Enclosure placement question, before purchasing!

[RiftPoint]

Hi all,

I’ve begun to look into purchasing a chameleon, and I’m trying to make sure that I have all my i’s dotted and t’s crossed. I’m absolutely not going to follow through with getting a chameleon if I can’t ensure that I have the proper space and setup to do so. So I thought it made sense to see if I could pick everyone’s brain here. Most of my questions have to do with enclosure setup and placement, but I’ll start by giving a little background on myself since I’m new here (and I think it’ll be relevant to my enclosure questions).

I’ve had various reptiles throughout the past: green anoles, house geckos, and a green striped tree dragon. I’ve also had some minimal experience caring for bearded dragons, ball pythons, leopard geckos, and a chameleon at a zoo I interned at for one summer in college. That chameleon care was pretty much feeding, misting, and making sure the dripper was full/clean (I think it was a veiled, but it was in a back room not on display with no species label). So I would consider myself an intermediately experienced reptile owner.

My current household consists of myself, my wife (who is fully on board with a chameleon, being a previous reptile owner herself), our 19 month old daughter, 2 cats, a dog, and a guinea pig. The cats could care less about things like reptiles (they ignored the two rats I had), one might sit and stare at a chameleon though… she always liked staring at the fish we’ve had. The dog, a beagle, could also care less about anything other than food.

The only place in our house that we could put a cage is in the dining room with the guinea pig. We live in a cape style house with our dining room wide open to our kitchen where we come in and out, cook, etc. My current plan would be to set up a shelf system with the guinea pig on a lower shelf, and the chameleon on the top. The dining room is not extraordinarily high traffic, and we don’t entertain that often. How much traffic would be too much around a chameleon? How much visual/acoustic activity can they tolerate?

I’m considering spacing for a veiled chameleon, so I’m looking at cages 24x24x48. My three options are a Reptibreeze XL from Amazon, one from DIY Cages that I’ve seen people refer to here on the forum, or build my own. If I were to build my own my plan was to do 3 sides with screen, and do a solid back that I could use to anchor and hang vines and plants from. The Reptibreeze seems like my top choice (is the bottom solid?).

As for climbing vines and branches, is there any kind of a diameter that’s good or bad? And for the basking space, would it be best to make the space sort of an open wedge shaped area, with multiple baking perches at different levels? What kind of spacing between objects works best?

Do people prefer just having either a mister or a dripper? Or is having both better? My current plan is to purchase the Exo Terra Monsoon.

Can anyone see anything with my situation that would suggest that I shouldn’t get a chameleon? Like I said before, I’m going to do this right or not at all.

Thanks!

 

[carol5208]

Hi and welcome to the forums! Glad you are doing your research first! The amount of traffic really depends on the personality of your chameleon. Some are more social than others. I have always kept mine in my chameleon/computer room which gets a decent amount of traffic and have never had any problems. I even kept my Cockatiel in the same room with no issues. Seeing that my Cockatiel was about the same size as my Panther Chameleons I don't think they saw her as a threat. Maybe a large Parrot would be a different story. A cat eyeing a chameleon could cause some stress but if you have the cage up high enough you could elimiate that problem. As far as noise, they don't have ears and therefore really do not hear but sense vibrations so sound and noise should not really be a factor. There are varying opinions on how much interaction should take place as far as handling and viewing, etc. I have found that mine have never been stressed by my presence and even have sat there and watched me on the computer coming over to the side of the cage that was closest to where I was working and just hanging out on a branch checking me out. The bottom of all the screen cages are solid. It is wise to have both a dripper and a mister as not every chameleon will drink from both and may choose a preference. The thing with all the water is, where to put it and drainage will become an issue on an indoor enclosure. There are many ingenious people on here who have come up with great ways to drain off the water. Do a search of that and you should be able to get some ideas. The only problem is you want to have your guinea pig underneath and that may pose a problem! As far as the diameter of the branches and vines you should have a variety of thick and thin so you chameleon can choose what he likes best. Nothing so thick though that he would not be able to grip comfortably with his feet. I see know reason for you not to get a chameleon. Most of us have other pets in our households, dogs, cats, birds etc. You just have to be smart about the safety of your chameleon to cohabitate with these other animals and you should do fine!

