Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone!
Iam getting in my new panther this friday! YAY! I havent had chameleons in 4 years, so I was wondering if I could have help on the cage? I live in Maryland and winter months are coming soon... I got him a nice big aluminum screen cage, of course a heat lamp and a UVB light for the top it stays around 80 degrees near the heat, is that ok?, Im getting an exo terra fogger, for humidity as there is none in my apartment. Lets see I have a ficus plant with lots of branches and vines.. Anything else I need or should have?? Also are mealworms ok to feed em? Oh and one more thing, I was going to keep crickets in a 10 gallon tank with fruit and stuff... Once it starts to get in the 40's outside, will they be able to live on my porch? My bf doesnt want them inside... Anyways thanks for all the help and iam soo excited!!
Steph

Congratulation! To answer some of your question, Mealworms are good once in awhile. A better alternative is silkworms. 40 degreess is to cold for crickets. A good insect variety is recommended. Silkworms, crickets, lobster roaches and superworms. Also it is my understanding the fogger does not help with the humidity,it is more of decoration more than anything. Alot of us use ultrasonic or coolmist humidifiers for that. The new issue of chameleon e-zine has a great article and pictures on how to set one up. You can find that on the caham forum page. good luck Matt

Foggers work wonders for humidity if set up corectly. You will still need to mist twice daily, as you would along with any other source of humidity.

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1.1 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Maroantsetra Panther Chameleons
1.0 Long Tailed Grass Lizard
500 Escaped Crickets

Instead of a small herp fogger, try an ultrasonic room humidifier. It will probably cost less, last longer, and fog a larger area more efficiently. The crix won't survive on your porch at 40 F. They need warmth...70's are much better and they will last longer saving you $. If your bf doesn't like the noise, order subadult crix...no chirping. If it is the smell, don't order a huge bulk at once. Buy fewer at a time, clean the bin weekly, and keep them on alfalfa pellet bedding. If you are feeding a lot of herps and really need the large orders OK, but if you are only feeding the cham, I don't think you save much by getting a huge number of crix. They don't live all that long anyway.

How much do ultrasonic humidifiers cost? Where can i get it, and where would I put it? Near the cage? Around the cage? I think ill just stick with buying chameleons every other day, the petsmart is right next to my apartments.
thanks a bunch
Steph

I hope you meant crickets and not chameleons in that last post.

Humidifiers can be bought everywhere. Take a look at Chris Anderson's article about Humidifers for chameleons, on this site here: http://www.chameleonnews.com/
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Maroantsetra Panther Chameleons
1.0 Long Tailed Grass Lizard
500 Escaped Crickets

They have them at walmart and alot kmart. I bought mine on ebay for 4 bucks with 6 dollar shipping. So its not very expensive if you get one from ebay.

Hope this helps
Nez