Why does my Panther like sleeping on the bottom of his cage?

[Picasso123]

He goes up during the day and down at night? This is after I upgraded to a 4' cage too. I had left the old cage in the larger one today waiting for him to crawl out which he did. Around 5pm (before I took it out) he crawled back in and is now asleep on the bottom? He's been eating an drinking too.

 

[Picasso123]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Panther Cham (9mths)

Handling - None yet.

Feeding - Crickets, usually carrots, romaine, zucchini. Using water gel and dry powder as of now.

Supplements - Repcal w d3 twice a week, herpavite 1 a week.

Watering - Have Mist King was waiting for him to leave juvenile cage. Currently using mist bottle 4-5 times a day, poor droplets on cage top and have seen him drink.

Fecal Description - Looks normal.

History - Been experiencing this problem recently.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - LLLreptile 4' cage.

Lighting - 100w UV/heat bulb.

Temperature - 71-85 depending on zone.

Plants - None yet waiting for him to leave cage.

Placement - 5-6' from AC vent.

Location - CT


Current Problem - Started sleeping on cage bottom again after 3-4 days of not sleeping there and has large cage now too.

 

[Picasso123]

This is at 2pm today:

This is at 12am

 

[Picasso123]

Is it the AC vent? I sometimes feel a draft coming from under the door before I go in the room the chameleon is in.

 

[mbondy]

Well I can only tell you you're over supplementing, you need to use calcium with no D3 or phosphorous daily, calcium with D3 twice a month, and a multivitamin once or twice a month depending on the brand.

Maybe he feels comfortable down below where the cage was?? Do you have lots of foliage and/or branches at the top where he can hide??

 

[Picasso123]

Appears the vent was still open a bit but the damper is definitely shut all the way now.

 

[melric]

You have like 4 threads on the same thing. Try answering some questions people ask and keep it all in one thread. It's getting annoying.

 

[mbondy]

You have like 4 threads on the same thing. Try answering some questions people ask and keep it all in one thread. It's getting annoying.

Very, very true. It's quite confusing after awhile.

 

[Citizen Snips]

What are your night time temps?

My Panther (5month) wakes up @ 7 A.M and chills near basking bulb for a few hours moves under the UVB. Then, @ around 3-4 P.M he moves to the lower half of the cage to his sleeping branch and remains there until the lights turn off . I think they are just cooling down as they are under a lot of heat throughout the day. Try moving his cage away from the window and definitely close up that a/c vent and any others in your room. Most rooms are complete vacuums, so it's important to eliminate any drafts and limit ''door activity''. I had to close like 4-5 vents in my room and I stood exactly where the cage is while I set everything up ad turned on the A/C to see if I could feel any drafts. I keep my room at 71 degrees at night, but maybe your panther wants a bigger temperature drop.

 

[ChameleonNerd]

maybe the lights (at the top of your enclosure) turn on too early and wake your chameleon up. it needs it's beauty rest, you know

 

[Picasso123]

Well I can only tell you you're over supplementing, you need to use calcium with no D3 or phosphorous daily, calcium with D3 twice a month, and a multivitamin once or twice a month depending on the brand.

Maybe he feels comfortable down below where the cage was?? Do you have lots of foliage and/or branches at the top where he can hide??

Do I need calcium daily if the cricket feed is high in calcium ( east bottle says so)? I'll cut down on the supplements.

Yes there is foliage at the top and bottom. Bottom only because I'm trying to remove the cage. Hopefully I can switch the cage for a Hibiscus tomorrow.

You have like 4 threads on the same thing. Try answering some questions people ask and keep it all in one thread. It's getting annoying.

He was behaving normal for awhile or somewhat normal. Many of the other threads have now gone down the list to other pages and the situation has changed a little too. I also don't wanna have him be suffering so I thought a new post with new info not marred by "good to see he's doing better" would show he's still got something up with him.

 

[Picasso123]

What are your night time temps?
I keep my room at 71 degrees at night, but maybe your panther wants a bigger temperature drop.

The temp is 74-75 at the moment in here. Maybe that's the issue? Like a dog on a bathroom floor. I was told not to open any windows at night though?

 

[mbondy]

I would dust lightly, maybe at every other feeding if you've a great gutload. The norm on the forum is to give D3 twice a month so I'm sort of concerned why they would say twice a week

You can have your windows open if your humidity stays up. I have no choice as I've AC and the only way to keep humidity up is to have the window open and I stay around 70%

Also your night time drop is only to 74? You should try to get the room the high 60s. He may also be going lower in the cage as it's cooler. Just a thought

 

[Picasso123]

I would dust lightly, maybe at every other feeding if you've a great gutload. The norm on the forum is to give D3 twice a month so I'm sort of concerned why they would say twice a week

You can have your windows open if your humidity stays up. I have no choice as I've AC and the only way to keep humidity up is to have the window open and I stay around 70%

Also your night time drop is only to 74? You should try to get the room the high 60s. He may also be going lower in the cage as it's cooler. Just a thought

yeah its pretty humid outside now on the east coast. I'm thinking that maybe his issue. As I stated earlier he seems to go lower at the daylight wanes.

 

[mbondy]

Well both my guys head down to the middle of the cage at night. I would not be too worried if he's acting normal through the day.

 

[seanUTD]

I honestly don't think its really about temps... For one a 100watt bulb should get over 85 degrees... Most basking bulbs stay around a 60 or 75 watt depending on height away from the basking point... After looking at the pics I think your problem is the amount of vines/branches/cover.... I also see your old cage is still in the larger cage... It may be a SUPER far fetched idea but it may be confusing since you have a fully furnished cage thats top point reaches exactly where he is perching to sleep... Try just upgrading that plant/foliage and vertical vines AND horizontal vines... Giving him more area to search and hide... This is JMHO!! By no means a guarantee..

 

[seanUTD]

Well both my guys head down to the middle of the cage at night. I would not be too worried if he's acting normal through the day.

Yea honestly my guy Stanley does this only because his favorite plant is the bottom of the cage... he used to sleep up high, changed the plant, moved down low...

 

[mbondy]

I was surprised by the wattage as well. I mentioned coverage as well, seemed not too dense and they like to hide. Either way the temps should drop lower imo

My guy also loves his plant, he has both an umbrella and ficus...he LOVES the ficus and my other cham loves his umbrella. They are characters