Hello Everyone..

B

Bushido247

New Member
First post here.

I am on the verge of buying a baby chameleon from www.chameleonsonly.com, and am going to purchase one of "Cyrus" babies from his FIRST clutch (attached photo of Cyrus)

1778581813.jpg


I've never owned a chameleon before, but have had experience with other reptiles like Leopard Gecko's and Bearded Lizards. I am also getting the 20-item Panther Package from them, which includes everything they need allegedly.

Anyone have any tips or tricks for a no0b in the Chameleon world? I've been reading these forums for the past two days, trying to learn, take notes, as well as exchanging e-mails with the people who run that site (Great people, btw)

How do you guys attach your branches inside your habitats, so that they don't fall down when the Chameleon applies it's weight on them? Is there a special trick to this? This is a pretty pricey investment, so I'm trying to make sure everything is PERFECT, so that I can have him live out his full life, and not have it cut short due to stress, or anything else.
 
Hello, welcome to the forum :) I think most people use cable ties to secure the branches through the mesh or screen. I also use drawing pins and the occasional drop of superglue........whatever else is nearby.......
Here's a great blog for anyone new to Chams and getting a youngster - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
The best tip I have is to get onto the variety of food thing quite quickly (different insects, fun with gutloads) - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
Fruit flies fed with butternut squash are a nice treat, fun to watch them get chased down too :D
 
DavidBuchan said:
Hello, welcome to the forum :) I think most people use cable ties to secure the branches through the mesh or screen. I also use drawing pins and the occasional drop of superglue........whatever else is nearby.......
Here's a great blog for anyone new to Chams and getting a youngster - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
The best tip I have is to get onto the variety of food thing quite quickly (different insects, fun with gutloads) - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
Fruit flies fed with butternut squash are a nice treat, fun to watch them get chased down too :D
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links, just read the first one from start to finish. She stressed the need for a vet, which I've never seen for any other reptile that I've owned (always do background check, and find forums with people w/experience.) Are these guys fragile and need a lot of check-ups? or get sick real easily?
 
You won't need a vet straight away, getting a healthy guy from chameleonsonly would be enough for me at first. It is a very good idea to have a vet fund though, they are more delicate than most lizards, a regular checkup is definitely best :)
 
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best advice rather, than going on a rant of how I DO THINGS, id do a lot of research. there are many many how tos and care sheets out there. and a lot of them will vary but you will be able to sift out common and perpetuated practices.

best thing to do in my opinion is going to be do research for about a week.

THEN fill out the how to ask for help sheet.

even though you dont need help it can give us ideas on where you stand and what you know already. instead of being redundant we can elaborate on what you already know or places you seem to be lacking understanding.

and always ask questions when you have specific questions. like the vine thing, i use a thin galvanized or coated wire and tie it through the screen. i drill a hole in the tips or wherever the vine meets the screen and run it through. ive seen people use anything from tacks, zipties, or just prop them up with other furnishings.

youll find a lot of chameleon keeping can rely on ingenuity, or stealing other peoples original ideas to upgrade your husbandry.

good luck. only stupid question is one that goes unasked.
 
You will probably have to switch to a bigger one later on, right now I have one that's2 ft wide 4 ft tall and 2 ft deep, for one of my males.
 
DekuScrub said:
best advice rather, than going on a rant of how I DO THINGS, id do a lot of research. there are many many how tos and care sheets out there. and a lot of them will vary but you will be able to sift out common and perpetuated practices.

best thing to do in my opinion is going to be do research for about a week.

THEN fill out the how to ask for help sheet.

even though you dont need help it can give us ideas on where you stand and what you know already. instead of being redundant we can elaborate on what you already know or places you seem to be lacking understanding.

and always ask questions when you have specific questions. like the vine thing, i use a thin galvanized or coated wire and tie it through the screen. i drill a hole in the tips or wherever the vine meets the screen and run it through. ive seen people use anything from tacks, zipties, or just prop them up with other furnishings.

youll find a lot of chameleon keeping can rely on ingenuity, or stealing other peoples original ideas to upgrade your husbandry.

good luck. only stupid question is one that goes unasked.
Click to expand...

very good advise research and help from others combined will give you a great head start kep on here but do research out there aswell :D
 
Bushido247 said:
You have a choice between Small, Medium, and Large.

