Bioactive Panther Chameleon Vivarium Part II - Two Years Later

[@johnfabic]

Another superb video. Please keep them coming! I have learned so much since subscribing to your channel.

[@ConnorLongDVM]

Thank you!

[@rustyolgun]

The ending Connor 😂

[@Garrettito6671]

Half of this video: This is how and why I built this enclosure the way I did The other half: I know what I’m doing and the haters can suck it (in a much more polite tone) You have built a truly amazing vivarium. It exceeds the space and climate requirements for your pet and I love how much diversity you have in the setup. It makes it look really natural and colorful. Keep up the good work

[@ConnorLongDVM]

Hah! I think it was more "let me read you the references I have had in the description the whole time because a vocal minority are not looking at them" And thank you!

[@katlady567]

Your vivarium is absolutely gorgeous!

[@ConnorLongDVM]

Thank you!

[@alfonsodominguez6326]

thank you for the list of plant highly appreciated.Love your set up

[@ConnorLongDVM]

Thank you! Happy to help. Some of the plants shown work better than others, but for the most part these remaining plants are the ones that survived the two year testing process and thus represent the best options I have tried. The asterisk here is that Spicoli does not eat plants, so although none of these species should be (particularly) toxic, I am not sure if I would make all the same choices with a plant munching species

[@gekkotaculture]

Thank god I found this channel

[@ConnorLongDVM]

Hopefully the almighty is working on more important things than directing traffic to my lizard videos, but I appreciate the sentiment haha

[@evanjohannsen4737]

I’m following your build I just purchased a 48 by 18 by 36 hybrid glass and screen enclosure I plan to try to replicate this

[@Lucasio24]

Beautiful

[@ConnorLongDVM]

Thank you!

[@parkerpeabody9079]

In the previous video you mentioned your misting schedule being in the morning and late afternoon with some random intervals throughout the week. I personally have found that utilizing more nozzles to reach more area and doing shorter durations of misting to be effective. Including overnight misting as there are a few articles backing chameleons favoring being misted only in the night hours. Having a 24/7 dripper for in between bouts of thirst. Obviously your setup works so looking for input and your experiences for hydration.

[@ConnorLongDVM]

I don’t know that there is a single right answer - there are not controlled comparative studies on this that I am aware of, any articles will be based on hobbyist experience and/or presumed wild conditions of chameleon species. Which is fine, but which is “right” probably depends a lot on circumstance. Schedules will need to be adjusted somewhat based on enclosure type and the climate in your home to meet the chameleon’s required parameters. You don’t want the enclosure wet all the time, but mine dries fairly quickly in between mistings. And I do currently have multiple nozzles. My basic rationale has been to spike the humidity at night as that reportedly happens in the wild, then mist in the AM to simulate dew which also happens in the wild. The sporadic other mistings through the week are to simulate rain, and I have a dripper going too, though it doesn’t always run 24/7 because I work long hours and it eventually runs dry. Personally, I think in a plumbed and well ventilated cage it’s probably easier to underwater these guys than overwater. But that is an opinion.

[@rdcustomdiecast]

Great info Dr Connor like to hear info from a DVM I worked for a vet in high school me and my best friend. We planned to go to vet school together well he went to Texas. a&m I went to the navy I guess we’re both vets just different types lol😂

[@jessescales4982]

Love your videos, great stuff! It would be cool if your ball python video was required watching for all BP keepers. I see so many people who say tubs are necessary for animal health. It's crazy! I even see kingsnake keepers say the same thing, big naturalistic vivariums will "stress them out". Keep up the good work!

[@ConnorLongDVM]

Thank you!

[@Mamaof2boysen]

YES!!! Screw all the haters!!!!! Your doing amazing #goals

[@ConnorLongDVM]

thanks haha

[@KyleMcClellan-yh6xr]

I'm curious: what are the climbing vines that you used?

[@malte_ndd648]

Very noice video 🤩

[@mrkrabs5729]

Would you say this is a good pet for a beginner/advanced reptile keeper

[@ConnorLongDVM]

Which part specifically? I am not really making much in the way of prescriptions, rather these are all husbandry decisions that make sense given my specific circumstances (temperature/humidity inside my house, etc). So it may well make sense in your circumstances, but then again, perhaps not. For example, if you lived in Florida I wouldn't spend hundreds of dollars on a glass enclosure, the climate is so conducive to chameleon keeping that there are reproducing feral populations. You could probably keep a chameleon outdoors most/all of the year. Whereas if you live in Minnesota, it's 20 below, and the heater in your house makes the ambient humidity ~30%, I would very much not recommend using an all screen enclosure.

[@mrkrabs5729]

I live in England where humidity = 40-85% My house temperature is 20C on average

[@mrkrabs5729]

@@ConnorLongDVM so glass?

[@ConnorLongDVM]

@@mrkrabs5729 40-85% humidity is pretty good, you could do a custom hybrid enclosure where you have large segments of mesh probably. I'd check out chameleon academy for ideas,. It also depends on species you are keeping - montane species like Jacksons probably are better off with solid sided enclosures in most climate unless you're just misting them constantly. Panthers and veileds reportedly do well in mesh sided enclosures when properly watered. I'd get an auto mister for sure though, that's probably most important.

[@mrkrabs5729]

@@ConnorLongDVM thanks!

[@pabloluisperez5265]

Yeah, people are annoying about the mesh or glass topic.. it’s all about variables and one’s ability to maintain the ecosystem where or how they live, local temperatures, humidity, etc. Sorry you have to deal with that constantly.

