first time buyer

440Charger · 03-04-05, 06:03 PM

Hi i've never owned a reptile before but I'm really interested in owning a chamelon. Few questions because I want my first attempt to be a sucess.

I'm going ot build my own cage. I'm fairly mechanical inclined. But I'd like to see pictures of what others have done what materials used, sizes etc...

Also I heard most chamelons dont like to be handled. Not that I want to hold him all day and walk him but just wondering what others say on this?

Thanks

meow_mix450 · 03-04-05, 11:38 PM

It all depends on the person(you). Before doing anything read up the caresheets and see if its right for you. If not then try leopard geckos or bearded dragons. But after you have read the caresheets and your still willing to care for it then start thinking about building cages. Im telling you this because you have not owned a reptile before and chameleons arnt the greatest things to start off with.

Chameleons can be handled only for certain ocasions(sp). Its suggest that you dont

Meow

peterm15 · 03-05-05, 12:31 PM

well my chameleon is not handleable at all.. and meow-mix is right.. chameleons are better for an intermediat to advanced herp owner.. im not trying to talk you out of it.. just making you realise.. there not easy to keep.. do LOTS of reading and make sure you pick yourself up a book..

have you thought about what type of cham you want.. all post pics of my cahe later but if you scroll down on the chameleon page youl see lots of pics.. look for posts by me and by dudsky.. he made a really nice cage..

my com is havin trouble but when its beter ill post pics

HeatherRose · 03-05-05, 01:13 PM

Hi

Making your own cage is an excellent start. From what I can tell the most common varieties of chameleons (that are pets) are veileds and panthers.

Chameleons have the most personality of any reptile I've owned, and while generally chameleons are not a handleable reptile, each individual varies. Usually they should only be handled when necessary. I've had one chameleon who would not let me near him unless I gave him a worm first, and I have another that comes right up to the cage door when I open it, because that usually means he's getting a shower.

Here's some good caresheets I found...I also would suggest getting a couple books at your local petstore too.

http://www.exoticlizards.com/veiled-...re-sheets.html

http://www.chameleoncondo.net/pages/745114/

Good luck!

440Charger · 03-05-05, 04:22 PM

Im thinking of a veiled since they are the most commen i find around here. I've thought about the difficulty of keeping a chameleon before. This is the first source I've read. I was going to go iwth a dragon but the more I see chameleons in the store the more I want one. Thats why I'm gonna make sure I do everything right the first time before buying it.

How long does it take one to reach adult size? Im going to buy a babby one and start with that. I'm pretty sure the babbies at the pet store are captive breed.

440Charger · 03-05-05, 04:36 PM

Judging by many of the pics soil or anything (substrate) is a bad idea on the bottom im assuming? Also I have a nice idea for a "rain system" and water collection system for the cage. Would it be better to go with a automatic mister? Or the rain system or both?

Also for cage size im thinking 36 or 24 in high 36 wide and 24 in deep. Figure that should give enough room to move up and down and back and forth. Whats the best way to keep humidity in the cage? I see people using humidifiers. And with the lights I guess put the basking lamp at one side and the have the uv / floruscent running the full lenght of the cage?

HeatherRose · 03-05-05, 04:48 PM

Substrate is not a bad idea but it is not considered necessary, as chameleons will spend next to no time on the ground.

However, one of a chameleons' first defenses is to drop straight to the ground if it feels threatened. You might want to have something soft on the bottom of the enclosure, such as potting soil.

PS. While the chameleons at the store might be captive bred, how are they kept? It might be an indicator of the care they're getting. Baby chameleons are extremely delicate and you might be better off buying from a breeder. Just my opinion though.

