# Lizards > Chameleons >  assistance por favor

## tsdsbd

so ive been thinking about getting either an Ambanja Blue Panther or a Jacksons chameleon within a year or so..

i need the best care sheet you all know of. i know how precise their husbandry reqs are and would like to provide top notch care for my future pet.

thanks a bunch all!

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## Dustin

I wrote this for the panther chameleon a while back it should help you. I would suggest a panther as a first chameleon because Jacksons are a little less forgiving. Jacksons are really awesome and basically require the same as a panther chameleon except you should using a lower basking temp and a much higher humidity.

The Panther Chameleon can really be an easy display pet for anyone to own. The main issue most people have is the initial set up. Once you are set up it's not that bad. Unfortunately most pet stores don't know what they are talking about and sell Panther Chameleons to people and set them up alll wrong.

First of all I'll discuss the general needs of a Panther Chameleon then I'll give some suggested items to reach those needs.
-Room, adult Panther Chameleons are territorial and should be kept alone. Some pet stores will try to sell you aquariums, but any chameleon should be kept in either an all screen enclosure or a well ventilated terrarium with proper space for their size.
-Humidity
-UVB
-Proper Temperatures
-Highways, also known as walkways, these will be what help your Panther Chameleon bask, hide, and move around it's enclosure.
-Food (DUH)
-Suppliments

My suggestions:
-Enclosure: If you are starting out with a baby you should probably get a small screened enclosure or reptarium (http://www.reptarium.com/). The usual size is anything from the 24in - 36in tall range to 12-18in wide rage. For an adult I suggest a 24x24x48inch screened enclosure. You can find them all over the web. http://lllreptile.com/ has good prices on them as well as http://www.diycages.com/

-Now that you have your cage you need to outfit it.
For the lights I suggest a 24inch linear 5.0 UVB Reptisun bulb in any 24 inch fixture. Then I suggest a 60 watt house bulb in a regular heat lamp fixture. You can increase the watt of the bulb to adjust the temperatures. For the basking are you need temps of 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit and then a general ambient temperature of 75-85. The temps can vary a little within these ranges but I would suggest keeping them max 90 degrees and no lower than high 60's at a minimum. Both of these lights belong at the top of the cage. NOT inside. This is to prevent your Panther Chameleon from burning himself.
There are 3 general plants that people put inside their enclosure. These are Benjamin Ficus, Umbrella Plants, and Hibiscus. They are all good and offer good branches, but there are also tons of other plants that are healthy for your Panther. However, a lot of them aren't safe so if you do not see them on a safe plant list stay away from it. This is a good site for looking at safe plants (they have awesome chameleons as well  :Wink:  ) http://www.flchams.com/safe_plant_list.asp
Even though you have a plant in the cage you will need to make sure there are pathways for your panther to crawl around to spots you have certain things. You can get either fake vines from your local pet store or use pothos from any plant store. You can tie the vines to the edge of the cage with fishing line or small wire. Basically try to run a bunch of highways around so your Panther Chameleon can run around to hunt (or eat at the cup if you cup feed -will be discussed soon-) and a pathway that is about 6 inches from your basking spot so they can go and bask when they need to warm up.

-How to keep humidity up. First of all, having live plants in the enclosure is necessary to keep the humidity at a desired level. If you have a dead plant or all fake plants your humidity is more than likely to low. Some pet stores will try to tell you that a chameleon will drink from a water bowl, however they will not! They are dew drinkers and you need to mist them daily (2+ times a day usually) to keep them hydrated. I suggest going to a hardware store and getting one of the pump sprayers for mixing pesticides (never used of course) and using that as a mister. It is easier and will keep your hands from dying due to all the misting you will need to do. Spend about 3-5 minutes misting and you should be fine.

