Doubts Plz help!

[CptnemO]

Hey guys, just registered in the forum! Here i come directly from brazil são paulo hehehe. Got a few doubts on the watering / lighting / cage size.

Watering:

I was thinking of using the zoomed "the big dripper" in both of my cages, (one each) and share a Habba mist between the two, Make a tube connection so that it has two outlets (nozzles) one for each cage.

I have read a lot about habba mist and how people prefer the mist king, but here in brazil, the trade is pretty primitive. The only mister / showering device i found was the habba mist. The point of having it would be to spray the terrarium for like a minute every 3 hours (or more hours), though the main watering device would be the dripper itself.

Back in the day i had the waterfall from exotera, my sub adult veiled male fell from a vine or branch, hit his head in the waterfall and fell on the bowl. He drowned.. by the time i got home he was dead in the bowl with a wound in the head (indicating a fall).

Lighting:

Can i use a 8.0 UV to stimulate even more the synthesis of D3 or does it have to be a 5.0 ?

Caging:

I thought of using a Exo Terra Flexarium US GL 65 for each (one for a male and another for the female), I will fill the walls with green fake plants all over, and use a couple of real plants to help with humidity (and in case it wants some green), vines and branches too. Considering that there will be a lot of green in each, drippers and rain, and they will be well fed, do you guys think 65 Gallon is enough? It's the only option i've got (screen wise), and i really havn't got the time to build one from scratch, plus my building skills suck donkey @#%$@#%

Here in brazil chameleons are a rarity, near to impossible, I managed to order a sub adult couple (8 months old) the first i see for sale since the last one i had (7 years ago), will be arriving next week so i need to get everything right. I absolutely can't make room for mistakes, as the hobby (chameleon caring) down here will depend on the babies of these two.

What do you guys think? I am absolutely keen in hearing advices and suggestions, and please remember, we don't have the magnificant pet stores you guys have abroad, i am dealling with a limited inventory, and its already the best store in são paulo. Plus, the habba miust there costs 50 US$ here its over 150 US$ so you guys get the picture.

Thank you all in advance for your time and patients in reading it all!

 

[PedroANDAshley]

Is the flexarium the screen pcp tube enclosure Im thinking of?
If it is then If money is a problem I would buy their adult cages now.
If it isnt then the 65gallon would be OK for now but very soon within the next 4 months
any ways your gonna have to get their adult cages because I swear
they shoot up on you and grow like no ones bussiness LOL!
The water fall is a nono.
Bacteria grow and chams like to poop in it and ,like you mentioned, the can drown.
As for drainage I only mist so Im still havent got around to gettin the dragine plan down.
And as for the habba mist is it what you can get then get it but I have heard of other members on here making their own misting system and some might share with you on how to do it, or you can find some threads on it using the search engine.

 

[Marty]

I sent you a PM with few ideas.

Marty

 

[morpheon]

Hey there! You are definately at the right place to get some good infos!

About watering, if money is an issue, you can use a dripper from Zoo Med (or a handmade one) and simply a manual vaporizer. If you want to buy a mister, i also recommend the Mist King. Maybe you could contact the Mist King company and see if they can ship to Brazil. It would be worth it!

The waterfall is definately a bad idea. It is the first time i hear such a story about falling and drowning. However, the main reason people don't like waterfalls is because they bring lots of bacteria and most chameleons don't drink from it. With a dripper and a vaporizer (manual or habba or mist king), you should be fine without a doubt!

Lighting: a 5.0 is way enough. Having too much UV can be fatal to a chameleon. With a 5.0, most chameleon can easily regulate their UVB exposure depending on what they need (more or less). Also, if you plan on putting your chameleon close to a window and if you can open the window, the chameleon will be getting better UVs! Just make sure that your window doesn't get too cold etc. I usually put my enclosure at least 6 inches away from windows, but directly under them. Of course, it depends how your house is made!

Caging: I don't know if 65 gallons is enough, as i am not used to gallons (i come from Canada!).

Plants: The majority of plants has to be natural, just remember that!

What kind of chameleons are you getting by the way?

Once your setup is started, do not hesitate to post pictures! We will be able to give you more ideas!

 

[CptnemO]

Is the flexarium the screen pcp tube enclosure Im thinking of?
If it is then If money is a problem I would buy their adult cages now.
If it isnt then the 65gallon would be OK for now but very soon within the next 4 months
any ways your gonna have to get their adult cages because I swear
they shoot up on you and grow like no ones bussiness LOL!
The water fall is a nono.
Bacteria grow and chams like to poop in it and ,like you mentioned, the can drown.
As for drainage I only mist so Im still havent got around to gettin the dragine plan down.
And as for the habba mist is it what you can get then get it but I have heard of other members on here making their own misting system and some might share with you on how to do it, or you can find some threads on it using the search engine.

