A good species for a newb?

[Hypancistrus]

I am interested in keeping a chameleon. I have many years of experience with reptiles, but not with chams.

I'm considering a veiled. Would you consider veiled to be a good first time cham? I like the colors of the panthers but they seem to get very large. I also like the smaller carpet chameleons, but I have heard that they are harder to keep.

 

[kinyonga]

Veiled males are a good starter chameleon. Panther makes are also a good choice.

 

[Monta]

I am interested in keeping a chameleon. I have many years of experience with reptiles, but not with chams.

I'm considering a veiled. Would you consider veiled to be a good first time cham? I like the colors of the panthers but they seem to get very large. I also like the smaller carpet chameleons, but I have heard that they are harder to keep.

Welcome, I’m a older woman and I have a Panther. I feel very comfortable owning one. Like any animal there is a learning curve, but you can find all the information here just ask.
Beside being one of the most colorful their one of the friendliest Chameleons. Ask questions on cage size. Buy the cage he can grow into not out of. That’s a money saver right there. Get your cage setup first , don’t be in a hurry. There’s a safe plant list here too. Live plants are best. Accent with artificial.

 

[Hypancistrus]

Welcome, I’m a older woman and I have a Panther. I feel very comfortable owning one. Like any animal there is a learning curve, but you can find all the information here just ask.
Beside being one of the most colorful their one of the friendliest Chameleons. Ask questions on cage size. Buy the cage he can grow into not out of. That’s a money saver right there. Get your cage setup first , don’t be in a hurry. There’s a safe plant list here too. Live plants are best. Accent with artificial.

I use live in my gecko terrariums so planned to use live for the cham. Was considering a Zilla Fresh Air cage. They are reasonable priced and seem to get good reviews for durability. Also, I am not planning on purchasing the animal for a good 6-8 months so plenty of time to research caging options and breeders and what not. They sell them at our local Petsmart, but I've always heard that with chams you are better off seeking a breeder. Seems hard to find breeders for veiled's on the east coast, but I did find a few on the west coast.

Does anyone have an opinion on carpets? There is a guy 2.5 hours away who breeds carpets, so I would not need to pay shipping... but I've heard they are more delicate, being smaller.

 

[Hypancistrus]

This was the veiled breeder I found in Cali.

http://tikitikireptiles.com/products.php?id=50

I have always admired Screameleons panthers, saw them at a Daytona show many years ago. Seems like a ton of people are now breeding panthers with great color.

 

[Monta]

I use live in my gecko terrariums so planned to use live for the cham. Was considering a Zilla Fresh Air cage. They are reasonable priced and seem to get good reviews for durability. Also, I am not planning on purchasing the animal for a good 6-8 months so plenty of time to research caging options and breeders and what not. They sell them at our local Petsmart, but I've always heard that with chams you are better off seeking a breeder. Seems hard to find breeders for veiled's on the east coast, but I did find a few on the west coast.

Does anyone have an opinion on carpets? There is a guy 2.5 hours away who breeds carpets, so I would not need to pay shipping... but I've heard they are more delicate, being smaller.

I have a reptibreeze cage, I’m not a fan I will get a new one down the road.
As far as the carpet Chameleons...I may be wrong but I heard that they don’t live as as long. That being said... it was a older article and the work on them could of improved their lives spans. They sure are cute though.
Lots of breeders here. Please don’t buy from pet stores. I’m in Ohio and I received my little guy from California.

 

[Goose502]

Male veileds and panthers will be about the same size, both should get to enjoy a large enclosure, and outside time when available. The veileds are very inexpensive and easy to find, and they tend to be pretty hardy. Only problem with a veiled is the attitude, the males will almost always hate you, and will not take kindly to handling.

 

[Fireborn]

With carpets it's not the care that is hard it's finding captive bred. They don't live as long but they take up way less space. Care is similar to panthers but they can be housed in smaller glass vivariums.

 

[Fireborn]

Furcifer lateralis hatchling

• Fireborn
• Nov 2, 2017

Pretty little one

this little carpet guy is almost 3 months old.

 

[Monta]

Furcifer lateralis hatchling

• Fireborn
• Nov 2, 2017

Pretty little one

this little carpet guy is almost 3 months old.

Females are the exception to the rule ... have more colors.

 

[Mai]

Furcifer lateralis hatchling

• Fireborn
• Nov 2, 2017

Pretty little one

this little carpet guy is almost 3 months old.

Omg !!! Sooo cute !!!
And I also had a problem with finding Breeder on the east coast as well. There is a breeder in Tampa. That I know of. Shipping isn’t as bad as I thought. I bought my panther from a breeder in Cali to have it delivered to south Florida, other then him being very stressed when he arrived, it wasn’t a bad experience.
I did go to a reptile expo two weeks ago then they had both panthers and veiled no carpet tho.
For me it was an easy choice on panther or veiled. I wanted one that if it was mean and didn’t tolerate being held I would at least be able to admire their beauty from far lol
Now on cage I went with the happy middle diy cage. I hope that helps

 

[Hypancistrus]

Male veileds and panthers will be about the same size, both should get to enjoy a large enclosure, and outside time when available. The veileds are very inexpensive and easy to find, and they tend to be pretty hardy. Only problem with a veiled is the attitude, the males will almost always hate you, and will not take kindly to handling.

