do any of you know?

Hi we've decided to get a yemen chameleon, were going to build our own vivarium as my dad is a carpenter does anyone have any idea's on how to build one and with what materials? we've been told the size should be 3foot in lenth 2back to front and 4foot tall in hight is this correct? thanks for any help katy x

yes that size would be great for an adult?

usually people use hardboard usually
are you thinking all wood except front? or are you thinking mesh sides?

this is off another forum im on,but it gives you a basic idea

thank you very very very much for your reply andy123, also we're new-ish to all this and would like as much advice as possible, what do you think is best all wood, mesh half and half? thank you once again katy x x

more then welcome

personally i have no problem using glass vivs but the majority of people prefer more mesh based, i think if i was making a viv myself id use mesh top and 2 sides, wooden back and base and glass front

glad you said that thats what we were thinking, we were going to use our old piranha tank which we were going to put on its end and that would make it 5foot tall 3front to back and 3lenth and mesh down the side which was the top of tank but we found it would be 2hard to do with the heating lights, draining ect, so as my dad has the skills we decided to build one but wasnt sure of disigne but you've said what we were thinking, havnt read the thing you sent yet had a quick scan it looks good is it for an adult size? we're going to look at a chameleon next sunday ( just look as we're not ready for him yet) he's 7months old so he wouldnt still need a smaller set up would he? thank you again its nice to have some one answer me. x x

andy123 said:

more then welcome

personally i have no problem using glass vivs but the majority of people prefer more mesh based, i think if i was making a viv myself id use mesh top and 2 sides, wooden back and base and glass front

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I agree with that. Many people say that if it's not a totally mesh cage, as long as two of the sides are screen, along with the top, then ventilation is still good. Usually the long boards of wood they sell at any Lowes or Home Depot are good. You would then just have to seal everything with a coat or two of wood sealant, maybe a little silicone for the wood back edges, and you're good to go.

No, you wouldn't need a smaller cage. At 7 months he's big enough for an adult cage.

(edit) This is a link to some gecko cages I built, it should give you a rough idea as to what it could look like: https://www.chameleonforums.com/great-crestie-cage-build-39504/ Mine were much smaller, but it's the basic concept.

katy123 said:

glad you said that thats what we were thinking, we were going to use our old piranha tank which we were going to put on its end and that would make it 5foot tall 3front to back and 3lenth and mesh down the side which was the top of tank but we found it would be 2hard to do with the heating lights, draining ect, so as my dad has the skills we decided to build one but wasnt sure of disigne but you've said what we were thinking, havnt read the thing you sent yet had a quick scan it looks good is it for an adult size? we're going to look at a chameleon next sunday ( just look as we're not ready for him yet) he's 7months old so he wouldnt still need a smaller set up would he? thank you again its nice to have some one answer me. x x

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he will be almost adult then at 7 months, so yes go for a larger cage, most people say 2ft wide x 2 ft deep x 4ft tall is minimum for an adult so just go from there and explore what size you have room for and what would look better for where it will be kept

I agree the bigger the better! Here's a cage that I built awhile back for my female. Maybe it will give you a few ideas. https://www.chameleonforums.com/members/beeze-albums-making-aluminum-cage.html

This cage was built by a friend for me. The sides and front door are replaceable screen panels.

thank you all for your help, my dad is disigning one for us right now, he's going away at end of week so he wont start it till next week now when it is done i shall put some pic's up and when we find the right little chap for us to put in it i shall put a pic of him up as well. thank you all once again for your help, you are all stars thank you katy xxx P.S. can anyone help with whats the best plants/decorations to put in also whats the best mesh to use and what does the dripper drip into? shall we put some form of tray in the bottom or a pulg? any ideas guys?

Best plants: non-poisonous tropical plants that do well with lots of water are probably the best. The most common plants used are pothos (a vine plant), umbrella tree, ficus, and hibuscus. I recommend that you get a 6500K daylight fluorescent bulb to put ontop of the cage, along with the UV and heat bulbs the chameleon needs because I couldn't keep my plants alive without it. It depends how much natural light the room the cham will be in gets, but if you start to have problems, try to find that bulb. I think it's $7 plus the $7 fixture.

Best mesh, I think aluminum mesh is not recommended but I'm not sure. Hopefully someone else can help with this one.

