Small Chameleon species

Greyson Mease

New Member
I am in the market for a smaller species of chameleon. I’m very interested in carpets or Pygmies but it is difficult to purchase those species as of right now. My tank size is 30” wide x12” deep x18” tall. I can post pictures as well. Are there any species of chameleon that can fit my tank other than the ones I have listed? Any information would actually be amazing. Thank you!
 

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I am in the market for a smaller species of chameleon. I’m very interested in carpets or Pygmies but it is difficult to purchase those species as of right now. My tank size is 30” wide x12” deep x18” tall. I can post pictures as well. Are there any species of chameleon that can fit my tank other than the ones I have listed? Any information would actually be amazing. Thank you!
Oh I forgot to mention. I am not fully ready for a chameleon just yet, but I am getting close. I still need to fill in some area with plants and buy a UVB light, but the light type is dependent on the species of chameleon.
 
Hey there welcome to the forum. It looks really nice the one thing to note is this may not work all that well for a chameleon due to the lack of proper ventilation. Since it is a standard aquarium there are no vents on the sides to pull clean air in and then up and out with the stagnant air. With chameleons this lack of air flow can lead to respiratory infections. I believe this would be the case even with smaller species like pygmies and carpet chams. I will tag a few members that have experience working with the little guys, they will be able to tell you if using the aquarium without side venting would be ok. @javadi @Mendez
 
Hey there welcome to the forum. It looks really nice the one thing to note is this may not work all that well for a chameleon due to the lack of proper ventilation. Since it is a standard aquarium there are no vents on the sides to pull clean air in and then up and out with the stagnant air. With chameleons this lack of air flow can lead to respiratory infections. I believe this would be the case even with smaller species like pygmies and carpet chams. I will tag a few members that have experience working with the little guys, they will be able to tell you if using the aquarium without side venting would be ok. @javadi @Mendez
I have asked around and I’ve heard that it will not work from a few people now. Im wondering if I could add anything to this enclosure to make it work? Maybe a fan or maybe drill some holes in the front? The difficult thing is I’ve spent a lot of time on this enclosure, setting it up, the custom walls, letting the plants get accustomed, and I don’t want to sell it and start over 😂
 
I have asked around and I’ve heard that it will not work from a few people now. Im wondering if I could add anything to this enclosure to make it work? Maybe a fan or maybe drill some holes in the front? The difficult thing is I’ve spent a lot of time on this enclosure, setting it up, the custom walls, letting the plants get accustomed, and I don’t want to sell it and start over 😂
See post above from Javadi. He works with the smaller species and breeds them.
 
This setup would work for Brookesia, but I wouldn't go for carpets, as I would guess they would develop an RI in that enclosure.
Some people that I talked to were very concerned about the enclosure and said that screen is always the way to go with a chameleon. They got very frustrated at me. They seemed to only have experience with bigger species like panthers and veiled, so I was wondering if what they said has any standing with smaller species like these? I will not go for a carpet if you think it will get an RI.
 
So the person I tagged that responded is Michael Nash. He breeds them and knows them really well. If you go here https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-academy-podcast-2021/ and in the search function of the podcast type in his name you will get podcasts he did with Bill Strand.

One thing to remember is you will always get people with their opinion... It is whether or not they actually defer to someone else with real hands on experience that matters. Ideally within the hobby we see an aquarium and it is a hard pass because it is drilled into us that it is not going to be ok. Listen to people that know there stuff when it comes to the species you want to work with. They are the ones I would go to.

I think it is always good to have air circulation. There are ways you could modify like placing a small pc fan on the top of the screen top to pull air up and out of the enclosure. :)

Just a heads up Pygmy chams are harder to find and get your hands on. Most of the breeders are currently working with one another to try to build a breeding community to get them established.

Search pygmy chams in the forum search function it will pull up a few threads that Michael was giving info in.
 
So the person I tagged that responded is Michael Nash. He breeds them and knows them really well. If you go here https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-academy-podcast-2021/ and in the search function of the podcast type in his name you will get podcasts he did with Bill Strand.

One thing to remember is you will always get people with their opinion... It is whether or not they actually defer to someone else with real hands on experience that matters. Ideally within the hobby we see an aquarium and it is a hard pass because it is drilled into us that it is not going to be ok. Listen to people that know there stuff when it comes to the species you want to work with. They are the ones I would go to.

I think it is always good to have air circulation. There are ways you could modify like placing a small pc fan on the top of the screen top to pull air up and out of the enclosure. :)

Just a heads up Pygmy chams are harder to find and get your hands on. Most of the breeders are currently working with one another to try to build a breeding community to get them established.

Search pygmy chams in the forum search function it will pull up a few threads that Michael was giving info in.
Oh my goodness! Thank you so much!
 
My pleasure :)
Something interesting to mention is that Bill Strand himself says that people who say that a chameleon has to be kept in a screen enclosure are simply wrong, and that with proper air flow, a solid walled enclosure can be beneficial. Again, thank you for your reply! I will be doing even more research into Pygmies and I will keep my eye out for any.
 
Something interesting to mention is that Bill Strand himself says that people who say that a chameleon has to be kept in a screen enclosure are simply wrong, and that with proper air flow, a solid walled enclosure can be beneficial. Again, thank you for your reply! I will be doing even more research into Pygmies and I will keep my eye out for any.
Yep, correct. I have hybrid enclosures.. There is a time and place for screen say if you live in a high humidity area. But even then you could still do solid sides as long as you have either the entire door and top or the service panel on the front bottom and top screen to allow for the chimney effect.

But depending on where you are going for information you can easily get very out dated info.
 
Hey there welcome to the forum. It looks really nice the one thing to note is this may not work all that well for a chameleon due to the lack of proper ventilation. Since it is a standard aquarium there are no vents on the sides to pull clean air in and then up and out with the stagnant air. With chameleons this lack of air flow can lead to respiratory infections. I believe this would be the case even with smaller species like pygmies and carpet chams. I will tag a few members that have experience working with the little guys, they will be able to tell you if using the aquarium without side venting would be ok. @javadi @Mendez
Hi Greyson, air circulation in an aquarium is a challenge. One thing you can try is cover the middle of the top say a little over a third of the length. Place a small usb fan on one end so it draws air out. This will help in theory draw air into the enclosure from the other side. A Brookesia species of chameleon would be the best option. Also strongly suggest a uvb meter. At 18" tall, you will need to elevate the light fixture to get the uvb dialed in.
 
Hi Greyson, air circulation in an aquarium is a challenge. One thing you can try is cover the middle of the top say a little over a third of the length. Place a small usb fan on one end so it draws air out. This will help in theory draw air into the enclosure from the other side. A Brookesia species of chameleon would be the best option. Also strongly suggest a uvb meter. At 18" tall, you will need to elevate the light fixture to get the uvb dialed in.
Thank you for the reply! If I got two different cpu fans, could I just position one on one side facing up and one on the other side facing in to create the air flow?
 
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