New.. Looking for advice on enclosure

[Brie34]

Hi everyone! My daughter s wanting a chameleon for Christmas. We are animal lovers so it's not her first pet. I want to purchase the enclosure for her for Christmas and then purchase the chameleon after everything is set up. I'm thinking a veiled chameleon since I've read those are the easiest to care for and since this will be her first I don't want anything to difficult for her. I have looked at the kits at the pet stores but after doing some research I am thinking a kit would not be the ideal set up. So I am here seeking advice and hoping you all can point me in the right direction. I have looked at all the amazing photos of your set ups and also want the best for our new addition. Is there a certain brand I should go with? Should I go with a screen enclosure or glass? Certain lighting i'll need? Misters? Plants? There is sooo much info out there I'm not sure where to start!
I know this is a lot of info to help me with but I know you all have also started where I am and needed advice. I just want our new pet to be happy and healthy. I would appreciate any info you can give me!
Also, once I have my daughter's set up we will be looking for a new little one to live in it. Any place in particular I should stay away from when purchasing?
Thank you so much!

 

[JacksJill]

If you live in a very dry area a glass enclosure might work better if you have more humid weather then get screen. If your weather varies then get screen and cover 2-3 sides with plastic to maintain humidity. Dragonstrand makes quality cages but other common brands are adequate.
You are correct "kits" are inadequate and you would be better to buy a la carte: cage, linear lights and misting system and get better items.
Manufactured vines are not as good as fresh cut, dried and cleaned branches from non toxic sapless trees. Buy live plants from the safe plant list over plastic plants.
That's just some tips. I' sure others will fill in the gaps I missed.
Welcome to the forum.

 

[Graves923]

Cage: Screen would be best and most recommended to start with. You can always modify the screen cages if humidity retention is an issue. The Chameleon kits that are sold at petsmart are good to start with but are not chameleon ready out of the box... They only include one vine and two fake leaf bundles. Use started with this kit and substituted the vine and fake plants with real plants and better vines of various thicknesses. The cage in the kit is a 18" x 18" x 36" i believe which is good for a young chameleon but you will need to get a bigger cage by the time they hit the 10 month old age depending on how fast your chameleon grows.

Adult cages should be a minimum of 24" x 24" x 48".

Lighting: The kit comes with a dual dome light and two bulbs, a blue basking light and UVB 2.0 or 5.0 (cant remember). Toss the blue bulb out and use a white incandescent house bulb. You may need to play with different bulb wattages to get the proper basking temp on the basking branch. I started with a 60w and that worked in the small cage.

UVB light: Use will be ok for a little while using the compact UVB 5.0 bulb. 2.0 is too weak. Look into investing in a linear UVB bulb and fixture, either t8 or t5/t5ho fixture and bulb. The linear puts out more UVB light over a larger area compared to the compact UVB bulb which has a very focused area that the chameleon will need to be in to get the UVB it needs.

To read temps i use a laser temp gun from home depot. It was under $20 and is more accurate than the thermometer in those kits. I recommend one to everyone.

Misting: This is one of the more important things you'll want to get right first rather than later. A lot of the health issues we see here on the forum is from dehydrated chameleons and its one of the easiest things to avoid. It is recommended to invest in a mist system such as a Mist King or Climist system. You can set the timer to go off when you want throughout the day and the only thing you need to remember is to check the reservoir and make sure its full. Alternative, is to hand mist if you can atleast 3 times per day for a few minutes at a time.

A mist system along with live plants should eliminate any humidity issues. If you are still having trouble with maintaining humidity you can cover one or two (or more) sides of the screen cage with plastic sheet to hold in humidity. With glass enclosures you cant really take a pane out or drill holes which is why most people will recommend screen. Stagnant, humid air can cause respiratory infections in chameleons.

Another big thing is supplements. There are three main supplements you will need to help keep your chameleon healthy.

1) Plain, phosphorus- free calcium powder: Should be dusted lightly on all feeders at most feedings.
2) Calcium with D3: Again dust on all feeders lightly twice per month (or every other week)
Note: Chameleons naturally produce D3 in their bodies by absorbing UVB radiation from the sun, or in our case, the UVB bulb. Since the sun is much stronger than our bulbs, the chameleons can't produce enough of it on their own so we help them out by using D3 supplements.
3) Multivitamin: A good multivitamin should be used twice per month ( or the weeks that D3 is not used).

Personally, I use all Rep-Cal products for supplementing. Green label is the plain calcium, Pink label is D3, and Blue label is the Multivitamin.

I hope I answered some of your questions without creating more questions lol. I left a link below to some articles that helped me out when I first started. The articles, from what I was told, were written and approved by members of the forum. Its a lot of info but take it slow and don't take short cuts.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions as you think of them.

 

[CJ's Exotics]

Great responses have been given. I will mention breeders. FLChams are really great based on reviews. There are also great breeders on here like @jannb. What is your reptile experience? Please do lots of research before purchasing.

 

[Brie34]

Thank you all so much for your responses! I have made my list and will be searching the web tonight!
CJ, I don't have any reptile experience. That is why I am here to get as much information as possible. I don't want to purchase a pet that is too much for my daughter to handle. She is 16. I will help her out as much as possible but it's ultimately her pet. I also don't want her pet to be unhealthy or unhappy so that is why I'm asking about enclosures. I appreciate all the information I can get!
Thank you all again! This was a tremendous help!

 

[CJ's Exotics]

Thank you all so much for your responses! I have made my list and will be searching the web tonight!
CJ, I don't have any reptile experience. That is why I am here to get as much information as possible. I don't want to purchase a pet that is too much for my daughter to handle. She is 16. I will help her out as much as possible but it's ultimately her pet. I also don't want her pet to be unhealthy or unhappy so that is why I'm asking about enclosures. I appreciate all the information I can get!
Thank you all again! This was a tremendous help!

I you would like me to refer you to some care websites or books, I can do that.

 

[Brie34]

Yes CJ, Thank you!