-Feeding
This is the most important part of keeping a chameleon healthy and can determine almost anything from how often and how many eggs a female chameleon will produce to preventing diseases such as Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD).
Staple Feeders:
-Crickets
-Dubia Roach
-Silkworms
Supplemental Feeders (treats)
-Hornworms
-Butterworms
-Superworms
-Moths
5-8 staple feeders should be offered a day and possibly every other day if you notice your adult Panther is getting overweight. Supplemental feeders can be offered as a treat every now and then, and mixing feeders up is recommended in order to keep their appetite up. The feeders shouldn't be any wider than the space between your chameleon's eyes.
Gut-loading is also very important. Gut-loading basically means that you are feeding your feeders healthy foods. What your feeders eat is essentially what your chameleon is eating. Most commercial gut-loads are good but I would suggest looking up recipes for your own gut-load or looking around on www.chameleonforums.com for some of the gut-loads other members their have for sell.
I also suggest having 3 different supplements to dust your feeders with. They don't need to be heavily dusted, just lightly.
-Repcal Calcium without D3 should be dusted just about every time you feed
-Repcal Calcium with D3 should be offered to your chameleon once or twice a month depending on how ofter they can go outside. The D3 just helps to ensure the levels are in balance to digest their food.
-Repcal Herptivite should be offered twice a month

Cup Feeding:
This is something a lot of keepers do to help regulate and know exactly how much your chameleon is eating. It also makes sure that some feeders aren't running off and hiding to where your chameleon cant eat them. We get a large water bottle (we use the Smartwater bottles because they are long and perfect size, plus we like the water) and cut the front out of it with a razor blade. Then we use black duct tape to put a small layer around the edge so it's not sharp (the black is for style). Then we cut out a piece of screen that can fit in the inside of the bottle and tape it in with the black duct tape so that there is a screen back wall that the feeders can crawl on and the chameleon will shoot it off of.
Once it is made you can wrap a piece of wire around the bottom side of the lid to the water bottle and tie it to the top of the cage, then run a pathway with vines to it so the chameleon can get to it and eat out of it.

Hand Feeding:
This is often done for chameleons that are getting treats or you can do it to try to tame your mean chameleon. You can get tongs if you don't want to hold the feeder, but it's pretty fun having a chameleon shoot a feeder out of your fingers. Just make sure the insect comes right out when the chameleon shoots it so his tongue can retract like normal and not get stuck. I suggest feeding like this with most worms / moths.

What you need in a short list for an Adult Panther Chameleon:
-24x24x48 inch screened cage
-24 inch strip light fixture
-dome light fixture
-24 inch 5.0 reptisun lightbulb
-60 watt house light white bulb
-Umbrella Plant (schefalara arboricola)
-Fake vines
-Pump mister
-Feeder cup
-Crickets
-Repcal calcium without D3
-Repcal calcium with D3
-Repcal Herptivite

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Panthe...7471856&ref=ts

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_tsdsbd_ (08-06-2010)

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## jfreels

Any chance you can provide pics of your feeding cup?  I made one kind of similar but I can't house things such as crickets in it.  Instead, I put a small container on the bottom of the cage and let a stick go about half way down into it.  That does the trick for crickets and I use the "dixi cup" method for the worms.  

Hopefully I'll be switching to roaches soon and I'd like to ditch that tank and go right to the cup.  I think my veiled prefers the cup because he's pretty much stopped eating the crickets.  He likes mealworms and supers.  

He won't eat them if they are dusted though, have any advice there?  I think it has something to do with the inside of the cup being white and the worm being white because of the dust.  I have tried just sprinklink the dust on the bottom of the cup and when they crawl through it, they pick it up.  But I have found that I need to clean the cup out every day because of all the misting.  The dust gets nasty.

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## Dustin

I will try to get the pics of the feeders tomorrow but I'm not sure why he wont eat them dusted. It's probably due to the same colors. When I feed worms I just let them crawl up the cage and the chameleon usually eats it immediately.

On the whole not liking crickets, it is more than likely because he has become picky and prefers the worms (it happens a lot), unfortunately the mealworms and superworms are not prefered for a main diet because they are high in fat. If you'd prefer him eat crickets just dont feed him for a few days and he will eventually take the crickets. He'll be fine not eating until he eats the crickets. Another feeder that I like to use are silk worms. I also give them hornworms as a treat. My veiled also loves fruits and vegetables :p

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jfreels (08-06-2010)

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## jfreels

Thank you!  How about dubia roaches?

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## tsdsbd

thats incredibly informative thank you SO much dustin!

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