New chameleon owner be gentle :)

sidewindersnake said:
OK, so it took longer than expected (thanks suppliers) but he is in his new cage now i know this is still not perfect as i have to cut a hole in the top of the viv now for the heat bulb (I am watching very carefully to make sure he does not grab it) Any recommended tools to do this? i can get the wire mesh locally. i have tried to give him as much diversity as i can when it comes to branch size, texture, ect and he has all live plants in there he does seem to fall off one type of branch pretty regularly though and has started to avoid those should I take them out? even though I've read a lot! and had support on this thread i still feel like i have a ton to learn, so any suggestions are more than welcome.

iv also added some new pictures. The day i moved him into his new enclosure he started to shed and the colours coming through are gorgeous.
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Having a heat bulb in with a chameleon is extremely dangerous. Thermal burns are common when these are inside a cage. To get the cham farther away you have to drop down the basking level. Which if your UVB is inside the cage would need to be done anyways to avoid overexposure to high UVI levels. If you got the arcadia 6% pro t5 this means you need a full 12 inches measured from the bottom of the fixture to the branches below it.

Going back to heat.... I see you have a heat emitter, basking bulb, Led, and then you have the UVB if I am correct in assuming that. What are your temps though... Because the Jungle dawn itself puts out quite a bit if heat along with the T5 for the UVB bulb.
 
Beman said:
Having a heat bulb in with a chameleon is extremely dangerous. Thermal burns are common when these are inside a cage. To get the cham farther away you have to drop down the basking level. Which if your UVB is inside the cage would need to be done anyways to avoid overexposure to high UVI levels. If you got the arcadia 6% pro t5 this means you need a full 12 inches measured from the bottom of the fixture to the branches below it.

Going back to heat.... I see you have a heat emitter, basking bulb, Led, and then you have the UVB if I am correct in assuming that. What are your temps though... Because the Jungle dawn itself puts out quite a bit if heat along with the T5 for the UVB bulb.
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ok temps are good as far as i know and what iv read the ceramic heat emitter does not come on a all unless temps drop below 60 at night its on a thermostat (pulse proportional) along with the basking bulb which is on a dimmer

top cage 80f
basking 85-87f
lower 70f

now as for uvb iv herd so many contradicting things that say so long as they can hide away change levels ect they will regulate themselves and iv herd hard statements like it has to be this far away ect as i say im still leaning and there is so many counter arguments out there its hard to keep track

on to burns, he shows no interest in getting remotely close to the basking bulb but as stated above i will keep a close eye on this and was asking for idea's on how to make the hole in the top without making a massive mess of it im really grateful for all the advice i get here and not being argumentative at all (only reason i say this is because i get told i can come of this way sometimes lol)
 
sidewindersnake said:
ok temps are good as far as i know and what iv read the ceramic heat emitter does not come on a all unless temps drop below 60 at night its on a thermostat (pulse proportional) along with the basking bulb which is on a dimmer

top cage 80f
basking 85-87f
lower 70f

now as for uvb iv herd so many contradicting things that say so long as they can hide away change levels ect they will regulate themselves and iv herd hard statements like it has to be this far away ect as i say im still leaning and there is so many counter arguments out there its hard to keep track

on to burns, he shows no interest in getting remotely close to the basking bulb but as stated above i will keep a close eye on this and was asking for idea's on how to make the hole in the top without making a massive mess of it im really grateful for all the advice i get here and not being argumentative at all (only reason i say this is because i get told i can come of this way sometimes lol)
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So for the heat emitter... Chams can safely drop to 50. We really do not recommend using heat emitters because they cause too much of a temp increase at night and if you having higher humidity or are fogging then it creates a recipe for the cham to get a respiratory infection. How cold does your home actually get at night?

Basking is too hot... Your looking for closer to the 80 with a max of 85. Most of us keep our males around 82 at basking.

I understand your confusion about UVB. It is why 4 years ago I made it my mission to fully understand it. I can tell you with certainty that with a proT5 fixture and a 6% bulb you need 11-12 inches to the branches below it. This will put the cham's back in an approximate 3 UVI level. Which is the sweet spot for them. Because your fixture is inside the cage and not sitting on top of screen you do not get the UVI reduction so you have to account for this. UVI levels become extremely strong the closer you get to a bulb. A cham should never be exposed to anything higher than a 6 UVI level. If you want to know your levels for sure you would need to buy a solarmeter 6.5 to test them.

In my experience they do not regulate themselves. They go to the highest points and will sit there. Does not matter if they are too hot or in overexposure levels. Which is why we have to have it set up so that they do not have issues.

It is a lot of information and a lot to learn. By far one of the most complicated animals I have ever kept. And you will get incorrect info out there. Many sites are wrong. Many give totally incorrect info. Makes it very hard when you are new to differentiate between what is correct and what is not.
 
Beman said:
How cold does your home actually get at night?
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it can get down into the 30's and with my work schedule it would be in the 30-40's for around 7-8 hours over night when im not there with no heating on so i thought it was a good compromise but i will lower the thermostat to 50 for that now thanks to your info.

