Buy big to begin or gradual increase?

[shamelessw]

Hi, I have read that young Chameleons shouldnt be put in anything too large for hunting issues, I was planning on getting a reptibreeze XL for my first Veiled Cham, Would it be better to use a smaller enclosure to begin with? A local pet shop is selling chams only a few inches long. If this is the case what would be the minimum size to begin before moving in to the 2x2x4ft reptibreeze?

Many thanks

 

[patrickfraser]

When my veileds were babies I had a 2x2x4 on it's side and split in half with the bottom (now left side) with some screen hotglued on.

 

[shamelessw]

Thanks, this made me realise that buying one large that I can make smaller myself would be easy and cheaper than buying different sizes.

 

[SliK JiM]

I start all my chameleons off in enclosures that are 2x2x6 and move them into 4x6x8 when they get older (I am currently building a new 4x6x8 for my diego suarez)

The argument for using a small enclosure is it does make it easier to monitor food intake for a young chameleon. However, this is irrelevant if you cup feed your chameleon (as the food stays in one place) or use feeders that don't run off and hide (I use locusts as my staple feeder and these things are happy to climb towards the basking light; where the cham will normally be). Also, if you take your time to feed a chameleon (which most people do) by putting the food in in the vicinity of the cham, they will pick it up prettyy quickly and go hunting!

My final though is always that a chameleon in the wild would have acres of space to explore and find food and they manage perfectly well on their own then, so why should being in captivity make any difference. They're natural born hunters afterall!

 

[SliK JiM]

Oh, and if you're looking for inspiration, here is my veilds large enclosure (he is in the middle of the picture if you look hard enough):

and this was my panther's 2x2x6 enclosure when he first went in! (he is on the right hand side - I would have preferred to let the enclosure fill out more before he went in, but I had to take him early!)