 

[RiftPoint]

Thanks so much for the response! Good to hear that they can possibly handle moderate levels of activity. As for handling, I don't generally go for reptiles as pets to handle them (if they're okay with it great, the zoo beardies loved sitting on shoulders), so that shouldn't be much of an issue.

When it comes to the vines, I think my issue is I can't picture the size of a chameleons grip... Would it be safe to say that something like a large exo terra or flukers vine wouldn't be too wide?

I'll definitely have to figure out something to catch run off, the guinea pig doesn't mind baths but I don't think he'd appreciate living the capybara lifestyle either! Maybe a bucket with a screened top so the chameleon couldn't fall in (and to keep those damn crickets from drowning...)

Do misting systems generally lead to a lot of spray outside the cage?

 

[carol5208]

You can really use any size branches and vines. I just said to use ones they could comfortably grip because that is ideal. Chameleons have pretty long nails and that is also what they use for gripping besides the shape of the foot which goes around the branch. So you can use whatever size you want. Just have a variety. If you go with a spray bottle mister you can somewhat control where the water goes, but it will most likely find its way out of the cage. Some people use plastic or shower curtains to keep the water from getting on the walls. I have the luxury of living in Florida so my chameleons are outside most of the day and I water them while outside. On the days, when they are indoors, I use drippers and I would use a some kind of shallow bowl or tray to catch the water drip. You could have it drip into a live plant, but eventually the water will run out of the drain holes and can also cause root rot on the plant with so much water so it is not the most ideal option. Just make sure whatever you use that it is not too deep, or if it is then cover it with screen or something. I have never used the automatic misting systems like many do, so I cannot comment on them, but I am sure there is a way to keep most of the water inside the cage. Again, you will need to find some type of drainage, as they really need to run for several minute intervals. If your humidity could stay in the correct range, you really would not have to mist as long as your chameleons are good with drinking from a dripper. Misting is a way to provide drinking opportunity, but also the way to keep humidity up. Again, living in Florida even when my ac is on my humidity in my house is still high. Right now the two chameleons I own drink from drippers only. I mist them outside, but they basically run away from it! Some chameleons really like it though and will use it for their water source also. You just have to wait to you get yours and see what works best for your situation.

 

[RiftPoint]

Got it. I'll just stop worrying about it, lol. I'm probably going to need a mister, I live up in Massachusetts where we have really dry winters and humid summers.

Thanks!

 

[carol5208]

You're welcome and don't be afraid to ask questions!! I know you have more when you get your chameleon!!

 

[mvad]

I will highly recommended a Mistking misting system. Easy to set up and use. The included timer is excellent. Good luck in your quest for a possible chameleon.

 

[RiftPoint]

I will highly recommended a Mistking misting system. Easy to set up and use. The included timer is excellent. Good luck in your quest for a possible chameleon.

Where do you normally find mistking? I'd seen it mentioned in the forums here and on other blogs, but it doesn't show up on amazon... I'll have to go perusing the internet for it tonight (perhaps while watching the Bruins game!).

 

[RiftPoint]

I will highly recommended a Mistking misting system. Easy to set up and use. The included timer is excellent. Good luck in your quest for a possible chameleon.

Alright, found it. Looks like they only sell through their own site. What would you say makes the mist king better than a monsoon for chameleons? I found a quick comparison video of the two online, and the main difference seemed to be the mist king creates a very fine mist, and the monsoon makes more of a rain.

 

[mvad]

Ha, I'm watching the Bruins as well. A good amount of places carry Mistking but I ordered directly from Mistking.com. Excellent customer service. I am biased because I've only had a mistking. I love it. The mist is fine and drenching.
Go Bruins!

 

[RiftPoint]

Ha, I'm watching the Bruins as well. A good amount of places carry Mistking but I ordered directly from Mistking.com. Excellent customer service. I am biased because I've only had a mistking. I love it. The mist is fine and drenching.
Go Bruins!

Is there much spray that leaves the tank?