Looking for a know-all thread - Beginner questions

page04z

New Member
I searched a bit with no results, but I was curious if there is a novice know-all thread about chameleons or if some one knows a good website.

I don't own one yet, planning the purchase after I build a nice enclosure. But in doing my research I am only finding partial answers or just completely different answers than what I'm looking for.

Or if anyone can just chime in with do's and dont's, and this can be the beginners thread.

Here is what I know (please correct me if this is mis-informed)
1) Chameleons need a steady heated enclosure. Either keep your house temperatures warm, or add other sources of heating.

2) Keep lights out of the enclosure to prevent cooked chameleons.

3) Feeding them wild insects you "catch" can be hazardous (not always) due to the diet of the insect

4) Chameleons need to be misted - This is very vague to me, how much, how often, etc...

5) "Bake" items you put in the enclosure such as rocks you find or branches. Try to avoid still living branches due to the sap and other bacteria. 30 mins @ 350 F should do the trick.

Here is what I don't know
1) How to properly set up an enclosure for easy cleaning methods and what NOT to do when building one.

2) How much light is too much or too little, or does it not really matter

3) How do I maintain food for them? Just buy a bunch of crickets or worms to last a month, or do I need to make scheduled stops at the pet store to buy live food every couple days?

4) What things are routinely done and how often? This goes for misting, feeding, and cleaning.

5) Misting information - I know nothing about it.

6) Do I need another heating source other than keeping my house around 72F +- 2F, I plan on making the enclosure out of glass or similar, not screen.
 
Well, what kind of cham would you be getting?

There are so many lol, I'm looking to get two different types that are relatively similar in habitats (prefer jungle theme) but look different. So do you have any suggestions? Maybe the easiest one to take care of would be best for now :p
 
The easiest ones for beginners would probably be panthers and veileds. Panthers prefer a more tropical setting but still need good air ventilation, veileds are arboreal so need much more fresh air and ventalation. Many people on this site are experts so they can probably give you some ideas. Also, as for some things you posted above. You said "chams need a steady heated enclosure", this is not entirely true. For a chameleon, you need one source of heat( a heat bulb or regular house bulb would do) and you need a source of UVB. For UVB make sure you get a LINEAR tube bulb, they are the really long ones, and get a fixture to put it in. You can probably get one at home depot or walmart. Different species need different temps so be sure to do your homework. As for misting, chams dont drink out of dishes, they drink water droplets off of leaves. You need to mist them with water a few times a day so they stay hydrated. you can use a regular spray bottle on the mist setting, not stream. Also a dripper system would be good, or just an ice cube on top of the screen to melt down into the cage. that's all I can give for now, although there is much more you need to know. I have to get back to writing my essay. Fun Fun =(
 
Unless you live in the uk or Canada it's not recomended to use glass or wood unless you are housing a smaller species that requires high humidity. I suggest a panther and a veiled, veileds can get pretty colorful but panthers can have every color of the rainbow. That being said, you could just buy two panthers of different locales as they look different according to what spot they were gathered in.

There is never too much light. You need a heat bulb and a UVB bulb (reptisun 5.0 linear tube is considered the best) that are on for a 12 on 12 off schedule.

Feeders can be bought online or in stores as often as required and can be housed for fairly long periods of time depending on how often you clean the bins and what kind they are. I recomend starting a roach colony. The feeders must be gut loaded with veggies like kale and collars and fruits like apples. They also need to be dusted with a plain calcium w/o d3 almost everyfeeding, calcium w/ d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin once a month.

Misting for these two commonly found species is about 2-5 times a day for several minutes each time. A dripper is also beneficial to their hydration and is recomended. There should be no sitting water or waterfalls.

Cleaning Of the cage bottom is done every or everyother day. A full on cage cleaning with bleach is done anywhere from once a week to once a month.

Babies up until 5-6 months for females and 8-9 months for males is 6-10 crickets (or equivalent of) every day and once they pass that time it is done about 3-4 times a week with 6-8 crickets or equivalent of.
 
My favorite panthers are Sambavas and Ambilobes. Panthers and Veileds are the most forgiving as far as husbandry mistakes go. You should go look at some of the sire sponsors web pages to check out the colors and what not.

I forgot to meantion, basking temps for babies and females is 80, and adult panther males is 85-ish, and adult Veiled males is 90-95.
 
Are you in Pennsylvania all year or only part of the year?

The temperatures, misting, humidity, lighting, etc. depend on the species to some extent...so you really need to decide what species you are going to keep to get definite answers.

Re: food...its good to have the insects that you need to gutload (like crickets) ahead of the day you want to use them so you can gutload/feed them a nutritious diet.

You said..."Do I need another heating source other than keeping my house around 72F +- 2F"...most chameleons aren't kept at such cool temperatures....again you need to know the species for us to give you specific information.

Supplements, keeping the insects healthy, appropriate lighting, temperatures,misting, etc. are all important if you want the chameleon to stay healthy. Here are some good sites for you to read that may help you understand chameleon keeping better...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...rnals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20060421.../index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=102
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://adcham.com/

Hope this helps!
 
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