Cage size for young chameleons

[ebutterly]

Several questions...
I was looking into buying a panther chameleon as my first chameleon... i have done all the research and i feel like i understand the species and what it takes to take care of them. is it a good idea to start with a panther? or should i start with a veiled.
in addition... im looking into buying a starter kit with the 2 ft by 2 ft by 4 ft... however i would be getting a panther chameleon that is 3 to 4 months old. is having a young chameleon in a larger cage for him to grow into a bad idea??
another question with the heating... what can the temperature at night get down to for panther chameleons... if it gets below a certain temperature do i have to buy a night lamp to keep the heat up?
finally im in college and i was wondering how stressful it is for a chameleon to travel an hour or so in the car several times a year

 

[chameleon97]

Several questions...
I was looking into buying a panther chameleon as my first chameleon... i have done all the research and i feel like i understand the species and what it takes to take care of them. is it a good idea to start with a panther? or should i start with a veiled.
in addition... im looking into buying a starter kit with the 2 ft by 2 ft by 4 ft... however i would be getting a panther chameleon that is 3 to 4 months old. is having a young chameleon in a larger cage for him to grow into a bad idea??
another question with the heating... what can the temperature at night get down to for panther chameleons... if it gets below a certain temperature do i have to buy a night lamp to keep the heat up?
finally im in college and i was wondering how stressful it is for a chameleon to travel an hour or so in the car several times a year

if a panther is what you want, get a male.
start with a 3ft tall at the most, then move on up. its hard for them to find food (a feeder cup in plain veiw of your cham resolves that almost completely)

if its below 60F then a heater is nessesary, i would go ceramic because they like total darkness. and it is very stressful for chams to be taken out of their cage for a few min, let alone 1 hr

 

[veiledchameleonyoshi]

I'm not really experienced with panthers so I can't answer all of your questions but I can tell you that panthers and veileds have very similar requirements. As long as you do your research, you would be fine starting off with either one.

 

[summoner12]

Good luck and welcome!

Several questions...
I was looking into buying a panther chameleon as my first chameleon... i have done all the research and i feel like i understand the species and what it takes to take care of them. is it a good idea to start with a panther? or should i start with a veiled.
in addition... im looking into buying a starter kit with the 2 ft by 2 ft by 4 ft... however i would be getting a panther chameleon that is 3 to 4 months old. is having a young chameleon in a larger cage for him to grow into a bad idea??
another question with the heating... what can the temperature at night get down to for panther chameleons... if it gets below a certain temperature do i have to buy a night lamp to keep the heat up?
finally im in college and i was wondering how stressful it is for a chameleon to travel an hour or so in the car several times a year

First off, do not buy red or blue heat lamps. If your temp drops to below 67ish at night maybe even 65 degrees you should buy a ceramic heater. You can get these at LLL Reptile. These give off a lot of heat, so don't just place it on top of the screen. If you have issues keeping heat and humidity up you should hang plastic on two or three sides of the cage.

The 2x2x4 cage and a young cham don't mix well... I would get a smaller reptarium to start. Then move him up into the 'big boy' cage. This is true wth the panthers and veileds.

As for which to pick.... If you feel confident and would like to spend the extra money on a Panther, go for it. The care is similar to a Veiled. If you are wishy washy maybe get the veiled since they are a bit more tough and don't cost as much. Veileds are just as great to keep as panthers.

 

[chamelisa]

The 2x2x4 cage and a young cham don't mix well... I would get a smaller reptarium to start.

I wonder how much UVB is filtered out through a Reptarium vs. a regular screened cage. Still borrowing Dave's meter? Not like you have nothing better to do but it would be cool to find out.

Anyway, aren't the small screened cages about the same price? I like them better because they have a panel that you can remove to clean. They are sturdy and you can't zip a little chameleon foot or tail up in the zipper. I've heard stories about that before.

 

[summoner12]

Good Idea!

I wonder how much UVB is filtered out through a Reptarium vs. a regular screened cage. Still borrowing Dave's meter? Not like you have nothing better to do but it would be cool to find out.

Anyway, aren't the small screened cages about the same price? I like them better because they have a panel that you can remove to clean. They are sturdy and you can't zip a little chameleon foot or tail up in the zipper. I've heard stories about that before.

I can take a look in the morning. I am using a reptarium for my female Veiled. She doesn't have any MBD issues... and its a 5.0. In FACT! the 10.0 I was using was causing her eye problems...... hmmmmmmm.................................................................................................................................

As for the type of cage......... the comparable screen cage is is like $40 more I think..... If this person plans to get more chams... might be worth investing in the more expensive, easier to clean, better looking and easier to see into cage.....