New to forum and need advice

[jeff martin]

Hello, A brief history, I have had over 25 years of experience with other reptiles and would like advice of where and who to purchase a set-up from. I have nothing and would like to buy my first baby and cage etc. I would pre-fer to buy everything from one supplier any tips ? I am interested in Panther Chameleons and would like to start out with one and a complete set-up. Are any of the on-line dealers worth a look at. I have looked at some and found a very nice lady in california that sells them, But is $200 fair for a baby panther. About $500 for the complete set-up is what i was told. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I assume a local pet store is NOT a good choice. Thanks !
http://www.chameleonsonly.com/ Here is where i was looking !

 

[Vegas Chad]

Jeff, check out the forum sponsors for the most part all of us sell cage kits and assortment of chameleons. If they don’t have what you are looking for then shoot off a mail if you like one over another and ask what they might have that is not online.
One of the sponsors are indeed better than a pet shop IMOP.

 

[jannb]

There's some beautiful chameleons for sale here under the Classifieds section. LLLReptiles.com is an excellent place to buy your cage and supplies. BTW Welcome to the forums. Jann

 

[GooglezNvincent]

Welcome to the forum, one quick question on my part is did you put alot of thinking to what chameleon you want? 90% of people start out their addiction, ha ha ha because chameleons are soooooooo addictive, buying a veiled chameleon. Veileds are great starters, i am sure you have heard this before though. Best of luck finding what you want, and again Welcome!

 

[jeff martin]

Thanks everyone for your input, And yes i have thought out my purchase for at least a year, I really would enjoy starting out with a panther baby. I will take a look around here for prices and comparison. Thank you !!

 

[Becca G]

Hello.... welcome to the forum. I have previously purchased a male ambilobe pather from kammerflage, which was great. I also have purchased a female ambilobe panther from screameleons. I would say they both have great chameleons and very good customer service. If you are a newbie and need a lot of feedback, I would check out screamleons. Kammerflage tends to be pretty slow in responding... Vince from screameleons is really great... he will help you with any probelm at any time... Good luck!

 

[jeff martin]

Thank You ! Will look at there web site.

 

[laurie]

Hello Jeff and welcome. Since it shows you live in Washington state I would look at LLL reptile (one of our sponsors) for equipment & supplies and talk to Chameleons Northwest (another sponsor) because they have wonderful chams, and depending on where in WA you live you might even get to go pick the very one you want. And they will be there to help you with any issues. Good luck.

 

[Pure]

500 is fair price for a setup plus a Cham with nice blood lines. If you don't care about bloodlines I would order from LLL. Their cages and supplies are some of the cheapest I can find and so are their panthers. They just don't tell you anything about the Parents of the Cham. They may if you ask. I don't know as I have never inquired. I'm just going by their website.

They do let you know if your animal is CB or WC and to me that is the most important factor.

Personally price isn't the issue. I would be more concerned about location. Having a supplier close to you or even in the same state is worth the extra money. Shipping animals on a plane is risky. It gets very cold at 30,000 feet and cargo planes are not environmentally controlled. But have them overnighted from the same state and they can be sent UPS ground.

Edit: Same state shipping overnight UPS is cheaper as well. FL Chams overnights Chams any where in the continental US for 50 bucks but it's only 30 if you live in the state of Florida.

 

[toddmkeller]

Personally price isn't the issue. I would be more concerned about location. Having a supplier close to you or even in the same state is worth the extra money. Shipping animals on a plane is risky. It gets very cold at 30,000 feet and cargo planes are not environmentally controlled. But have them overnighted from the same state and they can be sent UPS ground.

I am going to have to disagree. If properly packaged the chances of something happening to a chameleon while being shipped is VERY low. I can attest to this because I have 9 chameleons that are alive and well, and all of them came shipped overnight via UPS. I live in Florida and have had no problem receiving chameleons from Washington state. This is a common practice in the reptile industry. I would be more concerned with temps on the ground.

How many chameleons have you ever heard of dying in the box while being shipped due to heat/cold? Can you give me any specific examples of this happening when packaged correctly? If you are dealing with a reputable dealer they will take the appropriate measures to ensure your chameleon arrives healthy and without incident. (this includes checking ground temps at UPS shipping hubs where the chameleon will spend most of its time while being shipped)

Todd

 

[Pure]

I am going to have to disagree. If properly packaged the chances of something happening to a chameleon while being shipped is VERY low. I can attest to this because I have 9 chameleons that are alive and well, and all of them came shipped overnight via UPS. I live in Florida and have had no problem receiving chameleons from Washington state. This is a common practice in the reptile industry. I would be more concerned with temps on the ground.

How many chameleons have you ever heard of dying in the box while being shipped due to heat/cold? Can you give me any specific examples of this happening when packaged correctly? If you are dealing with a reputable dealer they will take the appropriate measures to ensure your chameleon arrives healthy and without incident. (this includes checking ground temps at UPS shipping hubs where the chameleon will spend most of its time while being shipped)

Todd

You misunderstand me. I'm not saying it isn't done all the time and without any mishaps. But I have shipped thousands of fish and things do go wrong. Fish are more tolerant of external temp changes because of the mass of the water. But still shipping with heat packs or cool packs, plus a styro line box I've had overnight shipments show up cooked or half frozen. It happens.

And to me, personally when dealing with an animal worth a couple of hundred bucks I would rather not risk it if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Most people living in the continental united stated can find a dealer or a breeder in their State if not, their region for sure.

