Chameleon thoughts

Cheeto

New Member
Ok so I'm new and all and I am seriously thinking about getting a chameleon. This will be my first chameleon but I have owned many reptiles now, and in the past. Which chameleon type it good for beginners?
 
Hello,

In picking a chameleon I would look at the kind, and environment you can provide in choosing the one for you. What type of enclosure will you have? Mesh, hybrid, glass? What is the ambient temperatures and humidity where you live? What are you looking for in a chameleon and which one's are available. The more popular ones will have the most information for keeping them healthy.

I have a veiled. Not only do I personally love his casque, but it works best for what I can provide. I have a mesh enclosure and I live in the dry Nevada desert. Filling his enclosure with live plants gives just the right humidity he needs. I probably won't get a panther until I had a hybrid enclosure.

Some things to consider.
 
Hello,

In picking a chameleon I would look at the kind, and environment you can provide in choosing the one for you. What type of enclosure will you have? Mesh, hybrid, glass? What is the ambient temperatures and humidity where you live? What are you looking for in a chameleon and which one's are available. The more popular ones will have the most information for keeping them healthy.

I have a veiled. Not only do I personally love his casque, but it works best for what I can provide. I have a mesh enclosure and I live in the dry Nevada desert. Filling his enclosure with live plants gives just the right humidity he needs. I probably won't get a panther until I had a hybrid enclosure.

Some things to consider.
Thank you for responding! I have a glass tank, but I have an order for a 30x13x30 screen terrarium coming in about 4 days. And I live in VA and the average humidity is 68.7%. The temperature is around 70-80 degrees on average. I saw veiled chameleons online and liked the casque on their heads! So cute and cool creatures! 🥰
 
Thank you for responding! I have a glass tank, but I have an order for a 30x13x30 screen terrarium coming in about 4 days. And I live in VA and the average humidity is 68.7%. The temperature is around 70-80 degrees on average. I saw veiled chameleons online and liked the casque on their heads! So cute and cool creatures! 🥰
Yes, their casques are stunning. Since it is your first chameleon have you read up on Chameleon Academy? https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

That will get you the started on what you need. You should also watch as much of Neptune the chameleon on YouTube as you can about enclosures, lights, etc.
 
Thank you for responding! I have a glass tank, but I have an order for a 30x13x30 screen terrarium coming in about 4 days. And I live in VA and the average humidity is 68.7%. The temperature is around 70-80 degrees on average. I saw veiled chameleons online and liked the casque on their heads! So cute and cool creatures! 🥰
Hi and welcome! Going to Chameleon Academy and reading everything you can there is a great start. Then come back here and start reading all of the posts, even if you think you don’t understand or it doesn’t relate. Ask questions…we love helping. 🤗 So with all of that, I’m going to have to tell you that the minimum size enclosure for an adult chameleon is 2x2x4’ or equivalent. Of course if you can give a chameleon more space than that, it’s even better. :)
 
A species that you can find CB, have done the research for, and have the ability to provide what it needs. For example, if your house is always 85 degrees and you won’t get an ac unit, don’t get a montane that needs night drops to 50 degrees.

Im not too crazy about the idea of starter reptiles… I see where it’s helpful, like a person that has never kept a reptile before and then all of the sudden wants a complex species. It helps to have the general feel of something, but even then we see keepers that had no reptile experience turn out to be amazing Cham keepers just from doing the research. So get what you want provided you can care for it and make sure it’s captive bred(unless you have serious plans for breeding). Wildcaughts are a whole other beast to take care of.
 
Thanks to everyone for responding! I have fallen in love with the veiled and have decided on buying one after my enclosure is sufficient. Any ideas of where to buy an enclosure?
 
Ok so I'm new and all and I am seriously thinking about getting a chameleon. This will be my first chameleon but I have owned many reptiles now, and in the past. Which chameleon type it good for beginners?
Hi cheeto and welcome. Return the 30x 13x 30 cage dont even take it out of the box you will need a 24" x24" x48". A cham will grow into it and you may as werl.start out right. You will need a 24" linear uvb set up. I like reptisun with t8 HO and seperate basking light with dimmer switch and a 75 watt basking bulb. No red or blue lights or you will harm their vision and no heat apparatus unless inside temps get below 50. No lights on at night go with a 12 hour timers setup is easiest. Now humidity ! Get yourself a good repti hand mister and spray the change two to three times a day. Chams do not drink standing water but drink off of leaves.. There are a lot of things on the market so hand mist until you do your research. i still hand mist even though i have a fogger which i only run at night. Many chams will not let you see them drink. You need live plants. There are cham friendly list on the web. You will also need some branches get yourself a big bag of zip ties. I like rubber tree branches as the curve and you will need slender ones. I suggest a male veiled. Be prepared for high vet bills as with any exotic as all chams hide there issues until it is bad. mist Sicknesses come from bad husbandry or stress. The cost of maintaining a cham is high so if you are on a budget i advise against it.
 
