New to Chameleon World!

[QuinnyNewCham]

Hello everyone! This is my first time on the forum. Very happy to be here. I’ve looked up many of things. A lot of answers have led here! I’m very new to the Chameleon world but very excited! So please bare with me. Now my thing is I can’t find specific answers for my setting. I mainly just want to know if I have things down. I’ve set up everything and trying to have it run constant for almost a week before introducing a Cham. I am from Tucson, Arizona. Outside It’s been up to 105 during the day and 80 at night. The temp for his cage inside my house has been just about 85 for basking spot, 75 a little lower at the bottom of his 16x16x30 mesh cage. Ive seen so many different answers and I’m worried most about the humidity. I've now blocked 3 walls of the mesh with clear wrap and left breathing room at the bottom. About 5 inches. I’ve purchased a fogger to help get humidity stable. As well as an auto dripper for drinking for the day time while I work. The day can run pretty smooth with keeping humidity at basking around 55% and bottom of cage around 75%. I’m worried aboutkeeping it too humid or damp. I noticed the fogger makes it a little cooler in his basking spot keeping it at 85. But I’m also worried about the cage drying out. With my swamp cooler on at night it’s staying a little under 40% humidity. There is a live ficus inside as well. I’ve heard not to keep the fogger on at night because it’s bad for them. I want everything to be perfect and not have to tweak too many things once the is inside. Thank you for any feedback! Very very new so everything is a general from tons of recourses

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Welcome. Click on the link in my signature and answer the questions, then paste the answers back here. You'll have all the help you can stand!

 

[JacksJill]

^^As above but mostly need to know what kind of chameleon you plan on getting.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

I just copied it! Going to fill out now! I’m planning on getting a Veiled!

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Planning on getting a Veiled Chameleon
• Handling - How often should I?
• Feeding - Crickets? What else can I feed?
• Supplements - Sample pack of ZooMed Repti Calcium and pack of ZooMeds reptile vitamins that came with cage.
• Watering - Reptile Drinking Fountain. That I leave at the bottom of cage with branch leading to it.
• Fecal Description - N/A
• History - N/A

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - mesh screen 16x16x30 with 3 sides clear wrapped with 5 inch gap on the bottom
• Lighting - It is an Zoo Med tropical UVB and heat lighting kit with both 5.0 UVB and 60w Blue Daylight bulb
• Temperature - Basking around 88 with bottom around 72. Lowest overnight temp is 68 alround. I measure with a probe thermometer on top and my Habor Humidity/thermometer gage on the bottom. Should I create a cool cover spot in the middle for him to get cool?
• Humidity - humidity goes from 50 at top to 75 at bottom during the day. At night is 45 sometimes down to 38 at the bottom. I create this with a Evergreen Pet Supplies Reptile Fogger. I measure with a Habor Digital humidity reader.
• Plants - the only live plant in there now is a ficus. any other suggestions?
• Placement - it’s on top on my dresserin my room about 5 ft off the ground and about a foot from the celing. A vent blows into the room right at the cage but I close it during the day and crack it open at night to create the temps I have now.
• I live in Tucson Arizona.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

For some reason as I was posting this the bottom temp went up to 84 with 43% humidity. I’m worried I won’t be able to keep cool spots :/

 

[Brodybreaux25]

First thing is definitely get rid of that little waterfall thing all those do is get your Chamaeleon sick

 

[Brodybreaux25]

First thing is definitely get rid of that little waterfall thing all those do is get your Chamaeleon sick

Chams will not drink standing water so most people start out using a dripper. See pic below. As you invest time and money into your set up most keepers eventually upgrade to misting systems. But for now just fill up your dripper put It on top of your cage and crack the valve off just enough so you get one dr on top of your cage and crack the valve just enough so you get one drop about every five seconds. The idea is to get those drops to land on the leaves of the plants in the enclosure this will naturally stimulate your Chamaeleon to drink.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Darn okay I wish I knew that before buying haha why does it get them sick because of the recycling?
Also if I have the dripper going to where I’m getting a drop every five seconds would I just leave it like that constantly?

