Polishing my setup

bbyoda

Chameleon Enthusiast
I've been tweaking my enclosure since Yoda moved in based on observing his habits. Have a few questions for you all:

1) Is it OK that he spends more time under the plant light rather than his basking lamp? I moved his feeding dish to be near the plant light since he's always hanging there.

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2) I removed some plants and added more branches today because I noticed he was having trouble getting around with so many pots hanging around. How's it looking? Anything else I can keep an eye out for in order to optimize.

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3) He's pooping and hydrated per his urates. But sometimes he just looks crummy - sunken eyes, long shedding, dark colors. I think that was related to reducing misting to 1 min and adjusting the times to before UVB lights were on as I got a fogger setup. So I changed misting times and duration back to what he had before the fogger (but adjusted so it's not on the same time as the basking light) and he seems much happier and his eyes seem better, too. Does he look OK to you?

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I've been tweaking my enclosure since Yoda moved in based on observing his habits. Have a few questions for you all:

1) Is it OK that he spends more time under the plant light rather than his basking lamp? I moved his feeding dish to be near the plant light since he's always hanging there.

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2) I removed some plants and added more branches today because I noticed he was having trouble getting around with so many pots hanging around. How's it looking? Anything else I can keep an eye out for in order to optimize.

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View attachment 276578

3) He's pooping and hydrated per his urates. But sometimes he just looks crummy - sunken eyes, long shedding, dark colors. I think that was related to reducing misting to 1 min and adjusting the times to before UVB lights were on as I got a fogger setup. So I changed misting times and duration back to what he had before the fogger (but adjusted so it's not on the same time as the basking light) and he seems much happier and his eyes seem better, too. Does he look OK to you?

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He could be getting old... how old is he?
 
I'd say your set up looks good. Mine always hung out under the plant lights as well for some reason, I wouldn't worry about it. Regarding the sunken eyes, I know when they're flared up the eyes will sink in some like in your picture. Have they been fine since you started misting more? It might help to give your cham a nice long misting session once or twice a week (along with the usual schedule) in the morning. I always did this and mine seemed to enjoy/benefit from it. My Panthers would get 15-30 or so minutes(doesn't really matter how long you go) and my Parsons would get around 2 hours..
 
He just underwent some big changes - moving into this cage post coccidia and pinworm treatment, and I tweaked up his hydration schedule as mentioned in this post. He seems better after I adjusted back to misting during waking hours. I also think some of the Silvadene I put on his casque and head for the beginning of a thermal burn stuck around and made his last shed tougher and makes him look a little fugly atm, but that's just cosmetic.

Here are some more close ups of him:

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I'd say your set up looks good. Mine always hung out under the plant lights as well for some reason, I wouldn't worry about it. Regarding the sunken eyes, I know when they're flared up the eyes will sink in some like in your picture. Have they been fine since you started misting more? It might help to give your cham a nice long misting session once or twice a week (along with the usual schedule) in the morning. I always did this and mine seemed to enjoy/benefit from it. My Panthers would get 15-30 or so minutes(doesn't really matter how long you go) and my Parsons would get around 2 hours..

Yes he's looking much brighter since I switched back to misting 3 minutes at 8am and 6pm, when he's actually awake. In fact I turned on the mister during the day thinking that might be the issue and he ran right toward the nozzle and put his eyes right up against the mist. I was really surprised by that. After a couple minutes he moved away from the mist. That's when I figured going back to the previous schedule would be best.
 
Yes he's looking much brighter since I switched back to misting 3 minutes at 8am and 6pm, when he's actually awake. In fact I turned on the mister during the day thinking that might be the issue and he ran right toward the nozzle and put his eyes right up against the mist. I was really surprised by that. After a couple minutes he moved away from the mist. That's when I figured going back to the previous schedule would be best.

I've noticed this too with mine too
 
Ugh this glitch with chrome keyboard on chamforums is so frustrating, anytime I hit backspace or enter it disappears.

Anyway, I wouldn't be afraid to use water. IMO it can't hurt. You have good ventilation as do pretty much all of us. The water will evaporate and airflow will stop any stagnant bacteria from forming.
 
Ugh this glitch with chrome keyboard on chamforums is so frustrating, anytime I hit backspace or enter it disappears.

Anyway, I wouldn't be afraid to use water. IMO it can't hurt. You have good ventilation as do pretty much all of us. The water will evaporate and airflow will stop any stagnant bacteria from forming.

Yep! I've got a screen enclosure, a pc fan pulling out air, and much better draining soil now, so more misting won't cause any problems. I'll keep a close eye on him for sure.
 
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