Hi cheeto and welcome. Return the 30x 13x 30 cage dont even take it out of the box you will need a 24" x24" x48". A cham will grow into it and you may as werl.start out right. You will need a 24" linear uvb set up. I like reptisun with t8 HO and seperate basking light with dimmer switch and a 75 watt basking bulb. No red or blue lights or you will harm their vision and no heat apparatus unless inside temps get below 50. No lights on at night go with a 12 hour timers setup is easiest. Now humidity ! Get yourself a good repti hand mister and spray the change two to three times a day. Chams do not drink standing water but drink off of leaves.. There are a lot of things on the market so hand mist until you do your research. i still hand mist even though i have a fogger which i only run at night. Many chams will not let you see them drink. You need live plants. There are cham friendly list on the web. You will also need some branches get yourself a big bag of zip ties. I like rubber tree branches as the curve and you will need slender ones. I suggest a male veiled. Be prepared for high vet bills as with any exotic as all chams hide there issues until it is bad. mist Sicknesses come from bad husbandry or stress. The cost of maintaining a cham is high so if you are on a budget i advise against it.
Yea I realized that it was to small awhile back😅 Now I'm smarter about it!!! The lighting and UVB stuff I've already looked over. And Ive already found an exotic vet near me! Thanks for responding!
 
Oh dont buy from a store. Go with a reputabl
e breeder. Members on here can advise. Buy no younger than 4 months. I bought my last veiled from markschameleons.com in ny. healthy and he chevked out my setup before and is always there for advice. i live is cali so was affraid of the shippimg but fedex was great was he arrived healthy and spunky. Good luck to you.
 
Hi Cheeto. I would recommend that you get a panther, they tend to be more friendly. I am lucky enough to be a caretaker for 1 5yr male veiled, 1 4yr male sambava panther, 1 1yr male sambava panther, 1 2.5yr male ambilobe panther, 1 6mo male ambilobe panther, 5 3mo male ambilobe babies. ( n that's just the males 😅)
I've been extremely fortunate to have all my chams turn out to have awesome personalities, but its more normal for especially the veiled ones to be even aggressive towards people. More often than not, I read about people unable to interact w them, being hissed at, even bit sometimes. Not wanting to scare you by no means, but just wanna make sure your aware. My veiled is a nice as can be, however his grip is so strong. My Panthers are more docile, don't dig their nails into my skin, alot seeming to enjoy my company. (I know most will say they see me as a threat and food provider) as far as your enclosure, the bigger the better. I'm a huge fan of open range enclosures.
 
Hi Cheeto. I would recommend that you get a panther, they tend to be more friendly. I am lucky enough to be a caretaker for 1 5yr male veiled, 1 4yr male sambava panther, 1 1yr male sambava panther, 1 2.5yr male ambilobe panther, 1 6mo male ambilobe panther, 5 3mo male ambilobe babies. ( n that's just the males 😅)
I've been extremely fortunate to have all my chams turn out to have awesome personalities, but its more normal for especially the veiled ones to be even aggressive towards people. More often than not, I read about people unable to interact w them, being hissed at, even bit sometimes. Not wanting to scare you by no means, but just wanna make sure your aware. My veiled is a nice as can be, however his grip is so strong. My Panthers are more docile, don't dig their nails into my skin, alot seeming to enjoy my company. (I know most will say they see me as a threat and food provider) as far as your enclosure, the bigger the better. I'm a huge fan of open range enclosures.
Yea I read in most of my research that veiled chameleons are grouchy! But even if I'm not on a budget I still don't want to pay $500 for just the chameleon! Panthers are really pretty and their colors are so cool, but idk
 
I have both veiled and panthers. I would go with panthers. Yea they little pricey. But in the end panthers become more used to people. My veiled is a sweetie in house. But if he out side when I go to take him in side he turns very mean. He bites head butts and trys to run and jump off hand hole way in house. My panthers and parsonii don't ever do that. With chams you better off looking at all different types and going with the one you really want. Every one told me parsons are for experts and I'm very new to chams and she thrives. I have 5 chams my favorite is my parson then my panthers.
 
Is this the correct uvb
 

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