Looking to Purchase Chameleon

[BryanP]

But when she gets a larger cage she will need larger lights

So my recommendation to that would be figure out what the largest size cage is going to be and what time frame that would come into play. If its going eventually be in a 24" cage I would just get the 24" fixture and block the sides with aluminum foil for the time being. It might be a bit ugly but if its temporary and you dont want to buy another fixture in 6-12 months thats an option.

I opted to get the 24x24x48 reptibreeze right off the bat. Now I dont have to upgrade later unless I build a custom sized one later when my wife and I upgrade to a larger home (or should I say zoo at this point? off topic sorry! haha)

How much did it cost you total for the right one? I'm just trying to get estimates so I can save up before I blow money. I'd rather get everything right the first time.

I got the 24" Zoomed Reptisun LED+UVB. It was $99 on amazon and came with prime shipping.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LQKAKEO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The 1st fixture I bought came with the cage and was just the dual dome and had the CFL. I bought the Zilla 24" "Tropical" bulb with fixture ($40) and it seemed to bother my little guys eyes. Talked to my breeder and they recommended the reptisun 5.0 T8 fixture. I could have just bought the T8 Reptisun bulb for $30ish bucks but I needed more light to light the 4' tall cage so I went with the LED lights since it kinda what I really wanted in the first place.

Now everything is working great!

Also dont get me started on basking light problems Ive had!

4 light bulbs later and I have settled on a PAR38 90w equivalent (70watt true) and a small circle of tin foil to keep the most intense center focal point from burning the little guy. Before I added the foil I was getting like 115 degrees of heat!!! CAN SOMEONE SAY CHAMELEON KABAB'S!!!

Anyways now everything is right where it needs to be. High 80s low 90s basking and a good gradient down to the mid 70s for ambient.

I bought 2 of these and they are great! Accurate enough for my use, in degrees Fahrenheit (not the silly Celsius shenanigans) and cheap!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DZCHTC6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

PLUS LOTS OF LIGHT!

 

[Tigger92]

I was trying to upload a photo from my phone to my computer and I can't figure it out but I had a 100 watt Reptile Basking Spot Lamp bulb. It's from Zoo Med. That's what I have for the turtles. I'm assuming the other light is the same wattage.My bf deals with that stuff. We have a 70 gallon tank for the turtles.

 

[rminnis]

Small 1/4 in crickets dusted in calcium were a fav. of my veiled when he was getting bigger if they are very small someone else may have a suggestion. I just cut the bottom off of a plastic container at 3-4 inches deep to make a square feeding cup that the crickets stuggle to jump out of since its slick plastic. Mine took to eating out of this as long as I can remember you can also toss them in or put them on the cage they will normally crawl up to the light where you cham will see them. You have to be careful tho they can bite it at night and possibly make it sick so you dont want too many crawling around in there at night. An important part most beginners dont understand is that you actually have to feed your crickets or feeders healthy stuff before they are eaten and then have them be eaten before the bug loses the nutrition over time. I suggest buying a larger enclosure than you think you need especially in width I mean height is important to but most cham cages are going to be at least 30 plus inches but few are more then 24 in wide.! Read up about humidity, real plants to use for habitat, and the differences between raising a male or female among other things. Look at enclosures people post on here and use ideas you like.

 

[guanagator]

If you want to save don't buy a small cage, go ahead and get a 2x2x4, light your reptiles is a good place to get a light that will grow the plants and keep the Cham happy. If your DIY capable a T8 or T5 set up is relatively easy to do yourself with parts from a local hardware store, the store will have a plant bulb you would need to order a 5.0 zoo med or a 6% Arcadia those are harder to find without a specialty reptile shop, sometimes Petco has them but mine stopped carrying the zoo med so I order Arcadia bulbs from Todd at lightyourreptiles. I recommend repashy calcium plus line for supplements, no need to worry about different ones different days. Feeding cups are used by most keepers to keep the feeders from getting into any feces on the bottom of the cage, it's also easier to see how much the chameleon is eating using a cup. Familiarize yourself with the caresheets on this forum for the species you want and that will give you a great start, better than all the impulse chameleon buyers.

 

[rminnis]

So my recommendation to that would be figure out what the largest size cage is going to be and what time frame that would come into play. If its going eventually be in a 24" cage I would just get the 24" fixture and block the sides with aluminum foil for the time being. It might be a bit ugly but if its temporary and you dont want to buy another fixture in 6-12 months thats an option.

