Future Cham owner needs some advice.

[jfouch]

Hello all, I've been wanting to get a chameleon for almost a year now and this next month I'll finally be getting started. I did most of my research last year and have to go over everything again. I still know most of it though and had some specific questions. I'm getting a pantheras my first chameleon.

-I am wondering if anyone has some advice on the pros/cons to getting an adult vs baby chameleon. I was thinking of just going ahead and buying an adult male panther(Ambilobe). Should I get a baby instead? Any advice to people who bought an adult first and regretted not watching there chameleon grow into an adult?

-My plans on the setup would be getting the total package from chameleons north west. http://www.chameleonsnorthwest.com/catalog.htm?&Vl=11&Tp=2
I would buy the XL setup if I went with the adult.

-I also am going to buy the mist king starter. Does anyone have any info on where to buy a drip pan to put under this? I plan on putting the cage on top of one of my aquarium stands I saved for this. I particularly don't want it getting water on it.

-Food: I plan on ordering LEE'S cricket keeper from LLL Reptile and some cricket crack or bug burger to gut load them. What do people use to feed there crickets besides gut load? If someone could give me a possible link to caring for crickets it would be appreciated.

-Other food: I wanted to know what would be the best alternative food source to start with along with crickets. Since this will be my first time keeping a reptile I want to start slow with my food source. I will add other things to my chameleons diet over the first 3 weeks after getting but I want to make sure I have the basics of feeding crickets + _____ before diving into other things.

If anyone has any advice on getting everything I plan to invest 475 + the chameleon. I am going to order the setup on the 15th of the next month. I want to have everything up and running for a week(Including food) before getting the chameleon(from a member on here if anyone knows any!).

Thanks!

 

[jfouch]

Well, I decided to just buy everything separately and here is the list I came with. If anyone can give me advice it would be appreciated. I am also going to start with a baby/juv panther instead of an adult.

Cage:
• 16 x 16 x 30 inch Aluminum screen cage
• 16 x 16 x 30 Screen Cage Water Tray
Lighting:
• Zoo Med Repti Sun Terrarium Hood 20 inch
• Zoo Med 18" Repti Sun 5.0 UVB bulb
• Zoo Med black ceramic mini clip lamp
• Zoo Med 75 watt basking bulb
Décor:
• 2 - Exo Terra Jungle Vine Small
• 2 - Exo Terra Large Amapallo Jungle Plant
Water/Misting
• Aquazamp rain dome low profile
• Exo Terra Mini Mister Spray Bottle (Incase something happens with the mister good to have)
• Zoo Med Little Dripper
Thermometer/Hygrometer
• Zilla Digital Thermometer / Hygrometer with probe
Supplements
• Rep Cal Calcium & Herptivite Combo Special
• Rep Cal Calcium WITHOUT D3
Cricket Supplies
• Lees Large Cricket Keeper
• Rep Cal Cricket Shaker
• Nature Zone 24 Ounce Cricket Total Bites (This will be feed to them daily without gutload)
• Repashy Bug Burger 16oz (For gutloading)
• 8" tweezers.

 

[Olimpia]

Hey! Congrats on wanting to join the hobby. I'm going to add input in blue below:

-I am wondering if anyone has some advice on the pros/cons to getting an adult vs baby chameleon.

Babies can be more delicate but if you get a well-started one from a reputable breeder and have your cage set-up properly that shouldn't be a problem. And yes, watching panthers grow up is one of the best parts, in my opinion!

-I also am going to buy the mist king starter. Does anyone have any info on where to buy a drip pan to put under this? I plan on putting the cage on top of one of my aquarium stands I saved for this. I particularly don't want it getting water on it.

LLLReptile has trays that fit under screen cages that then you can add a little valve too and have excess water drain into a bucket or something.

-Food: I plan on ordering LEE'S cricket keeper from LLL Reptile and some cricket crack or bug burger to gut load them. What do people use to feed there crickets besides gut load? If someone could give me a possible link to caring for crickets it would be appreciated.

I would skip the cricket keeper, it's cheaper to buy a plastic storage tote from any Walmart/Target and keep crickets in that with egg crate. You can find a list of fresh gutloading foods here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/

-Other food: I wanted to know what would be the best alternative food source to start with along with crickets. Since this will be my first time keeping a reptile I want to start slow with my food source. I will add other things to my chameleons diet over the first 3 weeks after getting but I want to make sure I have the basics of feeding crickets + _____ before diving into other things.

The easiest second feeder would probably be either small superworms or roaches. The superworms will last for months, eat the same things as the crickets, and don't smell or make noise. The roaches have the same benefits, and they are extremely easy to breed. However, not all chameleons love things like dubia/discoid roaches, so the worms may be a safer bet.

Refer to the link above for other good feeder choices, because there are many!

Well, I decided to just buy everything separately and here is the list I came with. If anyone can give me advice it would be appreciated. I am also going to start with a baby/juv panther instead of an adult.

