Newbie in the Reptile World!

Hello! Just wanted to introduce myself as I just joined. In the last couple of months I've been thinking about getting a Chameleon and I just decided that I'm doing it! I've had dogs all my life, and mine just recently had to be put down, and I miss having a pet . But my living conditions no longer allow me to have a big dog. I've had friends growing up who've had all sorts of reptiles and they always seemed so fascinating! So I'm currently gathering everything I need to get my Panther Chameleon cage nice and ready and will be getting one soon! Very excited!

I found this place and it has been a MASSIVE source of information already. I want to be an educated and responsible Chameleon owner so I'm hoping everyone is friendly and can answer questions! I will be posting pictures of my cage for tips on setup and what I need soon!

Welcome to the Forums! This is a great place to learn about chameleons and there a lot of very knowledgable members. It is always refreshing to see someone doing their research and getting prepared BEFORE purchasing a chameleon.

Thanks! I'm anxious to get him...but I'm also terrified I do something wrong! So I just am taking my time and starting to gather everything since the startup is a little more than I expected. Do you have any tips on where to get cheap light fixtures? I bought my UVB bulb, but the local reptile shop wanted $30 for just a plain, ordinary run of the mill fixture. I checked Lowes but they just have the ones for commercial ceiling installations.

Unfortunately, I have also found light fixtures kind of pricey. I suggest that you purchase from one of our site sponsors. LLL reptile has some reasonably priced fixtures. I believe Pangea does as well. What kind of cage are you planning on using?

I was told to start with a Small Reptibreeze until it gets bigger, I'm starting with a baby and was told they stress if their cage is too big at first since they have trouble finding food? I have a local LLLReptile store that I went to and it's where I've been buying most of my stuff. I thought that $40 was too much for that small of a light fixture, but I'll keep looking. It's also where I was planning on getting my little dude. However, none of the ones they have, are sexed. And I'm TERRIFIED to get a female since I'm just not ready for that with my first one! Nobody can touch them on the price though, $199. All the ones I find online for sexed ones are at least $300+ shipping.

Welcome to the Chameleon Forums. There's a wealth of information here and allot of nice cham keepers. It's so nice to see people doing their research BEFORE they get a chameleon. I have a blog for new keepers that I passed out when I homed my babies to new keepers. I hope it will help you out.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
More chameleon info found here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

Small cage for young tiny chams is good, as long as you upgrade once he gets older. What kind of chameleon are you going to get? Veiled chameleons can be easily sexed from birth... Or "hatch", I guess.

I'm looking at a panther Chameleon, leaning more towards an Ambilobe. I'm really a fan of the very red ones.

Wowbango said:

I'm looking at a panther Chameleon, leaning more towards an Ambilobe. I'm really a fan of the very red ones.

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Two excellent site sponsors to buy from is Nick at Canvas Chameleons http://www.canvaschams.com/ and Dez at Chamelot Chameleons http://www.chamalotchameleons.com/
Dez has tiny babies that will be ready to go in a few months and Nick might have some now. Check them out.

Thanks for the info Jannb! Unfortunately Canvas doesn't have any at the moment and I was wanting to get him a little sooner than later. I ended up purchasing one from Bruce at Chameleon Paradise! What a great guy! I'm very excited, hoping to get him in about 1-2 weeks.