I opted to get the 24x24x48 reptibreeze right off the bat. Now I dont have to upgrade later unless I build a custom sized one later when my wife and I upgrade to a larger home (or should I say zoo at this point? off topic sorry! haha)



I got the 24" Zoomed Reptisun LED+UVB. It was $99 on amazon and came with prime shipping.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LQKAKEO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The 1st fixture I bought came with the cage and was just the dual dome and had the CFL. I bought the Zilla 24" "Tropical" bulb with fixture ($40) and it seemed to bother my little guys eyes. Talked to my breeder and they recommended the reptisun 5.0 T8 fixture. I could have just bought the T8 Reptisun bulb for $30ish bucks but I needed more light to light the 4' tall cage so I went with the LED lights since it kinda what I really wanted in the first place.

Now everything is working great!

Also dont get me started on basking light problems Ive had!

4 light bulbs later and I have settled on a PAR38 90w equivalent (70watt true) and a small circle of tin foil to keep the most intense center focal point from burning the little guy. Before I added the foil I was getting like 115 degrees of heat!!! CAN SOMEONE SAY CHAMELEON KABAB'S!!!

Anyways now everything is right where it needs to be. High 80s low 90s basking and a good gradient down to the mid 70s for ambient.

I bought 2 of these and they are great! Accurate enough for my use, in degrees Fahrenheit (not the silly Celsius shenanigans) and cheap!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DZCHTC6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

PLUS LOTS OF LIGHT!

Do you like the LeD UVB fixture? Ive been thinking about getting one but my enclosure is 45 in wide so it will be an expensive one. Does anyone have recommendations should I go with the 30in 36in surely this will be enough even though its not the full length of the cage.?

 

[Tigger92]

Small 1/4 in crickets dusted in calcium were a fav. of my veiled when he was getting bigger if they are very small someone else may have a suggestion. I just cut the bottom off of a plastic container at 3-4 inches deep to make a square feeding cup that the crickets stuggle to jump out of since its slick plastic. Mine took to eating out of this as long as I can remember you can also toss them in or put them on the cage they will normally crawl up to the light where you cham will see them. You have to be careful tho they can bite it at night and possibly make it sick so you dont want too many crawling around in there at night. An important part most beginners dont understand is that you actually have to feed your crickets or feeders healthy stuff before they are eaten and then have them be eaten before the bug loses the nutrition over time. I suggest buying a larger enclosure than you think you need especially in width I mean height is important to but most cham cages are going to be at least 30 plus inches but few are more then 24 in wide.! Read up about humidity, real plants to use for habitat, and the differences between raising a male or female among other things. Look at enclosures people post on here and use ideas you like.

Thank you! Does it matter what time I feed? And once a day only?

 

[rminnis]

I was trying to upload a photo from my phone to my computer and I can't figure it out but I had a 100 watt Reptile Basking Spot Lamp bulb. It's from Zoo Med. That's what I have for the turtles. I'm assuming the other light is the same wattage.My bf deals with that stuff. We have a 70 gallon tank for the turtles.

Unless your bulb is pretty far away you really dont need 100 watt bulb any wattage down to 15-30 or so as long as it keeps the basking area correct. I bought a few more expensive 100 watt bulbs and dont use them cause they are too hott! Also ive read blue gives a realistic sky effect.

 

[BryanP]

Also @Tigger92, one more quick thing, I did the same exact way that you are going abou tit. I knew that I wanted to get a chameleon so I spent the weeks leading up to the reptile show where I bought my chameleon setting up the cage and getting it all put together. When I got home from the show, I simply put the few decor items I bought at the show in, and released my guy into his new home. I then got to play around with the mist king for awhile since I got that at the show too.

 

[rminnis]

Thank you! Does it matter what time I feed? And once a day only?

Only thing Ive heard is not late in the day give them time to digest food but my guy is always hungry when he wakes up first thing in the morning so I give him 4-8 snacks if they are gone when i come back at lunch I toss more in. Like people the occaisionally eat more some days and less the next as they get older i think they recommend feeding every other day at some point.

 

[BryanP]

Do you like the LeD UVB fixture? Ive been thinking about getting one but my enclosure is 45 in wide so it will be an expensive one. Does anyone have recommendations should I go with the 30in 36in surely this will be enough even though its not the full length of the cage.?

