Can a cage be too big?

O

osadolor1

New Member
I have a male veiled chameleon and I moved him from an 8x8x8 to a 65 gallon reptarium. He is still a juvenile but I felt bad for having him live in such a small area. If I stock it up with a lot of plants and vines, will the cage be too big? He eats out of a cup so hunting will not be a problem and he's becomes a beast whenever he sees his food.

Thanks
 
I'm still semi-new to cham keeping but from what I heard the bigger the better. The only concerns I could think of is its ability to find its feeders, but thats nothing hand feeding or cup feeding can't fix. Also lighting will be pretty expensive keeping the temperatures ideal and UVB rays available. Lastly, that large of a screened cage will be pretty hard to maintain humidity levels so I suppose a mistking order will be in your near future.

You got one lucky chameleon if you pull this off. Goodluck!

Edit: disregard my feeding concern. I didn't notice you cup feed
 
My main concern with young chameleons being in big cages is that they spend enough time sitting in the UVB....just my opinion.
 
Yes...although its said that they can regulate their own exposure I would rather not leave it to "trusting" that they do that.
 
kinyonga said:
Yes...although its said that they can regulate their own exposure I would rather not leave it to "trusting" that they do that.
Click to expand...

Mine actually will climb upside down to sit or hang underneath the UVB bulb. I figure he knows what he's doing because he doesn't do it anywhere else.
 
When they are younger, i wouldn't test this ability too much! ;) So yes, i'd stick with a moderate cage.

However, once they are adult, i don't see much problem with a very very big enclosure.
 
morpheon said:
When they are younger, i wouldn't test this ability too much! ;) So yes, i'd stick with a moderate cage.

However, once they are adult, i don't see much problem with a very very big enclosure.
Click to expand...

The reason I got it was because he seemed genuinely unhappy in his other cage. He would just roam around in circles crawling on the walls of the cage like he was trying to escape or like he was going insane. Of course I don't know what he's feeling but he is a wild animal living in a cage...
 
I am not trying to tell you to not move him to a bigger enclosure. All i wanted is to show that i agree with what Kinyonga said, that's all.

Now, moving him to a slightly bigger enclosure may be a good idea. However, i'd try to not move it to a very large one. :)
 
morpheon said:
I am not trying to tell you to not move him to a bigger enclosure. All i wanted is to show that i agree with what Kinyonga said, that's all.

Now, moving him to a slightly bigger enclosure may be a good idea. However, i'd try to not move it to a very large one. :)
Click to expand...

Fa shizzle.
 
i moved Mista from a 38 gallon flexi to a 100 gallon when he was 6 months old..
He wa s scared for a few days at first of the vast size and in hindesight it must have seemed that i put him on top of a mountain and said find your way down lol.
after a few days he loved it and is still in it now.
i upgraded his uvb from a 5.0 to a 10.0 and brought higher wattage bulbs for his heating.I covered the back with a plastic tarpaulin and have no problems keeping his humidity correct.
although he loves it i think again in hindesight i would have done it in two stages rather than the one.
 
I would do it for sure you just have to watch him alot closer. I have moved younger chamleons to bigger cages and they are just fine and seem to love it. Like everyone said they arent great at regulating themsleves when they are young so just watch how/where they are in their cage at different times of day and make sure to watch the food intake carefully and youll be fine.
 
I've got a juvenile that's in a pretty large enclosure so I just bought a uvb tube that goes down the length of my enclosure so my cham has exposure wherever he goes... I put a large ficus in front of it though so that he can hide from the light if he wants too!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Baby Panther Care
Replies
13
Views
595
elizaann2
elizaann2
Mad Dog Murphy
The newest member of my family has arrived.
Replies
9
Views
691
MissSkittles
MissSkittles
Orangejuiceman
Need advice please
Replies
6
Views
285
Beman
Beman
J
NEW Chameleon hiding on the bottom of enclosure.
2
Replies
30
Views
1K
TheMotherChameleon
TheMotherChameleon
bellaz
My new Panther Cham not eating
Replies
14
Views
715
Shauna_T
Shauna_T
Back
Top Bottom