Complete cage setups

[jefferzbooboo]

I've seen a couple of complete cage setups, I know I'll have to buy plants and everything for the inside.
I've been doing research on different chameleons and there care for about 6 months and have decided on a veiled chameleon and would like to get a 1 year old male, the only other reptile I've had was a Pac Man frog that was mislabled as another frog and 6 months later, he got huge, he now happily resides in our local zoo (I bought him from a chain store before I knew better about chain stores). My local pet store that I deal with for all my salt water fish stuff has no clue on chameleon care and he even admits it. He says he can get cages, but said he'd rather not because he doesn't want to sell me the wrong product and I appreciate his honesty, he doesn't get in fish or coral that he doesn't know how to take care of. He has crickets, superworms, meal worms, super worms, etc. and gut load food and dusting for insects he feeds to the Iguanas and other lizards that he sells, the owner is the only one that works at the store and I can call him at 3 in the morning if I have an issue.

I guess my main question is has anyone had any experience with the cage packages?
The one that I'm looking at is http://chameleonsonly.com/Screen-Enclosures.htm
the large 13 item setup. It meets the requirements for lighting, but the size is what I'm concerned about because it varie's from book to book on recomended size. Is this a good setup or is there another one out there thats better? In my saltwater years I've did alot of DIY projects, tried to piece together systems, etc. and have found it alot of the times its best to buy everything as a kit so you know everything is matched instead of guessing.

My second question is I've seen that you're not supposed to keep 2 veiled chameleons together, but for breeding you need 2 in a cage. Do you keep the male and female in the cage together all the time or do you just put the male in the cage when the female starts her "cycle" (I don't know how to word it). I have no intentions on breeding them, but it may be possible in the future and I've never really seen any info on the topic, or I've forgotten it.

Sorry if these questions have been asked before, and if the post is a little long winded, but I wanna make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I start. I don't won't to improperly care for a chameleon. Thats how I got started in saltwater, friend didn't know what he was getting into and I caught him at the right time when he was gonna flush everything down the toilet and I took everything off his hands (he's no longer a friend)

 

[John33871]

well no problem about answering the questions but your own research is needed. anyways if i was you i would go with the compete package from the kammer's. they are very nice people and have some of the best chameleons i have ever seen. i think they have 2 of those complete set ups, a 13 and a 16. i think the 16 is the one that comes with the chameleon. the 13 cage setup that you would want is only 249, and i think that is with the shipping so a very good buy. i dont think you will be able to get a year old veiled from the kammer's but i think there is one guy on here that does have a website and sells yearlings. i forgot his screen name and business name, sorry. he is an active member of this forum as well. about your second question i dont know about, sorry i dont really plan to breed, maybe someday down the road. anyways good luck

 

[pohchunyee]

A 1 year old Veiled Chameleon will require a 2ft x 2ft x 4 ft tall enclosure. Kammerflage kreation is selling aluminum screen cage, the price could be a little high, plus the largest cage they have is 3ft high. If you think of something cheaper, LLLReptile have complete cage setup too. They use reptarium plastic black mesh with plastic piping as frame (less sturdy).I would suggest the 100 gallon complete package.... You can dump the screen into the washing machine too....LOL...but one downfall is that some cricket might bite through. I have been using reptarium for years now... the zipper and everything still works (if you clean them all the time)

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/complete-cage-packages/

If you love DIY, you could check this out:

http://www.chameleonparadise.com/?page=care&title=2x2x4 DIY Cage

If you wish to build a bigger enclosure for a few more chameleon (4) Check out chameleon news:

http://www.chameleonnews.com/diycage.html

As for breeding Veiled Chameleon, just place the female into the male's cage. Male veiled are aggresive breeder, they will chase the female down and mate (rape) with her. Mating takes from 10 minutes up to 30 minutes. After mating, take out the female and place her back to her cage. Never place them together for a long period. It stresses the female out. After mating, if the female is gravid shw will shows signs

1) Aggresive towards male
2) Having gravid coloration
3) increase food intake
4) Stop eating for a couple of days and wander around the cage when she is ready to lay eggs

 

[Ren]

You can always build your own cage, there are many folks in here that have done so and have pictures readily available in here for you to look at and get ideas from, I got my Veiled @ 3 or 4 months old, and after that I couldn't imagine getting a year old one, there is a lot of growing that is really cool to watch as the grow up..... but doing so you will need a small cage and then a bigger one later, which could work out for you due to having a setup for him/her as you build a larger enclosure that suits your needs and theirs....have fun and as always ask questions ... you'll get the answers you need....

 

[Ash]

I Bought a 175 gallon (30" x 30" x 48") ExoTerra Flexarium which set me back £55, not a bad deal as it's a good size for him and he loves it.

It's not the price of the vivarium I found, it's the price of the stuff that goes in (branches, plants, fake plants, lights, mister, suppplements, food etc.) that makes the price go up.

I own a Veiled Chameleon which is about a year to a year and a half. I got told he was fully grown but he's still shedding now I've got him in the bigger cage, so perhaps he will grow some more!

He's a brilliant Chameleon, I've started hand feeding him now, but he still doesn't like me coming into his cage. He's quite dark in colour but every now and again he will go bright green with yellow flashes down his sides, looks beautiful.

Ash

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."I've seen that you're not supposed to keep 2 veiled chameleons together, but for breeding you need 2 in a cage. Do you keep the male and female in the cage together all the time or do you just put the male in the cage when the female starts her "cycle" (I don't know how to word it). I have no intentions on breeding them, but it may be possible in the future and I've never really seen any info on the topic, or I've forgotten it"...I have kept/raised/bred veiled chameleons (and other species) for a long time....and this is what I do to mate veileds....I hold the female outside the male's cage and watch for the reactions.

If they both show receptive/mating behavior I place the female inside the male's cage and continue to watch them for a few minutes to make sure things are going as they should. By keeping the female outside the male's cage at first there is no danger of them fighting.

If receptive, a female will remain calm and her normal green coloration and move slowly away from the male possibly hugging the branch. If she is not receptive or already producing eggs, she will hiss, sway back and forth, lunge (if the male is close enough), become very dark in coloration with bright spots on her.

If she is receptive and the male recognizes that she's a (receptive) female he will take on bright colors, flatten his body vertically, and approach the female. If she is receptive and he doesn't recognize that its a receptive female he will coil and uncoil his tail, hold one hand up close to his chin, flatten his body vertically and take on bright colors, etc.

Do not put the two together if they are not showing receptive/mating reactions.

Once I put the receptive female into the male's cage I leave them together until the female starts to repel the male.