dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi, I've been reading the last 2/3 weeks trying to soak in some of the knowledge many of you have shared with others. I've always found chameleons interesting but have never ventured into this sub of the hobby before and want to try and get everything set up the right way before stressing any out with shipping. A little of the back story behind my decision to finally look seriously into this sub now..
My wife and I were in Pinellas County Reptiles a couple of weeks ago and "met" a lovely little male veiled. he had come off his perch to the door as we looked into the two previous homes before his. He supported himself and held on to the lower lip of the door as peaked out at us like a wide eyed kid at a counter about to get something they really wanted. Naturally we asked if we could hold him. We had both already an interest in him at this point but he was so calm and walked up both of our arms before settling down on my shoulder. We were both in love with the little guy at that point but since I've never kept chameleons before I had to be the voice reason even though I really wanted him too.
So, I told my wife I wanted to do some reading and research before we bought anything to make sure everything was a close to ideal as possible rather then trying to back track and set up properly after the fact, especially since we were/are still dealing with rebounding from Irma rolling through. I'm back to regular paychecks now and ready to start gathering the needed supplies so on to my few questions.
While realistically I doubt the male will still be there when I'm done gathering, I secretly hope he is. At the moment our two picks on what we would like to try and get into the chameleon hobby are either a veiled or a panther, specifically cap est locale. From everything I've read panthers and veiled are the recommended "starters" but thought I would get opinions on specifically these two.
As far as enclosure/s go I will be doing the jdog diy style. I would like to go either 3 or 4w x 2d x 4h, will this end up to big for a big baby/ small juvi though starting with that size enclosure starting their life with me? Would I need to either do false walls/ floor if I went that big until they got closer to adult size? My current plans are at some point wanting an unrelated pair of either so wanting to plan ahead on room for a lay box for the female too.
This leads me to my next question. I've decided to go with mist king over cli mist, mostly due to the timer tbh. I like the look of the timer with the mist king set up better. So I'm thinking, if that size enclosure isn't to big for the size chameleons I listed, having two dual mist heads per enclosure or doing a rain ring/ soaker hose type thing that I've seen in a few threads. With that in mind, would the starter kit be enough to run two enclosures that size plus have room to grow or should I just go with the ultimate and run a ball valve to relieve pressure back into the storage bucket if need be?
Sorry to have been so long winded but these were the major things left that I couldn't decide on what would be best to do with just starting in to chameleons. Thanks for any advise/ tips on my journey getting started with these beautiful little beings. I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting to ask but for now these are the ones on my mind.
Thanks
My wife and I were in Pinellas County Reptiles a couple of weeks ago and "met" a lovely little male veiled. he had come off his perch to the door as we looked into the two previous homes before his. He supported himself and held on to the lower lip of the door as peaked out at us like a wide eyed kid at a counter about to get something they really wanted. Naturally we asked if we could hold him. We had both already an interest in him at this point but he was so calm and walked up both of our arms before settling down on my shoulder. We were both in love with the little guy at that point but since I've never kept chameleons before I had to be the voice reason even though I really wanted him too.
So, I told my wife I wanted to do some reading and research before we bought anything to make sure everything was a close to ideal as possible rather then trying to back track and set up properly after the fact, especially since we were/are still dealing with rebounding from Irma rolling through. I'm back to regular paychecks now and ready to start gathering the needed supplies so on to my few questions.
While realistically I doubt the male will still be there when I'm done gathering, I secretly hope he is. At the moment our two picks on what we would like to try and get into the chameleon hobby are either a veiled or a panther, specifically cap est locale. From everything I've read panthers and veiled are the recommended "starters" but thought I would get opinions on specifically these two.
As far as enclosure/s go I will be doing the jdog diy style. I would like to go either 3 or 4w x 2d x 4h, will this end up to big for a big baby/ small juvi though starting with that size enclosure starting their life with me? Would I need to either do false walls/ floor if I went that big until they got closer to adult size? My current plans are at some point wanting an unrelated pair of either so wanting to plan ahead on room for a lay box for the female too.
This leads me to my next question. I've decided to go with mist king over cli mist, mostly due to the timer tbh. I like the look of the timer with the mist king set up better. So I'm thinking, if that size enclosure isn't to big for the size chameleons I listed, having two dual mist heads per enclosure or doing a rain ring/ soaker hose type thing that I've seen in a few threads. With that in mind, would the starter kit be enough to run two enclosures that size plus have room to grow or should I just go with the ultimate and run a ball valve to relieve pressure back into the storage bucket if need be?
Sorry to have been so long winded but these were the major things left that I couldn't decide on what would be best to do with just starting in to chameleons. Thanks for any advise/ tips on my journey getting started with these beautiful little beings. I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting to ask but for now these are the ones on my mind.
Thanks