And for water collection, the easiest thing to do is to drill a couple holes at the bottom of your cage and have that drip into a bucket. I have a photo of what I do with one of my cages: https://www.chameleonforums.com/mem...n-bucket-pretty-simple-but-very-effective.jpg The water is collected on that little table we built and it drips through a funnel into a bucket that I dump out once a week. I've tried 20 different methods for collecting water and found this one to be the best. And the benefit is also that you can get the cage as high off the ground as you want, which is good for the cham. But if you didn't mean what I just talked about, I think that you can also secure a little tupperware or something to the branches under the dripper. The water will drip into the bowl and create movement that will attract the chameleon to drink. I did this for a while and my chameleon loved it, and as long as you clean it out once a day it's not a bacterial concern or anything.

Hope that helps!

thank you olimpia that is what i ment, sorry got another question!! you know their water does it have to be bottle water or can it be tap water or as we have a fridge that does filtered water could we use that? and also i said we're going to get a yemen well we really really like the panther but we decided on the yemen as web sites were saying their better for first timers but as my partner has had skinks, fying gecko's, soft shell turtels,piranha,tropical fish and so on do you think we could have a panther? we have the time it needs and we are good to our animals, thank you again really do appreciate all your help. katy x x

Most people like filtered water, what's what I use. Although, unless your tap water is really gross, some people use tap if they're from a relatively clean area like up in Montana or something where the water if esentially from the snow.

Panthers and veileds are both excellent first chameleons. I have a panther and a Jacksons (one that is generally though of as a trickier chameleon) and there is no difference in the effort I put into each chameleon. Veilds and panthers are really close in care so if you like a panther more, then go for it, because the only difference is a lower hot spot temp (I think) and you can do that by just getting a weaker bulb. Personally, I love panthers more for their variety of colors, but it's up to you both are excellent.

I think you can. I by myself have 18 other reptile pets, along with a dog, and I have plenty of time for my chams. It helps if at some point you invest in a misting system from Mistking or someone similar. It may cost you $100 but it's money well spent, since it will mist automatically all day without you having to do anything. All you'd have to worry about is feeding and cleaning. I don't know what your schedule looks like (if you work or go to classes or something) but I definately think you'd probably have time for one.

thanks for that we live in the uk in wales our water is very very clean, iam at home all day with the kids and my partner lee is a floor technitian, we have at the mo 2labradors a rabbit and tropical fish but as you can see from my other posts i have put we have both grown up with lots of animals, my dogs get treated like roylty!! what do you handle yours much as have readed it can stress them out and thats the last thing i want to do, and whats the best age to go for i've been told 5months plus. katy x

katy123 said:

thanks for that we live in the uk in wales our water is very very clean, iam at home all day with the kids and my partner lee is a floor technitian, we have at the mo 2labradors a rabbit and tropical fish but as you can see from my other posts i have put we have both grown up with lots of animals, my dogs get treated like roylty!! what do you handle yours much as have readed it can stress them out and thats the last thing i want to do, and whats the best age to go for i've been told 5months plus. katy x

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i use tap water and its fine for ours

what chameleons do you have andy123? do you think we'd be ok with a panther?

katy123 said:

what chameleons do you have andy123? do you think we'd be ok with a panther?

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we have 3 veileds, and personally i dont regret getting a veiled as a first, they sure do give you a feel to what chams can be like which is good before you explore into the more exotic and harder to keep species such as panthers, id say go for a veiled first just cos a panther can be more tricky then a veiled and if uve never had a chameleon they are very very different to other reps and animals

ahhh just dont know what to do!!!!! some people saying that panther and vieled are both good first timers as theres not much diffrence in careing for them and others are saying there tricky!!! why tricky? whats the diffrence between keeping a panther and a vieled? sorry i probably soon sooo thick but just want to learn as much as poss of you guys before we go buying one. thank you all again for your help. katy x x

katy123 said:

ahhh just dont know what to do!!!!! some people saying that panther and vieled are both good first timers as theres not much diffrence in careing for them and others are saying there tricky!!! why tricky? whats the diffrence between keeping a panther and a vieled? sorry i probably soon sooo thick but just want to learn as much as poss of you guys before we go buying one. thank you all again for your help. katy x x

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well, the veileds seem to be more hardier and more forgiving and tollerent to if your doing something wrong and will show you whether as other species would just die on you, veileds also can be friendlier then panthers but every chameleon is different in that aspect tbh, over in the UK veileds are more common and less pricey which makes it better for us cos they both will eat loads and grow fast, you will pay more for a panther and thats about it really

temps and humidity and signs of being ill/ something wrong are where you struggle with panthers compared to veileds in my opinion