Have a question regarding husbandry

[divingne1]

I have been reading this forum on keeping Veiled chameleons and leopard chameleons. In order to have a chameleon, I have to get rid of one of my aquariums. The 120g salt water is an absolute NO. The 5 poison dart frog vivs are an even bigger NO WAY. So that brings me to my 55g freshwater. It goes grudgingly. I have read that glass aquariums are a no-no. My understanding is due to air circulation and ventilation. My husband thinks that if he installs 4 circulating fans in the 55g (it standing vertical instead of horizontal) They would be in pvc pipes with mesh screen attached to the opening of the pvc and would be placed every 1 foot from top to bottom of the back of the tank. Basically air would be pulled from one end of the pvc and blown through the other end of each unit. The front of the tank would be screen. I do not think this is a proper set up for a veiled chameleon and want to build a screen enclosure that will allow the chameleon open air on all sides. My husband is a design engineer so he constantly challenges me to prove why his idea for using an existing glass tank is not good enough (design engineers are pains in the arses..i went through this with the vivarium setups). I dont know enough about it to have a valid reason why his idea would be bad for the chameleon (my only response is .. it just isn't because they need screen for air circulation and ventilation) so if anyone can give me a better explaination as to why this wont work, it will allow me to get him to see his idea will not work for the proper husbandry for chameleons. If he won't give up on his idea then I am not going to get a chameleon because I am not going to improperly house one just so I can have one.

It was so much easier being single and living by my self then being married...I had a houseful of pets and nobody cared but me!
Candy

 

[Kosmo]

Although air circulation is extremely important to chameleon health, the other main reason that comes up time and time again is STRESS.

You wouldn't think it would be a factor, however chameleons and stress do not mix.. In fact it can get to the point where high stress can cause illness and eventual death of your animal.

Now you may be wonder how glass can cause stress. Chameleons are solitary animals and don't like to see other chams (generally), seeing another cham will cause stress. Glass aquariums as enclosures will cause the animal to see its own reflection and as smart as chams are, they aren’t smart enough to know what a reflection is.

Long term exposure to reflections and the poor ventilation an aquariums bring will cause adverse effects to your chameleon and should be avoided.

 

[divingne1]

Ahhh never even thought about their reflection. Good point. No way to reflection proof a glass tank!! One other thought of mine was this...doesn't glass block UVB penetration? Won't the glass block some of the heat from the basking light as well?
Candy

 

[Kosmo]

Glass will filter out UVA/UVB, but the heat won't be a problem.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Ahhh never even thought about their reflection. Good point. No way to reflection proof a glass tank!! One other thought of mine was this...doesn't glass block UVB penetration? Won't the glass block some of the heat from the basking light as well?
Candy

Id say the loss of UVB is worse than the reflection

 

[dodolah]

another problem: in the aquarium, it is easier to accidentally cook your chameleon. The UVB will be blocked 100% by the glass but the heat can accumulate greatly in the aquarium. And, will get trapped inside the aquarium.

Aquarium is definitely proven to be much more effective chameleon enclosure for keeper with cold and dry climate such as europe.
overall, it is much harder and more expensive to maintain chameleon using glass enclosure with US Climate.

 

[SoCaliSon]

Refering to your UserName...Yes Please!!! I need a dive trip so bad it is not even funny

Well... You can make it work with a glass tank, it will just be a challenge, and one that most engineers would love... but after all is said and done I think it would be a lot easier to just buy a screen cage. You also need to consider misting and drainage, which can become an even bigger challenge with glass tanks (and would do away with ever using it as a fishtank in the future). I think it is beter to start with something ideal... Rather than take something that is not ideal, and spend time, effort and money modifying it to make it workable. You can find a nice Screen cage that would work perfect for fairly inexpensive if you look in the right places. This way you would know you are getting something that will work great for a cham, and not have to worry about putting all that work into something... that in the end may prove to be more hassle than it was worth. Good Luck!

~Joe

 

[chequepoint]

Aquarium is definitely proven to be much more effective chameleon enclosure for keeper with cold and dry climate such as europe.
overall, it is much harder and more expensive to maintain chameleon using glass enclosure with US Climate.

I'm actually going to disagree with you. An Aquarium is designed for fish. The european keepers are using special designed enclosures, some of which utilize glass panels in their construction. But they are certainly not your off the shelf Oceanic aquariums. At least not the ones I've seen that would be effective at keeping a chameleon happy.

 

[divingne1]

Refering to your UserName...Yes Please!!! I need a dive trip so bad it is not even funny
~Joe

WOW - you are the first person who actually got that. My friends on the dart frog forum say they always thought it said "Divine1". NO people!!!. I love to scuba dive. I don't think I am a divine one.

I just showed my husband the post and he can't find a comeback...thanks everyone. I think I'll be building my own enclosure (when I find a job..just lost my job Sunday). If I get a job before Repticon in Jan, I'll buy an enclosure appropriate for a juv. cham.

Candy

 

[dodolah]

I'm actually going to disagree with you. An Aquarium is designed for fish. The european keepers are using special designed enclosures, some of which utilize glass panels in their construction. But they are certainly not your off the shelf Oceanic aquariums. At least not the ones I've seen that would be effective at keeping a chameleon happy.

yes, you are correct. Since I thought her husband is going to do the modifications. I am assuming that the aquarium is going to be accommodated to meet the needs.

I am referring to those type when i said "aquarium" concerning the european hobbyists.

 

[divingne1]

The only modification (if you could call it that) was put the fans in the back of the tank and make a screen front that opens. He wouldn't have cut the glass or anything. Once I brought up the UVB situation...there was no longer an argument for using the aquarium.
Candy

 

[Brad Ramsey]

No one has mentioned that the 55 gallon aquarium would not be a big enough enclosure for a full grown male veiled.

It's not wide enough.

-Brad

 

[SoCaliSon]

No one has mentioned that the 55 gallon aquarium would not be a big enough enclosure for a full grown male veiled.

It's not wide enough.

-Brad

Great point.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Good point Brad!
Not that I know how big 55 gallons is. Doesnt anyone use the metric system on this board? As in Litres?

 

[THECHAMMAN]

i have a conversion calc on my iphone which i use A-LOT.

 

[THECHAMMAN]

those 55 gal would be 208.198L

 

[chequepoint]

Good point Brad!
Not that I know how big 55 gallons is. Doesnt anyone use the metric system on this board? As in Litres?

Right after we start taking that goofy colored money with the birds on it..

I didn't even think, but yes a "55 Gallon" tank is 48X12X19 which is actually like 47 gallons or so... yay for marketing.

 

[divingne1]

All good points to back up my argument that a glass tank will not be sufficent for a chameleon.

Candy

 

[Ramsesrocks]

Other reflection issues

Hello all. This is my very first post. I just joined tonight because I am caring for my son's panther chameleon for a few months while he is out of the country. (And I don't want to kill her).
So anyway, one other thing to be aware of when setting up your habitat is framed pictures on the wall. I had to remove 2 of mine because they were close enough to her enclosure that she could see her reflection in them. Just thought I'd throw that bit of advice in. Have fun.