About to buy my first chameleon!

[Spaznaut]

Hello every one!
I have been looking into buying a chameleon for about 6 months now and I am confident I know what i'm getting into. But as will all things new I will be nervous until I have had him for a while. What I come asking is if I have the right set up and schedule.

I am planing on buying a 16x16x30 aluminum screen cage (will get a 2x2x4 when he is full grown), 2 exo terra 6' vines one is 1" thick the other is 1/2" thick, 3 large fake plants, 2 large pieces of sandblasted grapewood, 18" hood and 5.0 reptisun bulb, 5.5" heat lamp with a 75w basking bulb, a hand mister, 2 thermometers (ones is a thermometer/hydrometer and the other is a plan thermometer), and a dipper. I would love to have a live plant but its extremely cold were I live right now and I can not get one until the weather warms up.

- is there any thing I am over looking?? or any advice or suggestion about changing my set up?


My next concern is about dusting. Should I be dusting with a phos-free calcium every feeding and using one with d3 2-3 times a month? Also do you give the multivitamin 2-3 times a month?

I would appreciate if any one could tell me if i'm heading in the right direction before I start purchasing every thing. Also any advice is welcomed.
BTW I am planning on getting a panther chameleon.

 

[drcrossfire]

Hello!

sounds like you have some great ideas in your head! Great start, and glad to see you took time to do research~

A temperature gun works well for me as opposed to your two thermometers. It allows you to gauge the temps all throughout your cage, and can cost only 20-30$

have you considered going with an automated mister? Cuts down on a lot of the stress associated with their care IMO. Mistking/aquazamp are both great misters.

 

[drcrossfire]

also-- where are you from?

 

[Spaznaut]

I have a temp gun (I own leo's). I want to get a mistking set up or even the exo terra monsoon or habba mister. I only have so much money tho and a lot of the "starter setups" I saw had a hand held spray bottle. I live in Oswego NY and its very very cold right now.

 

[maxttu]

Awesome job on your research! What kind of Cham are you considering? Supplement schedule, mistings, temp, etc. will vary depending on which type of Cham you get.

 

[azgnoinc]

Excellent job on finding an joining the forums - welcome to the crazy world of chameleons!!!
I've seen most other things covered here, but what about your feeder insects? Where are you going to get them, what kind of variety can you offer, are you prepared to house and breed any types of feeders yourself - supplementation should also be balanced with gutloading those feeders - this is something additional that you need to look into as well.
Sandrachameleon (search members) I believe has a blog and or links to a number of different places to get feeders from, and there is always the classifieds section on here too.

As for the actual chameleon - there is one more thing to keep in mind - post LOTS of pics - we all love to see the new additions!

Best of luck and keep us updated

 

[Spaznaut]

I am planing on getting a panther chameleon. From what I have found they should be at around 50-60% humidity jumping up to 80%+ during their misting, they can handle 30-40% but they will need to be misted More to keep them hydrated. Basking spot should be 85-93 and the cage should be around 73+ for the ambient temp. As far as a Supplement schedule that is one thing I am not so sure of. I know they need d3 and multivitamin at least 2-3 a month but I have not found a good example of a schedule I could follow.

 

[Spaznaut]

For feeders The main staple would be crickets, I normaly gut load my crickets with carrots peppers and some fresh greens. I'm not against buying cricket gut load that's on the market I just don't know which is a good brand or which is best to use. I also Order waxworms for my leo's so ordering other worms like hornworms and silkworms would not be a problem. I have seen some people feed them grasshoppers also, stuff I could order to feed him is something I would do to help vary his diet.

 

[maxttu]

I am planing on getting a panther chameleon. From what I have found they should be at around 50-60% humidity jumping up to 80%+ during their misting, they can handle 30-40% but they will need to be misted More to keep them hydrated. Basking spot should be 85-93 and the cage should be around 73+ for the ambient temp. As far as a Supplement schedule that is one thing I am not so sure of. I know they need d3 and multivitamin at least 2-3 a month but I have not found a good example of a schedule I could follow.

Bugburger and dinofuel are great gutloads. Check those out.

For a panther you can go cal every day, cal no d3 and multivitamin every other wknd.

Careful with the waxworms, they're fatty and addicting to chams like crack to a crackhead...

 

[Spaznaut]

Ya wax works are like crack to leo's also. I normally just use them as treats.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello, welcome to the forum . Here is a great blog which you might find of interest - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

Here is another great blog - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/psychobunny/746-taming-chameleon.html

This is a great list of feeder ideas - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

And another link to the gutloading Bible for good measure - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html#comment1725

 

[lisagr07]

For a panther you can go cal every day, cal no d3 and multivitamin every other wknd.
..

Hey Max, don't you mean..... "cal with d3 and multivitamin every bother weekend."

Or am i reading it wrong????? I could be, on meds following my surgery!!! weeeeeeeee!!!!!!

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hey Max, don't you mean..... "cal with d3 and multivitamin every bother weekend."

Or am i reading it wrong????? I could be, on meds following my surgery!!! weeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Erm....I don't know if it's my place but I think I know where this nice drug crazed lady went wrong


For reference I think the usual forum standard is plain calcium with no d3 every feeding.
Twice a month replace with a powder that contains d3.
Once or twice per month use some kind of reptile multivit.
Always check your brands for d3 concentration. Adjust accordingly if your chams get a lot of outside time.