Outdoor Setup - Tropical Climate - Do I really need any special setup?

[BigBossInc]

I currently live in Indonesia and the weather seems to be perfectly suited for my approx 10 month old Panther Chameleon named Snoop Doggy Dog (Snoop). I am not sure exactly what species he is, but if someone can confirm that would be awesome!



Current Setup

- Medium Sized Cage as Per Picture
- Custom Made Feeder (bottle specially cutout, with a chopstick inside, so the crickets can climb up, but cant escape, it works great!)
- 3 Live Plants (not sure exactly what they are though)
- He gets plenty of fresh air, he is outside 28 floors up on the balcony
- Seems to be perfect temperature with Max 31 Degrees in the day, Min 24 Degrees at Night.
- Perfect humidity
- The cage is located so that he can get direct sunlight in the morning if he wants to, if he doesn't want to there is plenty of places with shade he can hide. In the afternoon there is not much chance of direct sunlight as the sun rises across the apartment.



- Snoop also has a nice freeroam tree inside that I put him there about 3 - 5 times a week for about a max of 4 hours (supervised at all times of course) but he has never once even wanted to leave the tree and roam somewhere else. Also i make sure the AirCon is never on when I let him inside.



Current Maintenance

- Heavy dosing of misting 5 times a day (white poo, no dehydration problems)
- 5 Crickets per day (sometimes he eats them all, sometimes he leaves 1 or 2 left and i just take them out before bedtime)
- I treat him to super worms about once a week

He seems to be happy, healthy, eats well, drinks well, runs around, chills out, sleeps like a baby as soon as its nighttime. I mean really his pretty much living it up in the exact same climate and environment as where he originated from so its been 2 months and everything seems fine.



I researched and read as much as I can about caring for Snoop and I hope this doesn't come across as a stupid question, but do I need to still get him set up with night lights, basking lights or any other special equipment?

I would really like it and appreciate it if you guys could give your options and advice on this matter.

If you guys need any more pictures of anything to better help you give advice just let me know happy to provide.

 

[carol5208]

Hi there and welcome to the forums!. I think your chameleon is a Blue Bar Ambilobe. Possibly an Ambanja, but I think Ambilobe. A very pretty one!! If he basically lives outdoors, then you need no lights at all. He is getting everything he needs from the sun as far as UVB. Unless your temps fall into the low 50's or below, you can leave him outside and he will be ok. When you bring him inside, you can have the air on. I live in Florida and run mine year round. I keep my house around 74 degrees and when they are inside my house(they live outside also) they are fine.

 

[BigBossInc]

How about dusting the crickets?

Cool, thanks for your response Carol.

I think your spot on, I checked out some Blue Bar Ambilobe pictures and he definitely seems to be one of them, rather than a Ambanja.

As for my setup, i'm glad to hear he is getting everything he needs. I knew he was OK, but just wanted to make 100% sure.

The only really other thing i'm concerned about is his food. I have read that dusting of the crickets is important. However I am having difficulty finding anyone who supplies this stuff.

Will he really suffer and become unhealthy if he just eats crickets and super worms?

 

[ridgebax1]

Awh, you should have named him "Snoop Panther" since Snoop double gg is now a lion! He is very handsome by the way (your Snoop I mean) and your climate is perfect for him I think. Welcome. Could you post a picture of your cricket feeder? I need something for dubias as the bowl and stick method is not working.

 

[carol5208]

If you feed your crickets and superworms well he should be fine. You know about gutloading? If not, it is feeding your feeders a good diet of fresh fruits and vegetables so the vitamins and nutrients are passed on to your chameleon. Ideally you want as much variety in their diet like they are provided in nature, but sometimes that is difficult to do as feeders are not always available. I keep my supers in a bedding of oats and feed them everything I feed my crickets....kale, collard greens, sweet potato, carrots, oranges, apples etc. He is a beautiful chameleon btw and looks very healthy.

 

[BigBossInc]

Awh, you should have named him "Snoop Panther" since Snoop double gg is now a lion! He is very handsome by the way (your Snoop I mean) and your climate is perfect for him I think. Welcome. Could you post a picture of your cricket feeder? I need something for dubias as the bowl and stick method is not working.

haha! oh yeah that's right. Snoop is a lion now. I just find that so not cool. I called him Snoop cause he is always Snooping around. LOL.

Yeah so ridgebax, I did one better for ya and made a thread on exactly how to make the Bottle and Chopsticks Cricket Feeder. It has all the steps and pictures. So hopefully you give it a crack and it works out for you and Dubias.

 

[BigBossInc]

If you feed your crickets and superworms well he should be fine. You know about gutloading? If not, it is feeding your feeders a good diet of fresh fruits and vegetables so the vitamins and nutrients are passed on to your chameleon. Ideally you want as much variety in their diet like they are provided in nature, but sometimes that is difficult to do as feeders are not always available. I keep my supers in a bedding of oats and feed them everything I feed my crickets....kale, collard greens, sweet potato, carrots, oranges, apples etc. He is a beautiful chameleon btw and looks very healthy.

Ok cool that's good to hear thanks carol. I definitely stress less when I know my chameleon is happy and healthy. Yeah I gutload the crickets/superworms with any leftover veggies I have a few hours before I feed them to my chameleon.

I was so shocked though the first time I put a decent sized chunk of cucumber into my cricket enclosure. I went to have a shower came back and it was gone. I was like looking for it everywhere thinking it must of dropped behind something somewhere. I just didn't even think they could have eaten it all. So I put in another chuck of cucumber and watching and to my surprise about 10 of them jumped onto it and started devouring the whole thing. It was something out of like Star ship Troopers or something. They are absolute savages.

I don't know if it's the species of crickets where I live now or whether crickets all around the world are like that. It's like the mosquitoes here as well, they seem to be so much bigger, badder and smarter then the mozzies in Australia.