Small: 24"L x 12"W x 24"H
Medium: 24"L x 16"W x 30"H
Large: 30"L x 18"W x 36"H

panpkg20.jpg
Click to expand...

whats the price on that?

there are a LOT of things i wouldnt recommend there.

firstly go with live plants and fake vines, plants help with humidity and coverage. fake vines are invaluable, one of the few thing i recommend you buy.

the dome lamp you can get at home depot for way cheaper than a reptile specific dome. same goes for the basking lamp. ANY incandescent wil do whether you choose a standard, flood, or spot. you just need to worry about the basking spot distance/temp

id go with the calcium with d3, and i like mineral, but i dont use it or the standard multivitamin. i focus on gutload, if you dont plan on gutloading the miner-all should be sufficient as a multivitamin.

you can get a basic florescent fixture from homedepot or any other home improvement store. just make sure its the same type as your bulb.

i recommend reptisun for the florescent, i use 10.0s but theyre in an area that isnt often traversed, and my cages are very heavily planted so the leaves and screen filter the uvb. most often 5.0s are recommended due to the possibility of over exposure.

you dont want those hygrometers/thermometers. theyre crap in my experience. youre just as well off buying a very basic one whever you can find it. digitals are nice but there are basic ones that do the trick and dont cost nearly as much. i also recommend investing in an IR tempgun. not only can you check the basking spot and temperature gradient throught the cage but you can check your friends, family, frying pans, snow, trees, grass, walls, your dog, your cat, your fish, POOP and any other thing you feel inclined to check because its fun, well worth the $40

i dont like little drippers becuase you can get the same effect from putting a pinhole in a gallon jug. and thats free.

hand squirt bottles are crap, spend $10 and get a pressure sprayer or a pump sprayer(same thing) some of them even lock on so once you pressurize it yoyu can just place it near the cage till it exhausts itself.

... i think thats it in regards to that picture
 
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DekuScrub said:
whats the price on that?

there are a LOT of things i wouldnt recommend there.

firstly go with live plants and fake vines, plants help with humidity and coverage. fake vines are invaluable, one of the few thing i recommend you buy.

the dome lamp you can get at home depot for way cheaper than a reptile specific dome. same goes for the basking lamp. ANY incandescent wil do whether you choose a standard, flood, or spot. you just need to worry about the basking spot distance/temp

id go with the calcium with d3, and i like mineral, but i dont use it or the standard multivitamin. i focus on gutload, if you dont plan on gutloading the miner-all should be sufficient as a multivitamin.

you can get a basic florescent fixture from homedepot or any other home improvement store. just make sure its the same type as your bulb.

i recommend reptisun for the florescent, i use 10.0s but theyre in an area that isnt often traversed, and my cages are very heavily planted to the leaves and screen filter the uvb. most often 5.0s are recommended due to the possibility of over exposure.

you dont want those hygrometers/thermometers. theyre crap in my experience. youre just as well off buying a very basic one whever you can find it. digitals are nice but there are basic ones that do the trick and dont cost nearly as much. i also recommend investing in an IR tempgun. not only can you check the basking spot and temperature gradient throught the cage but you can check your friends, family, frying pans, snow, trees, grass, walls, your dog, your cat, your fish, POOP and any other thing you feel inclined to check because its fun, well worth the $40

i dont like little drippers becuase you can get the same effect from putting a pinhole in a gallon jug. and thats free.

hand squirt bottles are crap, spend $10 and get a pressure sprayer or a pump sprayer(same thing) some of them even lock on so once you pressurize it yoyu can just place it near the cage till it exhausts itself.

... i think thats it in regards to that picture
Click to expand...

