New guy

jmdavis

jmdavis

New Member
Hello!!

I just thought i would post a little something so i could let all of you know where im coming from. Im new to chams and might have the occasional question or two. Well to be honest i don't even have one yet but i have decided that i want a female veiled. One of my friends has a young male only about 6 inches long so im pretty sure i want a female so we can breed or at least try. I did a little research and ordered all of the things im going to need from a online website. It seemed that the Reptarium was the best bang for my buck so i order the 100 gallon with the soft tray. I think it will work fine for now but im pretty sure i will end up getting the 260 gallon Reptarium in the future. Has anyone had one of these? Mine still hasn't shown up yet and ive never seen one in person. As soon as my cage gets here im going to buy my cham so im open to all the advice any of you have to give me.

Thanks Josh
 
Btw Some common mistakes that i made when getting my first chameleons was...

Wrong lights - i got compact UVB which is bad because it has been shown that it cause eye damage, Get Linear Tube UVB (Reptisun 5.0)

Flooring - When i first got my chameleon, i put coconut husk on the floor, when your supposed to have nothing, as it can cause impactions.

Caging - I put mine in a 10 gallon aquarium , i never knew about screen cages - now shes in a 260 gallon

Plants - I used a bunch of fake plants which ive heard can cause impaction - so now im usic a couple ficus live plants

Male or female? - I bought mine as a 'Male' But it turned out to be a female, Females are more work (Eggs Etc) ... ive read they are crankier and do not move around much..

Breeding - I am a future breeder and have asked about it so much, that i know i am NOT ready yet... i will wait probably a year or more, before i even THINK about breeding it takes alot of time / money / more time / more money..
 
Good luck and welcome!

If you take a look at some of the posts started by "NewOwner" you will see countless posts about why having a female veiled in a 260g reptarium is not such a good idea.

Here is a link to the reasons why a HUGE cage isn't a great idea...

To get some good ideas on good husbandry check out Brad Ramsey's site.

There is a lot of good threads floating about the forums. The search tool is your friend :D
 
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Thanks for the advice guys! I don't intend on rushing into breeding, i hear its not very good if not fully grown and i still have a lot to learn. I guess the 100 gallon is going to be just fine so thanks for saving me some money and time on that one:) I do have a question on my lighting. I see that a lot of people use a zoo med 5.0( i think that's what its called) and thats not what i was told to purchase. I ordered a Powersun uv, it says provides essential uva, uvb, light and heat all in one lamp. Is that going to be a good light or should i get something else?

Thanks
 
jmdavis said:
Thanks for the advice guys! I don't intend on rushing into breeding, i hear its not very good if not fully grown and i still have a lot to learn. I guess the 100 gallon is going to be just fine so thanks for saving me some money and time on that one:) I do have a question on my lighting. I see that a lot of people use a zoo med 5.0( i think that's what its called) and thats not what i was told to purchase. I ordered a Powersun uv, it says provides essential uva, uvb, light and heat all in one lamp. Is that going to be a good light or should i get something else?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I am sure you've heard from your parents when you were little not to do everything everyone else does.... in the case of the ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 linear tube, your parents would be wrong. It is the perfect light for our chams. Since you are getting a reptarium you might want to buy the 10.0 tube just because the plastic mesh can block out a lot of light.

Next to the UVB lamp, place a 50w flood or spot lamp. Then below the two lights place a vine for your cham to bask under both lamps. She'll get the UV and the heat she needs at the same time.

Read up on Brad's site about what you'll need. It covers a lot of bases.

for more lighting tips, check out the UV Guide
 
So keeping the lamp i have now will be fine but just add a 50w spot lamp?? Or should i buy the reptisun with a spot lamp? Sorry that i don't understand
 
Yeah well its a little to late for that because i already bought it, i don't think i can return it either. What is so bad about a power sun??? It says it does uva and uvb.
 
I ordered it from reptilesupply.com so im not sure on there return policy but i will look into it. Thanks
 
jmdavis said:
I ordered it from reptilesupply.com so im not sure on there return policy but i will look into it. Thanks
Click to expand...

If you have not used the lamp I do not see the harm in returning the item. See what they say. If you buy the tube from them they may not mind making an exchange.

Edit: Sorry I was on my iPhone when I was typing above... it makes weirdo mistakes sometimes.
 
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Instead if using the Reptisun 10.0 tube can i use the 10.0 compact florescent lamp that screws in? Are the the same thing?
 
If you're talking about the compact bulb I think you're talking about it's a big no no. They can hurt your cham's eyes.
 
I forgot to say thank you for that last post Syn. How many watts do you think i should go with when i buy the 10.0?
 
WOW never mind i was wrong, i am such a newbie. As the length of the bulb goes up so does the wattage. I'm going to purchase the 24inch since my cage is 30 wide
 
I don't believe it's by length, 10.0 is for desert creatures, 5.0 for tropical, etc.
 
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