New to chameleons

[Wilsted34]

Hey all. I’m new to chameleons. I’m currently setting up a home for one now. I am planning on doing as natural of a setup as I can with live plants and wood and vines of course. Plants will be chameleon safe. It will be setup in my fish room where there’s plenty of humidity but will also have a mister as well. Ordered my uvb light fixture and bulb today. Will have to do more research but do uvb lights generally work for live plants? If not I’ll plan on getting a separate grow light. Is it good to just breed your own crickets and roaches? I will also have a separate heat lamp so the heat lamp isn’t on all day. My fish room is about 68 degrees and 70-80 percent humidity. Any other help you can provide would be great.

I’ll be getting a panther chameleon and would like to get a young baby one to grow and care for. Who’s a great breeder to purchase one from? Thank for everything.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome! Sounds like you might want to consider setting up bioactively. Here’s a great blog on that if you’re interested. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/
You will need a special plant light for most types of plants. Here’s the one that I and some others use with very good results. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TKKG8Q3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I haven’t tried breeding my own crickets…they are just so much easier and pleasant to buy. I do have a colony of discoid roaches (similar to dubia) and it’s quite easy to breed your own. Feed them well, keep them warm and they’ll make babies. I keep my colony bioactive, which I have found they reproduce better in.
I’m guessing you’ll be wanting a male panther chameleon to avoid the egg laying and have all of the bright colors. Do you know what locale panther you want? I think Ambilobe is probably the most common. You can check the forum sponsors for breeders and the classifieds section for forum member breeders. Before buying from any breeder, do a search of the forum for other’s experiences with them. There are definitely some that you’ll want to avoid. Also keep in mind that a responsible breeder won’t sell a chameleon until it’s at least 3-4 months old.
For the most accurate and up to date info on keeping chameleons, this is the place to go. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/ You could also check out Neptune the chameleon on YouTube. Of course, the forum is the best place for questions and sharing.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Hey all. I’m new to chameleons. I’m currently setting up a home for one now. I am planning on doing as natural of a setup as I can with live plants and wood and vines of course. Plants will be chameleon safe. It will be setup in my fish room where there’s plenty of humidity but will also have a mister as well. Ordered my uvb light fixture and bulb today. Will have to do more research but do uvb lights generally work for live plants? If not I’ll plan on getting a separate grow light.

I agree with a separate plant light, and the model recommended. (I have 2 on top of a 48 x 24 x 48 enclosure.) UVB should be a T5 HO linear (not compact) UVB, 5.0 or 6% running full width of the enclosure.

Is it good to just breed your own crickets and roaches?

It's good for those that don't mind. I didn't have such good luck, so I just purchase roaches in bulk—they can be kept alive almost indefinitely (I have some over a year old).

Crickets OTOH, I buy weekly (when I do at all). IME, they're noisy, they stink, and they die off if you look at them funny. But others swear by breeding them.

 

[Wilsted34]

I agree with a separate plant light, and the model recommended. (I have 2 on top of a 48 x 24 x 48 enclosure.) UVB should be a T5 HO linear (not compact) UVB, 5.0 or 6% running full width of the enclosure.


It's good for those that don't mind. I didn't have such good luck, so I just purchase roaches in bulk—they can be kept alive almost indefinitely (I have some over a year old).

Crickets OTOH, I buy weekly (when I do at all). IME, they're noisy, they stink, and they die off if you look at them funny. But others swear by breeding them.

Ok sounds awesome! Thanks so much. I’ll just bug roaches in bulk and then get crickets here and there and find other types of food sources to feed as well. First things first and that’s building the bio active vivarium. I’ll share some pics of the setup as I progresss.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I like to keep a supply of giant mealworms on-hand. IMO, the negative hype is overblown, they're fine as part of a varied diet, and certainly better than nothing if/when you happen to run out of roaches or crickets and the snow is 9 feet deep. (They can also keep a long time.)
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/the-evils-of-mealworms.180182/