Walk to your cage and try to push the door open without unlatching. If it moves at all, install a positive latch this week.
Lock the cage door. Every cage. Every time.
Most chameleon escapes happen because a household member, kid, or housesitter opened the cage and forgot to fully latch it.
Adult panthers are stronger and more curious than most keepers credit. A door that closes but does not latch can be pushed open over the course of a few hours. Most escapes we have heard about trace to the same cause: someone in the household opened the cage briefly and pulled the door closed without engaging the latch.
Install a positive latch on every cage door — magnetic, twist-clip, or carabiner-style. Make engaging the latch the last step of every cage interaction, regardless of who is doing it. Show every household member how the latch works and ask them to confirm engagement out loud each time.
DSQUARED Reptiles — Living Art. Curated Genetics.
From the field notes archive.
The morning baseline photograph.
A single weekly photo, taken at the same hour and angle, will tell you more about your care than any forum thread ever could.
Tightening screen tension on a year-old cage.
After twelve months of misting cycles and live plant weight, screen panels sag in ways that quietly compromise climbing surfaces.
A 72-hour gutload window for dubia roaches.
Dubia gutloads peak somewhere between 48 and 72 hours after the colony moves onto a fresh diet. Here's the schedule we run.