Panther cham looking dark

[Tiana]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male, Blue Bar Ambilobe panther chameleon, not 100% sure on the age, got him two days ago.
Handling - Have not yet
Feeding - 12 or so crickets, some in the morning and some in the late afternoon.Crickets currently being gutloaded with commercial gutload and celery. I am buying more veggies this afternoon.
Supplements - 1 month schedule: Calcium daily, calcium with d3 every two weeks, multivitamins every two weeks (when not using d3)
Watering - Chameleon is drinking happily, misting for 60 seconds every 3 hours.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Reptibreeze with insulation on 3 sides. 18x18x36
Lighting - one reptiglow 2.0 UVB and one reptiglow 5.0 UVB
Temperature - measured with instant read thermometer - 72-81 ambient, basking spot at around 90. Using two 100 watt bulbs.
Humidity - Humidity is at around 55 in the time between the misting and 75 during/immediately after misting.
Plants - 2 pachira money trees and one croton.
Placement - terrarium is in the corner of a my room next to a window. about 4 feet tall including stand.
Location - California

I posted a similar post in the lizard lounge but I'm updating and starting a new one here in the health clinic.

I just received my panther chameleon two days ago. He is eating well and drinking plenty of water. The only problem is that he is really dark all the time - ranging from black to dark brown. The only time I've seen him become colorful is when I stick my hand in the terrarium to give him crickets. He is lighter in the morning before I turn the heating bulb on. He is currently in his basking spot but still pretty dark. What can I do to help him out? Is it maybe because he isn't used to this new environment?

 

[Oliviabryant]

Can you post a picture of his entire enclosure ?
This may not be the case BUT-
He may not like his setup and feel out of place on top of settling in. Chams attitudes can change A LOT depending on their enclosure, I know my veiled is very paticular about his setup and when i did his new setup and he didnt have enough branches in his favorite area he seemed oddly angry but the second I added more vines he was nice and would come out on his own.

 

[Tiana]

I tried handling him today and he was extremely active and friendly - he was climbing all over me and was really colorful.

Here is his terrarium setup. I think he's just getting used to his environment because he's becoming more colorful each day - he's still pretty dark right now when I'm not handling him but now you can see his blues coming out.

Also, how old do you think he is?









sorry for the sideways images

 

[bimac6]

I think it may be just acclimating to his new home like said above. They do tend to stress when their homes are rearranged or moved. He looks under a year. Maybe 6 months? His arms look pretty skinny though! Do you know his history at all? He's very pretty

 

[Tiana]

Yeah he is a little bit on the skinny side but he's eating well so hopefully he will plump up a bit. I got him from backwater reptiles.

Just curious also if anybody is having a problem with their photos coming up sideways - regardless of the orientation of the photo when it is taken, all of the photos I have uploaded so far turn sideways.

 

[Oliviabryant]

He looks about 6-7 months old ( roastral protrusion is fairly mature)
Also I would suggest adding a taller plant and some horizontal branches. It's best to have thick foliage through the middle so he can hide out if he feels uncomforable and so there isnt an issue with humidty. The horizontal branches will make his feel comfortable while basking as well.

When you say commercial gut load.. Which one are you referring to?

 

[Tiana]

Yeah I actually just went and bought more branches this morning and will be putting those in shortly.
Right now the crickets are eating celery, carrots, oranges, fluker's cricket quencher, and fluker's "high calcium cricket diet".

 

[Oliviabryant]

Not saying mine is the best- but I like more of a jungle gym and basking area towards the top with light foliage and heavy through the middle so he can get out of the light if he needs or poop in private - some chams are very elusive poopers hahaha- mine hides when he does it

 

[Oliviabryant]

Yeah I actually just went and bought more branches this morning and will be putting those in shortly.
Right now the crickets are eating celery, carrots, oranges, fluker's cricket quencher, and fluker's "high calcium cricket diet".

I would strongly suggest ditching the flukers products ASAP. Especially the high calcium diet, you can easily over do calcium with products like that.
Try repashy's bug burger or super load, it's very inexpensive and the crickets go nuts for it
http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/insect-gut-load.html

 

[Tiana]

Thank you so much for your help! I actually went out and got some more branches this morning and will be putting them in later today. I'll try and get some more plants too!

Should I stop using the quencher as well? Also, can I go with a completely raw veggie diet or should I get some kind of dry food in there too?

 

[Oliviabryant]

Yes I'd stop using flukers water crystals, you can buy a supply about 4 times the size of the flukers for the same price from Pangea.
However fresh greens like cerely should supply them with quiet a bit of water. You can use all fresh vegetables for gut loading but you need to check it everyday and replace the wilted stuff and watch for mold.
You may also want to try more nutritious feeders like silk worms.
You can get them for a pretty great price on coastal silkworms. If you buy bulk make sure you set up an enclosure for them an purchase the food otherwise you can just buy the silkworm pods which included food and an enclosure for them.

 

[Tiana]

I'm going to place an order for some pheonix worms today. The silk worms from coastal silkworms are so inexpensive compared to other places I've seen wow!! I'll get a pod of those as soon as they get more in stock! Thank you!

 

[Tiana]

I just contacted the website that I got him from and they told me he was around 3 months old, which was surprising to me because he's pretty big!

 

[Dgood]

Wow Olivia what kind of enclosure is that? It's looks way to big to be a x large repti breeze from The picture. And you did a pretty good job on the "jungle gym" haha

Not saying mine is the best- but I like more of a jungle gym and basking area towards the top with light foliage and heavy through the middle so he can get out of the light if he needs or poop in private - some chams are very elusive poopers hahaha- mine hides when he does it

 

[Oliviabryant]

I don't know where you have seen them for less.. I bought 200 live silkworms for $43 and that included 2 day shipping. You probably will not also find a live arrival guarantee.
Unless you were looking at silkworm eggs which of of course is a lower price because they did not have to raise them and feed them product.

Either way, in the long run its better to spend extra to ensure your chameleon is getting proper nutrition. It's like feeding a kid McDonald's VS a local fresh salad. One may cost less but it doesn't mean that's the better choice. To be properly raised Chameleons require a lot of money. You should realistically be setting aside at least 50$ a month for a chams food.

 

[Oliviabryant]

Wow Olivia what kind of enclosure is that? It's looks way to big to be a x large repti breeze from The picture. And you did a pretty good job on the "jungle gym" haha

It is a 260gal reptarium!
Which by the way is a great product, you wouldn't believe I bought mine for 100$ shipped! My veiled has so much room to roam its great. Plus I have a total of 4 plants in there.

 

[Dgood]

What only 100?! That puts repti breeze to shame! (not really just space provided.) my repti breeze was 85 shipped..... What website did you find this on? I'm going to have to snag one for my next Cham

 

[devol]

I've noticed that Snodgrass looks right at me as he poops. He is really regular and poops As I'm waking up. I think he's timing it. It's awkward.

Not saying mine is the best- but I like more of a jungle gym and basking area towards the top with light foliage and heavy through the middle so he can get out of the light if he needs or poop in private - some chams are very elusive poopers hahaha- mine hides when he does it

 

[Oliviabryant]

I just contacted the website that I got him from and they told me he was around 3 months old, which was surprising to me because he's pretty big!

Clearly they do not know squat. Or they may have mixed your order up.

 

[Oliviabryant]

What only 100?! That puts repti breeze to shame! (not really just space provided.) my repti breeze was 85 shipped..... What website did you find this on? I'm going to have to snag one for my next Cham

You can purchase them on reptiles direct. I have the 260 gal which is 30x30x72