New to Chameleon World!

[Brodybreaux25]

The basking temp is OK but you should really try to give him a spot to cool off that is less than 80. A mister would help but only slightly and not enough to get you to your goal of less than 80. Best thing to do is make him a good hiding spot at the middle/bottom part of the enclosure where you cant see him and there is only minimal light/heat reaching him from the enclosures lights.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

The basking temp is OK but you should really try to give him a spot to cool off that is less than 80. A mister would help but only slightly and not enough to get you to your goal of less than 80. Best thing to do is make him a good hiding spot at the middle/bottom part of the enclosure where you cant see him and there is only minimal light/heat reaching him from the enclosures lights.

...in other words put as much foliage between the lights and his hiding spot as you can.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

...in other words put as much foliage between the lights and his hiding spot as you can.

I will defiantly be doing some buying this weekend hahaha Thank you all so much for all the amazing help! Defiantly calmed me down. I was nervous. After I get everything up and running with him/her in there I’ll update!

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

...in other words put as much foliage between the lights and his hiding spot as you can.

Sorry to bother! Ive been searching and I’m stumped. What would be my best bet? Artificial plant or live? What type of “plant” would be my best bet for that cool coverage?

 

[andrearamirezo91]

Hey when I asked that question they told me real plants help maintain humidity and that their leaves make a better surface than fake plants for holding drinking water. Just make sure you buy plants that are safe for the cham. I bought some this week and will finally be working on a project today to redo his whole setup and add the new plants to his enclosure.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Sorry to bother! Ive been searching and I’m stumped. What would be my best bet? Artificial plant or live? What type of “plant” would be my best bet for that cool coverage?

I always go with live plants over fake. Live plants are beneficial to your chameleon in several ways. two things that you do have to do with live plants is to change the top layer of soil and put in non-fertilized dirt that you know has not been sprayed with pesticides. The other thing you must do is to ensure that your Chamaeleon cannot ingest the dirt, the easiest way to do this is to put large rocks on top of the dirt. Make sure the rocks are big enough that the Chamaeleon cannot eat them. There was a member on this site recently whose Chameleon ate rocks and was having a pretty hard time, it can kill them.

Any type of broad leaf plant will do fine for creating some shade, I use pathos. There is a safe plant list found under the resource section of this site, start there.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Hey when I asked that question they told me real plants help maintain humidity and that their leaves make a better surface than fake plants for holding drinking water. Just make sure you buy plants that are safe for the cham. I bought some this week and will finally be working on a project today to redo his whole setup and add the new plants to his enclosure.

Thank you so much! Defiantly going with a live plant!

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

I always go with live plants over fake. Live plants are beneficial to your chameleon in several ways. two things that you do have to do with live plants is to change the top layer of soil and put in non-fertilized dirt that you know has not been sprayed with pesticides. The other thing you must do is to ensure that your Chamaeleon cannot ingest the dirt, the easiest way to do this is to put large rocks on top of the dirt. Make sure the rocks are big enough that the Chamaeleon cannot eat them. There was a member on this site recently whose Chameleon ate rocks and was having a pretty hard time, it can kill them.

Any type of broad leaf plant will do fine for creating some shade, I use pathos. There is a safe plant list found under the resource section of this site, start there.

See I’m very glad I asked because I have that ficus and didn’t know I had to do that with the soil. I’ll be doing that and getting the enclosure completely set up before introduce my Cham. Well I’m glad I didn’t get small river rock. Those plants look perfect. I’ll definitely be checking to see how i those plants look perfect. I’ll be checking my local garden shops today. my mother might have one

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

See I’m very glad I asked because I have that ficus and didn’t know I had to do that with the soil. I’ll be doing that and getting the enclosure completely set up before introduce my Cham. Well I’m glad I didn’t get small river rock. Those plants look perfect. I’ll definitely be checking to see how i those plants look perfect. I’ll be checking my local garden shops today. my mother might have one

I’ve run into a couple more questions if anyone can help! With my fogger going a little and the new pothos plant. I have the chill spot at 71 with 61% and the basking at .If it stays like this would I need to mist? If so, what would be a good schedule for an auto mister? Still purchasing a dripper, some moss sticks for perching spots, as well as a sturdy Forrest branch for easier climbing. Im more than willing to purchase the starter mistking if I need a good scheduled misting.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

I’ve run into a couple more questions if anyone can help! With my fogger going a little and the new pothos plant. I have the chill spot at 71 with 61% and the basking at .If it stays like this would I need to mist? If so, what would be a good schedule for an auto mister? Still purchasing a dripper, some moss sticks for perching spots, as well as a sturdy Forrest branch for easier climbing. Im more than willing to purchase the starter mistking if I need a good scheduled misting.

If you have the money definitely get the mistking. It makes your job so much easier and raises the standard of care your Cham receives.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

If you have the money definitely get the mistking. It makes your job so much easier and raises the standard of care your Cham receives.

So i do need a mister even with the current humidity? I would defiantly invent in the mistking. What should the scheduling be for it?

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

If you have the money definitely get the mistking. It makes your job so much easier and raises the standard of care your Cham receives.

I forgot to put the basking spot. That is at 88 with 34% humidity. I can see how the misting would defiantly help with top and bottom. I noticed that the fogger just makes the basking spot cooler. When I get the MistKing would I be able to take out the fogger?

