filled out the questionnaire below. Thanks for reading, I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions.


  • Your Chameleon - Panther ( Pascal ) When I got him for Christmas he was 2-3 months old. My buddy said he got him when he was a little over a month old.
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Honestly not very often. At first he would escape into his Ficus tree If I tried to handle him. He has been recently starting to climb into my hand. nice that he's already trust in you a bit!
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? I was told to feed him small to large crickets for the first few months. I usually drop 5-7 crickets in his enclosure in the morning. Is it better to let him hunt or should I hang a cup? I've been temped to feed him some horn worms. at that age you can feed him as much as he will eat in a couple of minutes at each feeding. When he's a little older change it to every second day and only as much as won't make him fat.
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I put Fluker's High-Calcium Cricket Diet and Fluker's Cricket Quencher along with carrots, spinach, and broccoli in my cricket cage. I also have been dusting the crickets with Repti Calcium without D3 before I put them in Pascal's enclosure. I would drop the spinach and broccoli and use dandelion greens, kale, collards, mustard greens, carrots, squash, sweet red peppers, sweet potatoes, zucchini and a TINY bit of fruit such as apples, pears, melon, berries to feed/gut,load the insects. The cricket quencher isn't recommended. For supplements, I dust at all but 4feedings a month with a phos free calcium powder lightly...twice a month with a phos free calcium/D3 powder lightly on 2 of the off days (maybe say the 1st and 5th of the month. I dust with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed vitamin A) source of vitamin A on the other 2 off days lightly. This means it's up to you to decide if/when your chameleon needs some prEformed (retinol, palmitate, retinyl etc) vitamin A.

  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I spray the Ficus tree with a spray bottle first thing in the am. And during the day I have a Little Dripper ( which I hate, I'm ordering a Mist King tomorrow ) slowly dripping water into his Ficus. I also spray his Ficus tree when I get home. Yes, Ive seen him drinking off the leaves and have seen him drink off the Littler Dripper directly.
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Droppings are brownish / black and urine is white. It has been mostly firm, but today it looked a little wet. I haven't tested him for parasites, should I ?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. He was purchased from a local Chameleon breeder here in So Cal. I'll find out who he sourced him from tomorrow.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Pascal came with a screen Zoo Med ReptiBreeze Chameleon Kit. His enclosure is 16W x 16D x 30H.
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? It came with a Zoo Med Light. Its a mini combo deep dome lamp fixture. I have a Daylight Blue Reptile Blub ( 60 watt ) and Reptisun 5.0 mini compact fluorescent ( 13 watt ). Pascal's light is on from 7am to 7 pm. Its centered on top of the enclosure. He likes to bask on top of his Ficus. I made sure to trim it so its 6-7 inches under the light. At night he sleeps in the lower branches of his Ficus. for basking I use a regular incandescent household bulb of a wattage that produces the basking temperature you need and for UVB I use a long linear reptisun 5.0 tube light.
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? The cheap thermometer that came with the set has been giving me bad readings. In the beginning it was saying the top of his cage was 75 degrees. I keep my house between 62 and 70 in the winter. basking temperature?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? I really struggling with keeping the humidity up. I read on here to wrap three signs of his cage with a shower curtain. I'm going to be doing that tomorrow. I've been thinking about buying a three seed glass enclosure with a screen front and screen top.
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? A small Ficus tree. I want to add some more plants soon. Good idea to add more greenery and branches!
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? Pascal's cage on top of my filing cabinet in my office. The air vent is on the other side of the room. The fan is off and its pretty warm in the room. My two dogs also sleep in crates so I'm sure that helps keep the temp up.
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? Southern California.
Please let me know if I should change anything. I've never owned a reptile of any kind. I'm open to all suggestions.



Hope this helps! Cute little chameleon!
 
And youll need a long light fixture. The compact dome light are essentially useless for chameleon husbandry. Arcadia lights are good. T5 or t8 high ouput lights.
Cute chameleo!!!
 
I’ll try and help you out. Free roaming your crickets are fine as long as you make sure none are left uneaten this is because crickets can and will bite your Cham, hornworms are a good treat they contain lots of moisture.
Fluckers cricket cubes are garbage just continue gut loading with fresh fruits and vegetables.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/images/
Your Mistking will be probably your best investment this will make life so much easier.
Yes you should get a fecal test.
At about 5-6 months of age and like
@MissSkittles daid you will need a larger cage minimum of 2x2x4’.
For lighting you can use a flood light or a basic incondecent bulb for heat but definitely need to get yourself a T5 HO light most likely a 5.0 based on the pic you posted.
Get a temperature gun for accurate readings.
Etekcity Lasergrip 774... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00837ZGRY?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
To help with humidity you can do what I have done it looks 100% better then a shower curtain.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/alternate-clearside-diy.168320/
 
I’ll try and help you out. Free roaming your crickets are fine as long as you make sure none are left uneaten this is because crickets can and will bite your Cham, hornworms are a good treat they contain lots of moisture.
Fluckers cricket cubes are garbage just continue gut loading with fresh fruits and vegetables.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/images/
Your Mistking will be probably your best investment this will make life so much easier.
Yes you should get a fecal test.
At about 5-6 months of age and like
@MissSkittles daid you will need a larger cage minimum of 2x2x4’.
For lighting you can use a flood light or a basic incondecent bulb for heat but definitely need to get yourself a T5 HO light most likely a 5.0 based on the pic you posted.
Get a temperature gun for accurate readings.
Etekcity Lasergrip 774... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00837ZGRY?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
To help with humidity you can do what I have done it looks 100% better then a shower curtain.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/alternate-clearside-diy.168320/

awesome thanks for the window film trick.It looks great on your cage.
 
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