Thinking of getting Panther, Will this plant work?

[Three105]

hey guys... thinking of buying a panther from chameleonsonly

how many crickets would be enough for daily meal for baby-juvenile?

will a heat lamp with uva/uvb be enough heat for cage? probably buy small cage / starter kit off chameleononly's website if I get one for the baby till it reaches adult size or juvenile size... I live in an apartment in Oregon... it's heated... I can adjust heat... also have space heater...

would a humidifier, mister, and dripper be enough to keep cage humid and chameleon healthy without me misting cage??

Will this plant work? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumeria

Plumeria plant... I think it's the one that smells really good form hawaii?

what if I had a couple of those and some nice branches going throughout cage for chameleon to thermo-regulate?

I think thats it? can you help me out with some places to buy branches? How many do I need with say like 1 of those plants? If that plant won't work will you recommend a good plant? maybe 1-2 whatever will not crowd cage but look good/give chameleon good hang out space... and let me know how many branches I need through cage...

 

[dragongoddess]

Quick note- Plumeria is toxic do not use it in a chameleon cage.

 

[Three105]

Alright, thanks... just gonna get a big ficus... and some branches to clime on at 3 different level points to thermo regulate I think...

how about attaching orchids to ficus? what about to sides of trees maybe by attaching them to sides of cage via bark pieces... like the kind that float for turtles to bask on... i forgot what kind of bark it's called.... actually i'll just use drift wood... use like a zip tie or something and attach a few orchids to each one... tie them to sides of cage... then ficus in middle... is that a good set up?

 

[Carlton]

As your cham gets larger it may climb on the orchids and damage them. Same problem with bromiliads. If you don't care about the damage go ahead. But, if the cham perches or roosts on the flowers its weight may keep detaching them and sharp fine claws tear the surfaces.

 

[Carlton]

What lighting brand are you considering? A baby cham will dehydrate and overheat pretty easily. A safer lighting combination would be a ReptiSun 5.0 for UV and a regular house light bulb for a basking spot (you don't really need a fancy basking spotlight). Wattage of the basking bulb is hard to recommend as it is affected by the room temp, placement, cage size, etc. Experiment with a 40 watt first, and measure the actual temp on the basking perch. Invest in a simple $30 non contact temp gun... just about the best tool for cham keeping. Use it to measure the temp where ever you need to. If it's too hot, move the bulb farther away. If too cool, move the bulb closer or try the next size up. Make the decision about wattage based on the resulting temp at the basking perch. The combination UV/heat bulbs can produce a lot of excess heat.

 

[Carlton]

Oh, about your other questions...you need to do some reading on cham husbandry. There are good links on the forum resources tab. You don't really need to heat at night if your room is comfortable for you, it will be OK for the cham. They need a 10 degree temp drop at night and no lights. Branches...you don't really need to buy specific types. The very hard manzanita perches at pet shops can be hard for them to grip if too large and slippery. Any non-toxic tree branch from outdoors will do. Scrub it with a 1:10 water to bleach solution, rinse well, and dry to remove loose bark, sap, or dry rot. Little chams will like lots of perches to climb around on so they can thermoregulate in the cage during the day and roost at night. They will also want a lot of leaf cover to hide in.

As for spraying and misting, how much you need to do will depend on the humidity and general temp in your room. If you have a forced air furnace it will tend to dry the cage out more in winter. AC in summer will also. If your cage has lots of foliage to hold water droplets it will stay more humid. I don't think you can get away from daily hand misting unless you get a completely automatic misting system controlled by a timer.

Don't offer too many feeders at one time. Little chams can get mesmerized by all the activity and have a harder time singling out one prey to shoot at. A baby or very young juvenile can basically eat all it wants. Smaller sized feeders are better than fewer large ones.

 

[Carlton]

Oooops! I meant to write 1:10 Bleach to Water solution!!