I am pretty confused on what to do. I have a female Jackson's chameleon that I got 2 months ago, so you can tell I am a beginner cham owner. She has been eating pretty good and looks healthy. As for her caging, all I could afford was an 18x24x24. I thought it was too small, but she spends her time near the midsection any way, so I do not think she wants more climbing space. I can't afford her a bigger cage unless it is dirt cheap. Will this be ok for her? She isnt that big. If I had a male, I would definitely would have gotten a larger enclosure. Also, I wanted a screen cage, but I searched my whole state and could not find a single one. And yes, I am being serious. I cannot afford shipping on a cage from the internet. Instead, for airflow, I open her cage doors as often as I can and place a small fan on the lowest setting so that she has good airflow. Will this be ok for her air flow needs? My house is really hot, so the fan on low also keeps the temps low. I used to only open the doors 3 or 4 times a day for half hour periods, but now I can trust her and she stays deep in her brand new plant that I got her. Can I now just keep the doors open all day so she gets good air flow? I really appreciate your guys help, it means so much to me.
Chameleon Caging?
- Thread starter Andrew27
- Start date
Elizadolots
New Member
Hi!
What is the temperature at the top of the cage? I suspect she's staying in the middle because the top is too hot. It should be 78-81 degrees.
Is the cage 24 inches tall or 18 inches tall? If it's 24 inches tall, while it's on the small side, I would call if doable for a female. I'm sure you will have people say it's impossibly small and you are just going to have to work through the opinions and make that call yourself.
If this were my animal in that size cage, I would drape 2 (maybe 3) sides with dark fabric (towels would work) so that there is nothing your chameleon needs to worry about from those sides. That should help her feel more secure so lessen her need to prowl.
If she's young, it's certainly a big enough cage for her now. If you need an inexpensive cage option in the future you might consider a Reptarium cage. Board sponsor LLL carries them and they are very affordable:
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...riums-reptarium-accessories-and-explorariums/
There are some tricks to working with them, so if you ever decide to go that way, send me a PM and I'll share my experiences.
I would not leave the cage door open if you are not there. You can't trust her.
What is the temperature at the top of the cage? I suspect she's staying in the middle because the top is too hot. It should be 78-81 degrees.
Is the cage 24 inches tall or 18 inches tall? If it's 24 inches tall, while it's on the small side, I would call if doable for a female. I'm sure you will have people say it's impossibly small and you are just going to have to work through the opinions and make that call yourself.
If this were my animal in that size cage, I would drape 2 (maybe 3) sides with dark fabric (towels would work) so that there is nothing your chameleon needs to worry about from those sides. That should help her feel more secure so lessen her need to prowl.
If she's young, it's certainly a big enough cage for her now. If you need an inexpensive cage option in the future you might consider a Reptarium cage. Board sponsor LLL carries them and they are very affordable:
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...riums-reptarium-accessories-and-explorariums/
There are some tricks to working with them, so if you ever decide to go that way, send me a PM and I'll share my experiences.
I would not leave the cage door open if you are not there. You can't trust her.
Calypso
Member
If she is still small enough that size cage can work until she gets bigger. You don't have to get an expensive set up per say. You can always construct a setup yourself out of wooden stakes, and then order one of the pull over zipper mesh screens. Make sure you figure out which screen you'd want to get first to make sure it's the dimensions you build. If you do this it can be decently cheap. She needs good air flow. Can you put a mesh screen on top of your setup, or do you have the zoo med set up with the two front doors? However, humidity is just as important as air flow. Make sure if the fan is blowing directly on her shes not drying out and the humidity is some where between 60-90%. The temperature during the day needs to be at least 5-15 degrees warmer during the day. So even if your house is at a good temp, make sure it's not at a constant 76 or something. It sounds like you don't mind leaving the doors open. As long as the room is VERY secure, you may want to consider free ranging her. Try researching it a bit. There are several videos on youtube of simple, cheap free range set ups. Again, make sure if you do so the humidity in the room is correct as well as the temperature. I found a great online beginners guide online the other day that I'll try to find for you. It has about all the info you need.
Calypso
Member
This should be able to answer most of your questions.
http://webhome.idirect.com/~chameleon/owners/index.html
http://webhome.idirect.com/~chameleon/owners/index.html
ISA my Veiled
New Member
Hey Andrew, Glad you came to our forum with this question. You honestly will be able to find all you need on here and then some. If I may make a recommendation for you, i would watch jdogs video on jackson, it is extremely informative and it shows you what way has worked best for him with jacksons chameleons. here is the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA if this link doesn't work type in "Jacksons Chameleon Video" on youtube and his name is rawg277201. Like I said amazing video!
But anyway I would go to amazon and/or ebay, I just bought a reptibreeze 24x24x48 on ebay for 106 shipped. That is the higher end of the price because amazon is 86 shipped BUT my dad just had to go with ebay for my birthday...Regardless I would go that direction. Very good deals on both websites and most come with free shipping. Hope this was a help to you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA if this link doesn't work type in "Jacksons Chameleon Video" on youtube and his name is rawg277201. Like I said amazing video!
But anyway I would go to amazon and/or ebay, I just bought a reptibreeze 24x24x48 on ebay for 106 shipped. That is the higher end of the price because amazon is 86 shipped BUT my dad just had to go with ebay for my birthday...Regardless I would go that direction. Very good deals on both websites and most come with free shipping. Hope this was a help to you!
