Prepping to get my first chameleon

[tunerX]

That looks like it will make it easier to clean. I might look into a similar setup. Ease of maintenance is always a benefit.

For your lighting, you have a single T5 5.0 UVB. I was considering getting two of those, spacing them equally distant, and making a hood for the top of the cage. I was also planning a 75 watt basking light off-centered. The resources on this forum said 5.0 or 10.0 UVB was good. So I figured two 5.0 bulbs would be good and there would be more light but equal UVB instead of a single 10.0 UVB.

I have about ~38 days before I have to get everything ordered and ready. My problem is that I need to have everything bought and wrapped as a Christmas present to my daughter. I will also need a temporary enclosure for the chameleon so it can at least chill without stress while waiting to be given to her on Christmas.

 

[ERKleRose]

That looks like it will make it easier to clean. I might look into a similar setup. Ease of maintenance is always a benefit.

For your lighting, you have a single T5 5.0 UVB. I was considering getting two of those, spacing them equally distant, and making a hood for the top of the cage. I was also planning a 75 watt basking light off-centered. The resources on this forum said 5.0 or 10.0 UVB was good. So I figured two 5.0 bulbs would be good and there would be more light but equal UVB instead of a single 10.0 UVB.

I have about ~38 days before I have to get everything ordered and ready. My problem is that I need to have everything bought and wrapped as a Christmas present to my daughter. I will also need a temporary enclosure for the chameleon so it can at least chill without stress while waiting to be given to her on Christmas.

What type of cham will it be, and what sex?

 

[RyanBRZ]

Why 2 x 5.0 bulbs? How big is your cage?

I bought a 75w basking bulb and its too hot, turning it down with a dimmer makes it emit an annoying noise. I tried a 60 watt and still too hot and same noise issue, I am looking to try a 45-50 watt bulb so i can run it full blast.

Regarding the surprise, youre a cool dad

 

[tunerX]

What type of cham will it be, and what sex?

I think a carpet. I built a chameleon cage when I was a kid 23 years ago. I hand built a 2x4x4 enclosure and had a Fischer's in it. It lived for 5 years until I went to Army basic training and gave everything to my best friend to raise until I was out of AIT. I left for basic in August 1996 and came home for Christmas to find out it died. 2x2x4 seems like it would be too small for a large chameleon.

This was back in the day when internet was sparse and I had to go to a library or buy books at specialized pet stores that were an hour drive away. My daughter is interested in chameleons now and I have no idea what is going one with all of these new innovations.

 

[tunerX]

Why 2 x 5.0 bulbs? How big is your cage?

I bought a 75w basking bulb and its too hot, turning it down with a dimmer makes it emit an annoying noise. I tried a 60 watt and still too hot and same noise issue, I am looking to try a 45-50 watt bulb so i can run it full blast.

Regarding the surprise, youre a cool dad

The resource pages on this site said both 5 and 10 were good bulbs. Other google searches said that a 5.0 UVB provides 5.0 UVB at a maximum of 10 inches. So if there are two 5.0s you will get a range of UVB from less than 10 to whatever inverse square law dictates as it reaches 48 inches that is between 10 and 2 to at least 36 inches.

The single 75 watt basking bulb and 2x 5.0s was to allow a greater depth range away from the bulb to see where the chameleon chooses to actually live where it wants to in the habitat. I considered a 100 watt so the chameleon could range the entire enclosure and chill at the bottom.

 

[ERKleRose]

I think a carpet. I built a chameleon cage when I was a kid 23 years ago. I hand built a 2x4x4 enclosure and had a Fischer's in it. It lived for 5 years until I went to Army basic training and gave everything to my best friend to raise until I was out of AIT. I left for basic in August 1996 and came home for Christmas to find out it died. 2x2x4 seems like it would be too small for a large chameleon.

This was back in the day when internet was sparse and I had to go to a library or buy books at specialized pet stores that were an hour drive away. My daughter is interested in chameleons now and I have no idea what is going one with all of these new innovations.

What species of carpet?

 

[ERKleRose]

And thank you for your service!

 

[ERKleRose]

The resource pages on this site said both 5 and 10 were good bulbs. Other google searches said that a 5.0 UVB provides 5.0 UVB at a maximum of 10 inches. So if there are two 5.0s you will get a range of UVB from less than 10 to whatever inverse square law dictates as it reaches 48 inches that is between 10 and 2 to at least 36 inches.

The single 75 watt basking bulb and 2x 5.0s was to allow a greater depth range away from the bulb to see where the chameleon chooses to actually live where it wants to in the habitat. I considered a 100 watt so the chameleon could range the entire enclosure and chill at the bottom.

