Outdoor Housing in the North help

[Scbobba]

Hi Everyone,

My parents don't like any kind of lizard in the house but they said it was ok to have it in the north. I live in Ohio so it can get pretty chilly here (sometimes negative temperature) and sort of hot in the summer (sometimes 95). I was thinking of using a shed and insulating it to retain heat. I could then place a heater to keep the temperature up. Not sure about cooling though. My other thought was doing the same thing but with a green house. Any ideas? Could it work?

 

[Chameleon Mike]

Move out.

 

[Scbobba]

Move out.

I'm only 15!

 

[jpowell86]

I'm only 15!

Don't make excuses. Lol..I'm just kidding.

You can most certainly use a structure outside to keep them in if you are able to keep it at appropriate temps. I love greenhouses. I keep some of my chameleons in them. Natural heat from the sun is nice.

Whatever you do, it will be tedious in the beginning. You will have to constantly monitor temps to make sure your structure will work. When I built my greenhouse, I had to constantly play with Shatex Cloth and A/C Units to get my desired temps. The winter is easier here. I imagine that will be your roughest times up north. But it is doable. Especially using your parent's money...haha.

 

[Virgil1972]

Don't make excuses. Lol..I'm just kidding.

You can most certainly use a structure outside to keep them in if you are able to keep it at appropriate temps. I love greenhouses. I keep some of my chameleons in them. Natural heat from the sun is nice.

Whatever you do, it will be tedious in the beginning. You will have to constantly monitor temps to make sure your structure will work. When I built my greenhouse, I had to constantly play with Shatex Cloth and A/C Units to get my desired temps. The winter is easier here. I imagine that will be your roughest times up north. But it is doable. Especially using your parent's money...haha.

Parents money is the best money.

 

[Chameleon Mike]

Lol. I'm just kidding. But I'm sure it would cost way to much to house a chameleon outside when it's negative temps outside. I live in Northern Illinois. If I had to do it outside I wouldn't get one.

 

[Lathis]

Agreed. Trying this without the proper know-how and equipment is going to end badly one way or the other. When you're in your parents' house, you live by their rules. Wait until you move out, have your own place, and set your own rules. Then you can live with all the reptiles you want... or you may find that you're off to college and having such a needy pet would be inconvenient for travel and schedule.

 

[Ilike4hornedchams]

Just a thought, this is what I did for a whole month before launching a huge and expensive outdoor breeding project. Read everything you can on the breed, really. Know what climates they need front and back. Then where you plan on housing them install a temp and humidity gauge and check the thing at least 2 to 4 times a day and record all the temps you get. after a month or two if you find that the cham breed would do well in those conditions go for it! Otherwise it could lead to a very sad and slow death of your amazing pet. i will admit that I kept one of my chams outdoors on a back porch in the east bay of California and it got respiratory disease from it not being humid enough. It died slowly and it was painful to watch it's last month of life. Sorry to say something so sad but, I don;t want you or the cham to go though something like that. After that cham I waited a long 5 years till I was 21 to get way more into chams after I moved out of my folks place lol. (Thought I had a panther that I kept indoors as well and if you provide what they need, you can make it work even if everything is artificially modified so they can live lol)

 

[jpowell86]

Agreed. Trying this without the proper know-how and equipment is going to end badly one way or the other. When you're in your parents' house, you live by their rules. Wait until you move out, have your own place, and set your own rules. Then you can live with all the reptiles you want... or you may find that you're off to college and having such a needy pet would be inconvenient for travel and schedule.

Dang...buzz kill!!

I'm just kidding. I see where Lathis is coming from. But, if your parents are willing to spend the cash on a building that is insulated and heated/cooled...it is no different than keeping them inside.

I would rather see parents spending money on educational/nature builds like this than on new apple products and worthless crap.....as I'm typing this out on my IPad Pro. HA!

 

[Lathis]

I am a buzzkill sometimes, but I pride myself in my pragmatism Chameleons are time consuming and expensive, and it would be really hard to be successful with their care if you have to struggle with either the finances or housing. That's why I say wait and do it right.

Also, don't tie yourself down with a needy pet right before college! I sincerely mean that - you will have opportunities come up on short notice that you should (and must!) take advantage of. In the heat of it, you'll think "Oh, I don't mind skipping that. Anyway, who would take care of my finches for a month while I'm in Yemen measuring vernacular buildings?" (true story!) You absolutely will regret not taking advantage of those opportunities later in life.

 

[Extensionofgreen]

I don't advise you attempt this outdoors. The odds of a power outage, which always occur when you are away from home and can't remedy the situation, are pretty much 100%. If the power doesn't go out, your AC or heater will fail, simply because life is not very kind when your conditions operate on such precarious terms. It would be much more advisable to try to bring some culture to your parents and get them on board with a chameleon in the house. Other than the fact that they eat insects, which bother some people, they don't make noise, smell bad, require vaccinations or licenses to keep, and their care can be fairly automated, so they have a lot going for them. Explain to them that they are slow animals, not inclined to climbing walls or sliding under doors and furniture. Parents with small minds are tough, I know from experience.