A couple of questions from the UK.

[Kakureon]

Morning all.
I have spent a lot of time on this site over the last year and more because I have wanted a veiled cham for over 2 years now, maybe even longer but don't rush into things. I like to see if I still want things after a while rather than jumping in head first then having to rehome after 6 months, and I still really want one so its time to act
I live in the uk and want to ask about ventilation. Over here 90% of viv's are all wood apart from the glass sliding door, but no one over here mentions buying a fan like I have seen on the forum.
Would I need a fan?
Also I have read that the lights/bulbs should not be fitted inside the viv but again over here that is what most do because the top of the viv is wood again and not mesh. I could fit a piece of mesh to protect my cham from touching the lights. Would this be ok/safe?
Lastly I am going to get a 36" X 24" X 48" viv. Will this last for the lifetime of my cham or will I need to go bigger?
I understand that this is large for a baby but I would section it of for the first 6 months or so. Just saves me buying a small viv and have to buy bigger in 6 months.

 

[Kakureon]

So, any advice on this please?

 

[Kakureon]

 

[Kayleigh]

Would definitely add more vines and a few more plants, but so far it's looking good

 

[Theveiled]

Also you will not need the water bowl at the bottom as chameleons usually do not drink water from bowls. The size of cage is good but you could always make your own cage to have screen and fit your needs. I would say that you shouldnt put the lights in the cage so some cage design tweaking will need done. As for the fan Im not sure if it would be good. Im thinking maybe building a custom cage would be your best bet

 

[Kakureon]

I realise that they do not drink from a bowl, I have that in there just to get the humidity up a bit.
I am not getting my cham till Friday afternoon as I want to get the civically set up and check that it stays within the correct temperature range.
I would really love to build my own viv, I think that might be in 6 to 8 months time when I need a larger viv.
I also have more vines and plants, but non real. Would really like real plants and I think that will be my first upgrade. Can you have a mixtures of real and fake plants in a viv?
Thanks for the advice so far and please keep it coming as I want my first cham to have a nice home, stress free as much as possible with the move to his new home.
Better start to think of a name?

 

[Twitchet]

Hi there, I'm in the u.k too and i have a 48" long-3ft high 2 ft vivexotic wooden, I bought four vents- about 6x8" and cut holes in the side of the viv-2 either side, and fitted them, I cut a round hole in the top and put in a heat lamp with just the mesh cage part in the viv,( you can just see it in the pic) i dont know about other chams but my panther would probably crawl all over a mesh cage if it was inside the viv, the uv is right at the top inside, i have a large garden plastic tray that covers the entire base at the bottom- i have no substrate at all- , the live plants soak up any excess water from spraying or the big dripper-live plants are better than plastic and will hold better humidity, i have a mix of mainly live but some plastic in the viv below- the wooden viv works really well for me- this house is cold and i wouldnt be able to keep enough heat in a mesh cage.
With another viv I cut a rectangle out the top- covered it with mesh and placed the heat lamp ontop of that- pretty easy with a jigsaw.
We also built some custom vivs- wasn't as bad as I thought, I actually have two old terrestrial vivs that I'm keeping the glass for a new cham custom viv, glass is quite pricey.

best of luck sorting out the viv, It's a very exciting time!

 

[KapitalJ]

I would think you could use a lot more ventilation. What is the top made out of?

Looks great though.

 

[Millz&Jukka]

I have a viv almost exactly like that! I'd reccomend using a dripper cos my Cham prefers it. Where in the uk are you from? Id love to keep in contact with a fellow Brit! Looks great though

 

[alphakenc]

The bark on the floor wont do any good for ur veiled when the cham accidentally ingested shoot down a feeder with it ,also what are those screen cover on the top left corner? If its a heat bulb,u might want to lower the vine n branch little more so ur cham wont be accidental contacting the heated screen,these are just some of my suggestion for ur wooden glass cage besides adding more climbing branch in the middle,live plant will add more humidity and serve the purpose better than a water bowl which will becoming a waste poop holder bacteria holding ground.

 

[Kakureon]

Thanks everyone so much, this is just want I wanted to hear before my cham comes home.
To answer some questions.
The top is also made of wood and both the heater and light are screwed into the top left corner.
I will lower the jungle vine down a bit, thank you.
I am in Ipswich, Suffolk and it looks like a dropper is on the cards for me too.
I will get rid of the water bowl and the bark then if that is what is recommended and look into getting something to catch the water.
Do you recommend that fake green carpet stuff, forgot the name of it?

 

[Twitchet]

Is it tomorrow you get your new cham? Best of luck and looking forward to some pics.

 

[Kakureon]

Yup, tomorrow, just done some more work on the viv and checked the temp over the last 24 hours.
In the cold corner it's between 72 and 75. Does that sound right?

 

[Twitchet]

You must be very excited! Have you got a name for it yet?
I don't know temps for a veiled - I've ( not yet) not got one but hopefully someone will tell you here . Sorry.

 

[Kakureon]

I am thinking Memphis at the moment for a name, that's top of the list out of about 5.

 

[Kakureon]

Meet Memphis. Just thought I would put a picture up on this thread to say thanks for helping me people.
I know I will have lots of questions.

 

[Twitchet]

Ooh, congratulations You must be very happy- - He/ she ? is beautiful, and you settled on Memphis too- great name- I'm tempted to ask lots of questions but maybe you'll be starting a new thread with more pics , age and size etc so others can meet Memphis .
Congrats again!! .

 

[R.H]

Hi ya what a gorgeous baby u have. I'm from u.k too and u can get screen viv with glass sliding doors with all the heat and UVB lites that sit on top etc.

Hope u have lots of fun with ur newby, let the worrying and stress begin lol x