Beman said:
Basking is too hot...
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ok simple lowered on the thermostat to 82

Beman said:
I can tell you with certainty that with a proT5 fixture and a 6% bulb you need 11-12 inches to the branches below it.
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ok now i have a definitive answer ill get what i need to cut a large rectangular hole in the top of my enclosure and cover in mesh to place above with the basking bulb actually makes my life easier as i was looking for a way to cut a perfect circle now i just have to do one big rectangle 😅

Beman said:
It is a lot of information and a lot to learn. By far one of the most complicated animals I have ever kept. And you will get incorrect info out there.
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it defiantly is a lot! but we do what we can for our animals and strive for perfection for their wellbeing and i agree so much conflicting information out there it can be hard to know whats right and wrong actually really happy i found this forum and that the information is so readily shared.
 
sidewindersnake said:
it can get down into the 30's and with my work schedule it would be in the 30-40's for around 7-8 hours over night when im not there with no heating on so i thought it was a good compromise but i will lower the thermostat to 50 for that now thanks to your info.


ok simple lowered on the thermostat to 82


ok now i have a definitive answer ill get what i need to cut a large rectangular hole in the top of my enclosure and cover in mesh to place above with the basking bulb actually makes my life easier as i was looking for a way to cut a perfect circle now i just have to do one big rectangle 😅


it defiantly is a lot! but we do what we can for our animals and strive for perfection for their wellbeing and i agree so much conflicting information out there it can be hard to know whats right and wrong actually really happy i found this forum and that the information is so readily shared.
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Ok if you gut the rectangle... The material you want to get is aluminum screen for windows. Then with the UVB on top of the cage instead you want 8-9 inches from the screen where the fixture sits and the branches below it. This will put the cham in the correct uvi level.


So wow on the temp. Is there no way to run it so it stays at 50? 30 in the house is pretty low. How do your water pipes not freeze?
 
Beman said:
Then with the UVB on top of the cage instead you want 8-9 inches
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ok sounds good tools and materials already ordered.

Beman said:
So wow on the temp. Is there no way to run it so it stays at 50?
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i could leave the central heating on to keep the house warm just seems counter productive if im not home but everything is a options, i live in the mountains in wales (uk) gets very cold 30 outside 40 inside with no home heating should have clarified sorry, pipes are insulated we only really have it that cold for 2-3 months then 50 is achievable with ambient temps.
 
sidewindersnake said:
ok sounds good tools and materials already ordered.


i could leave the central heating on to keep the house warm just seems counter productive if im not home but everything is a options, i live in the mountains in wales (uk) gets very cold 30 outside 40 inside with no home heating should have clarified sorry, pipes are insulated we only really have it that cold for 2-3 months then 50 is achievable with ambient temps.
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Well I bet it is gorgeous there... :)

If you can it is better to raise ambient temps then to put heat directly on a cage. When you add heat to the cage you have no control over what part of the cage actually warms up. Also if your fogging at night you can not have heat pumping into a cage due to respiratory issues. It makes it so they are breathing hot moist air.

You can try it but I would just be worried about the temps going that low... Say the cage only gets to 50 in the upper corner but the cham is sleeping down in the bottom corner.. He is not going to wake up and move in the dark. They die when exposed to temps below 40. Some can have issues with temps below 50. Rule of thumb we do not recommend anything below 50.
 
work has begun on the viv feel like iv destroying it but if its what he needs its what he gets 😅 picture below of current progress feel like iv wasted so much money getting things i didn't have to for him 🤦‍♂️ still have to silicone the wood again to stop water getting in there and to secure the mesh more (don't think it needs more but better safe then sorry ) then decorate this is how far iv come on the layout plan but struggling to want to add more branches even though i know he needs them just because i love the floating branch so much 😂
311307118_2386209671527085_3251848819715679239_n.jpg
 
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Nice looking. How big? Love the floating branch. Are you going to put in bigger plants?
 
Tkrd69 said:
Nice looking. How big? Love the floating branch. Are you going to put in bigger plants?
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my biggest plant i had to put in the small cage while im doing this so he feels comfortable so that will be going bk in this one not sure how to arrange the other branches? so i dont spoil the look of the floating one but im sure ill thing of something cage is 3(H)x2(D)xnearly 4(W)
 
They like a lot of branches and hiding places. Is that a Pothos up high in the back? Might want another one those when it grows big it can cover a lot of area. I have 5 Pothos in mind just want them to get bigger.
 
Tkrd69 said:
They like a lot of branches and hiding places. Is that a Pothos up high in the back? Might want another one those when it grows big it can cover a lot of area. I have 5 Pothos in mind just want them to get bigger.
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yea pothos up high and one front left trying for one to drop and one to climb then when im able propagate some to make them fuller and plant more pots love the look of the stuff, they have already sprouted 2 new leaves each in the last week the jungle dawn led is worth every penny
 
Keep us updated. Would love to see it all finished. You could sketch it out and try ideas. Here's what my enclosure looks like.Wish I could take better pictures. Saving up for jungle dawn, I just have a 6500k grow light. IMG_20221011_164940_hdr.jpg
 
Mrjamwin said:
What's the name of your Cham? As long as it's not Pascal or Rango then you're fine. :D
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mines called wiggy after a grumpy friend of mine 😂 tbh my guy is so chill hand feeds and if i need to move him just place a couple fingers under his head and he climbs right on not at all like some of the stores iv herd of veiled's being grumps maybe i got lucky and have to think of a new name 🤔
 
Tkrd69 said:
Keep us updated. Would love to see it all finished. You could sketch it out and try ideas. Here's what my enclosure looks like.Wish I could take better pictures. Saving up for jungle dawn, I just have a 6500k grow light.View attachment 330035
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will do! yea there not the cheapest haha think iv spent close to £1k in the last month on the little guy after the pet shop lied to me and i had to replace everything
 
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