For everyone who KNOWS you can't keep chams in glass

thanks so much! ive been SO! curious about glass ones and ive read to stay away from them but this shows they are ok :D
Woot!
 
For someone that is planning to use an Exoterra like me for keeping Montanes species pretty soon... I actually read every comment of each page... Quite informative and entertaining... Old thread but still some good info
 
Wow Chris!!! this thread is amazing. I have read thought it a couple of time to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I am a newbie here and I have posted in the introduction section. I have decided after many hours of research to buy a veiled chameleon. I have been facinated with them for a while now. They are wonderful and intreging creatures. As I said I have been researching the husbandry of veiled chameleons and have seen that many people have said chameleons cannot live in glass exo-terra vivariums. I am going to be new to this type of reptile and want the best for it. The chameleon is a juvanile about 4 to 5 inches long excluding the tail. I was told by the pet care associate that owns one as well that exo-terra are good to start the youngster out in, but that I would have to get a bigger one or go with the screen enclosures. The problem is I live in southeastern Pennsylvania where some winters can get brutal and the summers quite hot. Now I was wondering should I go with the screen or the exo-terra. I keep my house 70 and have air conditioning in the summer.

Oh and by the way, I was wondering what I should do because we also have 2 cats and dogs. I didn't know if the cat would try to get to the cham in the screen enclosure and cause it stress.

Thanks so much for helping me!!
 
Chris Anderson said:
Unfortunately lumping approximately 200 species of chameleon into a single category is not indicative of the broad range of requirements different species have. If you are keeping veiled and panther chameleons .....then I don't disagree that screen enclosures probably make more sense for a number of reasons. When you are keeping most of the other species or live in an environment where central air and/or harsh winters suck the humidity out of the air, I don't know that I would agree with you at all. There are more than one way to do things and glass terrariums take some different (not necessarily more difficult) strategies, but when done correctly, can yield excellent results.
Chris
Click to expand...

Have read this whole thread and found plenty of food for thought as I'm keeping my T. j. xantholophus pair in a custom-made + a Reptiland glass/screen vivarium, both with glass bottoms and am not happy with my moisture build up and cleaning challenges. Drainage and natural substrate will be experimented with.

Thanks for all the stimulating input.

Spike.
 
I love your set up, its beautiful. I breed veileds, trans veileds, panthers and carpets and I've been using plastic bins and 10-20 gallon aquariums to raise babies for years with huge success. Once the babies are about 6-8 weeks they do into reptibreeze mesh cages. I did use exo terra tanks for a while as well but for some reason I didn't do so well especially with veilds as my rooms get quite hot sometimes with all the chameleons. I went back to aquariums and everything was back to normal. I did find that 18x18x18 exo terras were great but anything smaller wasn't working for me. Now I have over 250 babies in bins and aquariums and its working great so I guess thing work differently for everyone. I don't think using a 10-20 gallon for a young baby veiled or panther is bad, its worked for me for over 10 years.
 
drainage or substrate for glass

I have a 24"x24"x48" made by Creative Reptile Terrariums purchased at the Vivarium in Berkeley CA, it is glass except for the screen top and half of the front for air flow. I am new to being a chameleon owner (panther 1 year old ambilobe) and I am trying to decide whether to create a custom drain at the bottom or add substrate - the dripper and fogger are getting way too messy to clean every day. Substrate sounds like it may be the way to go. Does anyone have any "recipes" of things they like to use/add. My panther often will shoot onto the ground to get a cricket and I am a little nervous of him picking up substrate and subsequent impaction. Thanks in advance for any ideas!
 