Thanks for the repply, So far i havn't found anywhere that sells the 100 gallon flexarium down here (yes it is the pvc tube / screen cage from exoterra), i can only find the 65. However, if you think that in 4 months time they will need a larger cage, than i will do everything possible to find the 100 gallons one to start with.

As for the drainage, i guess a lot of the water will evaporate, the idea would be to use a large resevoir on the bottom of the cage (but not tall) that i would empty every day, a few hours after the last "misting", the habba mist would be on a timer so that i wouldn't run at night while they sleep (so will the lamps).

Still have the doubt on using the 8.0 uv rather than the 5.0, what do you guys think?

 

[PedroANDAshley]

The 5.0 is perfect the 10.0 will most likely cause eye problems.
10 is only really ment for desert animals like bearded dragons, ect, ect

 

[CptnemO]

Hey there! You are definately at the right place to get some good infos!

About watering, if money is an issue, you can use a dripper from Zoo Med (or a handmade one) and simply a manual vaporizer. If you want to buy a mister, i also recommend the Mist King. Maybe you could contact the Mist King company and see if they can ship to Brazil. It would be worth it!

The waterfall is definately a bad idea. It is the first time i hear such a story about falling and drowning. However, the main reason people don't like waterfalls is because they bring lots of bacteria and most chameleons don't drink from it. With a dripper and a vaporizer (manual or habba or mist king), you should be fine without a doubt!

Lighting: a 5.0 is way enough. Having too much UV can be fatal to a chameleon. With a 5.0, most chameleon can easily regulate their UVB exposure depending on what they need (more or less). Also, if you plan on putting your chameleon close to a window and if you can open the window, the chameleon will be getting better UVs! Just make sure that your window doesn't get too cold etc. I usually put my enclosure at least 6 inches away from windows, but directly under them. Of course, it depends how your house is made!

Caging: I don't know if 65 gallons is enough, as i am not used to gallons (i come from Canada!).

Plants: The majority of plants has to be natural, just remember that!

What kind of chameleons are you getting by the way?

Once your setup is started, do not hesitate to post pictures! We will be able to give you more ideas!

Thanks for all the advice dude, ok, uv 5.0 for sure! What plants would you suggest, by natural you mean live plants? Is it ok to use false plants too? The chameleons are Veileds, and i will post pictures for sure as soon as finish arranging the cages. This will all be done through out this next week!

Thanks again!

 

[PedroANDAshley]

or the 8.0 uvb light is too much lol sorry

 

[PedroANDAshley]

The fake plants are okay too BUT the real plants are great for helping with humidity and giving your cham a snack

They like to munch on the,

 

[CptnemO]

I've seen people using pothos and umbrela tree plants, are this good to use? which others do you guys and gals suggest?

 

[PedroANDAshley]

hibiscus and ficus are good too.
If ou go to the forum page and go to enclosures section there will be a live plant database that you can use. They have pictures and its really cool

 

[CptnemO]

hibiscus and ficus are good too.
If ou go to the forum page and go to enclosures section there will be a live plant database that you can use. They have pictures and its really cool

thanks, will check it out, i heard something nasty about ficus sap on the chameleons eyes, that could eventually lead to blindness, so i think i will avoid that one,

 

[morpheon]

The choice is yours Cptnemo (is it really your real name anyway!? lol). I think i'll just call you SIR! So, SIR, you are free to take the plant you want. Yes, by natural plant i meant live plant. Since i am French, i sometimes use weird words, so it's normal if you don't understand everything!

Personally, my favorite plant is a Ficus Benjamina. It grows very easily, it's hard as hell to kill, and doesn't need much care. However, Scheffleras (umbrella trees) and pothos also do very well. I tried Hisbiscus before, and it didn't have enough natural light to survive, and it died after a month or two. However, it might work for you. Calyptratus (veiled) LOVE to eat Hisbiscus flowers. What you can do, if you fear the Hisbiscus does not survive in your enclosure, is to have an hibiscus outside and bring your chameleons outside on your hibiscus when it's not too sunny nor too cloudy.

To me, the fake plants are useful for one single reason: you can place them anywhere and they will never die! Since i have a cat and wanted to make sure the chameleon has enough plants to hide him, i put lots of fake plants in the higher area of my enclosure, on the surroundings. However, i still have 4 real and healthy live plants in my enclosure! I'm sure you get the point!

Ficus and Pothos can also be toxic for chameleons if they eat them too much. You'll have to keep an eye on it, if you decide to get any. However, they aren't deadly, but it's still a risk.

