noob

[Rome]

Hello all First I wanna say this has been a great forum so far with loads of information and beautiful chameleons. Glad to be a part of the community.

So i just got my first chameleon its been a pleasure so far to watch him, and I cant wait to start watching him grow up. He is about 3 months old purchased from a local reptile shop here in Arizona. Built both cages myself the first one is about 12x12x36 and the second cage is 18x28x38. I just finished the larger cage today and already wanna set it up for him.. but I guess it would be best to wait??
This is Nugs..


Climbing in for the first time

Not to happy with me

The smaller cage..

The larger cage..With no doors this afternoon


Just finished the doors this evening


Just a few more finishing touches and he will be ready for his permanent home.

-Rome

 

[rionjames]

wow your enclosures look great! he will be happy!

 

[Rome]

few questions

Should I leave him in his current cage until he gets bigger?

Is it normal for him to climb to the top of the cage if he sees me in front of his cage?

is there enough foliage at the top of the cage?

what plants does everyone use at the top of cages to combat the heat? my plant already looks like its going south in about a week...

 

[sandrachameleon]

its not abnormal for them to climb upwards - is the upper third or half of the cage above your eye-level? that's where the cham will want to be - above the predators / above eye-level.



a pothos doesn't mind the level of heat that would be in a typical enclosure for a chameleon. how hot is it?

 

[Rome]

The pothos is sitting right at eye level and thats where he has been going to rest during the day.. but as soon as i come to the front of the cage he goes up. makes sense.. ill plan for that in his next cage

 

[sandrachameleon]

maybe put the cage up on a higher stand

 

[Jakeelias93]

From what ive read, its completely up to you on whether you will want to put him in a bigger cage. a big cage for a small chameleon means more responcibility for you. Because they will have a harder time finding food, so its recommended that you cup feed small chams in big enclosures. other than that, it should be fine. just keep a close eye and keep in mind that a bigger cage means more space to heat up, so you might need a different watt heat bulb. with that said the new heat bulb might end up being hot enough to burn your cham, so also keep that in mind.

 

[Rome]

I use a feeder cup currently and I am using a exo terra solar glo 125w it gets pretty hot in his basking area 92 at the most during the hottest part of our day (still getting up in the high 80s in Arizona.) I think this would still work for his bigger cage?
I decided to put him in there in about another week just to let the wood stain and clear smell dissipate. I would have to imagine he wouldn't like the smell.

Its only been a week so far but if things continue I think ill be up against a really grumpy veiled.. took him out for a free range in a medium house plant while I changed around his vines and branches.. enjoyed being out but not being handled and once back in the cage strait to the top into the corner where he can barley fit in between the cage and a branch..