New to Chameleons

[Mason L]

Hey guys. New to the forum and new to chameleons. Me and my girlfriend are interested in purchasing out first chameleon. We both work at a Petco and have plenty of experience in various reptiles (iguanas, various geckos), fish (fresh and salt), and small animals (hedgehog, hamsters, chinchillas, rabbits, etc).

We would like to get a Panther Cham. We have a 60 gallon fish tank (12.75"L x 48.5"W x 25" H) we would like to use, and as with all of our animals we want to create the best habitat possible. Of course we know to include many vines plants and hiding areas, plenty of humidity, as well as heat and UVB.

We want to to live plants in our chameleon home and I was hoping you guys would be able to give me some tips and ideas on how to do this. Safe plants types? Soil options? Soil depth? And anything else we should know

Any feedback and replies at all will be happily accepted. Thanks!

 

[GrimCamel]

First off, fish tanks don't work for chameleons. they're made to contain water and do not have the ventilation requried for a chameleon. You will either have to buy a terrarium with proper ventilation like exo tera which have ventilation at the botton of it's doors and screen roof. That or do as most do on this forum, buy a screen cage which will provide maximum ventilation

 

[Lathis]

Welcome to the forums! This is a great place for getting reliable information on chameleons.

Unfortunately, a fish tank isn't going to be a good enclosure for a chameleon; they need cross ventilation and air movement. Ventilated vivariums will work, but for a panther, most would recommend using a screen cage. Panthers also get large enough to require a 24x24x48 cage as adults. Petco (and other pet stores, I'm not singling Petco out) often do not have suitable set ups for the healthy, long-term care of chameleons, and unfortunately, this gives people the wrong idea of how chameleons need to be kept. Our local Petco, which does better than most others, uses a fish tank, bark substrate, and group houses their chameleons regardless of species or size, but at least they do have a dripper... None of which are going to be successful for the overall life and health of the chameleons.

I would suggest that you guys start doing a lot of reading of the resources here:

1) General Care: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/
2) Pather Caresheet: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

Look up the equipment needed,type of cages recommended, supplies, supplements, gutloading, drainage, and etc. The information here can be trusted and was developed by experienced keepers and breeders.

Best of luck to you guys!

 

[Mason L]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Doing some research currently and I'm sadly realizing we don't have the best setup for a chameleon. I'm thinking of keeping some kind of snake instead

 

[Lathis]

Better to know now than in the middle of it! Keeping chameleons is not for the faint of heart (or the light of wallet, lol). They are very awesome creatures, and I admire your decision to do the best for the animal, rather than what is just convenient for the keeper. It might also be suitable for a gecko or other type of lizard.

 

[Carlton]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Doing some research currently and I'm sadly realizing we don't have the best setup for a chameleon. I'm thinking of keeping some kind of snake instead

Depending on the type of snake you are interested in, a glass fish tank may not be the best option either. Most fish tanks provide more horizontal and vertically-oriented swimming space but are not very deep (from front to back). After all, they are designed for fish, not terrestrial critters. So, there won't be that much ground surface area for a larger more active snake to make the best use of. Unless you have an arboreal species a lot of the tank space is wasted. Some more secretive snakes would spend most of their time hiding if they feel overly exposed to view in a glass setup. You can use habitat backgrounds and a lot of cage "furniture" to help the snake feel more secure.