Ground temps are easily monitored.

I can see you having to order out of state for something in particular. But if all you want is a healthy Cham stay as local as you can.

 

[jeff martin]

Hello Jeff and welcome. Since it shows you live in Washington state I would look at LLL reptile (one of our sponsors) for equipment & supplies and talk to Chameleons Northwest (another sponsor) because they have wonderful chams, and depending on where in WA you live you might even get to go pick the very one you want. And they will be there to help you with any issues. Good luck.

Thank you so much for your help, I am very excited now to find out i can drive and get a new baby. THANKS !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jeff martin]

Well i am going to purchase my first baby from Chameleons northwest, And all the supplies from lllreptiles, I wont pick him up until jun 8th but man i cant wait. What is the best vitamin supplement to purchase. Is rep-cal good stuff from lllreptiles. I also am purchasing a 24" reptasun lamp set-up. Should i buy a infered heatlamp or a daytime one. I assume the heat needs to be on 24/7 but do you shut off the dome day light at night, Any suggestions would help. Thanks !!

Getting a "Torch red" nick named baby.

 

[chequepoint]

Use a regular household bulb for heat, only 12 hours a day. Don't use any kind of lighting at night, chameleons need a drop in temperature at night. As long as your night time temps stay over 60 you're fine.

I like Zoomed Reptivite as it has preformed Vitamin A vs. Beta Carotene in Herpivite. Get a Calcium without D3, and a Calcium with D3. You'll need all 3 supplements.

 

[chequepoint]

My LLL Starter Kit Shopping list.

1. 16X16X30 Screen Cage - 54.99
2. 24" Fluorescent Hood Fixture - 26.99
3. 8 1/2" Aluminum Lamp Fixture - 5.99
4. Zoo Med Reptivite with D3 - 4.99
5. RepCal ultra fine calcium w/ D3 - 4.99
6. Rep Cal Calcium WITHOUT D3 - 4.99
7. Zoo Med 18" Repti Sun 5.0 UVB - 13.99
8. T Rex Large Bio Vine 6ft. - 9.59
9. T Rex Baby Bio Vine 6 Feet - 7.59
10. Exo Terra Jungle Vine Medium - 9.99
11. Pressure Spray Bottle - 12.99
12. Medium Water Dripper - 6.99

Use a regular household bulb for the basking light, 40 watts most likely.
You'll need a live plant, I like Ficus for little guys personally. You can get them at home depot cheap. Make sure you repot the plant in organic soil. I cover my soil with river rocks to keep him out of the dirt and avoid possible impaction, but there are mixed opinions on the validity of this idea.

I use the different size/brands of baby vines to give the guy a variety of widths, shapes, and textures.. I don't know if this is really important or just my OCD.

For this size baby cage, I make a nice drainage system out of a sterlite brand stackable sliding drawer they sell at wal-mart. Maybe someday I'll get around to posting pictures... but essentially its a clear plastic drawer in a white plastic frame that it slides in and out of. The idea is you buy a bunch and stack them on top of each other. I cut a hole in the top of the plastic thing, and a hole in the bottom of the cage floor under the plant... the plant makes the cage floor sag, water goes down the hole into the plastic drawer. The drawer slides out and gets emptied before it gets filled.

You'll also need a basic light timer to put him on a steady 12 hour cycle..

Oh.. and I forgot you'll probably want at least a kritter keeper of some sort to store crickets in. You could also go as big as the 18X18X36 cage if you felt like it, or as small as the 16X15X20. Eventually you're going to need a 24X24X48 cage, but its best to start small with the baby.

 

[jeff martin]

Thank you, everyone for your help ! I am surprised and delighted that i only need a regular household bulb for the heating source. Why cant i buy the largest cage now ? 24x24x48 is what i would like to go with. The Cham i am getting is eating 3/4 crickets and i think about 3 months old. So do i still need to buy two cages ?

 

[reptoman]

If this is a panther, I don't see a problem getting the larger cage to start out. As long as there are plenty of walkways that he can get to all areas of the cage, he should be able to hunt down crickets easily. I wish I had gone with the 24x24x48 to start. One other item that you want to get is a temp/humidity guage. I got one from Lowes that was $12.00 that also has a clock. I has a wire with a probe that you can place in the basking area so you know how hot it is. It should not be above 95 at the hottest part of the day.

 

[chequepoint]

I personally think 95 is WAY too hot for a baby panther, and shoot for mid 80's. Little guys can dehydrate so quickly, and they tend to be dumb.

The concept behind a little cage is that its easier for the cham to find food, heat, and water. Obviously in nature its a much bigger area but there is also drastically more heat food and water. I think its easier to monitor them in a small cage as well.

http://screencages.com/specialpage.html this 23X18X11 is actually my favorite baby cage.

You could probably get away with starting with the 24X24X48, but it is also very handy to have a second cage around for taking the animal outside on the occasional sunny day. Its also great to have for when you realize that you HAVE to have a another chameleon

 

[jeff martin]

I also purchased a pro mist system, What schedule do you recommend. How often misting and how long off. Should misting happen at night ? Common sense says no misting at night, but hey it rains in the jungle at night, so what are your thoughts.

 

[jannb]

You will not mist at night. I don't mist after 4 pm.......try to do my last misting by 3. I mist (by hand) two to three times a day for about 5 minutes each time. I also agree that 95 it way too hot. A three month old; I would bask at about 82 or 83. Jann