 

[Brodybreaux25]

I forgot to put the basking spot. That is at 88 with 34% humidity. I can see how the misting would defiantly help with top and bottom. I noticed that the fogger just makes the basking spot cooler. When I get the MistKing would I be able to take out the fogger?

You don’t have to but you can. Personally I would not run them both because then there will be too much humidity in all the problems that go along with that .

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Yes the mist king can be used to manage your humidity levels but the main purpose, in my opinion, of a mist king is to manage your chameleons hydration. I’d say start at four 2 minute misting a day and go from there.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Yes the mist king can be used to manage your humidity levels but the main purpose, in my opinion, of a mist king is to manage your chameleons hydration. I’d say start at four 2 minute misting a day and go from there.

Awesome! Thank you so much for all the help! I’ll be buying the last things soon and update as well! Much appreciated!

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Yes the mist king can be used to manage your humidity levels but the main purpose, in my opinion, of a mist king is to manage your chameleons hydration. I’d say start at four 2 minute misting a day and go from there.

Is there any specific water that I should be using for the Mister or dripper? Or should I just put the repti water cleaner stuff in my tap water for the Cham?

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Pretty sure Mistking recommends distilled or reverse osmosis water but I ive been using regular tap water for the last year will no ill effects. They recommend using treated water to prevent mineral deposits from clogging the nozzle tips.

The Mistking requires you to have a reservoir of water for the pump to pull from but I did not want to have to be refilling the reservoir all the time. So I bought a fill valve like the one inside of your toilet($10) and mounted it inside of a 5gal bucket which is also the reservoir for my Mistking. I then connected the fill valve to the plumbing in my house. Whenever the water in the reservoir gets low the fill valve kicks off and automatically refills the bucket. When you couple this with the way my enclosure automatically drains itself you are left with a enclosure that requires very little maintenance.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Pretty sure Mistking recommends distilled or reverse osmosis water but I ive been using regular tap water for the last year will no ill effects. They recommend using treated water to prevent mineral deposits from clogging the nozzle tips.

The Mistking requires you to have a reservoir of water for the pump to pull from but I did not want to have to be refilling the reservoir all the time. So I bought a fill valve like the one inside of your toilet($10) and mounted it inside of a 5gal bucket which is also the reservoir for my Mistking. I then connected the fill valve to the plumbing in my house. Whenever the water in the reservoir gets low the fill valve kicks off and automatically refills the bucket. When you couple this with the way my enclosure automatically drains itself you are left with a enclosure that requires very little maintenance.

That would make sense. We get a decent amount of calcium build up here so I could see why it would help using distilled. See that’s what I’m talking about! A constantly recycling. That’s where I’ll hopefully be after some building. My fiancé is getting on my case with all the expenses..... but I am willing to spend it to ensure the the best health of the Chameleon!

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Hello there! So I finally have everything set up and ready for our Chameleon to come home today! I will be off for the next three days. So I figured that would give me the time to be able to make sure he’s comfortable. I could use any criticism on this please.

First issue is that at night the whole cages temp only goes down to about 78 maybe. I feel this isn’t low enough?

Second is I went to do a 3 minute misting this morning when I did lights on. The humidity jumped up to 84. Temps are solid 90 basking 73 cool. Again I live in Tucson Arizona. It’s usually very dry but yesterday we had a little bit a rain. With my swamp cooler going that can make it pretty humid in my house. Is this too much?

I have the Big Dripper going constantly During the day for drinking. I had started off with the fogger so it wasn’t as easy to get it humid (not using that anymore). After realizing I still had all three sides covered with saran wrap. I took one down and I’m going to see if that helps (if I should try and lower the humidity a little bit). The one I took down has the air vent blowing right at it. So I directed it down towards the cool spot in his enclosure. I heard that it’s good for them to have a breeze going through? I have yet to see if either temp or humidity drop. Giving it an hour. I hear that can be too high of a humidity especially for Vieled Chameleons? I just want to make sure that everything is perfect for when we bring our baby home.

This is the cage now.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

View attachment 209466 View attachment 209467 View attachment 209468 Hello there! So I finally have everything set up and ready for our Chameleon to come home today! I will be off for the next three days. So I figured that would give me the time to be able to make sure he’s comfortable. I could use any criticism on this please.

First issue is that at night the whole cages temp only goes down to about 78 maybe. I feel this isn’t low enough?

Second is I went to do a 3 minute misting this morning when I did lights on. The humidity jumped up to 84. Temps are solid 90 basking 73 cool. Again I live in Tucson Arizona. It’s usually very dry but yesterday we had a little bit a rain. With my swamp cooler going that can make it pretty humid in my house. Is this too much?

I have the Big Dripper going constantly During the day for drinking. I had started off with the fogger so it wasn’t as easy to get it humid (not using that anymore). After realizing I still had all three sides covered with saran wrap. I took one down and I’m going to see if that helps (if I should try and lower the humidity a little bit). The one I took down has the air vent blowing right at it. So I directed it down towards the cool spot in his enclosure. I heard that it’s good for them to have a breeze going through? I have yet to see if either temp or humidity drop. Giving it an hour. I hear that can be too high of a humidity especially for Vieled Chameleons? I just want to make sure that everything is perfect for when we bring our baby home.

This is the cage now.

The humidity went back to 67 but the basking temp was 86 and the cool spot was 78. I closed that side back up and tried the opposite side with no Saran Wrap. Still waiting to see but are these okay conditions to bring the Chameleon into?