About to make a big purchase

Hello as some of you may know I am about to buy my first chameleon, and have been doing some research for a while. Well this weekend I am going to be buying all of the supplies (cage ect.) Here is a list of what I will be buying if im missing anything or something seems wrong please let me know.

Btw this will be for a baby-juvenile panther.

Zoo Med Medium Repti Breeze Aluminum Screen Cage 16x16x30

Exo Terra Digital Thermometer and Hydrometere

Zoo Med 15" Repti Sun 5.0 UVB Bulb

Zoo Med 75 watt basking bulb

Zoo Med regular black ceramic clip lamp

18" fluorescent hood fixture

Zoo Med Little Dripper (70oz)

Exo terra spray bottle (16.7oz)

Exo Terra Jungle Vine Small

Assorted Bamboo perches

Pothos plant (I want a "satin" one but have only seen reviews on "golden pothos"

Umbrella plant

Rep cal Ultra fine calcium w/ D3 3.3oz

Rep cal ultra fine calcium w/o D3 3.3oz

Rep cal herptivite 3.3oz

Exo Terra Cricket Pen Small

I will not be buying the feeders just yet as I want the cage up and running for 10-14 days before I am going to be buying the cham itself. But any feedback is appreciated :D
 
Unless you plan on getting a bigger cage later, go ahead and get the 2x2x48 cage now. It doesn't seem like a big difference, but it will make your cham much happier to have the space.

Have fun and post photos!
 
Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new chameleon!!

Looks like a good list.

I agree that you might as well go for the bigger cage. He will need 2x2x4 as an adult so either get that or the 18x18x36 and then upgrade. The medium reptibreeze will only last you a month or so before you will need to upgrade.

Also, just get a 60w household incandescent light bulb for basking. It is cheaper and the 75w zoo med is probably too intense for a juvi.

Great job on the research and make sure you post plenty of pics :D
 
Welcome! List looks prettgood. Like mentioned, save money and use normal bulbs for basking lights. Also, that zoo med spray bottle will cost 3 times more than it should. Go to hd and get a pump up spray one :)
 
Regarding the cage size when I looked over the care sheet and other posts I have read a 16x16x30 is ideal for a chameleon (panther) from about 3-9 months before upgrading to the full 24x24x48 cage. Though I could be wrong (I do plan on ordering one between 3-5 months of age). Also I went through different plant lists I see that golden pothos are safe but does anyone of have an info on other sub-species of pothos??
 
Regarding the cage size when I looked over the care sheet and other posts I have read a 16x16x30 is ideal for a chameleon (panther) from about 3-9 months before upgrading to the full 24x24x48 cage. Though I could be wrong (I do plan on ordering one between 3-5 months of age). Also I went through different plant lists I see that golden pothos are safe but does anyone of have an info on other sub-species of pothos??

I made the same mistake for my first chameleon and bought the medium 16x16x30 for my 3 month panther. A week later I was upgrading his cage size. Just trying to save you some money and time :)
 
If you are buying from a breeder most do not cup feed babies. Your baby will be stresses due to shipping and being in a new home. If he's in a large enclosure he might not be able to find his food if you free range the feeders. If you try to cup feed and he's not use to cup feeding then he might not eat. :( I always recommend a small cage to start with and then when they move up to a big cage you can use the small one for travel. It will be great for vet visits and so forth. Just my opinion. :)
 
I do appreciate it, I think I will buy the bigger one instead. Will this cause any issues with feeding? I do plan on letting his feeders free roam as opposed to cup feeding.
 
Hello as some of you may know I am about to buy my first chameleon, and have been doing some research for a while. Well this weekend I am going to be buying all of the supplies (cage ect.) Here is a list of what I will be buying if im missing anything or something seems wrong please let me know.

Btw this will be for a baby-juvenile panther.