 

[Harry The Cham]

Chams will not drink standing water so most people start out using a dripper. See pic below. As you invest time and money into your set up most keepers eventually upgrade to misting systems. But for now just fill up your dripper put It on top of your cage and crack the valve off just enough so you get one dr on top of your cage and crack the valve just enough so you get one drop about every five seconds. The idea is to get those drops to land on the leaves of the plants in the enclosure this will naturally stimulate your Chamaeleon to drink.

I have a mister for my Cham that he drinks from all the time but sometimes I will see him drink out of a huge bowl I have in his cage for him. I don’t even know y I put the bowl in there but he does sometimes use it I think he’s just a weird Cham

 

[Harry The Cham]

His unrated are white as well just an FYI in case some of u think I don’t know how to tell if he’s getting enough water ha

 

[MSMorgan]

Darn okay I wish I knew that before buying haha why does it get them sick because of the recycling?
Also if I have the dripper going to where I’m getting a drop every five seconds would I just leave it like that constantly?

Q welcome to the site. The water fall harbors bacteria that can make your cham sick. Keep the dripper going from morning till evening and look into a mister. I have a Mistking, but there are a few others out there like the Climist that have good reviews. Sometimes, I'll put the dripper on for the day in addition to the mister. He knows where it's at and drinks on his own terms instead of waiting for the mister.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Darn okay I wish I knew that before buying haha why does it get them sick because of the recycling?
Also if I have the dripper going to where I’m getting a drop every five seconds would I just leave it like that constantly?

The dripper should be running for most of the day unless you have a mister. If you buy the big one it will run most of the day without a refill. Naturally if your going to have all this water running through your chams enclosure you are also going to have to come up with a drainage system. This can be as simple as a pan below your dripper that you empty when its full to something more complex like pumps and drain lines that automatically drain the water for you like I have and defiantly recommend once your ready for that.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

I have a mister for my Cham that he drinks from all the time but sometimes I will see him drink out of a huge bowl I have in his cage for him. I don’t even know y I put the bowl in there but he does sometimes use it I think he’s just a weird Cham

Yes, yours is defiantly a special case but for Quinny's learning purposes 99% of chams will not drink from still water.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

I have a mister for my Cham that he drinks from all the time but sometimes I will see him drink out of a huge bowl I have in his cage for him. I don’t even know y I put the bowl in there but he does sometimes use it I think he’s just a weird Cham

That’s too great haha I’ve heard this happening befor.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Q welcome to the site. The water fall harbors bacteria that can make your cham sick. Keep the dripper going from morning till evening and look into a mister. I have a Mistking, but there are a few others out there like the Climist that have good reviews. Sometimes, I'll put the dripper on for the day in addition to the mister. He knows where it's at and drinks on his own terms instead of waiting for the mister.

Thank you so much! Again very excited I will definitely invest in a Mister and/or dripper. I wasn’t too sure exactly what would’ve been the best for em. So what kind of misting schedule would be best?

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

The dripper should be running for most of the day unless you have a mister. If you buy the big one it will run most of the day without a refill. Naturally if your going to have all this water running through your chams enclosure you are also going to have to come up with a drainage system. This can be as simple as a pan below your dripper that you empty when its full to something more complex like pumps and drain lines that automatically drain the water for you like I have and defiantly recommend once your ready for that.

I was going to ask about all of the water that would be left over. So if I have the dripper on top of the cage. Should I just see where the droplets are going after hitting the leaves. Then put a pan underneath that spot?

 

[Brodybreaux25]

If that's what you want to do then, yes, it could be that simple.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

If that's what you want to do then, yes, it could be that simple.

Very cool. My main concern is that I don’t have a cool enough spot in there. Being so hot here yesterday even with the swamp cooler on his basking spot stayed at a 90 but the bottom was at 85 with only 40% humidity. Are these okay temps? It’s currently at 78 with 62% that is created underneath with a little bit of fake plant that was on the waterfall I took out

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Or will having the mister and dripper help with this?