Soon-To-Be Veiled Chameleon Owner - Few Questions!?

[m1ndless]

I just acquired a tank from my friend for free, and I want to get a veiled chameleon for it. I was told an all glass enclosure is typically not that great for chameleons, is that true? Is it possible to take out one of the glass panels, like the front, and replace it with a mesh like the roof?

Also, the tank I got is about 30 gallons I believe, the dimensions are 24" Tall x 24" Long x 12" Wide. Would that be okay for a baby chameleon? How long could I keep it in that small of a tank, 6 months maybe?

Also, what would you reccomend for the best lights and heat lamps for that size cage? I have 2x24" lights that can go across the top, should I get 1 or 2 of the ZooMed UVA/UVB lights?

Also, can I juse use a normal flood light for a basking spot, or do I need a special heat lamp? How far above the cage should I mount it?

Has anyone ever mail-ordered from reptiledepot.com? They are $70 shipped to my door overnight, or my local petsmart has them for $90+tax, what route should I go?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks..

 

[dodolah]

See my response in the quote box:

I just acquired a tank from my friend for free, and I want to get a veiled chameleon for it. I was told an all glass enclosure is typically not that great for chameleons, is that true? Yes! it's true. The glass enclosure makes air stagnant and it quickly become a haven for bacteria. There is a risk your chameleon can develop URI disease and some chameleons get stressed out when they see their own reflection on the glass
Is it possible to take out one of the glass panels, like the front, and replace it with a mesh like the roof?
My suggestion take out at least 2 sides and replace it with mesh. You need 2 screen sides to ensure good airflow

Also, the tank I got is about 30 gallons I believe, the dimensions are 24" Tall x 24" Long x 12" Wide. Would that be okay for a baby chameleon? How long could I keep it in that small of a tank, 6 months maybe?
24X24X12 is perfect for babies. I think by 5 months his cage should be upgraded to 24X16X30 and by adulthood 24X24X48 or 30X18X36

Also, what would you reccomend for the best lights and heat lamps for that size cage? I have 2x24" lights that can go across the top, should I get 1 or 2 of the ZooMed UVA/UVB lights?
Reptisun 5.0 for UVB get the tube one. NOT THE COMPACT. I use reptisun basking spot lamp for UVA

Also, can I juse use a normal flood light for a basking spot, or do I need a special heat lamp? How far above the cage should I mount it?
Buy a digital thermometer. the basking spot should reach the temp 87-95 F. Adjust the height based on the temp requirement

Has anyone ever mail-ordered from reptiledepot.com? They are $70 shipped to my door overnight, or my local petsmart has them for $90+tax, what route should I go?
petsmart is too expensive. there are many other cheap store. online or physical petstore
Any other suggestions?
buy 2 small ficus benjamina, Pothos, Hibiscus, or scheflera. Plastic plants are not good for real chamelon. make sure you dunk the plants upside down in a tub of antibacterial soap water. swish it and let dry 5 minutes and rinse it off. Do it 3 times or more. This is a MUST step be4 you put the plants in his enclosure. It is to wash off all pesticides that used on the plants. Your chameleon will probably eat the leaves or the flowers of this plants to hydrate himself once in a while. you just need to make sure he won't die of poisoning

Thanks..

 

[summoner12]

Research!

First I would like to say: don't buy a cham just because you have a fish tank/cage.

If you have been interested in a cham... and now have a cage.. it seems you might have the wrong kind. I wouldn't put a cham in a fish tank. People do it and it can work. You need to be careful with a fish tank because glass will trap heat. Chams need ventilation and cross airflow... glass doesn't vent very well.

As for lighting. A reptisun 5.0 TUBE lamp is a good idea. Zoomed blue daylight lamps are also good. I use 100w lamps... but depending on the size of you cage and age of the cham you get, you will need to adjust the lighting to provide a safe temp. for the cham. Chams need UVA and UVB lighting. The repisun will provide both but its a good idea to us a heat lamp (zoomed daylight) that has UVA. Remember this: UV does not pass through glass or plastic and when passing though screen (depending on the type) UV rays can be cut in half. DO NOT use compact fluorescent lamps! Use only tube lamps.

