A little help from the experts

Rainbow4vr

Rainbow4vr

New Member
After months of research I've finally decided to get myself a Vailed Chameleon! I am a beginner to chameleons but not to herps. I wanted to run this past the pros to make sure I have the enclosure good to go before I purchase my little guy. This will be his "I'm a tiny guy enclosure" I've already started planning out his "real" enclosure.

So for his baby enclosure I have an old bird cage with fiberglass screening lining the INSIDE of the cage. It is secured to the cage with little zip ties. Dimensions are 21 1/2 inches tall, 17 inches deep and wide. Temp is at 82F in the basking spot. I keep my place at 70-75F at all times so thats the ambient temp. I've got a 5.0 UVB Reptisun. I've got a ficus and an umbrella plant. Since I am in Chicago and it's winter humidity is terribly low, I have purchased a Crane Ultra Sonic Cool Mist Humidifier (shaped as a cute little elephant!) Humidity sits at about 65% and with misting it goes higher. I have a DIY dripper. No substrate. Since it is a bird cage the bottom slides out and that is what I am using as a catch for the water from the humidifier and from the drip cup.

I dont think I am forgetting anything. Please let me know what you think. I've had this enclosure running its course for about a week now and I personally feel its great. Obviously this is a temporary home since I plan to build an amazing enclosure for when he gets a little bigger but for now I feel like this should work.

I would love some feed back from you experts!

Oh and since it wouldnt let me put it in my sig cuz its too long here is my current collection of herps and other
-3 normal ball pythons - carpet python - sumatran blood python - common boa - ultra golden albino colombian boa - brazilian rainbow boa - blizzard corn snake - bearded dragon - 2 crested geckos - tokay gecko - blue tongue skink - russian tortoise - n. chromatus tarantula - black bear hamster - pitbull/bull dog mix ......like I said I'm no beginner to herps lol
 
I forgot to add that I don't have vines or branches yet because I don't know exactly what size ill be getting yet and I want to make sure that I get the correct size vines and branches so it can get the proper grip
 
I wouldnt say im an expert but it sounds good to me, is it possible to post some pictures of the enclosure? Also it is important to have a lot of horizontal climbing branches in you enclosure along with branches of varying diameter to exercise their feet.
 
5u2eru3y.jpg
this is it before I put the humidifier, UVB, and dripper.
I'm not home now so I'll have to post the final of it. I didn't even have the screen on top zip tied lol
 
I would get some more fake vines up towards the top so he can get closer to his basking spot.

do you have rocks covering the dirt?

what types of plants are those?

waht is the silver bowl looking thing?
 
camimom said:
I would get some more fake vines up towards the top so he can get closer to his basking spot.

do you have rocks covering the dirt?

what types of plants are those?

waht is the silver bowl looking thing?
Click to expand...

I will definitely be getting vines :)

I do not have rocks covering the dirt, I'm guessing I need to.. I will get some tomorrow.

The silver bowl is just an extra thing to catch the water from the dripper. Should I take it out and just position the dripper to only go in one of the plants?
 
Rocks are good. veileds tend to eat dirt, and plants.

and yes, remove the bowl, use your plants to catch extra water.. standing water= drowning hazard/bacteria grower.
 
yes get rid of the bowl. It is a potential drowning hazard if your cham is going to be a baby. Got to think of everything! I would have it drip into a plant or have a towel catch the water or something very shallow. Welcome to the forums btw!!!
 
camimom said:
Rocks are good. veileds tend to eat dirt, and plants.

and yes, remove the bowl, use your plants to catch extra water.. standing water= drowning hazard/bacteria grower.
Click to expand...

I will remove the bowl and get rocks. What do I need to know about the plants? I want everything perfect
 
carol5208 said:
yes get rid of the bowl. It is a potential drowning hazard if your cham is going to be a baby. Got to think of everything! I would have it drip into a plant or have a towel catch the water or something very shallow. Welcome to the forums btw!!!
Click to expand...

Thank you! I'll do that
 
Cover the soil with rocks like mentioned before and you could rinse off the leaves to ensure that the leaves do not have any chemicals on them because your chameleon will be drinking off the leaves. What kind of plants are they?
 
DrRhymes said:
Cover the soil with rocks like mentioned before and you could rinse off the leaves to ensure that the leaves do not have any chemicals on them because your chameleon will be drinking off the leaves. What kind of plants are they?
Click to expand...

I have a ficus and an umbrella plant. I read that they are safe. Is that correct?
 
You will find that the umbrella plant does need lots of light and little water. It will rot and die very quickly if over watered. The ficus will do fine but does need drainage too. Good luck.
 
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