Hey everyone, new user

cgandrew1

New Member
Hey everyone, this is my first post. I am eagerly awaiting a new velied cham from flchams and was wondering if you could give me some pointers on his enclosure. Right now its a 60g reptarium, but I've already built the base of his new home once hes big enough. The plants are a live ficus, a live hibiscus (forgot to water it for a few days so its not doing so hot right now, but recuperating) and a scheflera (spelling?). There is a 60watt basking light and a 24" repti sun 5.0 uvb bulb. The basking temp is around 85 with high 70's to low 80's everywhere else in the enclosure. The humidity is a constant 70% with spikes to the low 90's whenever I spray ( about 3 times a day) I have a fake vine plant in one corner which is where the little dripper goes (not in pictures). Let me know what you guys think and what else I can do to make his home rock. Thanks!:)
 

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hi, it looks really good, i think anyway :) i dont no what else you could put in it. But if you wate for the really clever chameleon people to post some comments they will tell you something good, like when they tell me :)
 
Looks good-make sure you have something under it to catch water-looks like you have paper towels in the bottom. Did you wash the plants and repot in Organic soil?
 
I washed them and repotted them... not too sure if it was organic but I can double check. I am also going to be covering the soil with smooth pond stones, so will that still be necessary? Also, right now its a trash bag lol, but I have a bucket that slides in and out of the bottom of the larger cage as a sort of drainage system. I was washing the bucket and forgot to put it back in hence it's not in the pictures.
 
Perfect-if it has perlite or fertilizers in it then I would still use the stones to cover it. When does you cham arrive-you picked a great person to buy from!
 
I actually haven't bought it yet haha. I work at a hotel so its almost impossible to get a certain day of the week off. I have a day off requested next week. So, hopefully, next week it is. How old should the cham be before moving it to the larger enclosure?
 
Is that a 65 gallon?

Julirs has one for sale too..His name is UGLY but I think he's very handsome.:)

I would put a black garbage bag ont he backside to help protect the walls from misting. I have a reptarium as well and I use a garbage bag (2) underneath to help containt he water as well as 2 on the backside. Its black so it doesnt stand out since the cage is black. It also help maintin the heat by closing off a side (major for me since my cage is like 175-200 gallons).:) Best luck!!
 
I'll respond, I really like the enclosure you are working on. Looks Like it may be a real happy home for your Chameleon when that time comes. I do feel that to much vegitation within an enclosure can be overdone and not always, from my observations, enjoyed by the Chams. My Chameleons seem happy in an enclosure that is full of walkways uninhabited with dense vegitation. But I usually include a thicker area If the Cham is in a mood it feels it wants to hide once in a while. Almost every one of my Chameleons bask, perch, and sleep in the more open spots in the cage. They do like to see from where they sit most the time. I do not observe any of My chams wanting to hide! (Not even the Babies I raise). So here is a Pic of a side by side I built for my medium sized Chams. It kind of represents the amount of walkways and vegitations "I feel and see," that makes them happy about even having to be within a cage.

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At Time of this photo, There is a 15" Mellers Juvinile in the left one
And a 14" Adult Male Jacksons in the right.
The dead plant trimmings in the bottom left were just put in the plant soil to see if they would live. Sometimes they do, but this time they didnt.:confused:
The small tank in the bottom of the right I had in there for raising a very young Mellers that seemed to need a small enclosure at that time, and Has since moved up to another cage like these not pictured here.
 

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Titan, Ive heard people on here complain about having basking lights inside the tank. Is that a concern for you? They look nice.. Surprised no one has said that its too dense. I have 9 plants and I still gold told its not enough! LOL..

Wheres the Jacksons setup? :)
 
When You free range as I do mostly!, and have large enclosures as the ones posted 6.5' tall x 4' wide each side. I put basking lights inside the cage, and honestly in 14 years with Chams I have had absolutly no burns for any matter of the lighting situatuions. So yes I'm not at all against this. I feel the reason most peoples Chams get burned is due to so much vegitation and their basking area is to close to the light. Right? My setups avoid this issue hense the Chams have no reason to get on or near the light to be burned:)
 
I won't knock what works for people-but I have blown up lightbulbs misting cages and have a variety of chams that like to climb every surface of the cage.
 
O and Blackbetty, my Baby Jacksons Enclosures I'll post in its own thread when I have time today, They do not have a Basking light in there enclosure Just the UVB. Im in the prosses of setting up a very large free range setup for for my Parsons, in my Kids room, and Ill post that too when im done this weekend.

Julirs, Yea misting Could be a problem I guess if shooting water near the light, I honestly have other ways you get humidities up and water into the Cham, so misting aint the norm here, and as many have seen pic's of some of my Chams on this site, They are some of the healthiest chameleons out there.

All my years of Chameleon knowlage came from a few books and a good observance to Chameleon needs and ways. I didnt have the ability to google up info for Chams. as seen today But Common knowlage and common sense and a ability to see how animals reacts to everything around it, + alot of time learns one well. I just stumbled across these forums a month or so ago and I am glad I found it. Great info here and people that care! Awsome
 
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