Prince of Duval
Avid Member
Hello, chameleon community! I just wanted to introduce myself as I look forward to being more active in these forums. I just purchased a male panther chameleon which will be ready to come home in April/May. In the meantime, I’m preparing for his arrival so everything is ready when he gets here. Before I decided to purchase a chameleon. I actively followed your threads and replies hoping to soak up some of your knowledge in what seems to be a hobby with much ambiguity. I’ve listened to all of the Chameleon Breeder/Academy podcasts, some more than once, and tried to do research any where else I could. What I haven’t had a chance to do is talk to anyone with any knowledge of chameleon keeping...and that’s where I hope you’ll come in by answering any questions I have and providing constructive criticism.
At this point, I’ve purchased a Reptibreeze XL 2ftx2ftx4ft cage with the hopes to build a larger enclosure at some point in the future. I’ve retrofitted the cage with Dragon Strand ledges and a drainage tray. My daughter and I spent today combing the woods behind our house and collecting branches to fill our cage. I’ve also purchased an Arcadia T5 UVB Kit with a 6% bulb. I’ll post a picture of my progress so far, but I think I need another horizontal branch higher in the cage for basking. In the coming days, I’ll also be purchasing plants at the local nursery to start filling the cage. Everything else is still up in the air. I still need the plants, a basking lamp and bulb, a misting system, supplements, and feeders. This is where your initial input would be much appreciated. I plan to keep my chameleon indoors and I live in Florida so temperature and humidity shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
Here are some questions I haven’t stumbled across too often:
Plants:
1. I won’t have any plants on the bottom floor as I have a screen and drainage tray. What do you recommend in addition to Pothos and Spider Plants for hanging? Maybe refer to the picture and let me know where you would recommend placement of all the plants as well.
Basking Lamp & Bulb:
1. IMO there seems to be a lot of research and discussion put into UVB lighting, but very little as it relates to basking lamps. The impression I get is if the lamp and bulb get the temperatures you're looking for, then that lamp is as good as any other. Thoughts, opinions, recommendations?
2. What other lighting would you suggest to illuminate the cage and promote plant growth? I see a lot of dual and quad setups shown off with LED light bars seemingly starting to trend.
3. Recommendations on placement of all lighting would be great. Don’t you want your chameleon getting UVB while basking? How do you place your lighting so your chameleon is under the basking lamp but also getting UVB? Or is this not really a concern because the UVB lamp is reflecting light and UVB all over the top of the cage?
Misting System:
Mistking seems to be the most common recommendation I see. If I have an all screen cage, so am I guaranteed to get spray out of the cage or is it potentially manageable and mess-free? How do you compensate for this or is putting up some sort of protective barrier on a few sides really the only option?
Supplements:
The forums seem to really recommend the Repashy Calcium Plus LoD. I’ve heard the Kammers are pretty much exclusively using the regular Calcium Plus without issue of getting too much Vitamin D. I tend to lean more toward getting good supplementation through proper lighting and gutloading of a diversity of feeders so I think LoD would be the better option. The thought of using something like Arcadia Earthpro-A with minimal other supplementation intrigues me, but not something I would risk as an amateur keeper with no real experience.
Feeders:
1. How soon before getting my chameleon should I purchase and start gutloading feeders?
2. Since I will only have one Chameleon for the foreseeable future, how often and how many feeders do you recommend I get at a time? How long do typical feeders live?
3. What do you recommend feeding other than crickets that are good for chameleonwhile being relatively cheap and available at most pet stores or reptile shops?
4. Should you keep different types of feeders separated or is it fine to put them in one big container together?
5. What’s your opinion on wild caught insects? I live in a wooded area so we have moths, butterflies, different types or beetles, grubs, roaches, spiders, flys, mosquitos, etc.
Anything else:
1. Is there anything I don’t have or didn’t cover that I need or should consider?
Sorry for the long post but I look forward to getting to know you and learning from you in the coming months and years.
-Prince
At this point, I’ve purchased a Reptibreeze XL 2ftx2ftx4ft cage with the hopes to build a larger enclosure at some point in the future. I’ve retrofitted the cage with Dragon Strand ledges and a drainage tray. My daughter and I spent today combing the woods behind our house and collecting branches to fill our cage. I’ve also purchased an Arcadia T5 UVB Kit with a 6% bulb. I’ll post a picture of my progress so far, but I think I need another horizontal branch higher in the cage for basking. In the coming days, I’ll also be purchasing plants at the local nursery to start filling the cage. Everything else is still up in the air. I still need the plants, a basking lamp and bulb, a misting system, supplements, and feeders. This is where your initial input would be much appreciated. I plan to keep my chameleon indoors and I live in Florida so temperature and humidity shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
Here are some questions I haven’t stumbled across too often:
Plants:
1. I won’t have any plants on the bottom floor as I have a screen and drainage tray. What do you recommend in addition to Pothos and Spider Plants for hanging? Maybe refer to the picture and let me know where you would recommend placement of all the plants as well.
Basking Lamp & Bulb:
1. IMO there seems to be a lot of research and discussion put into UVB lighting, but very little as it relates to basking lamps. The impression I get is if the lamp and bulb get the temperatures you're looking for, then that lamp is as good as any other. Thoughts, opinions, recommendations?
2. What other lighting would you suggest to illuminate the cage and promote plant growth? I see a lot of dual and quad setups shown off with LED light bars seemingly starting to trend.
3. Recommendations on placement of all lighting would be great. Don’t you want your chameleon getting UVB while basking? How do you place your lighting so your chameleon is under the basking lamp but also getting UVB? Or is this not really a concern because the UVB lamp is reflecting light and UVB all over the top of the cage?
Misting System:
Mistking seems to be the most common recommendation I see. If I have an all screen cage, so am I guaranteed to get spray out of the cage or is it potentially manageable and mess-free? How do you compensate for this or is putting up some sort of protective barrier on a few sides really the only option?
Supplements:
The forums seem to really recommend the Repashy Calcium Plus LoD. I’ve heard the Kammers are pretty much exclusively using the regular Calcium Plus without issue of getting too much Vitamin D. I tend to lean more toward getting good supplementation through proper lighting and gutloading of a diversity of feeders so I think LoD would be the better option. The thought of using something like Arcadia Earthpro-A with minimal other supplementation intrigues me, but not something I would risk as an amateur keeper with no real experience.
Feeders:
1. How soon before getting my chameleon should I purchase and start gutloading feeders?
2. Since I will only have one Chameleon for the foreseeable future, how often and how many feeders do you recommend I get at a time? How long do typical feeders live?
3. What do you recommend feeding other than crickets that are good for chameleonwhile being relatively cheap and available at most pet stores or reptile shops?
4. Should you keep different types of feeders separated or is it fine to put them in one big container together?
5. What’s your opinion on wild caught insects? I live in a wooded area so we have moths, butterflies, different types or beetles, grubs, roaches, spiders, flys, mosquitos, etc.
Anything else:
1. Is there anything I don’t have or didn’t cover that I need or should consider?
Sorry for the long post but I look forward to getting to know you and learning from you in the coming months and years.
-Prince