Nice post! Unfortunately for Americans, we can't get a nice big glass enclosure with a screen top without coughing up some big $$$, so I just use screen lol
 
mantra said:
I have a 24"x24"x48" made by Creative Reptile Terrariums purchased at the Vivarium in Berkeley CA, it is glass except for the screen top and half of the front for air flow. I am new to being a chameleon owner (panther 1 year old ambilobe) and I am trying to decide whether to create a custom drain at the bottom or add substrate - the dripper and fogger are getting way too messy to clean every day. Substrate sounds like it may be the way to go. Does anyone have any "recipes" of things they like to use/add. My panther often will shoot onto the ground to get a cricket and I am a little nervous of him picking up substrate and subsequent impaction. Thanks in advance for any ideas!
Click to expand...

For substrate you could use a mixture of moist sand/soil at 40:60 and compact it down firmly so there's no chance of him picking up clumps but keep an eye on the humidity and also cup feed to reduce any chances.

I used this for around two years with no ill effects before I moved to a larger screen enclosure. Will have to keep an eye on him though and make sure he is well hydrated and not eating clumps. It's always a risk though that most will say isn't worth it.
 
fuzzhc said:
For substrate you could use a mixture of moist sand/soil at 40:60 and compact it down firmly so there's no chance of him picking up clumps but keep an eye on the humidity and also cup feed to reduce any chances.

I used this for around two years with no ill effects before I moved to a larger screen enclosure. Will have to keep an eye on him though and make sure he is well hydrated and not eating clumps. It's always a risk though that most will say isn't worth it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info...I am in research mode about this and appreciate your input.
 
mantra said:
Thanks for the info...I am in research mode about this and appreciate your input.
Click to expand...

I used a thick layer of sterilized recycled paper pulp (Cage Fresh brand I think) once for a very large high humidity cage and it worked pretty well. Moistened the pulp and packed it into the cage bottom. I wanted to try it as supposedly the pulp would not cause an impaction if a cham did pick some of it up on its tongue. It resisted mold quite well....surprised me how little attention it needed. Probably because it started off sterilized and didn't have the organisms that other substrates would normally contain. Did the usual spot cleaning for fecal and feeders, and when the cage seemed to have a funky odor I exchanged it.
 
Carlton said:
I used a thick layer of sterilized recycled paper pulp (Cage Fresh brand I think) once for a very large high humidity cage and it worked pretty well. Moistened the pulp and packed it into the cage bottom. I wanted to try it as supposedly the pulp would not cause an impaction if a cham did pick some of it up on its tongue. It resisted mold quite well....surprised me how little attention it needed. Probably because it started off sterilized and didn't have the organisms that other substrates would normally contain. Did the usual spot cleaning for fecal and feeders, and when the cage seemed to have a funky odor I exchanged it.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the idea.
 
If your worried about smells, cleaning etc look up bio active substrate. I used this on one of my chams and my 3foot monitor and never once had to clean them. The cages smell fresh and forestry lol :D
 
Compact Florescent Hood by EXO terra

I know this thread is old but I was wandering if the CPL causes blindness and if not, I have a Exoterra Compact hood, which UVB bulb exactly should I get for the one side and Which bulb should I get for the other, I am trying to get it "right " before purchasing a Panther Chameleon
 
The bulbs that used to cause blindness were from a few years ago. I've used CFL Reptisun UVB bulbs without any issues. They focus the light in a smaller area, so you don't get as nice a spread as a fluorescent tube. Some people use them without any problems. Just make sure to pay attention to the distance recommended by the manufacturer, if you do decide to use them. I switched both of my enclosures to T5 HO Quad hoods, because I like how well they light the enclosure, and help keep the plants going strong. I still use a CFL ion my anole tank, and the little girl is doing great.

If you use the double hood, one side should be your UVB bulb, and the other a basking bulb. I use a normal incandescent bulb. The higher the wattage, the hotter the bulb will be. So you have to play with different wattages to get the basking temp you need.
 
sandrachameleon said:
happy to read this post.

FYI
Where I live, one can purchase acrylic terrariums (similar venting and screen as those glass exoterras) in very large sizes, which I think are quite suitable for panthers. If I didnt build my own cages, those are what I would buy.
Click to expand...

where can we find these?
 
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