@Panthro413 Care sheets are a good start but I don't take them as gospel. Everyone's house and micro climate inside the cage is different. My misting schedule changes, sometimes daily, based on things like the temps/humidy of where I live. There is no hard and fast rule for keeping any species, always "it depends."
There are two benefits to a small cage--it is easier to control food and monitor stool output and quality; and it is less likely for baby to bail off a branch and drop to the floor hurting itself. The species I work with is notorious for "disking" which is rolling into a ball and dropping. I've learned to pad the bottom of the cage. An 18" x 18" x 36" cage is pretty small. If he were a tiny neonate, I would put him in a solid-walled plastic tote, not a screen cage.
@Luischameleon What are you asking about the color of his urates? The end product of protein metabolism in chameleons are urates. They come from the kidneys. Mammals produce urine, reptiles and birds produce urates. These are usually produced at the same time the chameleon defecates. Urates should be white. If they are dark colored--yellow to orange, it means the chameleon is likely dehydrated. Often a chameleon will not defecate for long periods so one end of the urate becomes dark and quite dry. The stool is a dark brown and ovoid in shape. You want nice snow white urates.
Chronic dehydration is a major problem with chameleons in captivity. It leads to kidney failure and an early death. Few keepers without automatic misting systems can keep their chameleons properly hydrated. Chronic low level dehydration kills a lot of chameleons a year or two down the road. Remember what I first said about hydration? Mist him a lot. In a sparse cage, he is less likely to drink than if he were feeling safe and secure. They do not drink from a bowl--they drink from leaves. A high humidity environment prevents a lot of fluid loss just from breathing.
