Just bought 2 True Blue Nosy Be Panther Chams

[Turner1986]

This is my first time ever buying a Chameleon. So i went to http://reptilepetsdirect.com/ for my first 2. i got a male and a female True Blue Nosy Be Panther babys. They said there about 3-4 months old. Has anyone here ever bought from them. Im a little concerned because i live in Cleveland and its winter time. Anyway i bought then Saturday so they will be shipped Monday Jan 5th, and i should get them Tuesday. These are the pictures the guy sent me.

This is the Male Nosy Be

and this is the Female

Guess we will see if i get these exact ones

 

[Turner1986]

here is the tank i got too. Got 2 tanks, same exact tank. I read on here your not supposed to use a bedding but what about coconut husks as a bedding? It came with the tank and says its ok for Chameleons as its not dirt of any kind.

I have since added more vines plants and a dripper

 

[distortionz]

Well congrats on your first chameleons.. hopefully you have done a lot of reading up.. Don't use the bedding even coconut husk.. for one it makes the cage harder to keep sanitary.. two it leads to prolapses in chameleons I had it happen once about 15 years ago never used it again.. never ordered from reptilesdirect hope the service is good and they send you quality chams.. I live down in canton not too far from you.. I don't think I would want to have chams shipped in the weather we are having right now it's supposed to only be like 0-20° all week long.. They will most likely ship with heat packs but that won't do too much in the extreme cold. If I was you I would contact them and wait until it warms up a little bit more I think the following week is at least supposed to be back up in the 30s.. as for the tanks I don't know the dimensions.. but they will probably be ok for the first few months if your getting chameleons the age of the ones pictured.. but after a few months you will probably want to upgrade to large screen cages.. I have two used reptibreeze xl cages they are 2' x 2' x 4'cages I'd be willing to part with in a few months if you decide to go that route.. let me know.. and congrats on your new purchase hope they arrive in great condition.. be sure to check the care resources on the page and don't hesitate to ask questions here.. this is a wonderful community with tons of people willing to help.

 

[Carlton]

You'll probably find that live plants will be needed...they can help with air quality and humidity maintenance. Also, your cham will want more areas to hide out of view.

 

[Turner1986]

Well congrats on your first chameleons.. hopefully you have done a lot of reading up.. Don't use the bedding even coconut husk.. for one it makes the cage harder to keep sanitary.. two it leads to prolapses in chameleons I had it happen once about 15 years ago never used it again.. never ordered from reptilesdirect hope the service is good and they send you quality chams.. I live down in canton not too far from you.. I don't think I would want to have chams shipped in the weather we are having right now it's supposed to only be like 0-20° all week long.. They will most likely ship with heat packs but that won't do too much in the extreme cold. If I was you I would contact them and wait until it warms up a little bit more I think the following week is at least supposed to be back up in the 30s.. as for the tanks I don't know the dimensions.. but they will probably be ok for the first few months if your getting chameleons the age of the ones pictured.. but after a few months you will probably want to upgrade to large screen cages.. I have two used reptibreeze xl cages they are 2' x 2' x 4'cages I'd be willing to part with in a few months if you decide to go that route.. let me know.. and congrats on your new purchase hope they arrive in great condition.. be sure to check the care resources on the page and don't hesitate to ask questions here.. this is a wonderful community with tons of people willing to help.

Im interested in buying on of those 2x2x4 cages off you in a few months. Thats the same one i just ordered (For the Male). the other tank, the one pictured is 18"x18"x24" (for the female). So should i just take the coco bedding out of the cage then???


Ya i just called the guy at reptilepetdirect, he also said it was really cold here. He said they do pack them with heat packs but it would be better to wait till next week when its in the 40's. He said it would also be better to pick it up at the fedex depot so its not riding around in the truck all day.


So i guess i'll be waiting another week for them. Aint so bad, i can for sure get everything ready by then. I was going to put them in the same cage for the first week cause i only have the one right now, but in a week ill have both cages

 

[zlew]

I think you made the right choice to wait. Now you'll be extra prepared. Can't wait to see more pics!