I am okay with not handling. I have a male CB tokay gecko who hates my guts. He's eye candy.

With carpets it's not the care that is hard it's finding captive bred. They don't live as long but they take up way less space. Care is similar to panthers but they can be housed in smaller glass vivariums.

So... if I have a CB source nearby they would be a good starter cham? Do they have to be in a glass cage or is wire okay?

Omg !!! Sooo cute !!!
And I also had a problem with finding Breeder on the east coast as well. There is a breeder in Tampa. That I know of. Shipping isn’t as bad as I thought. I bought my panther from a breeder in Cali to have it delivered to south Florida, other then him being very stressed when he arrived, it wasn’t a bad experience.
I did go to a reptile expo two weeks ago then they had both panthers and veiled no carpet tho.
For me it was an easy choice on panther or veiled. I wanted one that if it was mean and didn’t tolerate being held I would at least be able to admire their beauty from far lol
Now on cage I went with the happy middle diy cage. I hope that helps

Were the ones you saw at shows CB? I have seen veiled at shows, but almost always wild caught around here, and they look awful. Petsmarts stock looks better than the veiled I have seen at shows.

 

[Fireborn]

You can use screen for carpets too. Regardless of what species you choose captive bred is best. Better to buy from a breeder than a pets store as well because pet stores may have wild caught and say it's captive bred.

 

[laurie]

I use live in my gecko terrariums so planned to use live for the cham. Was considering a Zilla Fresh Air cage. They are reasonable priced and seem to get good reviews for durability. Also, I am not planning on purchasing the animal for a good 6-8 months so plenty of time to research caging options and breeders and what not. They sell them at our local Petsmart, but I've always heard that with chams you are better off seeking a breeder. Seems hard to find breeders for veiled's on the east coast, but I did find a few on the west coast.

Does anyone have an opinion on carpets? There is a guy 2.5 hours away who breeds carpets, so I would not need to pay shipping... but I've heard they are more delicate, being smaller.

 

[laurie]

This is a bit odd but I have a veiled I will give you. It is a rescue and doing great! However it will not be going out of here for several months. I like to know the Cham is in perfect health before I would give it to anyone. Since you are not in a hurry, this little one will be big enough for me to ship. Just something to consider.
You can ask here on the forums, I am a reliable person, and a great cham keeper

 

[Monta]

You can use screen for carpets too. Regardless of what species you choose captive bred is best. Better to buy from a breeder than a pets store as well because pet stores may have wild caught and say it's captive bred.

Since we’re talking Carpets. I’m going to a monthly show where I get supplies . I ‘m pretty sure I saw carpets. I’ll check this Saturday when I go. I’m curious now LOL

 

[Mai]

From Florida is the chameleon company, I don’t know much about them, nor did I try to contact them. I did try three candy because I wanted a really blue ambanja after what is now 4 weeks and no reply, I figured not the best choice for me, I ended up with Krammer but I haven’t had mine for even a week yet lol At the reptile expo I didn’t take the card of the breeder that had both. But tbh all of them looked pretty stressed imo think about all them eyes on u. I don’t think that’s the best choice either but I’m new to the world of Chams the only other reptile I have is a dragon

 

[Hypancistrus]

This is a bit odd but I have a veiled I will give you. It is a rescue and doing great! However it will not be going out of here for several months. I like to know the Cham is in perfect health before I would give it to anyone. Since you are not in a hurry, this little one will be big enough for me to ship. Just something to consider.
You can ask here on the forums, I am a reliable person, and a great cham keeper

I will PM you and we can further discuss. Thanks!

 

[NickTide]

I second veildes as a first. They are tough (as far as chams go) and cheap. I kept veildes 20 years ago with decent success and I did everything "wrong." We really didn't know much at that point. It was debatable if UVB was necessary so I didn't use UVB bulbs. I only misted lightly maybe once a day and if I went away for a weekend, they didn't get it at all. They ate crickets that were "gutloaded" with potatoes and apples. When I ran out of crickets I fed superworms for 3 - 4 days until the pet shop got the next cricket order in. That was all I fed them. I don't remember de-chlorinating the city water but I do remember spraying them with a garden hose when they were on my porch. They lived as a pair in a 2x2x3' cage. and their only veggies were romaine. All this abuse and they lived 3 years and I hatched their eggs.

One thing that seems to be a drawback to veildes is in MY experience (personal and pet shop), they don't take glass cages as well but they seem to tolerate less humidity than most so its not an issue.

 

[kinyonga]

NickTide said..."One thing that seems to be a drawback to veildes is in MY experience (personal and pet shop), they don't take glass cages as well" ...funny but I've kept mine in exo Terra glass cages for years and they do great.