If you build your own cage, just remember that it isn’t always cheaper and that you must have a Solarmeter 6.5 to check UVI levels because all charts are based off the aluminum screens from commercially-made cages! The bulb and fixture should be lifted/hung above enough so that cham can use the whole cage to almost all of the way to the top and his basking branch, where it should be a UVI level of 3. You never want your cham in the red zone!
Dr. Steve Barten is one of the best reptile vets in the US. He recently did surgery in my friend Komodo Dragon and she had an awesome outcome.
Wow, awesome. Thank you. He’s only a 40 minute drive away! I will be sure to set up an appointment with him.
If I buy the last one, the one that has the most coverage, it would presumably be okay. Right? I’m going to take a look at Home Depot tomorrow and look at my options.
What do you mean?
Ok so you’ve gotten tons of great advice so I’m just gonna put a little input. You said your enclosure is bioactive or the substrate is but I have a hard time believing that. But I don’t know it could be...I just don’t think so...I’m sorry I don’t mean to come off rude! What do you mean by bioactive, can you explain how it is? (I know what bioactive enclosures are and all that I just want to know what you say) Next, coming from someone who made their enclosure honestly I don’t regret it but I don’t not regret it make sense? So it works great and everything about it is great it’s just small things about it that I wish I would’ve just invested in a good HIGH quality cage. You can make it but I just recommend getting one like a dragon strand or a DIY design (others too) because it’s just the little things. And these cages will last you for the entire lifetime of your chameleon, I’m not saying mine won’t but either cause I know it will. I made my cage for about $95-100 (sorry changed that just looked it was a bit more than I said $97.34 to be exact) but I had all the tools and everything I just needed the parts, I really love to build lol, but if you do not have any of the tools it’ll probably add up. It also takes a lot of time and effort to make one because you have to make sure everything is strong and stable and doesn’t fall apart, make sure everything is safe proof/no sharp edges, make sure the type of wood or materials won’t rot, mold, and rust, with the water etc. I’ll probably end up buying a new enclosure later on I don’t know only time will tell but if you really want to make one (like mentioned it’s not always cheaper) there are lots of resources available and if you want to know how I made mine just PM me anytime! As for plants I know home depot should have pothos, hibiscus, crotons, Hawaiian ti, spider plants, polka dot plants, and quite a few others. About winter there are a few that are hard to find right now because lots of people don’t have them since they are hard to keep alive and thriving in colder weathers. By people I mean like nurseries and that stuff. Ok bugs, so dubiaroches.com has good bugs and if you go to Neptune the Chameleon on YouTube she has a bunch of great videos for you to watch! (I think she also has a discount code for the website I put) I feed dubias from there, hornworms, bsfl, and superworms. I think something has happened with their shipments right now so maybe not at the moment great but for future reference they’re good, and silkworms I get from coastal silkworms they’re a bit pricier but they’re great! I also get bsfl from somewhere else although I can’t remember the name but I got them from a lllreptile and I’ve had my first few bsfl hatch into bsf which my cham seems to LOVE! The forums has a bunch of sponsors available on their sponsor page for bugs and other stuff I’ll link it. I think I covered everything I wanted too I don’t know though I’ve been writing this for a while
(that was a lot of input lol sorry) https://www.chameleonforums.com/sponsors/
If you mean that you are gonna buy the strongest bulb on the chart I posted, as @ERKleRose stated you will for sure need a solar meter to measure your uvb. If you look at the chart it'll tell you how the test was done and what exact screen is used for the control in the test. So if you are going to be building your enclosure chances are you won't be using the same material that applies to the chart. So you def would need to invest in a solar meter no matter what strength of bulb you buy, if you are going to build your cage that is.