I think the best thing to do is to look for plants that are easy to get in your area, and come here and give us the names. Then, we can tell you if they are toxic or not. Since plants where i live (Canada) are obviously not the same than where you live, it should be easier that way!


If you have any questions, keep going! I'm sure you'll do fine if you ask all your questions!

 

[CptnemO]

The choice is yours Cptnemo (is it really your real name anyway!? lol). I think i'll just call you SIR! So, SIR, you are free to take the plant you want. Yes, by natural plant i meant live plant. Since i am French, i sometimes use weird words, so it's normal if you don't understand everything!

Personally, my favorite plant is a Ficus Benjamina. It grows very easily, it's hard as hell to kill, and doesn't need much care. However, Scheffleras (umbrella trees) and pothos also do very well. I tried Hisbiscus before, and it didn't have enough natural light to survive, and it died after a month or two. However, it might work for you. Calyptratus (veiled) LOVE to eat Hisbiscus flowers. What you can do, if you fear the Hisbiscus does not survive in your enclosure, is to have an hibiscus outside and bring your chameleons outside on your hibiscus when it's not too sunny nor too cloudy.

To me, the fake plants are useful for one single reason: you can place them anywhere and they will never die! Since i have a cat and wanted to make sure the chameleon has enough plants to hide him, i put lots of fake plants in the higher area of my enclosure, on the surroundings. However, i still have 4 real and healthy live plants in my enclosure! I'm sure you get the point!

Ficus and Pothos can also be toxic for chameleons if they eat them too much. You'll have to keep an eye on it, if you decide to get any. However, they aren't deadly, but it's still a risk.

I think the best thing to do is to look for plants that are easy to get in your area, and come here and give us the names. Then, we can tell you if they are toxic or not. Since plants where i live (Canada) are obviously not the same than where you live, it should be easier that way!


If you have any questions, keep going! I'm sure you'll do fine if you ask all your questions!

hehehe my name is Theodoro, you guys can call me Theo or nemo hehehehe, its my online gaming alias for the past 10 years or more. Regarding the english, relax, my english is also not that good.

Good news, i found a guy that will sell me two 100 Gallon flexarium so the cage issue is dealt with. All pothos, umbrela tree and ficcus are very easily found here so thats ok, the watering probably will be the two dripper and a habba mist for sharing, i will still see if i can get my hands on a mistking, but i am not convinced that i will find it down here.

The idea of the fake plants, would be exactly to cover the walls on the top part of the terrariums, in the middle would have the real plants and vines.

They have 8 - 9 months, from what i know, here goes a few pics, should i wait another few months before breeding?

 

[hun73r]

I am not an expert, but those both look female to me.

 

[withlime]

I was thinking of using the zoomed "the big dripper" in both of my cages, (one each) and share a Habba mist between the two, Make a tube connection so that it has two outlets (nozzles) one for each cage.

IThe only mister / showering device i found was the habba mist. The point of having it would be to spray the terrarium for like a minute every 3 hours (or more hours), though the main watering device would be the dripper itself.

If you look around, there are plenty of other watering options out there I recommend researching all of your options so you know what kind of reliability and quality to expect.

 

[CptnemO]

I am not an expert, but those both look female to me.

it could be cos these pics are from the guy whose selling em to me and he had two couples, i jut posted the pics for you guys to see their size + or -

do you guys think she already has enough size to breed?

 

[PedroANDAshley]

Are those the same chameleons?
Im almost certain it is.
Anways I can see the beggings of the "robin eggs" blue on that female which means she about ready to breed.
I would wait a couple months untill shes atleast a year old, then Id say go for it.
Plus youd want them to settle into the new home before letting them go at it LOL!
And youd also want to get into the groove of things before the female lays eggs and you got a million babies to feed, babies are very very very fragile and it would be good to get some experience under your belt before they come.

 

[CptnemO]

Are those the same chameleons?
Im almost certain it is.
Anways I can see the beggings of the "robin eggs" blue on that female which means she about ready to breed.
I would wait a couple months untill shes atleast a year old, then Id say go for it.
Plus youd want them to settle into the new home before letting them go at it LOL!
And youd also want to get into the groove of things before the female lays eggs and you got a million babies to feed, babies are very very very fragile and it would be good to get some experience under your belt before they come.

Certainly, i ve heard cameleons eggs are different from the others in the sense that they dont need to stay in an icumbator if the environment temp is not so cold down here, but thats another chapter hehehehe.

 

[Elizadolots]

Many people think the mesh on those cages keep out a lot of light, so would advocate the 10.0 bulb. That's just something to think about.