Come and meet baby Huey, he's a 4 month old blue bar panther.




I'm a fairly new owner and I have some questions if you guys wouldn't mind.
1) What time is the best time to feed him?
2) I got a really expensive bulb ($99+) that does heat, uva, uvb, and it says it restores and maintains d3 levels. Does that mean I dust crickets and food with calcium that contains NO d3? He doesnt get much natural sunlight, just on the weekends when I take him out.
3) Is it better to have heat on all the time and light on for only 10-12 hrs or have both on and off at the same time?

Thanks everyone!

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That's one cool chameleon!
As for the questions, I have no experience so im afraid I cant help!

I know chams are overly sensative to TOO MUCH uvb. How much does yours put out? I know recommended is 5.0.

I don't know about the d3 question, someone will chime in.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Welcome to HC! Huey is beautiful. What is the name of the UV light you purchased?

Turning the heat off at night isn't an issue if the temps are not getting too low. If you are using an air conditioner, or are planning to, you may want a night heat source to get a good gradient.

To my knowledge, chams are diurnal so feeding an hour or 2 after the lights have been turned on and the cham has had time to warm up would be sufficient. Someone with more experience with chams however will be able to provide more info.

Reptiles manufacture their own d3. I wont get into the process, but that UV light you have is how they do it. So long as they have access to unfiltered UVB, they will produce d3. (Which allows them to metabolise calcium.)

If you are using a quality light, you don't need to provide d3 as a supplement. truthfully, I don't know if chams are even capable of digesting d3 or if they are one of the reptiles that can. (Most basking species MUST get their UVB from a light source as their bodies can not extract it from their food.)

Chams are a low level UV reptile. They don't require a super high dose of UV to stay healthy. Are you providing plenty of foliage for the cham to retreat under or in if it opts to get out of the UV? If you aren't, you should be.

I hope you enjoy the site.

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Welcome to the neighborhood!

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Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

schlegelbagel - I'm not sure exactly how much uvb my bulb puts out, but thanks for the tip on over exposure.

Rich - Thanks for all the info, the name of the bulb I purchased is T-Rex Active UV Heat Flood - 100 watt.

I know I got ripped off seeing as I could have gotten a bulb for 50 bucks, but he was well worth it so it's ok. Also, is it best if I were to get a heat source for at night? Would you guys recommend a ceramic heater that is in the same place as the bulb, or one of those rock heating beds?

Thanks again for the help everyone.

-Andrew

Beautiful chameleon!
Welcome to HC.

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Just because you have an animal that isnt dead doesnt mean you know how to take care of it

If you mean by hot rocks, NO! They burn reptiles and can cause severe burns. The ceramic heater or a blue or red night bulb would do the trick.

__________________
"Reality is wrong, Dreams are for real"
-Tupac Shakur

0.2.1 Leopard Geckos
0.1.0 Corn Snake
0.3.0 Green Frogs
0.0.1 Eastern Garter Snake
0.0.1 Green Tree Frog
1.0.0 White's Tree Frog

Ouch, $100 for just the bulb? That's insane.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

schlegelbagel - I know, tell me about it. I'm over it though, I just won't be shopping there again. I'm sure they knew I was a new guy and would be easier to rip off.