As for who you buy the cham from, that is up to you. My last cham purchase was from petsmart. The only reason I did it was because I was tired of seeing this poor little guy dehydrated and in such a small cage and not being taken care of... his cage was a mess. oh and I had a hundred dollar bill burning a hole in my wallet (it was free from work). I saw my purchase as a gift from work. What you should realize about buying from places like petsmart and petco... the more you buy from them the more they stock. So it only encourages them to stock more chams... and mistreat more chams. I am sorry but I couldn't resist. If I were you I would wait until a reptile show comes to town or you buy from a breeder. It seems to me you need to do a lot more reading on this forum before you are ready to care for a cham. There is nothing worse than getting a cham and having it die because you weren't fully prepared for its needs. Reading and asking and reading.. and reading.. and reading is best. you can almost never know enough, all chams are different.

I would decide on the type of cham you want and then proceed with the research. Since all chams are different you will be able to focus your searching on a particular cham and learn about its special needs. things like... females need a place to lay eggs... over feeding makes them lay more eggs... males need more room than females... just so much simple stuff that can have adverse effects on the success of your chams life.

so good luck!

 

[dectr6]

Read these threads in this forum! Go to the enclosure's forum and you will see almost everyone uses a screened cage. Look through all the different forums and you will see that these interesting little animals can be a real handful to take care of if your not willing to put in the time to learn what your doing and are willing to pay the money out to buy and properly take care of them. Once you know what your getting into and decide to buy, I'd look at some of the many breeders on-line that you can buy one from. Good luck! David

 

[SuperRad]

Yeah it's best to do a screen cage man. you can order a 65 gallon screen reptarium for like 30 bucks and 10 bucks shipping on reptilesupply.com. That's not a bad price at all.

With reptiledepot.com i have not ordered online from them, but know they are located in chatsworth california, I have meet them though at a reptile expo in Arizona. They seem like really cool guys and very knowleadgable.
The owner seems to care about his reptiles as i inquired about ordering something from him during the expo, and he said he won't ship to arizona during the summer months. But yeah definetly cool people there. I have two veiled chams i purchased from them that were 4 weeks old. and they are now 14 weeks old and are healthy.

 

[m1ndless]

Thanks for all the helpful information. I feel I am ready to own a chameleon, I have been reading guides to owning them online for about a week, and I even bought a book at petsmart on how to properly raise them and how to feed them and everythign. My roomate has 2 of them in his room, and he said he would help me with everything too.

He has a full size cham in a 65 gallon glass tank, with a fan above it to create airflow, and it has live in there for 3+ years no problem.. should I try to do that or is it not worth the risk?

I may consider purchasing that tank from reptilesupply the last poster said, that is not a bad price, but would that be too big for a babie?

If I did want to just take glass out and screen the front and back of my tank, and leave the sides glass, how would I go that?

I was looking at the Reptisun 5.0 24" UVB bulb, its liek $20 plus shipping, is that enough, or should I buy 2 of those?

I live in arizona, how would I see when there is going to be a reptile show? '

Would a male baby chameleon be good for a new cham owner? I have owned many other reptiles in the past, but never a cham.

 

[summoner12]

Thanks for all the helpful information. I feel I am ready to own a chameleon, I have been reading guides to owning them online for about a week, and I even bought a book at petsmart on how to properly raise them and how to feed them and everythign. My roomate has 2 of them in his room, and he said he would help me with everything too.

He has a full size cham in a 65 gallon glass tank, with a fan above it to create airflow, and it has live in there for 3+ years no problem.. should I try to do that or is it not worth the risk? Don't use glass. It is just a bad idea. Think of it like this.... Fish need clean water to swim in not used toilet water.

I may consider purchasing that tank from reptilesupply the last poster said, that is not a bad price, but would that be too big for a babie? I would go with the 38 gallon for a baby. I have one for my little guy and hes about 4 months old now. He climbs all over it. He will need another cage within the next month or two. A large cage for a little cham isn't good because they will have a little trouble finding food. You could add a lot of crickets to the cage... but the longer crickets are in a cage the less nutrition they have (it doesn't have food to eat). Also lots of crickets in a cage will bother the cham when it sleeps or even when its awake.

If I did want to just take glass out and screen the front and back of my tank, and leave the sides glass, how would I go that? No idea... sorry.

