Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last Sunday I went up to the Pheonix Reptile Expo which was pretty fun and I bought my first panther i think he is Sambava/ambilobe(could be ambanja i can't remember ). He is eating about 5-6 small crickets a day and drinks often. The setup that I have for him right now is a 100 gallon repatarium with a ReptiSun 5.0 tube flourescent and a Powersun UV Mercury Vapor Lamp. I heard someone on here asking if there can be too much UVB exposure...is this too much? I bought both the herptivite and the calcium powders and mix them up 1:1 ratio but I do not know how many times a week to do this? Does this vary with the stages of development? I think mines a male but if not, what do I change the ratio to when gravid? Thats all my questions for now, thanks in advance

Stroker,

I don't mean to sound harsh, but your setup is completely wrong.

You said that:

"The setup that I have for him right now is a 100 gallon repatarium with a ReptiSun 5.0 tube flourescent and a Powersun UV Mercury Vapor Lamp."

Do you know how old your baby panther is? He seems a little too small for a 100 gallon reptarium with a powersun. I also think that at that age they are a little too young to be sold, and husbandry mistakes could mean trouble for him. If I had to guess, I would say that your baby is no more than 4 weeks old. You are taking a big risk purchasing at that age, especially if this is your first panther. Ideally, you should start out with a sub-adult, since they can tolerate mistakes a bit better.

The reason why the 100 gallon reptarium is not a good idea, is because he will have a hard time finding food in such a large space. Our babies are housed in a 24" x 16"x"16 small cage, so that they are able to hunt easily.

The lowest watt powersun mercury vapor bulb is 100 watts, and that bulb gets way too hot for a baby panther. I would not be surprised if that bulb was capable of injuring the animal. If there is a lower wattage powersun, then disregard this paragraph.

Please read the Setup Guide on our website. You can find it at http://www.screameleons.com. There is a table that list the right sized cage for the various ages of panthers. You should get him a new cage, heat bulb ASAP. The reptisun 5.0 is perfect.

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Farrah & Vincent
Email: sales@screameleons.com
Phone: (571) 437-0642
Website: http://www.screameleons.com
Chameleon Info & Sale

Ok I know what you are saying but I have already dealt with it. I have had 2 pairs of Veileds before when i was younger that i got when they were just 1 week old and were shipped to me and those all lived long healthy lives, so I am not completly new to this, its just my first panther. My panther is about 4 weeks old, I like getting all my animals very young so they are always tame.

The heat bulb issue is not an issue because i have a seperate adjustable stand for it so i can move it as far away or as close as i need it to be and a thermometer to get the basking and ambient temps right. The feeding issue is solved by just gently transporting him from the 100 gallon to a small container with crickets and fruit flies in it twice a day. This has worked in the past for me with my veileds so I do not see it being a problem. I know people dont like to hold their chameleons that much, especially the young ones but it is just a matter of letting him crawl on my finger and then off, so no damage can be done. The crickets and flies would easily be able to crawl through the mesh otherwise too, and i dont like that many bugs roaming my room .

Before with my other chameleons i dusted the crickets everytime excessivley and i made many other mistakes. I was young and didn't do know any better...I sprayed them with water maybe twice a week and i had the base covered with moss and bark. Though they still lived to be like 4 or 5 years old, which i dont know if it is max lifetime or not? I do want to try to do it better this time, and i think basking and feeding are under control as soon as i figure out how often to dust the crickets. If you still think it is completely wrong please say so because I know you have exponentially more experience with these critters than i do. BTW i love your site

Who did you get your panther from? I think I remember LLL selling Ambilobe X Sambava babies. I had people come ask me to sex a chameleon that LLL was selling so that they could buy one from them.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

More than likely LLL. Check out the KS classifieds.

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Farrah & Vincent
Email: sales@screameleons.com
Phone: (571) 437-0642
Website: http://www.screameleons.com
Chameleon Info & Sale

LISTEN to these guys! Screamers and Tyler are the best of the best! I agree that you need a smaller a cage, and I don't think I would use a powersun on anything less then 4 months old. You could use a plain ol' 20 watt light set a few feet away for heat. Babies deydrate very quickly. Good luck and keep us posted.
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Feenie

1.1 vieled cham.- Stitch and Rana (Missing you,Chloe)
2.2 Canines Junior-pitbull chiuahuah mix, Jose- chiuahuah, Pearl- Staffie, and Daisy- Red nose Pit- foster child
1.0 boyfriend- Trent species unknown

Actually I am pretty sure I got them from Blue Beast Reptile. Ill switch the powersun for a regular bulb...do babies not want the same basking temps in their cages or something?

You definately didn't get him from me.... I know exactly who I sold to at the Phoenix show, and I didn't have any chameleons of that type or size. You should swap out the MV bulb for a regular bulb or a UVA reptile bulb in the 30-40 watt range, and downsize the cage if possible.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

Oops i just have your card sitting here so i figured I got it from you. I wish i would have paid more attention to that. Where you right by the door maybe, to the left of the entrance? I got mine from the guy at the far right side of the room, if you are facing in from the entrance. he was in the corner and had 3 cages i think...1 had baby veileds, 1 had baby panthers, and one had an adult i think. Ill get a smaller bulb but the cage could be an issue because ive spent my limit on this fella right now

maybe they are West Coast Reptiles?

Yes, I was right inside the front door on the left hand side, right as you walk in. It was Radical Reptiles in the back right corner. They had some baby cross locale panthers, veileds and an adult Ambanja. Yours is an Ambanja/Sambava cross.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

Forgot to mention, you're thinking West Coast Reptile, but Radical Reptiles is "West Coast Reptile SHOWS...." West Coast Reptile was/is Ed and Liddy Kammer.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

Oh ok cool. Thanks a bunch for all your help

I was just browsing through these threads and happend to read this one. I was the guy that asked BBR to sex an Ambilobe X Sambava from LLL at the Phoenix show. I was told by Tyler(I'm assuming) that the cham I got was a male. If you (Tyler) happen to read this and can recall that day, how sure of that were you? I just have this feeling that I ended up with a female. No big deal, just curious. Thanks