Prepping to get my first chameleon

Nice! The dwarf umbrella i found was on ebay. Hoping it's decent size and in good shape. From a live plant perspective I'll have 2 pothos and the 1 umbrella. I want the plants to be dense to make the cham comfortable so trying to find fake leaves at a decent price. The enclosure costs are adding up quickly! Just bought a 3 pack of 6 ft vines and 6 ft of pothos fake leaves. I want to find some branches to put in the mix too
 
RyanBRZ said:
Nice! The dwarf umbrella i found was on ebay. Hoping it's decent size and in good shape. From a live plant perspective I'll have 2 pothos and the 1 umbrella. I want the plants to be dense to make the cham comfortable so trying to find fake leaves at a decent price. The enclosure costs are adding up quickly! Just bought a 3 pack of 6 ft vines and 6 ft of pothos fake leaves. I want to find some branches to put in the mix too
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Ever considered using driftwood instead of branches? I prefer their look vs regular branches, everyone has normal branches in their viv, I prefer something a bit more unique. If you live by a decent sized river it is very easy to find.
 
Or if that’s not your style:
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I ended up re-doing the frame since I did not like the crisscross support beams I had in there. Much happier with it now since there is more bamboo for the cham to hang out and climb on versus mostly just vine, I am going to put the 2 pothos plants in tomorrow, most likely in the back left and right corners and then I have 3 x 6' thicker vines and 2 x 6' thinner vines that I will put in. I will also install the Mist King system tomorrow (back left corner) and then let everything run for a few days so I can get an idea of how the temps and humidity will be. My dwarf umbrella plant should arrive later this week as well. I found a breeder within driving distance and will hopefully get the chameleon Thursday or Friday.

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GreenChameleons said:
Do you have any plant nursery’s around where you live?
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Yes, last weekend I went to 6 different places and had no luck finding an umbrella plant, I was very close to buying a money tree but I held off since I really like the umbrella. Ended up ordering an umbrella on eBay for about the same price it would have been locally ($30).
 
If you’re going to use that bamboo I would suggest sanding it with 40 grit sandpaper just so you insure the chameleon can grip and won’t slip on with its grip. On my new enclosures I started to put 1 inch in diameter bamboo to mount to the ledges then a one then one small cut piece to go across where the plant pot would set but I decided against it even though it looked good. More than looks of a setup I personally am more concerned about easy to grip and functionality. And with the plants I always go safe than sorry washing off all the dirt that came with the plant to bare root and repotting it with organic soil. Make sure you clean and wash the leaves off as well. Best way to look at the plants situation is hypothetically speaking would you want to drink from a potentially fertilizer/pesticide leaf? Put the yourself in the animal’s shoes to say. Is your area is below freezing where you’re planning on putting the chameleon’s enclosure? 100W is extremely hot!
 
GreenChameleons said:
If you’re going to use that bamboo I would suggest sanding it with 40 grit sandpaper just so you insure the chameleon can grip and won’t slip on with its grip. On my new enclosures I started to put 1 inch in diameter bamboo to mount to the ledges then a one then one small cut piece to go across where the plant pot would set but I decided against it even though it looked good. More than looks of a setup I personally am more concerned about easy to grip and functionality. And with the plants I always go safe than sorry washing off all the dirt that came with the plant to bare root and repotting it with organic soil. Make sure you clean and wash the leaves off as well. Best way to look at the plants situation is hypothetically speaking would you want to drink from a potentially fertilizer/pesticide leaf? Put the yourself in the animal’s shoes to say. Is your area is below freezing where you’re planning on putting the chameleon’s enclosure? 100W is extremely hot!
Click to expand...
The 100 watt could be completely normal based off of temp gun readings on the basking spot. I have 150 watt heat bulbs for my chams because that’s what it takes to heat up their basking spots to the appropriate temps
 
RyanBRZ said:
Yes, last weekend I went to 6 different places and had no luck finding an umbrella plant, I was very close to buying a money tree but I held off since I really like the umbrella. Ended up ordering an umbrella on eBay for about the same price it would have been locally ($30).
Click to expand...