I was looking at the Reptisun 5.0 24" UVB bulb, its liek $20 plus shipping, is that enough, or should I buy 2 of those? It should be enough for that 38 gallon cage. If you get the 65 I would get two.

I live in arizona, how would I see when there is going to be a reptile show? Google is your friend.

Would a male baby chameleon be good for a new cham owner? I have owned many other reptiles in the past, but never a cham.A male is a good idea for a new owner. Females require some extra care that can be tricky to someone new.

 

[mrcackums]

Thanks for all the helpful information. I feel I am ready to own a chameleon, I have been reading guides to owning them online for about a week, and I even bought a book at petsmart on how to properly raise them and how to feed them and everythign. My roomate has 2 of them in his room, and he said he would help me with everything too.

He has a full size cham in a 65 gallon glass tank, with a fan above it to create airflow, and it has live in there for 3+ years no problem.. should I try to do that or is it not worth the risk?

I may consider purchasing that tank from reptilesupply the last poster said, that is not a bad price, but would that be too big for a babie?

If I did want to just take glass out and screen the front and back of my tank, and leave the sides glass, how would I go that?

I was looking at the Reptisun 5.0 24" UVB bulb, its liek $20 plus shipping, is that enough, or should I buy 2 of those?

I live in arizona, how would I see when there is going to be a reptile show? '

Would a male baby chameleon be good for a new cham owner? I have owned many other reptiles in the past, but never a cham.

hey mindless, i live in arizona as well. last reptile show was feburary, and not sure if it was an annual one or not. it was in tempe i believe. I have been lookin but found no posts or anything about another one coming up soon.

 

[m1ndless]

I am a bit confused, do chams need a basking spot at night as well, or should it only be on for like 12 hours a day or what?

Thanks

 

[dodolah]

I am a bit confused, do chams need a basking spot at night as well, or should it only be on for like 12 hours a day or what?

Thanks

no basking spot at night, unless your room temperature drops below 60 (u might need the night heat light).. but i doubt you'll b needing any.

 

[stevereecy]

Yeah it's best to do a screen cage man. you can order a 65 gallon screen reptarium for like 30 bucks and 10 bucks shipping on reptilesupply.com. That's not a bad price at all.

With reptiledepot.com i have not ordered online from them, but know they are located in chatsworth california, I have meet them though at a reptile expo in Arizona. They seem like really cool guys and very knowleadgable.
The owner seems to care about his reptiles as i inquired about ordering something from him during the expo, and he said he won't ship to arizona during the summer months. But yeah definetly cool people there. I have two veiled chams i purchased from them that were 4 weeks old. and they are now 14 weeks old and are healthy.

This is borderline mis-information. Putting a baby cham in a 65 gallon reptarium would be bad, bad, bad. While its true that adults shouldn't live in aquariums, I use them exclusively for babies and I've never lost one. Older chams stress because of their own reflection, but younger ones, perhaps due to evolutionary reasons, do not have this problem and do well in groups, similar to how fish school. If you use a very small aquarium, such as a 10 gallon, or even a 5.5 gallon, the babies will have an easier time finding the crickets because of the cricket density. Basically, there are more crickets per square inch in a smaller cage. You could put many, many, more crickets in a larger container, but then they'd lose their supplementation. You know that the chams will receive the supplementation they need and the gutload is fresh in a smaller enclosure. Other factors for aquariums are properly staging the plants and basking area, and allowing the aquarium to dry out before shutting off the lights for the night, and also dry out completely between mistings. I've never, ever, lost one, and mine are very healthy. I'll even say something controversial that raising babies is easy if you follow a specific tried and true setup.

Whether you elect to raise babies in an aquarium in a tank or a screen cage, use a small enclosure. It is just plain better for the babies as long as you get temps and humidity correct.

