Gloriousone
New Member
I will definitely put more plants in there I'm going to put at least two more pathos, unless you recommend something else. I just don't want to overcrowd and cause any issues with the other plants in there.All right guys thank you for your help @elizaann2 I appreciate all the information you supplied and look forward to more advice. I'm going to try to stick with this enclosure. I contacted the company that manufactures it on their website they mentioned custom jobs I'm asking them if perhaps they can do a ventilated door for me or something similar that I can just replace the door with. If I can't figure that out I might just hire someone who drills glass and see how that goes. You are very welcome! I am happy to offer support any time you need it. I totally get it with the enclosure, they are quite expensive and if you can make adjustments like you mentioned to make your current enclosure work then that is great. I especially love the idea that @Sonny13 had with replacing a door with a screen door. Brilliant.
As far as the company that I got the chameleon from they were no help at all I asked them all the right questions and about my enclosure and they said everything was perfect and I also asked him the age and all they could say is no older than 6 months. Ugh I am so sorry to hear this. If he was no more than 6 months then he should be eating about what my boy is eating or even a little more than that to be honest.
And I did most of my research via websites and online Googling about Heating and everything else before I purchased. Several of the ones that I read said to keep the Basking lamp on all day with the normal light and turn off at night and that's what I was doing, so a big difference from 45 minutes in the morning like you suggested and then off the rest of the day. There is a LOT of incorrect husbandry information out there. I would suggest finding a mentor that you trust to teach husbandry and sticking with them. A lot of websites will copy and paste information and not all of it is accurate or up to date. Neptune the Chameleon and the Chameleon Academy are great resources that I have personally used myself.
I will definitely try to find where I can order different insects all I have are gut loaded crickets and superworms. You've got a good start for bugs. I get my BSFL, supers, wax worms and dubia from Dubia.com. I get my silk worms from Costal Silks and FramsChams. I've also heard great things about Rainbow Mealworms so they might also be someone to check out. @SauceGandhi sells grasshoppers, which are an excellent staple as we find that a good chunk of chameleon diets in the wild consist of grasshoppers. I haven't tried these yet but the next time I order bugs I'm getting some
I did remove everything from the tank and set up a drainage and layered it with lava rocks like suggested from the post and then a cover that allows water through and then I layered the soil as well. Added Galapagos green moss on top of the soil, put new branches in there as well and a large Ficus in the center like someone else suggested. I now have a lighter side and dark side of the tank for a cooling area. Right now all I have is one pathos and the ficus I plan on putting one or two more Pathos in there. I ordered some new isopods and springtails. I'll attach a picture of what's going on so for. It's about 3:00 p.m. here today and as of this writing the temperature is 76° with 50 humidity in the setup. Beautiful! This looks much better! I love the ficus, keep adding plants! Remember that empty space in an enclosure is wasted space
And yeah there's just a lot of mixed information out there about everything including plants and Heating. I tried to read up on the more recent stuff than things from 10 years ago but I'm still seeing a lot of mixed advice on things. That is the main reason I wanted to join one of these groups and it seems to be going well so far! Thank you guys!
You did mention a fogger, right now I just have the automatic misting system, which I now put at two times a day for 2 minutes like you stated. In the morning and then when the lights go out.Would the the fogger be better to get the humidity up to 100% at night?
I will definitely check out those places for the feeders. I would have thought grasshoppers might have been a little too large for a Jackson chameleon, I will definitely check them out.
In that room I do have a radiator that kicks on automatically for the cold days and then I do have an AC unit installed in there as well. This is on the second floor so there's more heat naturally than the bottom, I also have a large strong ceiling fan that's not directly above the terrarium but pretty close where it's definitely circulating air that way as well and I just leave that on all the time.
I also was reading several people talking about taking their chameleons outside, it's obviously getting into the lower temperatures here, been in the fifties will drop into the 40s and 30s soon. I do have three large windows in the room, I also have a large banana tree plant that I bring in the house for the fall and winter so I usually open the curtains for the sunlight for it, and that will expose not direct sunlight to the chameleon but it will definitely get the light from the sun that way. Is that a beneficial thing to take them outside and should you only do that in the summer and spring, is that a necessity? I definitely wouldn't want to stress or spook the chameleon, and if should take them outside how does that process work.
I know they are solitary animals and don't really care for others, but do you recommend any type of human to chameleon socializing, should I try to hold them for any amount of time every once in awhile or strictly to view in the terrarium?
