Hello new here,question on habitat
- Thread starter zmb187
- Start date
rachelk
New Member
if you must go with glass at least do two sides of mesh, the more ventilation the better for a veiled. i actually have a glass enclosure but it has sides with mesh, and top with mesh. also, the demensions of the cage depend on how old/big the chameleon is, but if you want to save money, make it bigger but some how put a divider in the cage (if the chameleon is young?)
rachelk
New Member
someone bought it for me as a gift, it came from a reptile store in st. louis and that is pretty much all i can tell ya, mine is 18x18x24 same demensions and i have a veiled that is 6 months old, as he grows i will have get creative and figure out a way to make the cage taller, and i will probably do that with mesh and some sort of sturdy metal for the structure of it...don't know yet... and from experience and reading other peopls forums, it costs around $100.00-$150.00 to build a cage, so probably the same as if you were to buy that exo terrarium...i would go with building one, i would love to build one myself but i'm pretty incapable of building stuff on my own
rachelk
New Member
a cage above 36" would definately be too large for a juvenile, but you can always figure out a way to put a divider in the cage for time being until the cham gets bigger, and 36" would be a good height for an adult, will you be getting a male or female veiled? the males tend to be bigger,
Well I read ealier that one of the two male or female would be less aggressive.Would you know?So,the exo terra terrarium has a sceen top would that be good enough?As for lighting it seems that you would need thre lights,one for heat one for night and one for UVB,is that all i would need beside keeping the cage humid?
rachelk
New Member
males tend to more aggressive, my male veiled hates the world, but once i get him out of his cage to check him out or to clean the cage he's fine, i've heard that some male veileds are so nice they can't wait to get out of the cage to be held, i think once they warm up to you they tend to be content and once they realize you are the one giving them good food they seem to not be so crabby,
and you only need two lights, one linear tube flourscent uvb 5.0 repti sun (stay away from the spiral compact ones, bad on their eyes), and a house bulb for heat, i use a regular house bulb 75 w, it keeps his basking temp around 80-85 and the ambient temp in the cage around 74ish, lights on 12 hours a day and off 12 hours at night, if the temps drop below 60 or 55 at night then you might need a night lamp, but they need the drop in temps to sleep and to digest and such... also some sort of dripper system and mist at least 3x a day for humidity
and you only need two lights, one linear tube flourscent uvb 5.0 repti sun (stay away from the spiral compact ones, bad on their eyes), and a house bulb for heat, i use a regular house bulb 75 w, it keeps his basking temp around 80-85 and the ambient temp in the cage around 74ish, lights on 12 hours a day and off 12 hours at night, if the temps drop below 60 or 55 at night then you might need a night lamp, but they need the drop in temps to sleep and to digest and such... also some sort of dripper system and mist at least 3x a day for humidity
kenya
Avid Member
I would say a big no on the Exo Terra. Get a nice screen cage from lllreptile.com...they have good prices and the Exo Terra will not provide enough ventilation, not to mention they are really pricey, especially as they get bigger, and are hard to drain.
As far as veileds go, they are all generally aggressive. They just seem to have bad attitudes for the most part. They aren't a "take out and play with" pet, so it doesn't terribly matter at any rate.
No night bulb needed if your house is a regular temperature house...they need the drop at night to go into deep sleep and even the "infared" bulbs produce visible light that may disturb them. You will need a 5.o ZooMed Reptisun LINEAR bulb (you can get them at lllreptile.com for a great price and you can get a decent fixture at Home Depot or Lowes for around $10) For basking, just use a regular clamp lamp (~$8 at a hardware store) and a household bulb around 75 watts (depending on what temperature you are reading at the basking spot)
Edit: beat to it! BTW, if you do have to use a bulb at night (doubtful), you should use a ceramic heat emitter.
NewOwner
New Member
Hey, Welcome to the forums, just thought id share this site with you, it has many mesh screen cages, and lots of people recomend these, and they can be shipped, to your door with fedex
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/-/24-x-24-x-48-inch-aluminum-screen-cage/
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/-/24-x-24-x-48-inch-aluminum-screen-cage/
dodolah
Retired Moderator
I would always suggest:
for a starter in chameleon keeping, aggressiveness should be the least of your concern.
Go with the male veiled chameleon. Female required more delicate care due to the fact of egg cycles. She will lay eggs whether she has been introduced to male or not. There is a risk of egg binding if you care for her improperly.
So, stick with male for less complication.
Go to this:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/links/chameleon-websites-2/
There are bunch of general care sheets for veiled chameleons.
Those sites will lead you to the right directions and will probably answer most of your questions.
After reading those sites, you are welcome to ask more specific questions in here
O also don't forget to use SEARCH function on the top blue bar. It might help you figure out the answer right away without having to wait for other people's answers.
Good luck! a part of the fun and the necessity in successful keeping of chameleon is researching the facts
One tips: get ALL the requirements BEFORE you buy the chameleon.
It'll save you a lot of headaches and money later on.
Last but not least, welcome to the forum and the world of chameleon keeping!
NewOwner
New Member
A good site to read is http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
thank you to all that was very helpful,So I am going with the mesh cage from the site you intrduced to me.they really do have great deals!!!!!and will be going with a male cause did not relize the bare babies without a mate.I have a large cage that is not mesh,it has around 1/2 inch wholes is that too much ventalation?
rachelk
New Member
the more ventilation the better, but his feeders (crickets, worms, etc.) will get out, you could try cup feeding him, sometimes does not always work, some people have put a mesh with smaller holes just around the bottom of the tank to help keep feeders from escaping, but crickets are good climbers...
NewOwner
New Member
Im not sure you can have too much ventalation, but with half inch holes, your food is gonna escape (Crickets, worms, Etc)
And glad to hear you are going with a male, and a cage from LLLReptile.com
So.. im not too sure about 1/2 inch cage... :l Good luck though
If i were you, id buy the cage, then get it all set up, and then get the chameleon...
BTW make sure you get the right lights, i got the wrong one the first time
Reptisun 5.0 linear tube UVB Light <-- is what you need (I think) if im wrong, someone will surely correct me
And you will need a heat lamp (Not sure what wattage, but ours is 50) but with ours, our heat stays on all night.. So.. I do not know!
Good luck Though!
And glad to hear you are going with a male, and a cage from LLLReptile.com
So.. im not too sure about 1/2 inch cage... :l Good luck though
If i were you, id buy the cage, then get it all set up, and then get the chameleon...
BTW make sure you get the right lights, i got the wrong one the first time
Reptisun 5.0 linear tube UVB Light <-- is what you need (I think) if im wrong, someone will surely correct me
And you will need a heat lamp (Not sure what wattage, but ours is 50) but with ours, our heat stays on all night.. So.. I do not know!
Good luck Though!
yeah I'll be putting up a pic of the cage 2marrow.I'm most likely going to buy the mesh cage though.As for the lighting I was gonna go to my local pet store for that,but then agian it was mentioned that I could go to home depot for that.So I have the A/C pretty cold once I get fella,will I need to keep it at 70 degrees?
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