What species should I get?

[ZEROPILOT]

Let me pick your collective brains about my future chameleon species.

Here are my specifics:

I live in south Florida.
I have two outdoor wire mesh and wooden aviaries that are about 30"x30"x60". They have an automated misting system. They also have live Ficus and pothos and some grape vines. Two feeding bowls. They are in my back patio. I'll be letting my chams live out there when the weather is not too hot for them. Any time it will be under 82 degrees. And above 55 degrees. That is probably 3 or 4 months out of the year.

Indoors I have two 2'x2'x5' screen cages.
These each have 75 watt CHE for basking, either 5.0 or 10.0 18" strip florescent UV fixtures. And the usual vines, perches and wide leaf plants with feeding bowls.
These will be hand misted and have a drip system.
The house temperature is 73°f all of the time. So at night, with the CHE off, the temps will drop from whatever the basking temps are to exactly 73. (Unless its cooler because of a super rare cool spell.)
I want two male Chameleons. I will utilize sight barriers so that they don't stress each other out.
But what species?
I'm thinking one Veiled and one Panther.
But I'm also liking Jacksons. I just think it'd be too warm outside most of the time for them.
Do my set ups and conditions sound o.k.?
What best suits my situation?
I want to have everything dialed in BEFORE I bring any chams home.
Thanks.

 

[salty dog]

You live in south florida.... warm weather...ambilobe panther!!! I just had a yellow body blue bar clutch hatch.. be ready in a few months!! Lol.. seriously though

 

[JoXie411]

You live in south florida.... warm weather...ambilobe panther!!! I just had a yellow body blue bar clutch hatch.. be ready in a few months!! Lol.. seriously though

Dam salt coming in hard with the sales pitch lol congrats on the clutch hatch

 

[ZEROPILOT]

You live in south florida.... warm weather...ambilobe panther!!! I just had a yellow body blue bar clutch hatch.. be ready in a few months!! Lol.. seriously though

Are you also in south Florida?
I'll be looking for a local breeder.
Also, why are Panthers close to 10x the price of a Veiled?
Color?

 

[Graves923]

Are you also in south Florida?
I'll be looking for a local breeder.
Also, why are Panthers close to 10x the price of a Veiled?
Color?

Mostly coloration in my opinion. Veileds are generally limited to variations of greens, blues, yellows, and browns not including the translucent veileds.

Panthers, depending on locales and breeding, can range in color from all white, red, blue, and everything in between. My favorites are white with blue stripe and high orange panthers.

 

[krikinit]

Veilds are reproductive machines. They can have clutches up to 2x larger than panthers. They are hardy as well. Panther clutch size is typically 30 eggs. Can be more or less.

 

[AnamCara]

Are you also in south Florida?
I'll be looking for a local breeder.
Also, why are Panthers close to 10x the price of a Veiled?
Color?

Color and hatch rate. As Kriknit said -- they hatch a ton thus saturating the market. Panthers tend to be bread for their color.

For what it's worth, seems panthers *can* have a bit of a better temperament than veiled. This is wild speculation on my part based on lurking the forums.

 

[The Wild One]

Are you also in south Florida?
I'll be looking for a local breeder.
Also, why are Panthers close to 10x the price of a Veiled?
Color?

I think its because of Color, temper, and experience. The veileds are notorious for being grumpy and are known for more of a “beginner” Cham IMO and the panthers obviously have more color variation

 

[GoodKarma19]

Personally, I love me some veileds! Maybe I'm biased, but I just adore the little ladies in particular. They do tend to be a little more tempermental than Panthers, but there aren't any guarantees one way or the other. In general, they're "look don't touch" animals, anyway!

I'm especially intrigued by the individualized patterns seen in translucent veileds. I mean, who wouldnt love this little face?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I bought Veileds
Two
Both males.
They're doing well.

 

[The Wild One]

Not in the same cage right? Just making sure...

 

[janjan20]

Congrats!! More pics! Lol

 

[Ramrod]

Best of luck with them

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Not in the same cage right? Just making sure...

Separate cages.
The seller had 11 in the same cage and that cage was smaller than mine.
3 males and 8 females.
One of my males is still dark green. Still upset about his past situation and hiding.
But I DID see them both eat and drink.