First Time Viv for Panther Chameleon

[Spiderlash]

I recently purchased a young blue-bar ambilobe panther chameleon from my work (locally owned pet shop) about two months ago. He is about 4 - 5 months old right now and is aprox. 6" long from nose to tail. (He's the little guy on my hand in my avitar.)

He is currently in a 24"x18"x18" Exo-Terra glass terrarium. (the kind with lockable double doors, front vent strip and a full screen top. I know he will soon out-grow this, but don't worry, I have access to larger enclosures for the future.)

This is a shot of his tank the first week:

Neb Setup - First Week by ..:: Hilary ::.., on Flickr

I am interested in creating a fully self-sustaining ecosystem in his current enclosure. I have both a small ficus and schefflera in pots covered with moss to create the illusion of being planted in the substrate. But I would like to take them out of the pots, and graduate to becoming a true vivaruim owner.

The book I own suggests a substrate mixture for a jungle terrarium as follows:
- 1 part coir (ground coconut husk)
- 2 parts orchid bark
- 2 parts composting leaves
- 1 part ground palm
- augment with 2 Tbs. general purpose organic fertilizer and 2 Tbs. trace elements to kick-start the live bacteria.

I was able to easily find and purchase the coir and orchid bark, but I'm having trouble locating good sources to purchase the others.

Any suggestions on where I can find composting leaves, ground palm, general purpose organic fertilizer and trace elements? These have me stumped.

Or other things that are more readily available/serve the same purpose?

Any suggestions are welcome and encouraged!

Thanks!

[TSI_shinobi]

Hiya,

Just some background before it start. Ive been breeding chameleons (particularly Panthers) for 6 years. I currently have 4 that are my pets, and 2 rescues, ive been running an exotic animal rescue for about 2 years (picked up and adopted out some beardies, Geckos of all kinds, uromastyx, hedgehog..etc)

I really don't want to bust your bubble, but this cage is very UN-suited for panther chameleons... really any kind of True Chameleon this isnt good. . For now, your little guy will be ok, but this kind of cage will not work with him later.

First Id like to say that your cage is amazing, and looks excellent if you had anoles, or Dendrobates.. etc...

Heres my list of chameleon needs:
1) Stay away from glass cages, they dont pass enough air through them, even with the screened top.
2) Get rid of standing water Dishes... your chameleon is dumb, they all are, and they can drown in a standing water dish (if you must have a dish, get one that is attached to the side of cage to keep him from falling in it. (ive had rescues that were so sick they'd only drink from a little cup i had zip tied to a limb in the cage
3) No more substrate, your cham is hunter that jabs his food from far away, he will miss, and can get that bark stuck to his tongue, he may swallow it, and get impacted. that is VERY bad

other than that i think your on the right track, your cage looks nice and moist. I keep 2 schflerras in each of my male panthers cages and pieces of Bamboo that are strung together as the scaffolding for them to climb on.

My Veiled has a huge Pothos in her cage (she likes to eat it for some reason) and i just string that up with the trash bag twist ties so she can climb it.

good luck with him, hes gunna be a pretty boy

[MartinM]

As for an enclosed "fully self-sustaining ecosystem," that has never been accomplished. Are your plants going to reproduce in there? Your chameleon will need a mate so they can reproduce, and their food organisms must reproduce at a rate faster than the chameleons can eat them. See what I mean?

Martin

[Spiderlash]

I actually changed everything about my setup (it doesn't look anything like this now - scrapped the crappy moss and got more live plants and vines for hiding/climbing/basking places), but thanks for your advice. And that isn't true about the "glass cages, they dont pass enough air through them, even with the screened top." I've talked to several people who have kept and bred chameleons for 20+ years who keep them in similar glass-style terrariums with much success. Glass terrariums are all they use in Europe and have been using for years. Terrariums are new to the US and just isn't up to speed with terrariums like Europe is.