new to the game

[nathanuk]

i bought my 2 yemens 10 days ago, and was told theyre 11ish weeks old. i was sold a "starter kit" by the same pet store as he deals in a lot of reptiles.

its a exo terra 60x45x60 mesh top with 240v 60w heat lamp and repti glo 2.0, and its got all plastic plants as i was told that it would be easier to look after as i wouldnt have to worry about pests and easy to clean.

is this setup ok for now? are they gona be ok in there together?
what age do i think about upin the size of the enclosure?

 

[chameleonneeds]

The setup sounds good, but you can put in real plants lots of people deal with reptiles but wont realy know the best ways to care for them so you can put something like a schefflera in, make sure theres no pesticides on the plants.
If they are both males you should seperate them when they are 4-6 mnths old because they will kill eachother!
If male and female its best to keep them seperate as well because your female would have to cycles eggs 3-4 times a year and she can get stressed and die from not wanting to mate all the time with the male and you would have a problem with incubating more than 100 eggs a year for 2 years and then feeding new babies and finding homes for them etc, I would keep them seperate no matter what sex it will be better for them and you.

 

[Tygerr]

I presume those measurements are in centimeters? If so, an individual yemen chameleon should be moved into its own a much bigger enclosure from about 4-6 months.

However, I would separate those chams as soon as possible. Some people allow chams to live together until they're a little older (i.e. 4-6 months) - after that, they will not tolerate living together in an enclosure, regardless of what sex they are. Worst case scenario is that they fight with one another and severely injure/kill one another. Best case scenario is that one cham dominates the other cham physically, and the subordinate cham eventually dies of stress related problems.
That's the reason I wouldn't keep them together even when they are young. In such a small enclosure they're going to be competing against one another for heat, light, water and food. One of them will invariably lose out to the other, which would be detrimental to its long-term development.

What sex are your two chams?

You said the cage came with a ReptiGlo 2.0 - that's the wrong bulb. You need a ReptiGlo 5.0 - the 2.0 doesn't put out enough UVB for chams.

It would also help if you got live plants. Veileds only start eating the plants in their cage when they're about 5-6 months old (at which point you should definitely have live plants), but even now, live plants will be beneficial at keeping the humidity up in your cage.

You would probably do well to get yourself a digital thermometer and hygrometer so that you can properly monitor the conditions inside the cage (especially important that you monitor the temperature at the basking spot/s and make sure it's not too hot for your young chams).

Finally, I don't know how any pet store can sell two chameleons and call it a 'starter kit'. Firstly, it's difficult enough to keep one cham healthy - two chams are certainly not for beginners. Secondly, by buying two chams you are committing to eventually having to keep two separate enclosures, which ultimately doubles the cost of everything - I would think a 'starter kit' should be designed to keep the costs of entry into the hobby down. Just my 2 cents.

 

[hawaiianice99]

You will need to get 2 new screen enclosures asap. There are plenty of threads on here that will explain what you need to get. I hear that it is hard to get a screen enclosure in the UK but im sure that you could build one, it is fairly simple.

 

[nathanuk]

yeh ive got male and female, they seem happy until today i saw them openin there mouths at each other, sometimes hissin, its the first time ive seen it tho.
and i havent seen any mesh enclosures for sale any where in uk, its a nightmare, only thing keepin me goin is the chams!

 

[hawaiianice99]

well those chams arent going to be keeping you going for long if you dont separate them into different screened enclosures. that hissing could be them competing for dominance, which could lead to added unecessary stress.
I didnt think that you could get the screened enclosures in the UK thats why i suggested building one of your own, use the search option and you should be able to find some helpful threads.

 

[nathanuk]

ok so ive managed to find someone who sells exo terra screen enclosures, what size would i need for each of my chams,
they do 42x42x76= 143litres
76x42x76=246litres
76x42x122=378litres

 

[hawaiianice99]

i assume those are centimeter measurments.
Veileds grow very fast, in about a years time they will be nearly full grown. I would reccomend an all screen enclosure at least 3ft tall and 2ft in depth and width.

 

[nathanuk]

sorry to be a pain but ive just read an article on the fabric/nylon mesh enclosures not being very good, is anyone using them, if so any problems?

also im livin in the uk so so the weathers nowhere near as warm as most of you other guys, so will it be hard to keep the right temp/humid day and night?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

-Brad

 

[skeeta]

A lot of keepers have an issue with the zippered cages, but so far we have done okay (they are far better than the glass enclosures). Living in Canada, our temp/humidity is all over the map, but with live plants, plenty of spraying and a COOL mist humidifier (not directly on the chams) you can easily do well.

Make sure to use the ReptiGlo 10.0 light to ensure proper UVB (the dark plastic filters out a good quantity)

Good luck and enjoy the learning curve!

 

[stucoady]

There is a forum here in the uk (RFUK) where some guys argue that is ok to keep more than one cham together saying there has been many forum members who successful achieve this. They argue that it is old school (old text book/research) to consider it the only way to care for chams and with new reasearch etc it is possible to keep more than one in the same enclosure (and we are not talking about room size type of enclusure). This sits uncomfortably with me but i did not feel clued up enough to challange their views.

Phil