Zoo Med Medium Repti Breeze Aluminum Screen Cage 16x16x30
This is a bit big for a cham less than 5months of age but can be ideal if you set up a good canopy at the top. If i am not mistaken panthers do get a bit big when mature, and at roughly 10m this will not be enough room for them to be happy. The feeders will collect to the dark corners and cracks along the top of the cage which is ideally the closest dark area to the heat source. Your cham will figure out how to eat them if you provide a ring of vine for it to easily access these corners you can prevent your cham from getting possible burns from climbing on the screen. !!! Be sure to measure the temperature of the screen itself!!!! Measure the temp with a black colored probe that is touching the hottest part of the screen. Your cham will adjust its color to bask and black and holds higher temps than the ambient air of the basking spot. Your cham WILL adventure onto the screen when cold or hunting prey and if it is above 95-100ºF, your cham will get burned. This is not addressed nearly enough, so i ask you to please take this into consideration. Especially if you are going to use the 75w basking lamp.
Exo Terra Digital Thermometer and Hydrometere
These things are awesome, make sure to get the digital therm with atleast 1 probe. This is needed to measure specific areas of the cage. The Hygrotherm is even cooler, it lets you program different functions if the temps or humidity change below or above what you want them to. Offering a safer environment for your cham. If you have shotty AC or heat in your house then this might be a good investment. They are like 30 or 40$ on amazon?
Zoo Med 15" Repti Sun 5.0 UVB Bulb
make sure that the majority of the canopy is between 3"-9" of this bulb. The output of the low wattage linear tubes is complete garbage.
Zoo Med 75 watt basking bulb
75W is a bit much for an eclosure of this size. It can work but will need to be placed far enough away the the basking spot stays below 90.
Zoo Med regular black ceramic clip lamp
These things are great, however finding things to clip them to is a pain in the arse.
18" fluorescent hood fixture
how many bulbs can it hold? and is this for the zoomed uvb or for your viewing or the plants?
Zoo Med Little Dripper (70oz)
Make sure you have good drainage if you are going to use a dripper at all times
Exo terra spray bottle (16.7oz)
These are more work than they are worth. Waiting to give your cham water for the entire day while you are out and about with your life will dehydrate them. The dripper will suffice but make sure the humidity is in the appropriate range for baby panthers, which I think is not as important as it is with other species? invest in a misting system, DIY is cheaper but exo makes some great misting products. MistKing is the most sought after by a majority of this sites users.
Exo Terra Jungle Vine Small
never even heard of this so I have no opinion
Assorted Bamboo perches
Again, I am not certain about the particular needs of panthers but for my baby jackson, the bamboo perches were not offering enough grip and she was slipping and nearly falling off. I replaced them with grapevine wood of various sizes and she loves them. You can pick up wreaths of grape vine from craft stores. Make sure to soak in water for atleast an hour and heat treat them in the oven at 350ºF for atleast 20 minutes. Make sure they are wet when you put them in or they will burn.
Pothos plant (I want a "satin" one but have only seen reviews on "golden pothos"
Pothos are great, just make sure the subspecies you get are not toxic. Some species such as the devils ivy or more commonly the "golden pothos" excrete a liquid when broken abraded or eaten that will cause humans an itchy rash and extreme mouth pain when eaten. Can only imagine what it would do to a cham.
Drainage is also another important factor to consider for your plants. Leaving the plants with roots and soil exposed can be a hazard for your cham. Crickets will explore and eat from these small places. What the crickets eat, your cham also eats.

Umbrella plant
Schefflerra amate (umbrella tree) are toxic. The Schefflerra Aboricolla (dwarf umbrella) is what you need to find. They are still toxic but much less than the larger species. However the scent of an injured or broken stem of the plant keeps most chams from biting or trying to eat it a second time.

Again, check up on a drainage forum for a blueprint of what to do. If you cant mix sand into the soil the atleast make sure to re pot the plants with a layer of small rocks, gravel and then sand on the bottom and then sand, gravel, and rocks that cant be eaten by your cham on top.

Rep cal Ultra fine calcium w/ D3 3.3oz
Check up the reviews and make sure that it is not a phosphate based calcium supplement
Rep cal ultra fine calcium w/o D3 3.3oz
Same as above and below
Rep cal herptivite 3.3oz
same as above but make sure to use it as directed by the care sheet for panther chams
Exo Terra Cricket Pen Small
great for easy feeding but difficult to ensure that your cham is getting supplemented. Try to keep the size of loose feeders to less than half of the width of your chams head. Crickets too large will be seen as predators to small chams and can result in stress and territorial actions. Letting them run loose also runs the risk of them eating things that they shouldnt and then being indirectly consumed by your cham. Most problematic things crickets will eat are other dead rotting crickets and fertilizer. Make sure to follow the drainage plans for live plants which take this into consideration. (sand and 2 sizes of rocks.).
I will not be buying the feeders just yet as I want the cage up and running for 10-14 days before I am going to be buying the cham itself. But any feedback is appreciated :D

Not a problem, hope I helped a little bit. :)
 
Regarding the cage size when I looked over the care sheet and other posts I have read a 16x16x30 is ideal for a chameleon (panther) from about 3-9 months before upgrading to the full 24x24x48 cage. Though I could be wrong (I do plan on ordering one between 3-5 months of age). Also I went through different plant lists I see that golden pothos are safe but does anyone of have an info on other sub-species of pothos??

The ASPCA web site has a list of all toxic plants and the effects if ingested. The plants you see suggested on here are popular for a reason. for example http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/golden-pothos
Morning glories are considered poisionious for their content of Indole alkaloids such as Lysergic acid, lysergamide, elymoclavine and chanoclavine) Lysergic acid is a precursor to LSD synthesis which is technically toxic, however I theorize that this would not physically harm a cham and may activate a primal part of their brain... Just a theory so dont actually try it but the remaining alkaloids;elymoclavine and chanoclavine have been proven to cause gastrointestinal upset(liquidpoo), agitation, tremors, disorientation, ataxia and anorexia.

The point of what i am saying is that if you are unsure whether or not a plant you want to get may be harmful, find out exactly what it is in the plant that is harmful and decide if it is worth the risk... The internet will tell you very good details about plants.

The Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato vines) are a safe alternative for living vines but need more light than the typical enclosure can provide.
I personally use dead heat treated grape vines, live hibiscus rosa sinensis, live ficus banjamina(weeping fig) and a small schefflerra aboricola(dwarf umbrella plant)
My cham nibbles at and eats nearly all of these plants for what ever reason and has never showed any signs of illness. It seems as though she chews on the schefflerra when she is having a hard time taking a poo. Perhaps she learned that it is a natural laxative?
 
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