so I recently acquired a panther chameleon (found it crossing the road) and I was wondering if you knew anything about proper husbandry for chameleons, or if you knew of any resources for this sort of thing? I really want to take good care of him.
Wow, what a wild way to find a cham!
I’ll start out by saying chameleons are not considered easy to care for. They are far more delicate and sensitive than many common pet reptiles.
Also a disclaimer: I have not kept a cham in a long time, though both my wife and I have (separately) had them, and I have never personally kept a panther. Though I have kept up with their care info and available equipment out there, there are better people to ask than me. I’ll tag reptiblr in this so current cham owners can check my info, and I’ll link some resources at the bottom!
The first thing to do is to take the cham to a qualified reptile vet. Making sure the chameleon is healthy now will go a long way toward long term success. Since this cham has been out in the wild, do this as soon as possible. Get a fecal, as well as a generally wellness checkup.
Some things will vary based on the age of your chameleon. This information is for ADULT panther chameleons. Please do research if it’s a baby or a juvie on the differences.
Some basics:
Handling is very stressful to chameleons. Handle only when necessary. I know there a lot of people who handle their chams quite a bit, but it’s not in the cham’s best interest. A chameleon is a display animal.
Enclosure: Well ventilated is very important. Screen cages are necessary. The bare minimum is 24" by 24" by 48" high (2 feet by 2 feet by 4 feet high). You can use a ReptiBreeze X-Large for example. You can build an enclosure using PVC-coated, SS, or aluminum hardware cloth or fiberglass screen over a pvc pipe or other frame as well. (Do not use galvanized hardware cloth.) There is some danger to the nails of large chameleons like panthers in a screen cage, so a hardware cloth cage is a good choice. Adult male panthers get 18 inches long, and up to 20, so an adult male panther chameleon will require a larger homemade enclosure.
Decor: Lots of branches and vines. There are flexible vines available as reptile decor which work well, as well as magnetic vines, and “trees” which are mounted on a base. You can use bamboo and other branches horizontally. Offer fake leaves and leafy vines as cover so that the chameleon will feel secure. You can also use a potted plant “tree” or use magnetic planters such as from Magnaturals to include live plants, which can help keep your humidity up. However, make sure they are organically grown (I suggest buying from a vivarium specific store), and that the soil they are planted in is also organic! Covering the substrate with large river pebbles or another barrier is a good idea. There are various ways to mount these vines and branches in the screen enclosure, such as plastic coated plant mounting wire, magnets, or zip-ties. Some people also use expanding foam (Great Stuff) to anchor stuff to the sides, but you will have to wait for it to cure up to a week, and you can’t re-position things later with this method.
You will need a digital thermometer, digital hygrometer, and a temp gun. Do not use analogue (dial) thermometers or hygrometers.
Heat: Provided by an overhead basking light in a wide 10″ dome fixture, on top of the enclosure, and be sure to use a thermostat! With sensitive animals like chameleons, an expensive, proportional thermostat such as a HerpStat is a safer choice than a cheap thermostat like a JumpStart, but it will work in the short term. You should also have a timer on the heat source for 10-12 hours. This can be a regular incandescent light bulb or incandescent bulb of the right wattage. This will depend on your ambient temps so it’s hard to say which you’ll need but you can probably go with a 40 or 60 watt. You can move the light further from the basking branch if it is too warm (mounting the fixture above the enclosure instead of setting it on top). The chameleon should have a branch at a slight angle under the heat source, and the temperature should be measured on this basking platform. Make sure the chameleon can’t get too close to the bulb and burn itself. For an adult panther chameleon, this may be 6-8 inches from the bulb. The distance will depend on the strength of the bulb, the size of your cham, and your ambient temperature. The angle allows them to thermoregulate and choose how warm they want to be. The maximum temperature on the branch for the basking spot should be 85-90 degrees (not for baby/juvie panther chameleons!). The temperature will be cooler towards the bottom of the enclosure, and the ambient temperature should be 80 around the middle and 75 near the bottom. A temperature drop at night is desirable. A drop to 60-65 degrees is good (not below 50f). The enclosure should be entirely dark at night, do not use a night light.
Light/UVB: The UVB light should be on top of the enclosure near the heat source, over branches allowing the chameleon to self-regulate, and on a timer like the heat bulb. You will need a long fluorescent ReptiSun 5.0 or 10.0, or an Arcadia 6% or 12%, replacing the bulb every 6 months.
Humidity: Though Panther chameleons need very good ventilation, they also need moderately high humidity. This means you need to mist the enclosure with dechlorinated or distilled water at least twice daily. You should aim for roughly 70-80% humidity. It should dry to <50% between mistings. There will generally be a humidity gradient through the enclosure, dryer at the top and more humid lower in the enclosure, so the chameleon can self-regulate.
Water: Chameleons are notorious for not drinking from standing water (such as water dishes). Misting may or may not be adequate. Twice or more daily misting is recommended along with a secondary water source in the form of a dripper. There are commercial versions (like the ZooMed Little or Big Dripper or Magnaturals Magnetic Dripper), and many DIY guides online. It should drip onto a wide leaf (real or fake) that the chameleon can drink off of, and should drip for at least a couple hours per day. It may be a good idea to install an automated misting system such as a Mist King. In their wild habitat it rains off and on through the day. Some keepers recommend at least 15 or 20 minutes of misting total per day, or even more!
Food: Chameleons are insectivores who benefit from a wide variety of invertebrates in their diet. Panther chams can eat roaches, crickets, hornworms, silkworms, and locusts, with other insects like fatty waxworms occasionally. Adult panther chameleons eat every other day. Young chams will need to eat every day.
Supplements: Feeders should be dusted with proper supplements. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, chameleons can suffer from hypervitaminosis D. With a 5.0 or 6% UVB light, you should supplement calcium with D3 twice a month; if you are using a higher output UVB (10.0 or 12%) you may want to go down to once a month, but I suggest consulting a chameleon-saavy reptile vet, and checking out articles on the subject! Plain calcium (no D3) should be used at nearly every feeding that you are not using the calcium w/ D3 or multivitamin, and a multivitamin (without D3) two times a month. It is controversial but some evidence suggests at least some species of chameleon can’t convert beta carotene into vitamin A, meaning the supplement should have preformed vitamin A. Zoo Med Reptivite without D3 contains preformed vitamin A.
Feeding Dishes: Insects are typically fed in deep elevated dishes, as chameleons do not go down to the floor of their cage (a cham on the bottom of an enclosure is usually a sick cham), though some will go low enough to zot out of a dish set on the floor. Alternately, they can be fed from tongs. There are some great designs of elevated feeders out there now that make feeding chameleons so much easier, made from PVC or empty plastic bottles, DIY or purchased! I wish we’d had these around in the old days. Some examples are the Blinky Bugbar or Camo Grid Feeders. Here’s a DIY guide using a vinyl fencepost, and here’s a very economical DIY design from a small plastic jug.
Resources:
Chameleon ForumsCham Heat Sources and Burns
Hopefully others will weigh in as well!
