Stumbled across this forum the other day and spent many hours reading. Lots of great information here!
I'm a new chameleon owner, well, since my 19 year old son moved in with me
We started out with a Leopard Gecko approximately a year ago and he's still around, nice and healthy in his 40 gallon desert environment habitat.
My son had been making some noise about a chameleon recently, so a week ago I found a nice package deal from a very pleasant dude who was selling because he needed the cash.
Prior to purchase I did my own research, although my son could recite chameleon care in his sleep by this time
We ended up with a blue bar Panther, around 5 months old, along with a 18 x 18 x 36 screen enclosure, live tree, some fake climbing branch's, 3 lights, etc.
I also purchased an automatic fogger (Zoo Med) and a large 3 gallon floor model humidifier.
"Neo" is healthy, patrols his territory often, and eats like a horse. Butter worms and Horn worms so far. Tried a few crickets but he has to work pretty hard to get them and they hide in the moss I have in the bottom of the enclosure.
His colours are spectacular and he has no problems being handled or being hand fed for that matter. He's good with his aim and hasn't missed yet
Its taken me a week and 30 gallons of water to get the humidity up to 60% in his room, but we're finally there. I also have the mister set to spray for 15 seconds every 3 hours, plus spray down the moss a couple of times per day. He drinks off leaves but I have seen him take drips off the nozzle and may try a water bottle like you would use for hamsters etc.
My only error so far was leaving the heat lamp on at night, which I stopped doing after reading about it here.
A larger enclosure is in order, and I will be moving to a 24x24x48 in the next month or so.
They certainly do require some dedication to keep in optimal conditions, but that's part of the commitment of having a chameleon in my opinion.
So again, great forum and thanks for all the excellent information!
Peter
I'm a new chameleon owner, well, since my 19 year old son moved in with me
We started out with a Leopard Gecko approximately a year ago and he's still around, nice and healthy in his 40 gallon desert environment habitat.
My son had been making some noise about a chameleon recently, so a week ago I found a nice package deal from a very pleasant dude who was selling because he needed the cash.
Prior to purchase I did my own research, although my son could recite chameleon care in his sleep by this time
We ended up with a blue bar Panther, around 5 months old, along with a 18 x 18 x 36 screen enclosure, live tree, some fake climbing branch's, 3 lights, etc.
I also purchased an automatic fogger (Zoo Med) and a large 3 gallon floor model humidifier.
"Neo" is healthy, patrols his territory often, and eats like a horse. Butter worms and Horn worms so far. Tried a few crickets but he has to work pretty hard to get them and they hide in the moss I have in the bottom of the enclosure.
His colours are spectacular and he has no problems being handled or being hand fed for that matter. He's good with his aim and hasn't missed yet
Its taken me a week and 30 gallons of water to get the humidity up to 60% in his room, but we're finally there. I also have the mister set to spray for 15 seconds every 3 hours, plus spray down the moss a couple of times per day. He drinks off leaves but I have seen him take drips off the nozzle and may try a water bottle like you would use for hamsters etc.
My only error so far was leaving the heat lamp on at night, which I stopped doing after reading about it here.
A larger enclosure is in order, and I will be moving to a 24x24x48 in the next month or so.
They certainly do require some dedication to keep in optimal conditions, but that's part of the commitment of having a chameleon in my opinion.
So again, great forum and thanks for all the excellent information!
Peter
