Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Darky]

Well guys,

i'm hoping to become Cham owner, as I've moved away from Rhacs for the time being due to a new house etc. But after re-organising things at home I've now got the time to dedicate to a Reptile.

So I'm hoping to get a Panther cham in the next few weeks, I've already got a 60x45x60 cm exo terra & the relevant reflectors & stats. Just gradually planting it up.

I've a couple couple of questions,

I've noticed that alot of people who keep them have in setups with no substrates, I would liketo plant the viv with real plants such as ficus and have it as closeto nature as possible. Are there any substrates I could use for a panther or is it a big no no ?

I'll be blacking out the sides & the back of the viv so it can't get stressed from its reflection.

Any other thoughts and suggestions are more than welcome.


James

[kroakykaren]

Hi James, i can only tell you what i do with my vivs, i use no substrate to avoid ingestion but also for ease of cleaning, i clean my exos morning and night so no water or debris is lying in the base of the viv, thus hopefully avoiding bacteria build up, my babies are in 12 x 12 x 18 exos so they can find food nice and easy and i can keep the temps lower, i use real plants just left in the pots, the babies then move up to the next size exo and then into adult vivs, hope i have helped, others i am sure will help also.
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[kinyonga]

Before you get a chameleon, there is a lot you need to know husbandry (lighting, temperatures, gutloading, supplementation, etc.)

Here are some sites that will give you good information...
http://adcham.com/
http://www.chameleonnews.com/
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/skintests.htm
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502074401/www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html

If your husbandry is good chances are once you get your chameleon it will be with you for quite a few years!

[Darky]

Thanks for the replys guys, I'm still researching & trying to work out a way to house a cham in a natual looking setup without it looking to clinincal.

I've kept various reps in the past, so i have a good husbandy knowledge which i know i'll need for chams & much more, at the moment I'm carefully looking at websites & speaking to other cham owners to get a clearer idea of their needs.

James

[Rickeezee]

I dont use substrate for any of my chams. But I do use live plants and a mixture of fake plants to. You can achieve a great looking viv this way that does look very natural. The exo terra bendy jungle vines are good, I use them. I also use real tree branches / twigs of the correct size and in some of my largest vivs I have nice big lengths of various thickness oak branches. if you wanted you could allways paint the base of the viv to help it look more naturalistic, say brown or green, just use a safe paint.

Do you know what I have never had a problem with chams and glass. I raise my baby chams in exo terras and they soon get used to the glass and dont seem at all phased by it. I have at times housed adult chams in arboreal large glass custom vivs that are well ventilated and hold humidity very adequately, with no ill affects whatsoever, once they have worked out they cant walk through the glass which doesn't take them long, they soon work out its a barrier. As for reflection hmmmm after much spraying the glass loses its shine and I have never had a problem wit chams and reflections in the glass. My Picasso Franz was raised in such a viv for over a year and a half and has thrived. A few months ago I moved him into a huge custom built minimal glass viv and I think he was happier in the other viv. Ever since moving home he remained bright vivid orange / red! Odd creatures!

If your blacking out the sides of the large exo you have, have you done this from the inside or the outside of the glass, if from the outside it will still reflect on the inside if this makes sense. Panthers enjoy well lit bright areas and the custom vivs I use in my herp room are all painted bright white on the internals to help reflect the artificial lights used. All the vivs have real plants etc as stated before but are not overcrowded as panthers dont seem to need dense foliage but like some open areas and some areas where they can hide if they so wish, I guess its about creating an environment that offers choice of cover, choice of heat gradient etc. My Yemen vivs are very heavily planted up and have dense foliage as they seem to prefer this.

Thats how I do things, not saying its right or the only way but it works well for me and the chams.

Have included a few pics to give an idea of the layout of the various set ups I have used ranging from baby set ups to adult set ups.
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

[Rickeezee]

,,,,,
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

[Darky]

Hi Rick thanks for the advice, i like the way you have got your viv's planed up Its given me some idea's, a question though, If i planted the viv up with say a ficus in a shallow pot & then used vines & large pieces of cork bark do tink that would be ok? This would be for a adult setup though.

I know with a baby it would need tobe much simpler.

I have been thinking about getting either a baby or a sub adult cham,

With regards baby chams are they more difficult to raise to adult hood ?

regards james

[Rickeezee]

The set up planting you describe would be fine. Yes baby chams in general terms are harder work than sub or adult chams. But both will do well if the husbandry is spot on. Babies however can be more fragile than older chams.
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

[Jase]

I've recently moved away from substrate completely with all my snakes and lizards, I find it so much easier to clean the vivs without the stuff. My Cham vivs have no substrate.
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A lil bit of Madagascar

[Darky]

ok well I've narrowed my choices down to a Panther Chameleon, I love the colours that you can get them in, I'd ideally like to get a grown on juvinile as whilst I know I have good husbandry skills for looking after the reptile I'd rather pay a little more & get something thats grown on well rather than run the risk of getting a baby that as rick has mentioned would be more 'fragile'.

Cheers James