I have had my panther for just over a month. 4 days ago today. I put him in his new cage and things have gone wrong. He use to be turning red and blue was starting to come out. He is now brown all the time unless he gets to the basking spot. The basking spot is in the low 90's. I mist him three or 4 times a day. He does drink water. He is in a 18x36 screened cage. He has two heat lamps on his cage. One uv light and I run a ceramic Heater at night. Lights are on 12 hours a day. He eats 2 or 3 crickets a day. Never has been a big eater. He won't touch any worms ever since I got him. I've tried silk and super worms. First Month I owned him he lived in a storage bin with the same lighting. Breeder told me to do that cause he raised the young that way. He was also happy and bright colors were coming out when in the bin. Now he spends his day mostly in the middle of his cage and is brown and black. Sitting on a brown vine. Please help my little guy. I'm going to post photos of him healthy and now and his new set up. Thank you
Please help
- Thread starter dboddy31
- Start date
Peachypink
Chameleon Enthusiast
How old is he? He should be eating way more than that if he's 8 months or younger. 15-20 small crickets a day.
I would suggest that you get rid of the heat at night. Chams need a temp drop of at least 10 degrees at night to help with their digestion and metabolism. If he is not getting that then it would be affecting his appetite.
Extensionofgreen
Chameleon Enthusiast
You also don't need the heat emitter at night and I'd reduce the basking temp to 85F, 90F being an absolute max, especially on a young animal.
I think the color change is related to the new openness and you are seeing the color change when you place him under the light, because of the handling, because he will seek the temps he needs.
I think the color change is related to the new openness and you are seeing the color change when you place him under the light, because of the handling, because he will seek the temps he needs.
Graves923
Chameleon Enthusiast
I agree with Extensionofgreen and Peachy. As long as you homes room temp doesn't drop below 55*F the ceramic heat emitter isn't necessary. He should also be eating alot more like Peachy stated. My young Veiled eats around 10-16 everyday along with the occasional superworm treat.
He most likely needs time to adjust to the new environment of the screen cage. Imagine living all your life in a brick building then all of a sudden being moved to a glass building. You'd probably feel exposed or stressed from the sudden change but will get used to it over time.
What might help is to add more foliage and plant cover in the mid section to fill out the enclosure a bit. this will give him more places to hide behind and feel more secure.
He most likely needs time to adjust to the new environment of the screen cage. Imagine living all your life in a brick building then all of a sudden being moved to a glass building. You'd probably feel exposed or stressed from the sudden change but will get used to it over time.
What might help is to add more foliage and plant cover in the mid section to fill out the enclosure a bit. this will give him more places to hide behind and feel more secure.
