About to get my first cham/new to forums

GlassEyez

New Member
whats up everybody? new to the forums and am about to purchase my first cham. i think im pretty much all setup. i have the 2x2x4ft cage, reptisun 5.0 18" bulb in a hood, a heat lamp, and a daytime light bulb. i will be putting an umbrella tree in the cage (schefflera arbicola, not the other one thats toxic, already bought one of those without knowing and it is now sitting on my backporch hahaha) also i have purchased a reptifogger to help with humidity and water for the cham to drink. ALSO, lol the list goes on, i have bought materials to begin breeding crickets so i know i will have good healthy fat food for my cham. im pretty sure i got everything figured out, except for the cham. i want either an ambilobe or a nosy be. my only thing for right now is whether it would be ok to have a small 2-3month old in a large cage like that or would i be better off looking for a cham that is say 6-8 monthes old?
 
WELCOME TO THE FORUM!
I'm kind of in the middle on this one, just because its harder for them to find their food in their big cage, unless you are cup feeding and monitoring their feeding pretty well.. For one of my first chams, I had kept a baby in a large cage of that size and it seemed pretty satisfied, but you also don't want them to get up too high and fall all the way down, that could be tragic... But I'm sure if you keep a good eye on how they are in the cage, you should be fine.
 
Welcome to the forums, it looks like u have done your homework. I personaly would start off with a three month or older not younger .if u get a 3 m. I would put a divider in the cage so u won't lose him in that big cage when he gets older remove the divider .he's gonna be a lucky cham cuz his owner is setting him up in s penthouse.for a panther ,in my opinion u don't need a reptifogger. That's really good u did ur homework first . Ur gonna be a good owner. Good luck any questions ask any time.
 
thanks for the responses i appreciate it. i have a couple of medium and large vines going around the cage almost like an expressway from the top to the side middle to the bottom, criss crossing in the middle. i guess now im just down to whether i want an ambilobe or a nosy be. and as for the fogger i guess i could use it for my ball python or somethin else? i bought an exo terra pressure mister yesterday so i should have that base covered :D i've been eyeballin an ambilobe on flchams.com and have called them several times and sent a few emails but have got no response so im not real sure about buying from them even though ive read good reviews. oh well when the time is right lol any suggestions on feeding regiments? i have reptivite w/ D3 and repti calcium w/ D3. should i have something without the D3 in it? any suggestions on that?
 
I would get a 4 to 8 month old to go in a 4 foot high cage. A young panther wouldn't be able to find food in a cage that large. You will need calcium with no D3 for just about every feeding. You'll only use the D3 twice a month.
 
I would get a 4 to 8 month old to go in a 4 foot high cage. A young panther wouldn't be able to find food in a cage that large.

Welcome to the forums, and I disagree with this, because I had a 2 mo old in a 4 ft cage and he did perfect. How do u think they survive in the wild? Their crickets aren't delivered to them in a neat little package, they have to hunt 4 them (or ambush). For new owners I would recommend a 3-4 mo. Old to start w/, and don't get a female unless u r looking to breed 4 other complicated reasons. U probably allready knew that last sentence though since you obviously did ur reasearch.
 
thanks for the responses and i like that lol the cham fam hahaha. and kibu you're the first person to say it would be fine in a cage of that size. and i kinda wanna take your side on it too. im getting a male nosy be that hatched in febuary. im getting it from kammerflage kreations www.chameleonsonly.com great people, great customer service, and my cham is supposed to be ready to go next week. kibu where in riverview are you breh? i live in brandon right off providence n causeway
 
for a first time owner, its better to go with a slightly older chameleon, regardless of the cage size.
If you use bowls to put the food in, strategically placed under/near where the chameleon's favourite branches are, you dont have to worry about a small chameleon not finding food in a larger cage.
 
Thanks for the response Sandra. My lil guy arrives Tuesday and he hatched in February so he's 4 or 5 months old. Also I was planning on trying to hand feed so he'll be more sociable whenever I do decide to try to handle him. I'm really not tooo worried about the cage because obviously in the wild they aren't in 4ft cages lol but none the less I will be monitoring him closely
 
The supplementing is important. Plain no d3 calcium daily. Calcium with d3 every two weeks. And a multivit every two weeks. :)

Also u said a heat light and day light. The uvb is correct. But if by heat light u mea. Night light. No need. actually is recommend nothing for heat at night. They need the cool nigh (mid 60 is comfortable) to shut down and sleep deep. :)
 
The heat lamp is only during the day to help keep heat up. My apartment gets down to Lowe to mid 70s at night so no need for any night warmth. Thanks for the suggestion on supplementing I needed a good plain answer like that hahaha
 
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