INDOOR HUSBANDRY OF THE PANTHER-CHAMELEON CHAMAELEO-[FURCIFER]-PARDALIS - EFFECTS OF DIETARY VITAMIN-A AND VITAMIN-D AND ULTRAVIOLET-IRRADIATION ON PATHOLOGY AND LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS

To assess the importance of diet and light for indoor maintenance, hat chling panther chameleons were reared for 1 year on crickets fed diets that differed in vitamin concentrations and in different light enviro nments. Dietary transfer of vitamins from the cricket diet to the liza rds via the crickets was quantified, as was UV irradiance. There was a statistically significant dietary enhancement of growth by both vitam ins on males. UV-A irradiation significantly suppressed growth of fema les. Low vitamin A shortened life span and resulted in a number of gro ss and histological pathologies. Hepatocellular lipidosis, indicating a possible toxicosis, occurred with all diets and light treatments. Hi gher vitamin A resulted in mild soft-tissue mineralization, and high v itamin D shortened the life span of females. Low vitamin A drastically reduced reproduction in both sexes. The intermediate levels of dietar y vitamins resulted in the best production of viable eggs by females. However, without high UV-B irradiation, all viable eggs died at term a nd contained different vitamin levels than hatching eggs from wild-cau ght females. Baseline levels of egg calcium are given for hatching egg s from wild-caught females. Modifications in current husbandry procedu res are recommended. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.