Nosey Be Panther Adoption

Webskipper

New Member
I'm adopting a little boy Nosey Be from a friend to help them out this Christmas. I have had lizzies before and right now have Torts and a baby WDB.

What am getting into by adding a tropical beast to my list of desert dinos?

I get the Nosey Be with a complete setup and live Ficus and live vines.

Do I need one of those zen fountains for running water or do these guys lap droplets off the plants?

What is the recommended method for night heat since my house drops to 69F at night? My Herps like their upper 80s.

I have googled this but, just don't understand what the daily routine is and
what makes this Lizzie one of the highest maintenance ones?
 
He will be fine with the nighttime drop in temps as long as it stays in the 60's he will be ok. He will need uvb fluorecent linear tube bulb. We use 5.0 reptiglo as the preferred option. Also he will need a 60 watt incandescent for basking.
You will need three supplements for dusting his insects.
1. calcium without d3: to be used at most feedings
2. calcium w/d3: to be used 2x a month (I use this two sundays a month)
3. Multi vitamin dust: use this 1x or 2x a month

He will need to be misted 3x a day and also get a dripper for him so he will have a constant source of water. You will need a digital hygrometer/thermometer, you can get a good one cheap at HD or lowes. His basking spot should be in the low 80's.

Buy a good book on chams to keep as a reference. And study up on gutloading insects. What you gutload your bugs with is what your feeding your lizard. You want a good dry gutload (like Crick Crack) and fruits and veggies. Your cham needs a variety of feeders a minimum of 3 is a good start.
So as you can see its alot of info for a newcomer to digest.
 
Mist 3 times a day?

So a small fogger on a timer should suffice for that.

The setup contains all the other stuff so we should be good.

I feed my Torts different greens so the scraps will work to gutload the insects.

Any greens to avoid or it doesn't matter?

Which books do you recommend?
 
In addition to the advice above:

You don't want to use a fountain in your cage, they usually harbor bacteria and chameleons have a tendency to poop in them.

69 at night is just fine, my house dips to 60 at night before the heat kicks on, they benefit from night time temp drops.

Chameleons can be sensitive but if housed and cared for properly they are a wonderful addition to your reptile collection.

What other types of reptiles do you keep?
 
texas panther man summed it up lol Just make sure that he gets his supplements and that you are misting the cage because they do drink water off the leaves and need the humidity. The lights should be on for 12 hours then off for 12 hours, i think theres some leeway with what you choose in hours but obviously they need enough time to have a good night sleep. No fountains needed, they just turn into a bacteria breeding ground if you dont clean it regularly. How old is your little nosy be this can determine how much you feed, as younger chameleons eat alot more than older chams.

My routine is this:

1. Lights on at 8 am
2. Feed at around 9 am (about 10 dusted crickets free range, and then have 10 dusted dubia roaches in a feeder cup (which supplement depends), and my little girl will have her choice in either, i change out the dubias every day so she has a nice new gutloaded batch in the morning)
3. Mist at 10 am, 1pm, 5pm
4. Have a dripper on in between mistings
5. Try to take out and crickets that are still roaming around in the cage, you usually dont want to have extra crickets in the cage while your cham is sleeping because they can annoy your chameleon and even bite him and cause some damage. You shouldnt Mist too close to bed time and you want to make sure the cage dries out in between mistings so that it wont encourage any bacteria/ mold growth.
6. Lights off at 8pm
 
Fogger is not good enough to replace misting. Misting once before you leave in the morning and once when you get back with a dripper on for a few hours a day will be fine.

Avoid using anything high in oxalates too often. The regular high calcium veggies and fruits are good. Cricket crack is a great dry gutload that can be sprinkled on veggies for other herps. It's good for bug eating guys and veggie eating guys. It's a bonus :) you still need the veggies though for the wet gutload :)
 
With my schedule I'll be doing a disfavor to the animal. Thanks for the help but when I cannot give an animal 100% then it's not meant to be.

You can delete my threads.
 
With my schedule I'll be doing a disfavor to the animal. Thanks for the help but when I cannot give an animal 100% then it's not meant to be.

You can delete my threads.

:( It would have been nice to add a fellow Cham. keeper but by you doing this, your doing the responsible thing. My respect goes out to you. :)

Maybe some time in the future you'll be able to keep one of these beautiful creatures.:D
 
I suppose if you want a 1.5yr old and your in Tucson let me know. Still thinking if I can make this happen. He has to go somewhere quick soon.
 
What is your working schedule? I think the most demanding part of the whole thing is keeping him hydrated, critical part you can call it. If you can get an automatic misting system you wouldn't have to worry about misting him 3 to 4 times a day since you can set the times on it. I don't have experience with AquaZamp but have heard very good things about it. I'd PM Summoner12 to ask about it. :) Keeping a Chameleon is a lot different than any other reptile but once you get the hang of it, it's a sinch. ;)

I wish I lived in Tucson, lol! I'd take him in a heartbeat. Lol!:)
 
If your tap water isn't super gross/chemical-ey then you could always get a faucet hose adapter, a hose to 1/4 tubing adapter, a misting nozzle, and a hose timer. Plug it all in and you have a cheap-er misting system.
 
My schedule is an 11hr day.

How do you deal with the wet substrate? Small River rocks and the cage tray can drain into a pail?
 
Most of us don't use substrate at all and just keep the bottom bare so that we don't have to deal with it. It can harbor baceria and grow mold. There is a chance the Cham can also accidentally ingest some of the substrate or small pebble and can caust impaction which can lead to death. So, it's best to keep the bottom bare. :) As a "drainage system" I just put a plastic container where the dripper is and just empty it as needed. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom