Thinking about getting a chameleon? Awesome! They're awesome pets, and it's a great hobby to get into. However, they're tricky to keep, very sensitive to a lot of things, and a lot can go wrong if you're not willing to put in the research, money, and time.
My husband and I just purchased our first veiled about 2.5 months ago, so we'd like to take you through the process, tell you what we did, and what we wish we did, along with what things have cost so far.
Chameleons are expensive animals to keep. Even though you may be able to buy the actual chameleon for $30 - $40, that is only a small percentage of the overall expense. If your budget only allows you to spend a couple hundred dollars, your best bet is to choose another pet, or wait and save up. I've seen many people on kijiji looking to "Buy a chameleon with it's setup" and I fear that most of those people are impulsive, and not willing to put in the work, or research. Going this route may seem cheaper, but if your chameleon ends up dying, whatever you spend goes to waste.
Ultimately it's very important to get everything your chameleon will need BEFORE you purchase the animal. Not only will you avoid many potential problems, you will actually save money in the long run.
Initial start up is the biggest financial burden. If you do it right, long term maintenance is relatively cheap. My husband and I thought we had everything ready, but we didn't, and as we added more equipment and accessories, the cost started to pile up. We also purchased a few things that we didn't need, or couldn't use, which was a waste of money. I'll get into that a bit later.
We live in Canada, where taxes are high, and chameleon ownership isn't as widespread. We didn't have to order anything online, however it was difficult to find everything nearby. We definitely did not do a "one stop shop" for everything. Below I spread out all of our expenses, including the wasteful spending we did by mistake.
We built our own basic 2X2X4' screened in cage out of wood. It was really easy to put together. As for tools, all we used was a compound miter saw (chop saw or circular saw will work too), a drill, and a heavy duty staple gun. We already had these tools, but to buy new ones it would cost us at least $200 - $300.
We used pine 2"X2"s for the frame and door. We bought 9, 8' long pieces, but only used 7. We paid about $10 per piece, so that cost around $70 - $80.
We purchased 3 rolls of 24" wide aluminum screen, that cost around $15 per roll. We had some left over, but that all cost around $45 - $50.
We spent around $10 total for the hardware, including two eye hole latches, and 4 hinges. My cham's cage has two doors, one small one at the bottom, and the main one at the top. If you only want to have one door, you'll save on lumber, and won't need as much hardware.
For the base of the cage we got a piece of MDF that we covered with sticky floor tiles. We got the tiles at the dollar store for a buck each, so that was like $5 with tax, the MDF was about $10. We plan on getting a plexiglass or plastic bottom to replace that with, because the tiles are not keeping the water out of the now saturated MDF.
I'm glad we went the DIY route, but if you'd rather not use wood, or would like to save a few bucks, a pre made cage is about $100 - $150 brand new. Sometimes you can find used ones for a fraction of that.
Once we had the frame all put together and framed in, it was time to start buying foliage. Real and fake foliage and climbing branches are a MUST with chameleons. The more you have, the better it will look, and the happier your chameleon will be. At the beginning my cage looked a little bare, but over the course of the first month and a half, we have filled it out nicely.
In our cage we have 8 bendable branches that we spend between $6 and $10 dollars each for. We bought them at different stores, some were on sale, some weren't. We spent between $50 and $80 for those. We also purchased foliage and vines for privacy, and spent a similar amount on those, if not more. So I'd say thats another $50 at least. We also went to the dollar store and purchased more fake foliage for decoration more than anything, which cost around $20 - $30.
Live plants are highly recommended, because they help keep the humidity up. It's important to get a non-toxic plant or two because some chameleons will eat them. At first my husband and I had a schefflera, which became infested with flying aphids. With the plant, pot, organic soil, and river rocks, we spent $60. We ended up putting it outside because of the aphids, and decided to go with an easier species to keep. Now we have two pothos, one small hanging one that I bought for $12, and a large supported tree looking pothos for $50. We already had the soil and river rocks we needed, but we purchased a decorative pot for them which cost another $20.
Once we had the cage filled, it was time to get the lighting and other accessories. At first we bought two dome fixtures, one for the heat lamp, another for a coiled uvb bulb that we later replaced. The domes cost about $30 for both. The basking bulb was under $10, but you can use a normal house bulb instead. The UVB bulb was $20. After discovering that coil UVB's cause eye problems we switched to a linear bulb and fixture. The fixture cost $55 and the bulb cost another $30.
At first we were doing hand mistings (spray bottle cost about $5), but since my husband started work we went out and bought an automatic misting system for $150.
Of course we needed to monitor the temperature and humidity levels so we bought 2 inaccurate dial gauges that measured both. They were $10 each. Since they sucked so bad, we had to go get a digital reader which cost $20.
We have everything on a basic timer which cost $15.
Once we purchased Mr.Pink for $100, we obviously had to feed him. So before we got him we went out and purchased the supplements he needs. The mutlivitamin cost $8, the calcium w/o d3 cost $8, and the plain calcium cost $5. We switched brands from ExoTerra to Zoo med, and another $20 for that.
Crickets also need their own enclosure. A deep tupperware container is what we use, that cost $5. We use pine chips to reduce the smell, a big bag that will last us forever cost $15.
They need a variety of different gutload, so expect to pay around $10 at the grocery store every time you go shopping for gutload.
So, unless I'm forgetting anything, everything has cost us just about $1000!!!!!! Of course their were a few things in there that I could have done without or replaced, and of course I didn't include gas money, or the money we invested in Mr.Pink when he got sick. I wanted to write this to give people a general idea of what it actually costs to get into chameleon ownership properly.
The most important part of owning a chameleon is doing the proper research and preparation. This website is an amazing resource for anyone with any chameleon species, and it's free!
Pet shop owners and even some vets will give you bad advice sometimes, just because they don't specialize in chameleons. Knowing who you can trust is a big part of chameleon ownership as well. I recently spent over $100 on a vet who did absolutely nothing to help Mr.Pink.
The very best thing you can do is spend as much time as possible on this website BEFORE you get your first chameleon!
My husband and I just purchased our first veiled about 2.5 months ago, so we'd like to take you through the process, tell you what we did, and what we wish we did, along with what things have cost so far.
Chameleons are expensive animals to keep. Even though you may be able to buy the actual chameleon for $30 - $40, that is only a small percentage of the overall expense. If your budget only allows you to spend a couple hundred dollars, your best bet is to choose another pet, or wait and save up. I've seen many people on kijiji looking to "Buy a chameleon with it's setup" and I fear that most of those people are impulsive, and not willing to put in the work, or research. Going this route may seem cheaper, but if your chameleon ends up dying, whatever you spend goes to waste.
Ultimately it's very important to get everything your chameleon will need BEFORE you purchase the animal. Not only will you avoid many potential problems, you will actually save money in the long run.
Initial start up is the biggest financial burden. If you do it right, long term maintenance is relatively cheap. My husband and I thought we had everything ready, but we didn't, and as we added more equipment and accessories, the cost started to pile up. We also purchased a few things that we didn't need, or couldn't use, which was a waste of money. I'll get into that a bit later.
We live in Canada, where taxes are high, and chameleon ownership isn't as widespread. We didn't have to order anything online, however it was difficult to find everything nearby. We definitely did not do a "one stop shop" for everything. Below I spread out all of our expenses, including the wasteful spending we did by mistake.
We built our own basic 2X2X4' screened in cage out of wood. It was really easy to put together. As for tools, all we used was a compound miter saw (chop saw or circular saw will work too), a drill, and a heavy duty staple gun. We already had these tools, but to buy new ones it would cost us at least $200 - $300.
We used pine 2"X2"s for the frame and door. We bought 9, 8' long pieces, but only used 7. We paid about $10 per piece, so that cost around $70 - $80.
We purchased 3 rolls of 24" wide aluminum screen, that cost around $15 per roll. We had some left over, but that all cost around $45 - $50.
We spent around $10 total for the hardware, including two eye hole latches, and 4 hinges. My cham's cage has two doors, one small one at the bottom, and the main one at the top. If you only want to have one door, you'll save on lumber, and won't need as much hardware.
For the base of the cage we got a piece of MDF that we covered with sticky floor tiles. We got the tiles at the dollar store for a buck each, so that was like $5 with tax, the MDF was about $10. We plan on getting a plexiglass or plastic bottom to replace that with, because the tiles are not keeping the water out of the now saturated MDF.
I'm glad we went the DIY route, but if you'd rather not use wood, or would like to save a few bucks, a pre made cage is about $100 - $150 brand new. Sometimes you can find used ones for a fraction of that.
Once we had the frame all put together and framed in, it was time to start buying foliage. Real and fake foliage and climbing branches are a MUST with chameleons. The more you have, the better it will look, and the happier your chameleon will be. At the beginning my cage looked a little bare, but over the course of the first month and a half, we have filled it out nicely.
In our cage we have 8 bendable branches that we spend between $6 and $10 dollars each for. We bought them at different stores, some were on sale, some weren't. We spent between $50 and $80 for those. We also purchased foliage and vines for privacy, and spent a similar amount on those, if not more. So I'd say thats another $50 at least. We also went to the dollar store and purchased more fake foliage for decoration more than anything, which cost around $20 - $30.
Live plants are highly recommended, because they help keep the humidity up. It's important to get a non-toxic plant or two because some chameleons will eat them. At first my husband and I had a schefflera, which became infested with flying aphids. With the plant, pot, organic soil, and river rocks, we spent $60. We ended up putting it outside because of the aphids, and decided to go with an easier species to keep. Now we have two pothos, one small hanging one that I bought for $12, and a large supported tree looking pothos for $50. We already had the soil and river rocks we needed, but we purchased a decorative pot for them which cost another $20.
Once we had the cage filled, it was time to get the lighting and other accessories. At first we bought two dome fixtures, one for the heat lamp, another for a coiled uvb bulb that we later replaced. The domes cost about $30 for both. The basking bulb was under $10, but you can use a normal house bulb instead. The UVB bulb was $20. After discovering that coil UVB's cause eye problems we switched to a linear bulb and fixture. The fixture cost $55 and the bulb cost another $30.
At first we were doing hand mistings (spray bottle cost about $5), but since my husband started work we went out and bought an automatic misting system for $150.
Of course we needed to monitor the temperature and humidity levels so we bought 2 inaccurate dial gauges that measured both. They were $10 each. Since they sucked so bad, we had to go get a digital reader which cost $20.
We have everything on a basic timer which cost $15.
Once we purchased Mr.Pink for $100, we obviously had to feed him. So before we got him we went out and purchased the supplements he needs. The mutlivitamin cost $8, the calcium w/o d3 cost $8, and the plain calcium cost $5. We switched brands from ExoTerra to Zoo med, and another $20 for that.
Crickets also need their own enclosure. A deep tupperware container is what we use, that cost $5. We use pine chips to reduce the smell, a big bag that will last us forever cost $15.
They need a variety of different gutload, so expect to pay around $10 at the grocery store every time you go shopping for gutload.
So, unless I'm forgetting anything, everything has cost us just about $1000!!!!!! Of course their were a few things in there that I could have done without or replaced, and of course I didn't include gas money, or the money we invested in Mr.Pink when he got sick. I wanted to write this to give people a general idea of what it actually costs to get into chameleon ownership properly.
The most important part of owning a chameleon is doing the proper research and preparation. This website is an amazing resource for anyone with any chameleon species, and it's free!
Pet shop owners and even some vets will give you bad advice sometimes, just because they don't specialize in chameleons. Knowing who you can trust is a big part of chameleon ownership as well. I recently spent over $100 on a vet who did absolutely nothing to help Mr.Pink.
The very best thing you can do is spend as much time as possible on this website BEFORE you get your first chameleon!
