UVB too much perhaps?

herrwibi

New Member
Hi All,

I know this questioned has been asked alot and i've read alot of threads about it but i'll give you a little background.

About 6 months now i've had my panther chameleon that was my girlfriends, we are long distance so she is at mine more and said it makes sense for the chameleon to live with me which i have no issue's with this. She got him from a friend as they could no longer look after him.

Before i got him he was always hand feed with tongs i've tried to not to do this unless its necessary. He has an issue with his tongue where his aim is off most of the time or hes lazy and goes right up to the locust/cricket etc . Doesn't make it a challenge for himself, after more reading i realised he may be defiant in d3 . I started using rapashy multi vitamin as well as normal calcium. It has improved but not the best. He doesn't seem to be able to steady himself sometimes when hunting for food and throws him off balance another reason why i'm looking into his uvb.

He's due a new uvb and i was doing more research into this, he currently has a 12% but after alot of reading i feel this may be too much, he doesn't have alot of coverage to escape the high uvb . His cage size is 24x24x48 and the light sits on top of the mesh. I know this filters some of the light out.

I've attached a photo so show you his layout, he doesn't have any issue's getting about and is active all day but my worry is the UVB lamp may be too strong for him.

Any help or input would be greatly appreciated.
 

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Hi there... So yes the 12% is going to be much too strong for him. You would want the 6% if you are going to leave the fixture sitting directly on the cage top.
So with a T5HO fixture and a 6% sitting on the top you want 8-9 inches to the branches below.
WIth A T5HO and a 12% you need a full 11-12 inches to the branches below. This gives you the same approximate 3 UVI at this distance that the 6% gives at its recommended distance.

So you can either switch the bulb to the 6% and double check your total distance or with what you have you would raise your fixture 4 inches off the cage top and then have 8 inches to the basking branch below it to ensure the cham is not in overexposure levels.

Can you post pics of the supplements and tell me how long you have been using them and in what schedule?

Targeting issues can be from over supplementation and incorrect supplementation. Typically too much D3 or no vitamin A. Let me review what you are using to determine this though. And has the targeting been an issue since you got the cham 6 months ago?


When was the UVB bulb switched out? these need to be replaced yearly.

Cage set up looks good but you want to switch out all of the rope for either flukers fake vines or real branches. Reason being these ropes not only can cause nails to get caught and broken but they harbor bacteria growth.
 
Thank you for your reply. I'll look at switching out the UVB to a 6% as i have no way of raising this up. UVB is still within a year but i was looking to switch it out just in case and because i believed it was too strong.

So every time i feed crickets/locusts/roaches etc get a dusting of calcium with no d3 and every 2nd week one of the feeding is calcium with d3 and multivitamin. I've been using these since April this year. I'll post a pic below of what i feed. I also gutload my crickets and locusts mostly carrots/cucumber this does vary depending what i have. Ok i'll look at switching them out and see what i can get. Yes targeting was an issue when i got the cham and i think also when my girlfriend got the cham off her friend.
 

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Thank you for your reply. I'll look at switching out the UVB to a 6% as i have no way of raising this up. UVB is still within a year but i was looking to switch it out just in case and because i believed it was too strong.

So every time i feed crickets/locusts/roaches etc get a dusting of calcium with no d3 and every 2nd week one of the feeding is calcium with d3 and multivitamin. I've been using these since April this year. I'll post a pic below of what i feed. I also gutload my crickets and locusts mostly carrots/cucumber this does vary depending what i have. Ok i'll look at switching them out and see what i can get. Yes targeting was an issue when i got the cham and i think also when my girlfriend got the cham off her friend.
Ok the supercal NoD is great. The repashy calcium plus may be a bit much for him since he had the higher exposure of the stronger UVB. I prefer the calcium plus LoD version. It is more along the normal amounts recommended when it comes to vitamin A and D3. The regular calcium plus has more than double the levels of these. So since they are fat soluble they build up in the tissues.

If he were mine I would drop back the bulb strength to the 6% then get the calcum plus LoD version. Same schedule with only giving it 2 times a month say the 1st and the 15th. Then all other feedings would be the supercal NoD. Remember your doing a light dusting. You do not want a powdered donuts look.

He could have an actual injury to the tongue from the old owners. Depending on what supplements they were using. Again overexposure to UVB can mess them up in many ways. So the reduced bulb and then new multivitamin should show after a month or so if there is improvement with targeting.

If targeting is an issue then putting a branch or vine closer to the feeder run so he can pick them off without shooting far will be helpful.

Here is an image you can use for gutload items.
chameleon-gutload.jpg
 
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