Steve

 

[SuperRad]

This is borderline mis-information. Putting a baby cham in a 65 gallon reptarium would be bad, bad, bad. While its true that adults shouldn't live in aquariums, I use them exclusively for babies and I've never lost one. Older chams stress because of their own reflection, but younger ones, perhaps due to evolutionary reasons, do not have this problem and do well in groups, similar to how fish school. If you use a very small aquarium, such as a 10 gallon, or even a 5.5 gallon, the babies will have an easier time finding the crickets because of the cricket density. Basically, there are more crickets per square inch in a smaller cage. You could put many, many, more crickets in a larger container, but then they'd lose their supplementation. You know that the chams will receive the supplementation they need and the gutload is fresh in a smaller enclosure. Other factors for aquariums are properly staging the plants and basking area, and allowing the aquarium to dry out before shutting off the lights for the night, and also dry out completely between mistings. I've never, ever, lost one, and mine are very healthy. I'll even say something controversial that raising babies is easy if you follow a specific tried and true setup.

Whether you elect to raise babies in an aquarium in a tank or a screen cage, use a small enclosure. It is just plain better for the babies as long as you get temps and humidity correct.

Steve

And thats why there is cup feeding!!! you can monitor how much your cham eats

 

[m1ndless]

I live in phoenix, it wont drop below ~75 at night, is that an okay ambient temp for the night time?

So is a 37 gallon aquarium too big to raise a 2-3 month old cham? Should I get a 10-20 to start out with? I want to use the 37 if I can so it wont be a stressful move to his new tank in a few months when he gets bigger.

Should I set the basking light to turn on at sunrise, or when I wake up around 9am?

I bought two temp guages, and 1 humidity guage, are those all I need for guages or do I need any more?

I went to this pet store down the street today, they had four 7-week old male vieled chams in stock at $70/each, is that a good price? Are they old enough for a new cham owner or should I wait and risk the chance of them being sold?

Thanks for all the help guys, I want to do everything to make sure my little fellow doesnt die when I get him!!

 

[Julirs]

I raised all Veileds from 2-4 months in 38 gallon Reptariums-I agree that the 65 would be too big for a baby. $70 is a little high-but a typical Petstore price.

 

[m1ndless]

I will shop around then, I am not too concerned about the price, as I am about the condition of the animal and how it is stored at the store. I was considering mail order, but I am scared it will get injured during the shipment..

I think I will try to use the 37 gallon for now, and then once they are 5-6 months upgrade to a 65 gallon enclosure (not aquarium)... is that right?

I bought a 17" tall Schefflera plant last night, I have it set up in my tank along with some fake vines and brances from the pet store, I am slowly setting it up, I want it to be perfect.

With the Schefflera plant, they will just crawl around on it right? I put it in the middle of the tank, with brances running through the plant across the tank going up and down and a couple of brances leading up to the basking spot.

With the 37 gallon tank, should I let the cham "hunt" the cricketts or should I put them in a cup? would it be to hard for my cham to find them?

Also, I bought 1x 24" ReptiSun 5.0, is that enough of the uvb lighting, or should I get a 2nd bulb? And how high above the tank should these be set?

Thanks!

 

[Julirs]

Are you talking 37 gallon aquarium?

 

[m1ndless]

Yes, the dimensions are H30" X L24" X W12"

Also, with the heating and backing lamp, should they both turn on and off at the same time each day, or should I have the uvb lamp shut off before the basking lamp or what?

 

[stevereecy]

Yes, the dimensions are H30" X L24" X W12"

Also, with the heating and backing lamp, should they both turn on and off at the same time each day, or should I have the uvb lamp shut off before the basking lamp or what?

3 months is like the longest time you can raise them in an aquarium, then you need to get them into a screened enclosure.

 

[stevereecy]

And thats why there is cup feeding!!! you can monitor how much your cham eats

We're talking about different stuff then I'm talking about babies, which you can raise in aquariums. Not older animals that are cup trained.

 

[m1ndless]

3 months is perfect, I get my work bonus!

So with the 37 gallon aquarium, will "hunting" the cricks be a problem for my cham? Should I put some lower branches for now so he can get them down there?

Also, I bought the 24" ReptiSun 5.0, it says on the box you only need to replace them every year, but some of the sites I saw said replace every six months? Which is it?

Its 20 watts, is that enough for a UBV light?

I bought a 75W floodlight and work-shop style fixture, its mounted about 6" above the cage, I tested it out and where I set up the basking spot, the temp is about 93f, is that warm enough for a basking spot? Ambient temps are at about 82 during the day, and drop down to about 70 at night.

How long can I use that 24" light? When will I need to upgrade to the 10.0 or a 2nd light?

Thanks