Diving back in, but need some assistance!

[Lpsouth1978]

You mentioned multivitamin weekly. I think it’s every other week alternating with the calcium with d. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

Thank you, I will use multivitamin and Calcium w/D3 2x a month on alternating weeks.

Remember misting helps cool things down and it will also help with humidity issues. Make a good drain system that will collect the run off.

The drain system is one I had not thought about. Maybe I can put a hole in the bottom of the substrate tray and have it drain into a bucket or something. I just need to find a way to make the tray easily removable too. I will have to think on this one.

For consideration: Feeder run cup, commercial gutload if planning to use (I use Repashy Bug Burger in addition to fruits and veggies), plastic bin and substrate for your roach colony, egg crates, bucket and distilled water for your misting system, Solarmeter...probably some other stuff ?... it never ends.

I have the roaches in a 68L plastic storage bin with egg flats stacked vertically inside. I also have toilet paper and Paper towel tubes in there. I have found that the smaller roaches tend to hide in the tubes, It also makes them easier to collect for feeding. I drilled like 1000 tiny holes in the bottom of the tote to allow the feces to fall into a second tote, while keeping even the smallest roaches in the colony bin. Kind of a semi-self cleaning roach bin. The main bin has 24" of Flex-Watt (11" wide) wrapped around one end of it. The Flex-Watt is plugged into a Thermostat and the probe is placed in the middle of the egg flats. This keeps the bin nice and warm and creates a temperature gradient in the bin.

In the past I have made my own roach chow, but for now I am trying a commercial roach chow from "Bad Ass Bugs". The ingredient list looks bretty good , as does the nutritional info. I also supplement with some fruits and veggies whenever I have some. I will either make my own feeder cup, or use a bird cage food dish on the Dragon Ledges like Gingero uses.

As for the water for the misting system, I am a reef tank enthusiast, and as such have a 400GPD RODI system and an army of buckets at my disposal. No Chameleon of mine will lack for quality, clean water!

Thank you all for the suggestions!!

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Another question for you all. How many nozzles would you get for the MistKing system? I am looking to order it this week and was thinking 2 nozzles, but curious what other are using.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Things are kind of at a stand still right now. I am waiting for my Dragon Ledges to ship, I am told they should ship on Monday, so I hope to have them by the end of next week. I just ordered a plant light, thermometers/hygrometers, Infrared temp gun, 6" plant pots, zip ties, and a micro cutter. I will be ordering the MistKing system tomorrow. I think I am going to start off with 2 nozzles. If I feel I need more, I can always add them later.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Did some more shopping today and should have the cage ready to go as soon as the Dragon ledges get here. I think I have everything I need at this point, ordered anyway. I ordered the Mistking system today. I ended up going for the Ultimate Starter V5.0 with 2 double misting nozzles (4 nozzles total). I plan to hook up only one to start and add the other if needed.

I stopped in at Home Depot and raided the plants. Spent nearly an hour looking at each plant and checking the safe plant list to be sure it was a good option. I ended up getting a couple small Pothos, a spider plant, a Bromeliad (for a pop of color), and a small umbrella plant. I cleaned all of the plants and re-potted them in the 6" pots that will be used in the cage. I have them all in the cage under the plant lights until I can get them installed in the cage permanently.

I also got some Bamboo poles to attach to the dragon ledges. I tried to find something else that would work, but there don't seem to be a lot of options in the middle of the desert. I have a number of manzanita branches that I will be using for highways and basking branches. I can break some of these up if smaller pieces are needed.

Here is a list of everything I have so far (followed by pics of where it is at so far):

- 24x24x48 Reptibreeze XL screen cage
- Reptibreeze XL stand
- Reptibreeze XL Substrate tray (I plan to use this as my drainage tray, I will put the PVC bottom, with holes drilled in it, on top of this. I can then empty it and clean everything every few days)
- Dragon Ledges (on order)
- Zoomed 24" T5HO fixture
- Zoomed T5HO UVB 5.0 bulb
- Yu Meil LED plant bulb in Flukers Deep Dome Fixture (2nd one on the way)
- 75W Basking bulb (will use if plant bulbs are not hot enough)
- Flukers vines (probably won't use)
- 5 x Digital thermometer/hygrometer combos (to take measurements throughout the cage)
- Digital thermometer/Hygrometer with individual probes (to test basking temp and humidity)
- Infrared Temp gun (on order, difficult to get due to COVID-19)
- Mistking Ultimate Starter System
- 5 x manzanita branches
- 4 x Bamboo poles
- 5 x live plants
- Dubia roach colony (only a few weeks old so will need to buy feeders until the colony get going)

 

[CrisBruns]

It's going to look so nice! If you want to get fancy, you could look for a bamboo mat to put around a couple of the sides to increase the naturalistic appeal and help keep humidity up. Somebody may have already mentioned about using 2 pots for each plant so you can take out the plant if you need to without having to dismantle it. Did you end up getting a fogger? I attached a hydration schedule that includes fogging at night. Much more awesome info from that website: https://chameleonacademy.com. when is your new baby going to arrive?