I really like it! The LEDs put off great color, The whole fixture uses about 45watts and puts out a ton of light. The optics on the white LEDs are very good at penetrating the whole length of the cage and then the added color and light from the T5HO also add to the total light output.

With the wide enclosure Im not sure what the price break would be but maybe it would be better to buy 2 24 inch fixtures for the LED. I know in the Reef wold to span a large tank you use multiple smaller fixtures.

Just a thought

 

[Tigger92]

Unless your bulb is pretty far away you really dont need 100 watt bulb any wattage down to 15-30 or so as long as it keeps the basking area correct. I bought a few more expensive 100 watt bulbs and dont use them cause they are too hott! Also ive read blue gives a realistic sky effect.

Does that change as they get older? I know cage size will need to get bigger but not the wattage?

 

[rminnis]

Its 44 tall by 45 wide and 22 deep I am hoping I can get away with a 30 or 36 UVB & led fixture and then just use the last area for my basking bulb at 22 inches deep your right it may need two tubes!

 

[rminnis]

Im havin a hard time spending150-175 on it though! I dont have any light fixtures in my house that nice even for myself ! Lol sad but i think i evenually will break down

 

[BryanP]

Yeah its a bit spendy but I really like it. For the $40 it would have cost me for the T5HO fixture with a reflector it was an easy sell for the additional $60 bucks for the LED aspect.

Plus LEDs are cool! (both literally and figuratively) What I do wish is that it had a built in timer or controller that I would be able to ramp from off to on over some specified time to simulate sunrise and sunset but maybe thats a money making opportunity for me...

 

[rminnis]

Yeah its a bit spendy but I really like it. For the $40 it would have cost me for the T5HO fixture with a reflector it was an easy sell for the additional $60 bucks for the LED aspect.

Plus LEDs are cool! (both literally and figuratively) What I do wish is that it had a built in timer or controller that I would be able to ramp from off to on over some specified time to simulate sunrise and sunset but maybe thats a money making opportunity for me...

You can go to almost anywhere like wal mart and buy a timer that will do the same thing for 10-30 bucks I have two fixtures currently plugged into my timer it works perfectly

 

[rminnis]

I agree tho i like the fixture I want one ! Wish it could be programmed to have the moonlight effect come on for a few hours at dark and then off and then the rest come on at sun up seamlessly

 

[Decadancin]

I agree tho i like the fixture I want one ! Wish it could be programmed to have the moonlight effect come on for a few hours at dark and then off and then the rest come on at sun up seamlessly

My quad fixture does this. I have three timers set. One has the blue LED's on a bit before lights come on and go off a little after they come on. It again comes on a bit before lights out and goes off a little while after they go off for the night. I have some examples here in my blog...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/entry/winter-lighting-schedule.754/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/entry/spring-lighting-schedule.771/

 

[rminnis]

Good read looks like an awesome setup.

 

[BryanP]

They sell a timer that has a programmable dimmer ramp profile?

Please send me a link! I've been looking for something for like that. I wonder if it zoo med fixture is dimmable?

 

[Peachypink]

@Tigger92, Welcome to the forums! I hope you find on here the wealth of information that I have over the years. Having a Cham is an awesome adventure.

One thing I would like to ask is, what are you planning on feeding your new little guy? From what you have said so far I can't really get a good picture of your plans but it seems to me like you are wanting to rely more on veggies? I'm sorry if I'm wrong and just assuming here. Chams needs live bugs, bugs and more bugs. Lol. They need a good staple feeder like crickets, or Dubia roaches or silk worms and some variety treats like butter worms, hornworms, wax worms and such. Some vields do greens and fruits and veggies, others won't touch them. I had one that didn't. Fruits and veggies are not a staple food for them.

I would encourage you to go to the resources section at the top of the forums and really study the care sheet for veilds. These have been written by people who have successfully kept Chams for years and know what works and what doesn't. There is so much information out there that is not correct from well meaning people that it's hard to distinguish between the good and the bad at first. I fully trust the Info on this site and would trust it first before anywhere else.

I may be telling you stuff you already know, but this is something I wish someone had referred to me when I first started with chameleons. I had already had many other reptiles in my time(snakes, bearded dragons, iguanas, turtles, tortoises, you name it) but Chams are a whole new world! A wonderful world! One of the best things you can do is get your stuff set up and then fill out the how to ask for help questionable from the Health Clinic Forum and let the members help you fine tune your husbandry. Best of luck and I hope You stick around to keep learning and give us updates!