Hello! Just FYI this is going to be a long post.
My name is Kaytlin and I am very new to chameleons. I'm relatively new to the reptile world as well, I've only just started keeping them about a year ago (started with one crested gecko and when I realized he wasn't too hard I started collecting more lol). I'm now pretty obsessed with reptiles. I've always been animal obsessed, I'm actually applying to a zoo keeper program, but now that ive started with the reptiles and amphibians I think I've found my calling. Anyways, I wanted to voyage into the world of chameleon keeping. I had originally stayed away after being told by a few people that they are NOT beginner reptiles, and are very very fragile. I thought they were so cool and fascinating but I never thought they were in the cards for me, until I started to keep herps and I realized that they aren't as difficult as everyone says.
I have decided on getting a veiled chameleon, definitely a male. As much as I love the flashy colors of the panthers, I just think theres something so captivating about the veileds. I havnt started to buy the setup yet, waiting on pay day, but it will be soon. My local reptile shop doesn't have any baby veileds for sale anyways, just a breeding pair and I'm not interested in that. Last time I spoke to them they said they will have them in a bit, as they have eggs in the incubator currently (I dont really know how long it takes chameleon eggs to hatch honestly). Either way its perfect because it gives me time to get my stuff together for him. This is where I would like some guidance.
I buy a lot of my reptile supplies from Josh's frogs, I am very into the idea of naturalistic or bioactive setups. I am going to try to use as many real plants as I can, not only because I like the look but also because of how well they bump humidity. Not to mention, I've noticed a lot that fake plants tend to be more expensive than the real things. So on his website, he has a veiled chameleon kit. https://www.joshsfrogs.com/vieled-chameleon-complete-kit.html
I was thinking of substituting the exo terra for the reptibreeze xl, as its only ten dollars more and the perfect size for an adult male. Would it really be an issue to put a baby into the adult size? I want to cup feed no matter what, I breed discoid roaches and do NOT want to deal with crickets, so either way I would be cup feeding.
As far as the rest of the kit goes, how does it look? I would also be ordering a ficus from him, and maybe a pothos. Are the lights he includes good for the plants? While I'm great at animal husbandry, I have a bit of a black thumb. The only reason my bioactive terrariums look nice is because I'm forced to "water" them every day while I mist my crestie's tank. I am also concerned about drainage but I have looked through the drainage thread and found some interesting ideas that I might use. I use those garage wire shelving as reptile racks and so putting a bucket on the shelf below to catch water from the drainage holes will probably be the way to go. I also probably won the buying the thermometer he includes just because I can get a similar one for less money on amazon.
For protecting my walls from overspray, I hear about shower curtain liners and such, do y'all just attach them to the back? If theres enough plants inside is overspray really a problem? I just don't think I would like the aesthetics of a shower curtain liner lol.
My name is Kaytlin and I am very new to chameleons. I'm relatively new to the reptile world as well, I've only just started keeping them about a year ago (started with one crested gecko and when I realized he wasn't too hard I started collecting more lol). I'm now pretty obsessed with reptiles. I've always been animal obsessed, I'm actually applying to a zoo keeper program, but now that ive started with the reptiles and amphibians I think I've found my calling. Anyways, I wanted to voyage into the world of chameleon keeping. I had originally stayed away after being told by a few people that they are NOT beginner reptiles, and are very very fragile. I thought they were so cool and fascinating but I never thought they were in the cards for me, until I started to keep herps and I realized that they aren't as difficult as everyone says.
I have decided on getting a veiled chameleon, definitely a male. As much as I love the flashy colors of the panthers, I just think theres something so captivating about the veileds. I havnt started to buy the setup yet, waiting on pay day, but it will be soon. My local reptile shop doesn't have any baby veileds for sale anyways, just a breeding pair and I'm not interested in that. Last time I spoke to them they said they will have them in a bit, as they have eggs in the incubator currently (I dont really know how long it takes chameleon eggs to hatch honestly). Either way its perfect because it gives me time to get my stuff together for him. This is where I would like some guidance.
I buy a lot of my reptile supplies from Josh's frogs, I am very into the idea of naturalistic or bioactive setups. I am going to try to use as many real plants as I can, not only because I like the look but also because of how well they bump humidity. Not to mention, I've noticed a lot that fake plants tend to be more expensive than the real things. So on his website, he has a veiled chameleon kit. https://www.joshsfrogs.com/vieled-chameleon-complete-kit.html
I was thinking of substituting the exo terra for the reptibreeze xl, as its only ten dollars more and the perfect size for an adult male. Would it really be an issue to put a baby into the adult size? I want to cup feed no matter what, I breed discoid roaches and do NOT want to deal with crickets, so either way I would be cup feeding.
As far as the rest of the kit goes, how does it look? I would also be ordering a ficus from him, and maybe a pothos. Are the lights he includes good for the plants? While I'm great at animal husbandry, I have a bit of a black thumb. The only reason my bioactive terrariums look nice is because I'm forced to "water" them every day while I mist my crestie's tank. I am also concerned about drainage but I have looked through the drainage thread and found some interesting ideas that I might use. I use those garage wire shelving as reptile racks and so putting a bucket on the shelf below to catch water from the drainage holes will probably be the way to go. I also probably won the buying the thermometer he includes just because I can get a similar one for less money on amazon.
For protecting my walls from overspray, I hear about shower curtain liners and such, do y'all just attach them to the back? If theres enough plants inside is overspray really a problem? I just don't think I would like the aesthetics of a shower curtain liner lol.