Get one t5HO 5.0 or 6% and call it good. Chams need space to regulate their heat and uvb intake. Taking away those gradients can lead to over exposure and burns

 

[tunerX]

What species of carpet?

No clue. I was looking at flcham site and they have a wide variety. My daughter said that she wanted a chameleon and that she wanted to interact with it and feed it by hand.

My Fischer's chameleon did not tolerate any touching. It hissed at me and would bite me. We had an agreement that I take care of him and leave him alone.

If you have a recommendation for a chameleon that can be hand tamed and hand fed, while living in a 2x2x4 enclosure, that would be great... but I am pretty sure that it's the luck of the draw.

 

[ERKleRose]

No clue. I was looking at flcham site and they have a wide variety. My daughter said that she wanted a chameleon and that she wanted to interact with it and feed it by hand.

My Fischer's chameleon did not tolerate any touching. It hissed at me and would bite me. We had an agreement that I take care of him and leave him alone.

If you have a recommendation for a chameleon that can be hand tamed and hand fed, while living in a 2x2x4 enclosure, that would be great... but I am pretty sure that it's the luck of the draw.

Panthers generally have a nicer disposition and can live in a 2’ by 2’ by 4’ tall screen cage. One t5HO 5.0 or 6% is perfect for the amount of uvb light. The basking needs to be between 85-87*F, so you’ll have to play with the wattages until you find the right one. The panther care sheet here and this one by Bill Strand: https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/Pa...5rr_6SnZLz_A0ZzRubmfbyqj9D97PPSGAjfKV_M1w4uQw are great sources of info.

 

[RyanBRZ]

For anyone who has a dubia colony, what is your heating setup? Do you use a sticky reptile heat pad stuck to the back or bottom with a thermostat? If so, which do you use?

 

[tunerX]

Panthers generally have a nicer disposition and can live in a 2’ by 2’ by 4’ tall screen cage. One t5HO 5.0 or 6% is perfect for the amount of uvb light. The basking needs to be between 85-87*F, so you’ll have to play with the wattages until you find the right one. The panther care sheet here and this one by Bill Strand: https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/Pa...5rr_6SnZLz_A0ZzRubmfbyqj9D97PPSGAjfKV_M1w4uQw are great sources of info.

So this initial startup should be good for a panther chameleon? The panther chameleon can be hand trained?

 

[ERKleRose]

So this initial startup should be good for a panther chameleon? The panther chameleon can be hand trained?

All chams can be trained to be hand fed. Build up trust with just being in the room and handfeeding, then handle, not often, always with a reward, like a treat, going to a free range set up, or going outside (when warm enough). Always approach slowly and from below when going to pick up your cham, let them climb onto you and never rip them off of a branch. Watch out for their tail catching on stuff, too. Never handle unless the cham wants it or isn’t stressed or angry. I would get a digital hygrometer/thermometer combo from the hardware store (for humidity and ambient temp) instead of the Zoo Med one, it’s cheaper. Get a timer for the lights (12 hours of uvb and basking and 12 hours of complete darkness) and a clamp lamp from there as well (clamp lamps are cheaper there, too). Get some live plants and organic potting soil from the hardware store and rinse off the plants really well and report them bareroot into the organic potting soil. It’ll help with humidity and add more plant cover. Pothos is great, along with schefflerra and ficus benjamina and other plants off of the FL Chams cham-safe plant list. I would get more branches, vines, and plant cover. Don’t forget an automated mister, like a MistKing, it’ll make your life easier. Make sure to get a quality gutload and supplements, and feeders as well. For gutload, use either a quality commercial gutload, like Pangea, Cricket Crack, Mazuri, or Repashy and/or organic fresh fruits and veggies (there’s a gutload list in food and nutrition in the resources tab here). For supplements, use either 1) Zoo Med Repticalcium without D3 every feeding and Zoo Med Reptivite with D3 every two weeks. 2) Repashy Calcium Plus LoD every feeding. 3) Sticky Tongue Farms Miner-all every feeding (gutload with Vit-all the night before if using this) 4) Arcadia supplements using the Arcadia insectivore schedule off of their website. Great feeders are crickets, the occasional superworm, silkworms, hornworms, butterworms, black soldier flies and larvae, blue bottle flies and spikes, roaches (dubia, red runner, ivory headed, and orange headed cannot climb or fly, green bananas can but are great feeders), mantids, small helix aspersa, painted lady butterflies, stick insects, and silk, wax, and hornworm moths. What feeders you feed depends on your cham’s size. Are you thinking male or female for you and your daughter?