Good luck again

440Charger · 03-05-05, 04:52 PM

sorry i edited my post while u were responding :P so you missed half of the questions. As for a breader most defintly. That my first option. Not to many around in ontario. But in a month comes the reptile expo.

peterm15 · 03-05-05, 05:00 PM

ya just use the potted plants.. if theres one sugegstion i can give is maybe think about starting out with one that had a good size to them... at least a subadult.. that way you can get the cage the way you want it and put him right in the full size enclosure.. upsizeing can make for a very stressful envrioment on you and the chameleon... and you may even be able to find one that enjoys handleing..

it is not good to change the surroundings of a chameleon because they will not feel sucure.. provide lots of coverage by useing a combo between real and fake plants..

and as long as your ready and willing for a full time comittment and ALOT of reasearch ill have no prob helping you...

my biggest mistake was not anough coverage and having to add onto the cage.. heres kind of a timeline..

this one is pretty early and my cham was constantly stressed..

heres a little later on when i added a littloe more coverage...

heres my pissy cham.. he was usually this colour except for sleepin and eatin...

and this is pretty much what it looks like to date. still needs improvement.. the empty space below and beside the cage ( above the leo tank ) belongs to the cham too.. but as you can see.. no work done yet..

im actually in the midts of adding more coverage.. but heres a pic of my cham and what hes been looking like lately.. this shot was taken while he was sleeping.. but he looks like this most of the time now... except for when i have a cam on me.. lol...

HeatherRose · 03-05-05, 05:16 PM

You'll have excellent luck at the reptile expo. There's usually quite a lot of both veiled and panther chameleons

labomb · 03-05-05, 08:58 PM

Alot of good advice already given here. I would only add DON'T buy from a pet store unless you really know and trust them. I stupidly bought a jackson chameleon a year ago from a petstore and was given alot of bad advice and talked into purchasing alot of unnecessary equipment which only got used a couple months before I lost the little guy. It was also a disadvantage because it was supposedly unknown whether it was captive born or wild caught and what it's previous care was. I was heart broken over the loss and felt like I let the bugger down. but after visiting reptile shows and asking lots of questions, searching the internet and comparing care sheets my husband convinced me to give it another try with a captive bred veiled chameleon. It took me a year to gather the info and get the courage to give it another shot. This time I bought from a show. So far I have good feelings about my new friend, he eats very well and not shy at all with me.
But they do all have different personalities because we have a 2 year old male veiled in the family that is extremely shy and hides whenever we walk in the room. I think the difference is I give my young one lots of time just sitting in front of him (an hour or so a couple times a day)with his door open so he has gotten use to me being around and not feel threatened.
One more thing, your cage demensions sounded a bit tight. as long as you are building it you should go with 4ft high at least.

peterm15 · 03-06-05, 10:31 AM

ya if your building go as high as you possibly can.. if you can build one thats 4 feet.. than put it on a table. i cham may feel threatened at eye level.. so if you can give him room to be over top of you.. hell be happy.. id say minimum 24w x 36l x 48h. if you can go higher you really should..

galad · 03-06-05, 01:00 PM

Hey guys I dont really have much more to give on advice I think everyone here has done a really good job.

But I do have one question.
Peterm15 was talking about it not being a good idea to change the enclosure around. Does everyone agree on this?

My opinion is that most chameleons in the wild wander around looking for food. They dont really have a deffined territory. Some do but not all. Anyways so in the wild their enviroment is constantly changing whether they are wandering around or not. Wind and storms blow things over and move things around.
So in that respect I have tried changing the cage of my male around slightly every month. Nothing drastic but things like: Switching plants around one at a time, changing the direction or pitch of some of the vines.
And all in all he seems to enjoy it. I have been doing the little changes for about 5 months now and have never seen him stressed.
Has anyone else had success in doing slight changes to the environment without causing stress to your chams?

ws

Collide · 03-06-05, 01:14 PM

Change can be stressfull to a cham. I would say to keep there cages as stable as possible, They are territorial ( well at least the common ones we keep like veilds and panthers, jax ) Iv had chams hid for days in a plant because i took down a towel from one side of the cage, I find moving the location of the cage not as bad unless its too a much bigger room then that freeks them out. Males can be deciving because there desire for a female makes them want to leave but they will defend there cages. If u had a large enough cage to house a pair u would notice how territoral the male could be. just my 2 cents. In general I would say to keep the cage as stable as possible. bla bla bla

peterm15 · 03-06-05, 02:55 PM

well ive done 2 drastic changes.. unfortunatly.. the first one he was fine in about 3 months and the second he didnt seem to mind at all.. but the second one was just adding plants to the bottom. the top stayed the same.. i think adding is slightly easier on the cham than taking away..