You made the right choice with
ERKleRose said:
The 100 watt could be completely normal based off of temp gun readings on the basking spot. I have 150 watt heat bulbs for my chams because that’s what it takes to heat up their basking spots to the appropriate temps
Click to expand...
I gotcha yeah I had to use a 100w mercury vapor bulb in the winter in order for the basking temp to be at 80-82 degrees last year. I lowered the basking perches as well 3 inches lower but I switch it out in the spring/summer so I have to see what is sustainable temperature that stays consistent throughout the day with the different seasons so we are on the same page. I just didn’t want the person with a new chameleon to get misunderstandings on wattage and such. I’d rather say no to something than to say something that would confuse or lead them the wrong way potentially.
 
GreenChameleons said:
If you’re going to use that bamboo I would suggest sanding it with 40 grit sandpaper just so you insure the chameleon can grip and won’t slip on with its grip. On my new enclosures I started to put 1 inch in diameter bamboo to mount to the ledges then a one then one small cut piece to go across where the plant pot would set but I decided against it even though it looked good. More than looks of a setup I personally am more concerned about easy to grip and functionality. And with the plants I always go safe than sorry washing off all the dirt that came with the plant to bare root and repotting it with organic soil. Make sure you clean and wash the leaves off as well. Best way to look at the plants situation is hypothetically speaking would you want to drink from a potentially fertilizer/pesticide leaf? Put the yourself in the animal’s shoes to say. Is your area is below freezing where you’re planning on putting the chameleon’s enclosure? 100W is extremely hot!
Click to expand...
Yes i do plan on doing some sanding at some point this week.

And yes today i washed the leaves and vines with dawn dishsoap and repotted in organic soil. Going to pickup some pond rocks to cover the soil.

100w works with my setup. Directly under on the one piece of bamboo it is ~94. The fixture has a dimmer so i can adjust as needed.
 
GreenChameleons said:
You made the right choice with

I gotcha yeah I had to use a 100w mercury vapor bulb in the winter in order for the basking temp to be at 80-82 degrees last year. I lowered the basking perches as well 3 inches lower but I switch it out in the spring/summer so I have to see what is sustainable temperature that stays consistent throughout the day with the different seasons so we are on the same page. I just didn’t want the person with a new chameleon to get misunderstandings on wattage and such. I’d rather say no to something than to say something that would confuse or lead them the wrong way potentially.
Click to expand...
You used a mercury vapor as strictly baskin for uvb and basking?
 
RyanBRZ said:
Yes i do plan on doing some sanding at some point this week.

And yes today i washed the leaves and vines with dawn dishsoap and repotted in organic soil. Going to pickup some pond rocks to cover the soil.

100w works with my setup. Directly under on the one piece of bamboo it is ~94. The fixture has a dimmer so i can adjust as needed.
Click to expand...

Good deal!
 
RyanBRZ said:
Yes i do plan on doing some sanding at some point this week.

And yes today i washed the leaves and vines with dawn dishsoap and repotted in organic soil. Going to pickup some pond rocks to cover the soil.

100w works with my setup. Directly under on the one piece of bamboo it is ~94. The fixture has a dimmer so i can adjust as needed.
Click to expand...
94* is too high for any panther. The panther care sheet here has the appropriate temps for ages and sexes. Don’t forget to account for the height of your cham, either!
 
ERKleRose said:
94* is too high for any panther. The panther care sheet here has the appropriate temps for ages and sexes. Don’t forget to account for the height of your cham, either!
Click to expand...
"Adult panther chameleons need a basking spot of around 100 degrees Fahrenheit with the ambient temperature between 75 to 85 degrees; smaller panther chameleons should have a basking area of 85 to 90 degrees with a lower ambient temperature of around 75 degrees. It is important for panther chameleons to thermoregulate."
 
RyanBRZ said:
"Adult panther chameleons need a basking spot of around 100 degrees Fahrenheit with the ambient temperature between 75 to 85 degrees; smaller panther chameleons should have a basking area of 85 to 90 degrees with a lower ambient temperature of around 75 degrees. It is important for panther chameleons to thermoregulate."
Click to expand...
What caresheet are you getting that from?
 
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