I totally didn’t know about that website. I think I’ll just buy one off of their. I’m not sure though my dad does that carpentry stuff and I think it would be cheaper to have him hold it with his knowledge on that stuff. I will take a look tomorrow morning with him. Thank you so much. What is a “bsfl”? And I mean by my substrate is all natural ingredients and can hold plants. I know the top of it isn’t bio active but I have a few plants at the bottom. Not sure if that still counts as bio active though. What is PM? Is that a way I could directly message you?Ok so you’ve gotten tons of great advice so I’m just gonna put a little input. You said your enclosure is bioactive or the substrate is but I have a hard time believing that. But I don’t know it could be...I just don’t think so...I’m sorry I don’t mean to come off rude! What do you mean by bioactive, can you explain how it is? (I know what bioactive enclosures are and all that I just want to know what you say) Next, coming from someone who made their enclosure honestly I don’t regret it but I don’t not regret it make sense? So it works great and everything about it is great it’s just small things about it that I wish I would’ve just invested in a good HIGH quality cage. You can make it but I just recommend getting one like a dragon strand or a DIY design (others too) because it’s just the little things. And these cages will last you for the entire lifetime of your chameleon, I’m not saying mine won’t but either cause I know it will. I made my cage for about $95-100 (sorry changed that just looked it was a bit more than I said $97.34 to be exact) but I had all the tools and everything I just needed the parts, I really love to build lol, but if you do not have any of the tools it’ll probably add up. It also takes a lot of time and effort to make one because you have to make sure everything is strong and stable and doesn’t fall apart, make sure everything is safe proof/no sharp edges, make sure the type of wood or materials won’t rot, mold, and rust, with the water etc. I’ll probably end up buying a new enclosure later on I don’t know only time will tell but if you really want to make one (like mentioned it’s not always cheaper) there are lots of resources available and if you want to know how I made mine just PM me anytime! As for plants I know home depot should have pothos, hibiscus, crotons, Hawaiian ti, spider plants, polka dot plants, and quite a few others. About winter there are a few that are hard to find right now because lots of people don’t have them since they are hard to keep alive and thriving in colder weathers. By people I mean like nurseries and that stuff. Ok bugs, so dubiaroches.com has good bugs and if you go to Neptune the Chameleon on YouTube she has a bunch of great videos for you to watch! (I think she also has a discount code for the website I put) I feed dubias from there, hornworms, bsfl, and superworms. I think something has happened with their shipments right now so maybe not at the moment great but for future reference they’re good, and silkworms I get from coastal silkworms they’re a bit pricier but they’re great! I also get bsfl from somewhere else although I can’t remember the name but I got them from a lllreptile and I’ve had my first few bsfl hatch into bsf which my cham seems to LOVE! The forums has a bunch of sponsors available on their sponsor page for bugs and other stuff I’ll link it. I think I covered everything I wanted too I don’t know though I’ve been writing this for a while
I found a 24 x 24 x 48 cage by reptibreeze for $105. I think I’ll just buy that one to save the trouble. Thank you!If you mean that you are gonna buy the strongest bulb on the chart I posted, as @ERKleRose stated you will for sure need a solar meter to measure your uvb. If you look at the chart it'll tell you how the test was done and what exact screen is used for the control in the test. So if you are going to be building your enclosure chances are you won't be using the same material that applies to the chart. So you def would need to invest in a solar meter no matter what strength of bulb you buy, if you are going to build your cage that is.
Definitely want to avoid thermal burns for your little guy and def don't want him not getting enough uvb.
Bsfl is Black Soldier Fly Larvae it has other names as well you should try feeding these I think more pet stores are starting to sell them as well. Calci worms, nutrígrubs, Phoenix worms are other names for them they are nutritious and do not need to be dusted because of the high calcium they have etc. They are very good feeders to add more variety to your chams diet. Technically it isn’t, a bioactive enclosure has all live plants and branches, and bioactive substrate, the soil has feeders/bugs living in it and cleaning it etc (self-sustaining and self-cleaning environment)...it’s basically creating a little live natural environmental habitat. There’s lots of info on it available. PM stands for private message and yes it’s a way to directly message me. Click my profile and then press start conversation.
I recommend the DIY one its a a little pricier but it’s better quality then the reptibreeze
An alternative to a wood framed enclosure is a quick frame aluminum one .no wood to worry about seal or rotting away on ya.
Since your soil isn’t bioactive, you either need to remove all of it or add in a clean-up crew and other substrate ingredients into it. There is no in-between, only bare bottom or bioactive. Here’s a great introductory blog about it: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/intro-to-bio-activity.2429/