Cage:
• 16 x 16 x 30 inch Aluminum screen cage
• 16 x 16 x 30 Screen Cage Water Tray
Lighting:
• Zoo Med Repti Sun Terrarium Hood 20 inch
• Zoo Med 18" Repti Sun 5.0 UVB bulb
• Zoo Med black ceramic mini clip lamp
• Zoo Med 75 watt basking bulb (You can just use an incandescent for the home. Works just as well but may save you a few dollars.)
Décor:
• 2 - Exo Terra Jungle Vine Small (I prefer just to use natural branches from outside or wooden dowels of different widths. The vines are fine but I prefer real branches, personally.)
• 2 - Exo Terra Large Amapallo Jungle Plant Live plants are highly, highly recommended. They keep up humidity and chameleons prefer drinking from real leaves, they keep the water longer.
Water/Misting
• Aquazamp rain dome low profile
• Exo Terra Mini Mister Spray Bottle (Incase something happens with the mister good to have)
• Zoo Med Little Dripper
Thermometer/Hygrometer
• Zilla Digital Thermometer / Hygrometer with probe
Supplements
• Rep Cal Calcium & Herptivite Combo Special
• Rep Cal Calcium WITHOUT D3
Cricket Supplies
• Lees Large Cricket Keeper (Already mentioned, I think this is a waste of money. Plastic storage tote works just as well!
• Rep Cal Cricket Shaker Again, this kind of thing is a waste of money. A tall plastic cup with a pinch of calcium powder will work just as well)
• Nature Zone 24 Ounce Cricket Total Bites (This will be feed to them daily without gutload)
• Repashy Bug Burger 16oz (For gutloading)
• 8" tweezers.

 

[stacy76]

it depends on what you prefer and what you think you can handle. i personally loved watching my baby grow and change into adult..if you got the right start for a baby you will do fine,and theres a lot of info here to get you started in the right direction which ever you choose..

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/697-dry-gutload-mix-august-2012.html
check this out for gutloading your feeders,and other blogs,they are more nutritional than any you can buy..
cricket shaker you can use a paper bag,sandwhich bags and etc that you can purchase cheaply
Exo Terra Jungle Vine,these vines are rough on your chameleon,esp when the decide to rub when shedding and can scratch and irritate skin,there are smooth ones i prefer and use.
and i would recommend some pothos plants,pretty cheap and can be purchased at walmart,home depot lowes and etc,live plants help keep more moisture in the chams enclosure
happy hunting for your new treasure big or small..

 

[jrath]

If you do start out with the smaller cage, you can go ahead and get a 24" light for it, that way when you upgrade to a larger cage you won't have to buy a new light.

 

[jfouch]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Crickets: The cricket keep is just for convience atm and the extra money for it really isn't a problem. I have a spare 20g aquarium that I will use later on when I want to keep a larger amount of crickets. I plan on only keeping a weeks worth at a time to keep the smell down.

Dusting Cup: I agree with everyone and will just use a simple plastic cup. Thanks for the heads up!

Larger light: I didn't know if it was safe to use a larger light(24inch). Since I will be upgrading to a bigger cage sooner than later I will get it to save some money.

Vines and Plants: My initial plan was to go with the fake decor until moving into a bigger cage. Would it not be safe to use the exo terra vines? If so which one(On LLLReptile) should I get. I wasn't to concerned about humidity levels because of the automated misting. I was worried that with the live plant I wouldn't be able to spot all left over crickets. If you guys strongly suggest I shouldn't go with the fake decor even just for the smaller cage setup which plant do you recommend putting in the cage. (16X16X30)?

 

[jfouch]

Well. I guess I'm going to just go with the live plant from the start also. I am going to get a Pothos and 65k led fixture. Is it safe to buy these plants anywhere without worrying about the soil?

-Edit: Going to pass on the pothos for now because I'm concerned there not cat safe(The golden one atleast). I'm going to get river rocks and a Small Ficus Tree from LLLReptile with the rest of my order. I'll wash it in soapy water and repot it with new soil and a 30% mix of river rocks for improved drainage.

I also wanted to know if anyone had suggestion a digital therm/hydro to connect to my pc and plot the data throughout the day. Thanks!

 

[absolutbill]

Wow, you certainly have done your share of homework! I like the Exo-Terra Jungle vines - I use varying thicknesses, and also use the Fluker's vines, because they are thin and bendy, so I'll use vines to support vines. I only use live plants in my enclosures for humidity.

As for some of the other items I like a digital temp gun, so if you end up getting another (or several) chams, you can use the same temp gun. It's just point and shoot. I have a hydromoter on a stand next to one of my cages, and it measures humidity and temps, though I only use it for humidity.

I'd forget about the cricket keeper as has been notated. If you keep your crickets dry and clean they won't stink. With a baby/juvie you'll only need about 100-150 crickets per week, but you may want to buy more just in case the store has a shortage, or there's a storm and you can't get out to get crickets. That being said, online orders are usually a minimum of 500, but I just saw a few sellers on E-Bay selling other quantities of crickets. For these numbers you'll want a 10 gallon container - this will house about 1000 crickets comfortably at a time with lots of egg crates to keep them from crushing each other.

Finally, as for drainage, I have my cages on plastic utility sinks that you can get from Home Depot/Lowes. They fit a 24x24x48 exactly and can be ziptied on, so they don't slide. They have a drain in the bottom to place a bucket underneath, for easy drainage. You can fit a 18x18x36 cage in the sink as well, and it works the same way, and then when your baby is large enough (around 6 months) you can just pop that cage off, and replace it with the larger one that fits on the edges of the sink.

Good luck, and keep asking questions!

 

[jfouch]

Well will the crickets grow to large before being feed with storing 500 on hand? I'm not to worried about a shortage as fluckers is 20 minutes away from me.