18x18x36 vs Free Range'ish

Hey guys,


Need some wisdom bestowed upon me!!

BUT, i'm looking for people with experience. I've ready plenty myself, so i'm looking for people who actually own panther chameleons and have had one from baby to adult.

So My little guy Sokar is a baby ambilobe from Crazy Eyes Chameleons, thanks brian!!, anyways He's coming in on tuesday, and i've already built him a free range'ish enclosure. It's 3x3x6.5. and according to Brian 1/2" feeders is what he's eating. (trying to give a size estimate)

Now my question is, and Brian said he'd be fine in a big enclosure but i didnt give him the actual size. i just said would he be okay in an adult cage, and he said yes.

so what i'm asking is for my 5 month old ambilobe, he should be fine in the huge enclosure i built for him. it's got plenty of hiding spots and live plants. and I'll be cup feeding, and hand feeding to keep an eye on his food intake.

will my huge enclosure be okay? or should i break down and by a small reptibreeze 18x18x36..i just dont want to buy it, and then him out grow it in a month.

I think he'll be much happier in the giant enclosure, but i don't want him getting stressed as a small guy...any input from experienced owners is welcome.

Thanks,

Andy M.

30 views and zero replies?!? Lol that ain't right!!

Could you put a divider to make it half the height until he grows?

I think he would be fine if you can watch and be sure he knows where the food and water are. I mean they survive in the wild in huge areas and have to find food. Hand feeding in the area where the cup is will also help to lead him in the right direction. If you notice that he isn't finding his food and water you could always put a divider up.

Thanks guys. Just wanted some reassurance , definitely appreciate the wisdom

this sounds about the size of the encosure my male veiled is in. now i will say they are not the same, but i put him in it after 3 mo of having him, and prior had him in much smaller setups. i had gotten him around 3.5 mo old. so i would assume since he was around 6-7 mo that yours could be fine. my 5 mo old panther is in a smaller enclosure at the moment, but i plan to put him in the 2x2x4 enclosure i just built for him in the next couple months. in keeping all the chams i have, i just spend a ton of time observing them and their behavior. thats whats best. the biggest deal would be making sure he eats. my veiled loved hunting them down, but in the big cage wasnt eating much as he couldnt fine some. i got him eating again by using a 5qt ice cream container hung from a branch he tends to hang out on.

As long as you provide branches throughout the enclosure and don't have wide voids you can put a 3-4 month old in any size cage. I house 4 month olds in a 24x24x48 cage all the time. The trick is providing climbing opportunities that reach all corners of the cage. They have no issue hunting food in that size cage. The guy you are getting from us will do fine in any size cages as long as he can reach the sides and top easily. If you don't provide enough climbing opportunities he will be forced to climb the screen all the time. See the link below for examples of how we setup the branches in our cages.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.531302093590006.1073741831.291375457582672&type=3