 

[Lpsouth1978]

It's going to look so nice! If you want to get fancy, you could look for a bamboo mat to put around a couple of the sides to increase the naturalistic appeal and help keep humidity up. Somebody may have already mentioned about using 2 pots for each plant so you can take out the plant if you need to without having to dismantle it. Did you end up getting a fogger? I attached a hydration schedule that includes fogging at night. Much more awesome info from that website: https://chameleonacademy.com. when is your new baby going to arrive?

Thank you. I was planning on the dual pot method. I bought 24 of thee same pot so I can leave empty pots in the enclosure and just drop potted plants in them. I will be wrapping 3 sides of the enclosure in window insulation film to help keep humidity up, right now (without wrapping it) it stays at right at 35%, even with manual mistings. I have seen it get as high as 40%, but need it a bit higher yet. The enclosure sits in a corner, so by using the window insulation I can see the cham AND he can have some places to hide when he feels the need.

I do not have the fogger yet, but I am definitely still planning on it. I have been reading a number of things from chameleonacademy.com, and picking up a number of ideas along the way. For my previous chameleons, I used ALL fake plants and vines, so using all natural woods, and live plants is a new approach for me. I look forward to the adventure and I am sure it will be even better than last time.

I still don't know when my new baby will be here. I have been talking with a couple of forum members, but don't have anything locked in yet. One has babies available now, the other has eggs hatching anytime now. I am hoping to get it in the next couple weeks, but may be forced to wait if I can't find what I want soon.

 

[MissSkittles]

Everything is looking and sounding great! You are going to have a spoiled chameleon!

 

[Lpsouth1978]

It's official!! I put a deposit down on my little one. Hopefully everything will be ready to go this weekend and I can pay the remainder and have him shipped next week. I am getting a little one from forum member Sezny. Can't wait!!

 

[CrisBruns]

Great news!

 

[Hansen]

Hello all! It has been a number of years since I last visited the forums. I am not new to keeping chameleons, but have not had any for almost 5 years. That was in Colorado, but I have since moved to Arizona and am now working on getting things ready for a new Ambilobe Panther. I have not purchased the panther yet, but hope to get one from Kammerflage in the near future. For now I am getting everything prepared so it is ready when the time comes. Here is my plan, most has already been purchased.

2x2x4' Reptibreeze XL cage w/substrate tray and drip tray
Mistking misting system
DIY stand
24" T5HO UVB bulb
75W Basking bulb (not sure how much need there is for this in AZ)
Repcal w/o D3 daily
Repcal w/D3 once every other week
Multi vitamin weekly
Manzanita branches
Flukers vines with and without fake leaves

I plan on keeping a small Dubia roach colony (also not my first time) and feeding Crickets, hornworms, and Blue Bottle Flies. All will be gut loaded, as much as possible.

I need help on a couple of things, mainly humidity and heat related. Heat was not really an issue in Colorado, but I anticipate having a difficult time keeping things cool. I keep the thermostat @ 80 degrees whether I am home or not. A/C costs a small fortune to run here, so the house stays a little warmer than I like. During the summer, the house won't cool below 80 even in the middle of the night. Will a chameleon be ok at 80+ 24/7? Or am I going to have to cool the house more at night?

The other issue is humidity. How do you other folks in AZ keep the humidity up? I have seen several methods of covering 3 sides of the enclosure with plastic to help with the humidity. I will probably employ one of them, just need to decide which. I would also like to hear thoughts on whether to get the misting system with a timer, or go with the Hygrometer control?

Sorry for all the questions, but I would like to have everything done and tested BEFORE getting the new chameleon. I appreciate all the help!

For humidity I dont like plastic. I feel like it breeds some icky stuff I dont like. But thin lite weight tow towels are nice on 3 sides in winter, 2 in summer. You should do summer towels all the time. Home Depot has these screen inserts that you can adjust and put in an open window. Put one of those across the top of your cage and set your humidifier on it.The humidity will be fine. It has worked for more than 5 years now. I have two ambilobe males separated by towels

 

[Lpsouth1978]

I got the Dragon Ledges today and got them installed. Then I spent almost 4 hours setting up the enclosure. I am pretty happy with it and think it will look even better when everything grows in a bit more. Let me know what you all think. Anything I can improve or should change? I am thinking I need to find one more relatively straight branch to place at the top for a basking branch.

The only thing left to do is get the Mistking system hooked up. It is scheduled to be delivered Friday. Unfortunately that is the same day my new chameleon is arriving. I hate to install everything with him in a new cage and cause anymore stress, but I may not have a choice. Lickily, there are lots of places for him to hide, so hopefully he will get through it fine.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Just for fun, here are some pics of my last male Ambilobe, Remy. I got him from forum member @ferretinmyshoes. Unfortunately when I moved to Arizona a few years ago, I was unable to bring him with me.