Optimal setup

[NocensVir]

so what would be the absolute optimal set-up for 3 2-3 month old veilds i.e. cage size, plant, heat, lighting, humidity control, food types (i.e. crickets, mealworms, pehonix worms,wax worms, etc.)... willing to spend quite a bit to get them in the best setup they can get i want to know what you guys (the experts IMHO ) think is the best of the best...

 

[benpaul]

they cannot be caged together. get that idea outta your head

 

[tompbgod]

Thats forsure 3 small cages and gradually upgrade the cage sizes as they mature as well as plants keeping your lightbulbs, water and supplements and food fresh, Keeping the right humidity and making sure your chams stay hydrated.


just get separate cages for now with fixtures and everything, be willing to invest a lot of your time and money into your animals and you can have some amazing outcomes.

 

[NocensVir]

i am aware i spent the better part of last night being told that lol but ya i plan on doing that i was just wondering what everyones idea of a prefect setup is... i want to get the stuff by tomorrow just want a general idea of what was considered the best and whats considered POS...

 

[jeanjacket812]

get 3 18 x 18 x 36's to get started. You can keep the females in two of them for good most likely. Reptisun 5.0 is the recommended UVB light. 60 watt house bulb should provide the heat you need. Digital thermometer I got a cheap one from LLL that works just fine. I got a Ficus tree, a fake abutilon vine, some bio vines and other fake foliage, its really simple but works great. One thing I've come to learn is to provide enough foliage to hold water droplets. Chameleon care is really simple if you just get everything you need from the beginning. All I do is mist him, feed him, and clean his poop. Oh and get timers for the lights its soo much easier.

 

[DM1975]

Definately get timers. My chameleons are easier to house and care for than my snakes I believe. Even my 2X2X4 ft outdoor cages didn't cost more than $15.00 or so to build, and it took me a day of slow, drab, and unsteady work to build one. I use a little dripper to water them with and only turn it on for an hour or so every few days and leave a pan in the bottom of the inside cages to catch the waste water with. I have some of the cages that jeanjacket812 mentioned and they work great.

 

[benpaul]

might as well not worry too much bout set up if you just gonna have em battle each other to death imho. Not to be too mean but lots of people say you cannot have more than 1 in a cage. Why listen about anything else and spend so much money on a set up when you are risking there health so much by housing 3 together? With care for any animal i always go by the "why risk it" philosophy. Do what you want but everything ive read about this doesnt end well. It's a free country and im not certain thats criminally poor animal care but its not the greatest.

 

[Monties1982]

might as well not worry too much bout set up if you just gonna have em battle each other to death imho. Not to be too mean but lots of people say you cannot have more than 1 in a cage. Why listen about anything else and spend so much money on a set up when you are risking there health so much by housing 3 together? With care for any animal i always go by the "why risk it" philosophy. Do what you want but everything ive read about this doesnt end well. It's a free country and im not certain thats criminally poor animal care but its not the greatest.

Calm down, he already said he was planning on seperating them, so no need to get all hot and bothered.

 

[benpaul]

im not hot and bothered. watch this video though i mean that's animal cruelty and it really effected me watch someone do this to an animal. I'd hate to have any other cham go through this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WDZqKiFhHk

 

[Monties1982]

I've seen that video before. That is pretty bad

 

[E46M3]

All I have to say NocensVir, is do your research (which it seems your doing, considering your on here) but MOST important...Just try and have some common sense, Chameleons are not domesticated like dogs and cats. Therefore there aren't much facts about these animals other than the fact that they can be very delicate. Only advise I can give you is, when you are doing your research go based off sites that seem well experienced. ANYONE can give you their opinion about how you SHOULD or SHOULDN'T keep chameleons and I guarantee you on here THERE WILL be people who WILL disagree with other peoples information. For example I've always wanted a chameleon, I finally did my research, and all the info was all different. The pet store I got my chameleon from told me one thing, the people on here told me another...The bottom line is there not all the time. Some like certain things that some don't. Just use your common sense and go based off a experienced owner.

Its like taking home a baby, it doesn't come with a manual. As long as your baby (Chameleon) looks healthy and your attentive to it you should be fine. So don't let anyone intimidate you from getting one. Just do your research before you get one.



Ps. I am no expert...This is just my opinion...Im sure you'll get plenty more on here.

 

[NocensVir]

yea i understnad that realizing now i kinda jumped head first into chameleons but i plan on doin it right thats why im here... and for the record i was told it would be fine the way i had them setup by the store i bought them from after doing research (which is why im here...) i decided to talk to more experienced chameleon owners (you guys) however it seems i am greeted with hostility over and over again on here and to be honest it is extremely detering i came here looking for answers and a way to give my chameleons he best life they can have and i get nothing but critisism which is fine when it is constructive... but not when it is negative... i understand they need to be seperated hence why i needed to know what to get them the only reason they were togother in the first place is because A) It was how it was setup in the store (i.e. about ten or so chameleons a cage) B) Because they were young and introduced into a new habitat at relatively a young age and at the same time and C) Because i was told it would be fine...

 

[Monties1982]

Yeah, all too often pet stores don't really know the proper set-ups for the animals they sell, especially with reptiles. It's probably because they don't actually keep any of the animals they sell long term. They just have them for the short period between when they receive them and when they sell them. They don't want to have animals in stock that take too long to sell. As far as some of the member being negative, try not to let it get you down. There are plenty of members here that are out to help and not just criticize. The ones that do get negative usually just care about the animals and get tired of seeing them in poor conditions and let their emotions do the talking.

 

[NocensVir]

and I understand that too but dont accuse me of trying to purposefully harm animals... I have lived my entire life around dogs cats snakes frogs insects birds and tortoises im not an animal abuser hence my presence here asking for help my family actually breeds and shows newfoundlands... I dont mind criticism if its constructive, just dont be negative about it... I am new to chameleons and understand they require special needs, and i am willing to provide lol and i dont let anything get me down lol I run my life not others... but advice is always taken and appreciated

 

[summoner12]

2-3 month old chams can live together for now... in about a month or two they'll need to be separated.

To give you an idea of how a setup should look ill post some photos.... i am a visual learner... but maybe this might help you too.

This is a cage I keep my young CB melleri in. This cage has a ZooMed 5.0 linear tube and a 60w heat lamp. the heat lamp is connected to an EcoZone vivarium controller, so the basking area temp is maintained at 90*F.

This is a cage for my female veiled. This is the early stages of this cage. Her plants grew in more.... but then she ate the leaves LOL. She has an 18" ZooMed linear 5.0 tube for UVB and a 50w basking lamp and a 6500K CFL to help her plants grow.

This was a cage for Pat when she was about a year old. Here we have an 18" linear ZooMed 5.0 UVB lamp and a 60w flood lamp. The flood lamp is angled slightly so the cham can get light form the side rather than straight down.

here is a good example of proper lighting...

the heat lamp should be angled slightly so that the light doesn't beat straight down on the cham. Light coming straight down IMHO will cause burns.

Here is an example of how to aim the light... You can see this in the first photo as well. The second photo above is before I began to angle my lights.

 

[E46M3]

Awesome pics!! I'm sure those will give him a great idea.

 

[NocensVir]

they did actually they game me lots of ideas lo but what kind of cage is that cause the ones i saw at the place i plan on getting are just mesh and a metal outlining kind of thing... but this gives me ideas to use server cabinets as a cage since you can remove the outer walls replace with meshing and they typically come with multiple power ports too how much did you pay for the big box cabinet one type dealio??