It's $259 with tax

It is also one of the reasons why I haven't submitted 'purchase' on the order yet, because I was going to do some digging around to see if I can get the same stuff in the picture, but either better, or cheaper.

I was leaning towards the IR tempgun, because of how effective people on here have said it is. I was also going to buy a live plant for the set-up. Still researching which type, and one that won't out grow the enclosure.

I would have used the vines, branches (real), and fake plants still, but have a real plant in there as well.
 
The Kammers are great. You will no doubt be getting a great Cham. As far as attatching the branches. You can use push-pins and stich them from the putside of the cage into the ends of the branches. They hold pretty firm.

What I do is get a nice Live plant , place it in the middle and do branches or wooden dowels with the push-pin technique around it and some vine for highways.
 
Bushido247 said:
I'll have to find something similar to that in the states. Thanks for the tip though, definitely added it to my 'Things to get' list.
Click to expand...

theyre all over the place they just arent "reptile specific" like i said home depot, lowes, or any home improvement store. its the pressure/pump sprayer i was talking about. in fact my local pet smart sells them for around $10 too. you find it in gardening centers or departments. they are commonly used for pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers.

ususally always around $10 you can upgrade to bigger ones for not much more but i only use my shoulder strap unit for outdoors since i have a misting system.

JonRich said:
The Kammers are great. You will no doubt be getting a great Cham.
Click to expand...

and not talking ish on the kammers, they provide great chams. but that setup is kind of for the type of person that really just wants to just get a cham and not have to think or research anymore. not really the hobbyists setup. becuase even though you dont know it. this is going to turn into an addiction for you. biggest sign is that your here on chameleon forums.

and if you want a plant that does well in low light but has sturdy branches, shefflera. commonly called umbrella plants. they cost around $10 and dont grow much. ficus get spindly but grow A LOT! and leaf up strong near light sources. great for taller enclosures.
 
DekuScrub said:
and not talking ish on the kammers, they provide great chams. but that setup is kind of for the type of person that really just wants to just get a cham and not have to think or research anymore. not really the hobbyists setup. becuase even though you dont know it. this is going to turn into an addiction for you. biggest sign is that your here on chameleon forums.

and if you want a plant that does well in low light but has sturdy branches, shefflera. commonly called umbrella plants. they cost around $10 and dont grow much. ficus get spindly but grow A LOT! and leaf up strong near light sources. great for taller enclosures.
Click to expand...

I did nothing more than mention that they have quality Chams. Nowhere in my post was I pushing the purchase of the starter set-up. :rolleyes:
 
JonRich said:
I did nothing more than mention that they have quality Chams. Nowhere in my post was I pushing the purchase of the starter set-up. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
didnt accuse you of anything bud, ;p and even so that is a sufficient setup. its just over priced. and now how id do it

sweet roach video btw jon, i prolly didnt respond becuase i was shwasties. theres this fluid that you can buy for the rim that does the same thing as packing tape. i had to get it cuase i had lobster roaches. the packing take didnt work for me becuse i assume touching it and dust deposits gave them something for their cute little feet to adhere to.....damn people hatin on roaches.

that was totally off topic btw lets not ninja the thread. :)
 
DekuScrub said:
didnt accuse you of anything bud, ;p and even so that is a sufficient setup. its just over priced.

sweet roach video btw jon, i prolly didnt respond becuase i was shwasties. theres this fluid that you can buy for the rim that does the same thing as packing tape. i had to get it cuase i had lobster roaches. the packing take didnt work for me becuse i assume touching it and dust deposits gave them something for their cute little feet to adhere to.....damn people hatin on roaches.

that was totally off topic btw lets not ninja the thread. :)
Click to expand...

You gave me the shivers when you said lobster roaches. Never ever ever. Lol. Those things are unreal escape artists. I wipe my tape barrier with a clean papertowel once a week to avoid any buildup to create a foothold. Only Dubias for me. They are predictable. Lol

Thread Ninja successful
 
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