 

[tunerX]

All chams can be trained to be hand fed. Build up trust with just being in the room and handfeeding, then handle, not often, always with a reward, like a treat, going to a free range set up, or going outside (when warm enough). Always approach slowly and from below when going to pick up your cham, let them climb onto you and never rip them off of a branch. Watch out for their tail catching on stuff, too. Never handle unless the cham wants it or isn’t stressed or angry. I would get a digital hygrometer/thermometer combo from the hardware store (for humidity and ambient temp) instead of the Zoo Med one, it’s cheaper. Get a timer for the lights (12 hours of uvb and basking and 12 hours of complete darkness) and a clamp lamp from there as well (clamp lamps are cheaper there, too). Get some live plants and organic potting soil from the hardware store and rinse off the plants really well and report them bareroot into the organic potting soil. It’ll help with humidity and add more plant cover. Pothos is great, along with schefflerra and ficus benjamina and other plants off of the FL Chams cham-safe plant list. I would get more branches, vines, and plant cover. Don’t forget an automated mister, like a MistKing, it’ll make your life easier. Make sure to get a quality gutload and supplements, and feeders as well. For gutload, use either a quality commercial gutload, like Pangea, Cricket Crack, Mazuri, or Repashy and/or organic fresh fruits and veggies (there’s a gutload list in food and nutrition in the resources tab here). For supplements, use either 1) Zoo Med Repticalcium without D3 every feeding and Zoo Med Reptivite with D3 every two weeks. 2) Repashy Calcium Plus LoD every feeding. 3) Sticky Tongue Farms Miner-all every feeding (gutload with Vit-all the night before if using this) 4) Arcadia supplements using the Arcadia insectivore schedule off of their website. Great feeders are crickets, the occasional superworm, silkworms, hornworms, butterworms, black soldier flies and larvae, blue bottle flies and spikes, roaches (dubia, red runner, ivory headed, and orange headed cannot climb or fly, green bananas can but are great feeders), mantids, small helix aspersa, painted lady butterflies, stick insects, and silk, wax, and hornworm moths. What feeders you feed depends on your cham’s size. Are you thinking male or female for you and your daughter?

I was thinking that I would go dubia and raise them with natural gut loading and spiked crickets until I could harvest. The crickets would be dipped in supplements. I want my daughter to see how much of a pain this is to actually raise a chameleon.

I went from reptiles to fish around 2002 and left fish in 2012. https://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1019772... back when I had a 579 gallon tank, 3x 55 gallon tanks, a 125 gallon long, a 120 gallon high, a 95 reef tank, and 45 corner tank... I actually had 6 night crawler worm farms and 3 red wriggler farms going so i could feed them. I also maintained a ~50000 gallon pond.

 

[ERKleRose]

I was thinking that I would go dubia and raise them with natural gut loading and spiked crickets until I could harvest. The crickets would be dipped in supplements. I want my daughter to see how much of a pain this is to actually raise a chameleon.

I went from reptiles to fish around 2002 and left fish in 2012. https://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1019772... back when I had a 579 gallon tank, 3x 55 gallon tanks, a 125 gallon long, a 120 gallon high, a 95 reef tank, and 45 corner tank... I actually had 6 night crawler worm farms and 3 red wriggler farms going so i could feed them. I also maintained a ~50000 gallon pond.

Every feeder must be gutloaded before feeding your cham. Every feeder must be completely, but lightly, coated in supplement right before feeding, as well. Also, variety is key! The more types of feeders, the better! I’m asking sex because males and females have different requirements. Also, what species did you decide on?

 

[tunerX]

Every feeder must be gutloaded before feeding your cham. Every feeder must be completely, but lightly, coated in supplement right before feeding, as well. Also, variety is key! The more types of feeders, the better! I’m asking sex because males and females have different requirements. Also, what species did you decide on?

I am waiting for my daughter to decide. I told her to keep researching. Everything will be gut loaded and dusted.

 

[ERKleRose]

I am waiting for my daughter to decide. I told her to keep researching. Everything will be gut loaded and dusted.

Males are more colorful and easier to care for. That doesn’t mean don’t get a female if you want one, though, it just takes more research and preparedness

 

[tunerX]

Males are more colorful and easier to care for. That doesn’t mean don’t get a female if you want one, though, it just takes more research and preparedness

She is going for a male. Don't know what kind of panther though.

 

[ERKleRose]

She is going for a male. Don't know what kind of panther though.

All panther locales have the same requirements, just depends on color

 

[salty dog]

I like your stand, very good info here for me as well, thanks!!