ChameleonCarson
New Member
Hello, I just got my first Chameleon. He is a Veiled Chameleon which I got for just 30 bucks; an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I have an extensive history of keeping reptiles, learning from my father who bred exotic reptiles such as flying dragons, parson chameleons, sulcata tortoises and various snakes. I have always been wary of Chameleons, because I remember my father deciding to only keep them in outside enclosures due to the increase in their health he observed. This of course was in California and Florida though; and I now live in Vermont. He also warned me that they are more difficult compared to other reptiles such as iguanas or bearded dragons. Over the past decade I have raised armadillo lizards, Egyptian sandfish, some emerald swifts, and quite a few newts, along with other animals like chickens, dogs and whatever else I want at my farm. I feel confident in my capabilities of caring for animals, but I am still nervous abut my first chameleon. As of now my chameleon, Chamillionaire, is doing fine in his juvenile setup. I have been a bit neurotic about checking his temps, humidity, and ensuring privacy (sorry for rambling.)
My neurotic tendencies bring me to my actual question, which of these two spots is better for my enclosure to go?
I am constructing a nice tall screen enclosure for him/her to move into when the time comes. One of the two possible locations is in my living room, right next to my oven in my kitchen. I like this spot because it receives excellent natural light. I usually keep plants here and they do great, but moved them so I could see how big the area is.
So spot one is nice because my wife and I can observe the chameleon throughout the day here, and it gets some amazing natural light. I check the temps and humidity of the terrarium every couple of hours, day and night, so this would make that part very easy. (I run a gourmet mushroom farm, and half my life is ensuring temps and humidity remain constant in my fruiting greenhouses despite the horrid weather outside. This has resulted in a serious paranoia, as a failing fogger, fan, or heating element means almost instant death of my crops. I have thousands of dollars worth of environmental controllers, cycle timers, etc. that I utilize, but I do not trust them because I have had failures before.)
I am concerned about the amount of traffic and noise here though. I have 3 dogs, and this is the door they use to go in and out throughout the day. My dogs run and jump everywhere and bark like crazy. I also have surround sound speakers which I blast rap music and action movies through most of the day. Also, I use my stove for pressure cookers most of the time, which also make some alarming noises. My sandfish live in this room and have gotten use to the speakers, dogs, and my cat, but it is very easy for them to disappear under the sand when bothered. I fear a chameleon would commit suicide from all of this.
Spot two is probably better for the chameleon, but not for me or my wife. It is downstairs in an unused bathroom/water heater room.
This room gets some sunlight in the morning through that window, but only for a couple of hours a day. My dogs and cat only go in this room when they have managed to sneak downstairs into this area, so other than the water pump and heater running, there is not much noise at all here. I do use that hose every other day or so. When I open the window to put the hose outside it drops the temp in the room from 70 to about 55 in a few seconds, but the heater kicks on and brings it back up just as quickly. Also, my wife and I never spend time down there. The only time we would be able to enjoy Chamillionaire is when we specifically go down there to feed, clean, or otherwise check on the terrarium.
I am looking for thoughts from those with experience in either scenario.
Have you ever maintained a chameleon enclosure in a room with high amounts of animal traffic and loud noises? Is the stress too much for them to stay healthy for long?
Have you ever maintained a chameleon enclosure in an unused room that you do not frequent often? Does the special chameleon sanctuary provide enough health benefits to make up for the fact that nobody gets to observe the chameleon unless specifically choosing to allocate time to do so? Have you ever gone to your chameleon sanctuary only to discover your heat lamp burnt out, your drainage system flooded, your lights have been on for 24 hours a day, or any other catastrophe?
Perhaps the chance of an unexpected failure is small enough to be preferable to the guaranteed chance of my dogs, cat, and music causing stress on a daily level.
Thank you for reading my post, and thank you in advance for any replies.
My neurotic tendencies bring me to my actual question, which of these two spots is better for my enclosure to go?
I am constructing a nice tall screen enclosure for him/her to move into when the time comes. One of the two possible locations is in my living room, right next to my oven in my kitchen. I like this spot because it receives excellent natural light. I usually keep plants here and they do great, but moved them so I could see how big the area is.
So spot one is nice because my wife and I can observe the chameleon throughout the day here, and it gets some amazing natural light. I check the temps and humidity of the terrarium every couple of hours, day and night, so this would make that part very easy. (I run a gourmet mushroom farm, and half my life is ensuring temps and humidity remain constant in my fruiting greenhouses despite the horrid weather outside. This has resulted in a serious paranoia, as a failing fogger, fan, or heating element means almost instant death of my crops. I have thousands of dollars worth of environmental controllers, cycle timers, etc. that I utilize, but I do not trust them because I have had failures before.)
I am concerned about the amount of traffic and noise here though. I have 3 dogs, and this is the door they use to go in and out throughout the day. My dogs run and jump everywhere and bark like crazy. I also have surround sound speakers which I blast rap music and action movies through most of the day. Also, I use my stove for pressure cookers most of the time, which also make some alarming noises. My sandfish live in this room and have gotten use to the speakers, dogs, and my cat, but it is very easy for them to disappear under the sand when bothered. I fear a chameleon would commit suicide from all of this.
Spot two is probably better for the chameleon, but not for me or my wife. It is downstairs in an unused bathroom/water heater room.
This room gets some sunlight in the morning through that window, but only for a couple of hours a day. My dogs and cat only go in this room when they have managed to sneak downstairs into this area, so other than the water pump and heater running, there is not much noise at all here. I do use that hose every other day or so. When I open the window to put the hose outside it drops the temp in the room from 70 to about 55 in a few seconds, but the heater kicks on and brings it back up just as quickly. Also, my wife and I never spend time down there. The only time we would be able to enjoy Chamillionaire is when we specifically go down there to feed, clean, or otherwise check on the terrarium.
I am looking for thoughts from those with experience in either scenario.
Have you ever maintained a chameleon enclosure in a room with high amounts of animal traffic and loud noises? Is the stress too much for them to stay healthy for long?
Have you ever maintained a chameleon enclosure in an unused room that you do not frequent often? Does the special chameleon sanctuary provide enough health benefits to make up for the fact that nobody gets to observe the chameleon unless specifically choosing to allocate time to do so? Have you ever gone to your chameleon sanctuary only to discover your heat lamp burnt out, your drainage system flooded, your lights have been on for 24 hours a day, or any other catastrophe?
Perhaps the chance of an unexpected failure is small enough to be preferable to the guaranteed chance of my dogs, cat, and music causing stress on a daily level.
Thank you for reading my post, and thank you in advance for any replies.
Last edited:
