When to move into adult home

[ReptiGeek]

Hello everyone!
So my lil Gizmo (veiled chameleon) is around 3 and a half months old and in his 18x18x24 exo terra. His body is just shy of 4" long. Including his tail I'd say around 7" but it's hard to tell since their tails never sit still! My question is, what size do you think it is appropriate to move a young chameleon into an adult enclosure? I already have the adult enclosure for when he is ready, but I just want to know what other members think on this topic.
Thank you all, happy holidays!

 

[Kate]

My panther went straight into his big boy cage when he arrived at 3 months. The only problem with a big cage and a little Cham is how he is going to catch his dinner. You could try cup feeding. That way he will know where his food is. Make sure the branches are not too thick or he may have problems gripping on to them.

 

[AnvilsHammer]

i have a nosy faly that is in a 16x16x36. got him at 3 1/2 months and been there since. Even though it is big for him. It gives you a good chance of hand taming it. I've had him for about 3 weeks now and as soon as he sees yellow tongs in my hand he comes running to the front because he knows its feeding time. There are trade-offs but I think my cage is a little too big, but it gives me a chance to hand feed, so i know he is eating and start to hand tame him for when he is older. Hope this helps!

 

[Andrew27]

I would say you could move him in now even. You just have to make sure there is plenty of foliage. The only problem would be food but you can just tong feed or cup feed.

 

[deadhd5]

I am waiting til around 6-7 mos. to move my panther into his adult home.

 

[ReptiGeek]

Thank you everyone for the feed back! I have him already hand feeding no problem (straight from my fingers, no tongs) and cup feeding when I'm not hand feeding him, so I think he won't have a problem with cup feeding in a larger enclosure. My main concern right now is that it is winter here and hitting below freezing temperatures outside so it is difficult to monitor the temperature at night time. I've finally got it down to a solid regulated night time temperature just last week and I feel that if I change into his adult enclosure now it might stress him out and the temperature may vastly change. As for foliage I already have a golden pothos and a marble queen pothos waiting to be added to his adult enclosure. Right now they are just used as free ranging hanging plants.

I think I will start getting his enclosure set-up so when the night time temperatures start to rise again he can happily move in, stress free.

 

[AnvilsHammer]

One - You are in Vancouver, so its doesn't go below 13.
Two - Where are you keeping your cage? normal ambient tempature in any room should be okay for the little guy. During the day in my cage its 80 in basking and 70-75 in the rest of the cage. But at night in my room it goes down to about 60-65. I forgot where but more knowledgable members correct me if I'm wrong, but Chameleons can take a temperature drop down to almost 40. So Unless you have his cage directly outside I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Kate]

Night time temps can go as low as 50-55 if it gets lower than than that you can use a ceramic heater. Mine is on a thermostat so it won't kick in till temps drop. Chams benefit from temp drops at night to slow down their metabolism to allow them to sleep. In the wild temps drop at night.