[@mrkrabs5729]

Is a glass front but wood sides/back okay for a chameleon since you didn’t say

[@ConnorLongDVM]

Sure, if you waterproof it. The materials of a solid sided enclosure matter less than vent placement. You need a strip of mesh right above your substrate and a solid screen top to ensure ventilation. Some keepers will use computer fans as well, though I have not needed them (one of my lights has a fan in it which may help, but Spicoli was in here for a year before I got that piece of equipment).

[@ConnorLongDVM]

If you are making one from scratch I might try to touch base with someone who has made an enclosure from scratch before - I know chameleon forums has users who have done so. I'm hesitant to make construction recs since I have not made my own enclosure yet - so I can personally vouch for the exo-terra, and I am confident an enclosure could be made out of wood and glass that would be better than the exo-terra, but at this time I do not have any specs on what that would look like exactly.

[@mrkrabs5729]

Got it! If I am doing it, I’m going to be working with my dad (and possibly his friend), who have both had experience in this genre.

[@christsando6333]

Would having a panther chameleon or Jackson chameleon in a paludarium be a good set up 2ft d 4ft w 6ft h

[@ConnorLongDVM]

I wouldn't recommend it. With enough knowledge, space, and specialized equipment you could maybe make it work but there are a lot of variables that would concern me, including maintaining a water feature that is clean enough, maintaining airflow, humidity, and temperature parameters with a water feature, and ensuring the chameleon does not fall into the water feature and drown. If those issues can be addressed, the way to do so is outside of my knowledge base.

[@I_am_BiG_Al]

Hes beautiful i have a veiled but I wanted a panther

[@ConnorLongDVM]

Veileds are have some good colors as well

[@I_am_BiG_Al]

@@ConnorLongDVM oh yes dont get me wrong I have a translucent he is beautiful in his own right but panthers just look so much better to me

[@donaldgirtley917]

Did you need a false bottom or hydro balls for your enclosure

[@ConnorLongDVM]

yeah it's an egg crate false bottom. I believe I explained it in previous videos

[@randomrazl4215]

Random question that has nothing to due with this video, but how’s you Leopard Gecko’s enclosure? I was extremely inspired by your Mojave enclosure and was curious on the progression of it. I plan on starting a build similar to yours in the coming weeks and would like to know if there’s anything you’d do differently after having that setup for some time.

[@ConnorLongDVM]

It’s doing well so far. My sage plant didn’t really do as well as I had hoped - I’m not sure why. It was still alive but was looking sort of crummy so I took it out. I don’t think the variety I got was the right species for the setup (like I said in the original video, I was freewheeling a bit because I couldn’t get the plant species I wanted due to COVID). Since then, I have replaced it with a California Buckwheat which is what I wanted to begin with, and it’s been in there for a couple weeks and is doing well so far - hopefully it puts off new growth and doesn’t start to die back. Otherwise the plants are doing well and everything is basically going according to plan, I’ll make a follow up video at some point. The only change I’d make is I might make both of my hides burrows since she likes her burrow hide so much, and when I eventually redo the enclosure I plan to build in a separate part of the enclosure as a burrow area I can actually access, so I don’t need to dig up part of the substrate to check on my animal.

[@rossco7214]

i have a question about substrates and custodians... so i have a small tank (30x30x45) which is temporary housing for a juvenile frog i will be getting, and im wondering is it safe to move the custodians and the same substrate into the new enclosure? i dont want to cause a mess but i also dont know what i would put into a Vivarium so small that could live in it for the rest of its life, so i wanna move these custodians over so their own life isnt wasted as it wont be long before i even buy the new vivarium anyway

[@ConnorLongDVM]

I wouldn't imagine that would be a problem, unless there is some reason you don't want to move it over (like an animal in quarantine that fails quarantine, you'd have to throw out whatever they were on; or you end up with vivarium pests you don't want to contaminate the new enclosure, like orchid snails). Assuming no weird scenarios like that, I would just mix up the substrate with your microfauna into whatever new substrate you are using when you move it all over to the permanent installation.

[@rossco7214]

@@ConnorLongDVM brilliant thank you, i was also wondering do you know any way i could hide an ultrasonic fogger up high, out the way of my froglets so that they wont drown in the reservoir, and what would you do to successfully cover it as to distract from the eyesore they tend to be

[@ConnorLongDVM]

@@rossco7214 I wouldn't recommend putting an ultrasonic fogger into the cage itself, I'd put a tube up through the top or through the back or something with fiberglass mesh over it so nothing can go into the tube. My reservoirs are underneath my enclosure, though I do not use foggers, personally, I have a mist king for my chameleon and a pump mister for my frogs as they live in an environment that doesn't dry out as easily.

[@zachsievert7495]

What is your light cycle?

[@ConnorLongDVM]

My light cycle is convoluted and you could likely get away with a much simpler setup, particularly if you aren’t trying to grow as many plants. I have a quad T5 fixture with two pairs of tubes that can be timed separately. One pair consists of a “full spectrum” tube (marketing term not scientific) and an old UVB bulb that still puts out low levels of UVB but is too weak for prime time basking use. The second pair of T5s consists of a second full spectrum tube as well as a fresh UVB tube. The full spectrum tube/weak UV is on a 13 hour cycle with a 5000k led bulb and his incandescent flood basking lamp (the latter is also controlled by a thermostat). The pair of T5s with the fresh UVB tube are on for six hours per day in the middle of the day. Then I also have two LED floodlights that are on for about 10 hours (mainly for plant growth at the understory) So the day starts off with basking flood and low level UVI, ratchets up to higher UVI, brightness, and temp at midday, then decreases again in the evening before lights off. I check all the UVB levels with a meter.

[@anakongdavang7212]

You tell those haters ❤️