 

[distortionz]

Yeah I'd just take the bedding out.. I made a back wall that uses substrate but it's all siliconed down do it can't be ingested. But say your cham tries to shoot his tongue at prey and hits the substrate and ingest.. that's where it causes issues... as for keeping then in the same cage for the week I wouldn't recommend it... at that age they will probably be pretty aggressive with eachother.. hell I have a 6 week old right now that when he sees one of the 4 week old babies he gets all puffed up and angry... if you want one of these cages I'll give it to you for 50 dollars they are still in pretty good condition just haven't been used for a while..

 

[Turner1986]

would you do both of the cages for $100?

Can i see some pics of them?

 

[distortionz]

Yeah I'd sell both for 100.. I have them assembled right now here's a pic

 

[Turner1986]

if you wanna pm me your address i can come pick them up tomorrow.

you said you live in canton right, im in brunswick

 

[distortionz]

Yeah I'm in canton.. I'll be working until about 7 tomorrow I don't know what your schedule is like but we will find some time u can pick them up

 

[Turner1986]

im not working right now so anytime is good for me

 

[Turner1986]

This is the sire of the 2 babys

 

[distortionz]

Nice looking cham

 

[Turner1986]

Getting set up. Thanks distortionz for the deal on the cages. Got the vines for both cages already, Looking for good size plant to put in each one.

What temp is the basking temp supposed to be?

I also got these bulbs for uvb and basking

Are these good lights i got them from LLLreptile

 

[distortionz]

Temperature:
Baby/juvenile (<9 months): ambient 72-80F (22-26C), basking 82F (28C)
Adult males: ambient 75-80F (23-26C), basking 85-90F (29-32C)
Adult females: ambient 75-80F (23-26C), basking 80-85F (26-29C)


The basking bulb should be fine.. but test out the temps once your all set up make sure your getting it where it needs to be.. The uvb bulb I'm not a fan of compact bulbs.. they used to be linked to a lot of eye problems in chameleons especially younger ones.. and I don't really like the repti-glo bulbs either... I used that same bulb once because at the time I was in a pinch and that was all I could get right away... personally I would recommend fluorescent tube lights.. I have always used the t8 repti-sun 5.0 bulbs... however, I have a few t5ho fixtures and t5ho reptisun 5.0 bulbs shipping my way now and I'm looking forward to using those..

As for plants check Lowe's the ones by me usually tend to have a lot of tropical plants even this time of year... ficus and scheffleras and pothos all work great for chameleons... and are usually at Lowe's and pretty cheap. Glad your happy with the cages.. can't wait to see how you get them set up.. if I was you I would try to get some more branches and leaves up high for cover and hiding spots.. it can be expensive filling up larger cages like that but in time you will get there.. you can even cut down tree branches from outside and disinfect them and use them in your cages to save money.. if you search around here there is some good entries on how to properly disinfect things you bring in from outside for your chameleons.. good luck

 

[Turner1986]

Found some real nice bamboo at Pat Catans, enough for both cages for 8 Bucks . I got one of the done up with the bamboo. Now just for some plants and i think im pretty ready.

Also grabbed 2 of these ::::

How do you guys think these work?

 

[repdog]

I'm with you at setting up the cage first. I like the one on the left better. I had good luck with plants at Steins this time around. But I do normally get mine from home depot as I don't have a lowe's close by. For mine as I have read that some chams like the dripper over the mister and others like the mister over the dripper, so I have both set up. I'm going to let my new cham tell me what he likes better. I'm with distortionz with the lights. I use tube's.

 

[distortionz]

Dripper + mister is they way to go. I always hand misted my cages with a spray bottle.. but I just got my first mistking And it is the best investment I've ever made for my chameleons lol.. however the babies I have now do prefer the dripper to drink from and hate being misted.. but regardless you have to mist for humidity so they can keep hating it lol..

 

[Turner1986]

Ya, i was thinking the same,,,, dripper and misting.

Got both cages done for now ,,,,,, plants tomorrow hopefully. What do you think so far?

Is it ok to use fake plants?