help me choose please...

[pshamous]

ive never had a cham as a pet but i really really really want one. im a pretty experienced pet owner so im confident in my abilities to care for the little cuties! i also eventually want to breed them. if you guys could give me a suggestion taking into account my limited budget, future breeding, look, and lack of cham experience thatd be wonderful.

thanks!

 

[pssh]

Welcome! How limited is your budget? You're probably gonna need a few hundred to start off with, plus whatever your Cham costs. I would start out with a panther or a veiled, but panthers are more expensive. I'll throw in my baby veiled checklist which also works for panthers except they should not go lower than 60 at night at all. I got all this good stuff for about 250 bucks. (also take into consideration that breeding may end up costing you 1000+ dollars.)

Here is my basic checklist for a baby veiled:

-a screen cage of appropriate size (baby:16x16x30, adult female 18x18x36, adult male 24x24x48) you can also buy the adult sized cage and just section off the bottom so it is smaller
-live plants that are non toxic and have covered organic fertilizer free soil
-a normal incandescent house bulb of appropriate wattage
-a dome to put the house bulb in
-a linear reptisun 5.0 and appropriate hood
-a digital thermometer or temp gun to check temperature
-a digital hygrometer to check humidity (you can buy a 2 in 1 thermometer/hygrometer)
-three supplements: calcium with d3, calcium without d3, and a multivitamin that contains no vit A (make sure all are phos free)
-a pump style spray bottle to spray chameleon
-a dripper of some sort
-drainage for the water so that the cage does not flood
-many horizontal, vertical, and diagonal branches/vines/perches make sure there are many at different levels under the basking branch so he can move around under them to get a certain temp, the closest one to the bulb (6-8 inches under it) should have the maximum temperature a baby veiled can handle (80-83 degrees)

All of this can be bought on lllreptile.com but it would be cheaper to buy the uvb hood, normal incandescent house bulb and dome, plants, and digital thermometer from home depot or lowes (unless you are getting a temp gun, then tempgun.com) Veiled chameleons can handle temps as low as 50 degrees (at night) so there is no need to use a night light, though I would try to keep it around 60 for a baby. If you do need extra heat, use a space heater or ceramic bulb.

 

[Courtney]

i would really start off with a veiled if any cham out there...they are very hardy,easy,there not expensive and eat a variety of vegies

 

[ajacobson]

You could start with Pygmies. At lllreptile.com they are $29.99/pair (they can be kept in pairs. Then they sell complete care packages for the cage/lights/ etc. at really good prices.

 

[Carlton]

You could start with Pygmies. At lllreptile.com they are $29.99/pair (they can be kept in pairs. Then they sell complete care packages for the cage/lights/ etc. at really good prices.

I would NOT suggest pygmies for a first cham species. They may be small and easier to house, but almost all are wc and they can be very difficult to treat for problems due to their size. Getting their tank setups adjusted just right takes time and experience. They are even more secretive about health problems until they are just lying on their sides dying. Not the first cham experience I would wish on a newbie.

Considering your "limited budget", what about a qualified herp vet in your area? Chances are you will need one sooner or later, so find out about this before you dive into chams. Vet care for chams can be expensive and frankly, I am one who hates to read the common forum thread starting off with

"HELP! My cham is sick and I don't have a) a good vet close by or b) I don't have the money for a vet."

Just not fair to the animals or the keeper.

I am not trying to discourage you at all, but suggest that before you decide you must breed, think about these things first:

Will you have space and buyers for all the potential babies? There are lots of baby chams on the market.
The amount of time even one cham needs every day.
The amount of space for individual caging for your pair.
The cost of a variety of feeder insects, their care and feeding
and,
your daily, monthly, and yearly schedule and how cham care fits into it. Are you in school? College? Planning to move any time soon? Travel a lot? These are not animals that can be left unattended for more than a day unless you have automated misting systems or humidity and temp controls.

 

[JCDenton]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/some-thoughts-breeding-2612/

Read this before you even think about breeding them. It's a lot of work and very expensive.