First time setup!

[ReptiGurl]

Hello everyone!
I am hoping to get a chameleon soon so my boyfriend (ReptiGeek) got me a "chameleon starter kit" for valentines and helped me buy an Exo Terra 18x18x24 for a baby cham! We set it up today and I would love to hear what you guys think!
I still need to get a UVB bulb and fixture (but I have time) and a hygrometer and dripper, however Trav is making the dripper!
Thanks for looking

 

[ReptileLove18]

welcome to the forum!!
i think it looks pretty good! what i would suggest is getting some fake foliage, some suckon cups with hooks and putting the foliage up around the top of the enclosure so that the cham can go from the live plant up towards the top cuz its gonna want to get up as high as it can and with the suckon cups you can move it around however you want lots of horizontal pathways at the top of the enclosure, they will love you for it!!
also, be real careful bout making sure you get lots of airflow into the tank. i have this same kind of tank for my little one and i would position a small fan pointing into the top of the tank so that air would move around well in there. are there air strips underneath the doors? mine has those i cant telll in you pic tho
thats awesome that you two are doing this together!

 

[ReptiGurl]

welcome to the forum!!
i think it looks pretty good! what i would suggest is getting some fake foliage, some suckon cups with hooks and putting the foliage up around the top of the enclosure so that the cham can go from the live plant up towards the top cuz its gonna want to get up as high as it can and with the suckon cups you can move it around however you want lots of horizontal pathways at the top of the enclosure, they will love you for it!!
also, be real careful bout making sure you get lots of airflow into the tank. i have this same kind of tank for my little one and i would position a small fan pointing into the top of the tank so that air would move around well in there. are there air strips underneath the doors? mine has those i cant telll in you pic tho
thats awesome that you two are doing this together!

Thanks so much for the input! Trav and I are going out today to pick up a few more things and he says we can get some more branches and such for horizontal upper pathways. He gave me a large fake plant in the "Chameleon Starter Kit" so I shall incorporate that as well!
And yes I know all about the ventilation and how important it is The Exo Terra has the vent strip underneath the doors. Travis has been using Exo Terra's since day one and his chameleons seem to be doing quite well!
Once again thanks for all of your input!

 

[SaintJimmy]

It actually looks nice. Maybe another branch? And maybe a fake vine or something. Looks good though.
Remember to put big stones at the bottom of the plant so he can't eat the dirt.

 

[carol5208]

what is the big container on the bottom for? a laying bin? If not, and you are going to use for drainage, that looks like it could be a potential drowning hazard. I like the branches you have in there so far.

 

[ReptileLove18]

welcome
what kind of cham are you thinking about getting?

 

[ReptiGurl]

It actually looks nice. Maybe another branch? And maybe a fake vine or something. Looks good though.
Remember to put big stones at the bottom of the plant so he can't eat the dirt.

I put big stones covering it already! Thank you very much!

what is the big container on the bottom for? a laying bin? If not, and you are going to use for drainage, that looks like it could be a potential drowning hazard. I like the branches you have in there so far.

It's to catch the water from the dripper! And don't worry about drowning, my boyfriend bought mesh and put it on top so nothing can fall in!

welcome
what kind of cham are you thinking about getting?

I am hoping to get an ambilobe to start however I just really love all chameleons!

 

[babyjoe]

Looking good so far.you won't go far wrong with reptigeeks help.I love the set up of his vivs.also there's a thread on here you can search about glass terraniums if your looking for inspiration

 

[sammyamor]

that a really pretty setup

 

[ReptiGurl]

Looking good so far.you won't go far wrong with reptigeeks help.I love the set up of his vivs.also there's a thread on here you can search about glass terraniums if your looking for inspiration

Thank you! I most certainly cannot, lucky to have a boyfriend like him! I will have to take a peak and find that thread

that a really pretty setup

Thank you!

 

[Decadancin]

Great advice so far, and good idea with the mesh over the bowl. It would be great if you could do the same in the future adult home with drainage. Can't wait to see what you get!

 

[DanSB]

I personally think fake foliage is unattractive and ruins the appearance. Another pothos, a ficus, or an umbrella plant that gets closer to the top would have a similar result and look much better. You can add more sticks or even a flexible fake vine for more horizontal walkways.

By the time the plants outgrow the terrarium the cham will be ready for his adult home where you will want the extra plants anyway...

 

[Decadancin]

I personally think fake foliage is unattractive and ruins the appearance. Another pothos, a ficus, or an umbrella plant that gets closer to the top would have a similar result and look much better. You can add more sticks or even a flexible fake vine for more horizontal walkways.

By the time the plants outgrow the terrarium the cham will be ready for his adult home where you will want the extra plants anyway...

I actually started out with all artificial plants. My boy loved the shelter provided and had no issues with it. I have started to incorporate some live plants into the enclosure, but still use fake vines for disguising the containers the plants are in. The beauty of fake vines is that you can make them do whatever you need them to. I like the combination.

 

[Decadancin]

By the way, I added a couple of golden pothos to the enclosure, and could not be happier with how they look! My boy seems to enjoy them as well. These are some of the most forgiving plants I have ever seen!

 

[DanSB]

I actually started out with all artificial plants. My boy loved the shelter provided and had no issues with it. I have started to incorporate some live plants into the enclosure, but still use fake vines for disguising the containers the plants are in. The beauty of fake vines is that you can make them do whatever you need them to. I like the combination.

Okay maybe that came out wrong... I just wanted to give alternatives in case someone wanted to use real plants instead of fake. I think there are real advantages of using real plants over fake including better humidity control, better air quality in the enclosure, and more natural hides.

As far as if the chameleons actually care on an aesthetic level? You could probably have pink, mauve and puce modern art sculpture and they wouldn't care as long as there were hides and good places to walk.

 

[Decadancin]

Okay maybe that came out wrong... I just wanted to give alternatives in case someone wanted to use real plants instead of fake. I think there are real advantages of using real plants over fake including better humidity control, better air quality in the enclosure, and more natural hides.

As far as if the chameleons actually care on an aesthetic level? You could probably have pink, mauve and puce modern art sculpture and they wouldn't care as long as there were hides and good places to walk.

Ha! Well said. They must look at us and say, "Oh boy, Here we go again. Lets see how many times we can rearrange the same twig. "