please critique my first set up

SS4Luck · Oct 8, 2009

Im extremely new to the forum, though i have been trolling around for a week or so doing some research and have finally decided im going to jump into the Cham arena instead of getting another snake. I <3 reptiles and have had too many to list. After researching on this forum and arond the internet i figured this would be a good starting set up

16x15x20 or 16x16x30 aluminum screen cage from lllreptile
60 watt ceramic heater
zoo med 15" Repti sun 5.0
exp terra small jungle vine (1/2" think) 6'
some manzanita or grapewood sandblasted/treated wood from lllreptile for climping/sleeping
2 rock bowls for layin pool and worms/food
eco carpet or repti carpet for bottom
drip system or mist king

my local pet shop has baby veileds that i would plan on getting and unlike a few of the other pet stores i have visited, not petco type stores actual reptile stores, this one has all their veileds under UV lights with a good heat light and proper cages and decorations so i feel confident getting an animal from them.

The cage will be in my room on a shelf compeltely away from anywhere my dog could get it, but in perfect sight for enjoyment and possible actualy sunlight exposure.

I only have a question regarding real/fake main plants for a drip system/climbing and what to use. It has been the one thing i havent really found a good answer for.

Thanks for the long read, im still new to the sensative reptile zone and just dont want to mess up!

warpdrive · Oct 8, 2009

Hi SS4,

get the smaller cage first....16x15x20.
a baby needs a small cage to hunt easyer.
a baby is around 3"-4" snout to vent (no tail), so just saying that we are on the same page.

the UVB bulb is perfect. but skip the ceramic heater and go with a 40w standard household bulb. not compact bulb.

they don't need the carpet on the bottom and forget the bowls for drinking and eating...although you can make a feeding cup to hang under a vine for food if you wish. I mostly free range and hand feed, but whatever.

NO WATER POOLS PLEASE.

hand mist for now, then moove to a mistking on the adult cage.
you will need an adult cage for him/her in a few months...that's how it goes.

you can use a plastic cup or little dripper for a drip system...my little guy hated it, but most love it.
mist with hot water....it will come out cooler when you spray. but my water will burn you if you stick your finger in the bottle. yes that hot.

read this...
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

Harry

SS4Luck · Oct 8, 2009

warpdrive said:
Hi SS4,

get the smaller cage first....16x15x20.
a baby needs a small cage to hunt easyer.
a baby is around 3"-4" snout to vent (no tail), so just saying that we are on the same page.

the UVB bulb is perfect. but skip the ceramic heater and go with a 40w standard household bulb. not compact bulb.

they don't need the carpet on the bottom and forget the bowls for drinking and eating...although you can make a feeding cup to hang under a vine for food if you wish. I mostly free range and hand feed, but whatever.

NO WATER POOLS PLEASE.

hand mist for now, then moove to a mistking on the adult cage.
you will need an adult cage for him/her in a few months...that's how it goes.
you can use a plastic cup or little dripper for a drip system...my little guy hated it, but most love it.
mist with hot water....it will come out cooler when you spray. but my water will burn you if you stick your finger in the bottle. yes that hot.

read this...
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

Harry

thank you, and yes baby is about 3.5 inches from snout to base of tail.

Ill find a small bowl that i can tie to the side of the cage with fishing line for some food if the free feeding ends up not working or maybe for some worms as a treat.
On the laying bowl i went back and re read the few threads i had seen them in and i realized tey were talking about a bowl for females to lay eggs in.

As far as heat at night, my room gets down to about 65-70, is that too cold? I had read 75 at night is ideal. And the 40W standard house bulb in a normal dome lamp will get everything hot enough?

Not meaning to ask 200 questions i just want to get this perfect the first time, id hate to have a little guy pass because i didnt ask one question

thank you for the article, im reading it right now

CleaTheChameleon · Oct 8, 2009

So far so good. Warpdrive covered most of the stuff i was goign to say.

Here is a video of a feeding cup a member on here made me. I am the kid in the video though. you can make something like this

if you need help just ask me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IocvhTduOtc

SS4Luck · Oct 8, 2009

CleaTheChameleon said:
So far so good. Warpdrive covered most of the stuff i was goign to say.

Here is a video of a feeding cup a member on here made me. I am the kid in the video though. you can make something like this if you need help just ask me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IocvhTduOtc

i had actually planned something like that in my head, just using a water bottle that had been cut so it wasnt as deep being that the chams im looking at would not be able to get out of a full siz cup like that if they had fallen out. I also saw a cup that might work at the petstore, its ment to be a from basking perch, and uses magnets to "pinch" the cage between the ledge and the ouside magnets, but it has a good size bowl that would be perfect for a few worms and would also look fairly nice. Just a thought, ill pry make something before i go out and spend more money though

hallenhe · Oct 8, 2009

Your temperatures sound fine; veileds and panthers can handle down to 60 at night (and probably below, but I wouldn't go lower than 60).

pssh · Oct 8, 2009

Sometimes 40 watt bulbs can be too hot for a baby (80-83 degree basking spot) so you may have to raise the bulb considerably or get a lower one. I use a 25 watt bulb raised 3-4 inches above the top of the cage to get a basking temp of 81 degrees on a branch about 5 inches from the top of the cage. So basically, the lamp is 8 or so inches from the basking spot.

renzo0684 · Oct 8, 2009

Hey welcome to the forum!!!! I am a new member also and I had the same issue as you starting out. I got very good information check out the thread that I posted! https://www.chameleonforums.com/jaspers-new-casa-30916/

SS4Luck · Oct 8, 2009

pssh said:
Sometimes 40 watt bulbs can be too hot for a baby (80-83 degree basking spot) so you may have to raise the bulb considerably or get a lower one. I use a 25 watt bulb raised 3-4 inches above the top of the cage to get a basking temp of 81 degrees on a branch about 5 inches from the top of the cage. So basically, the lamp is 8 or so inches from the basking spot.

Right now i am planning on getting the mini light fixture from lllrep and the shelf the cage is going to go on has another ledge about 4" above where the top of the cage would be and i was planning on suspending the light from that ledge, so 8" away should be real easy for me to be able to get

renzo0684 said:
Hey welcome to the forum!!!! I am a new member also and I had the same issue as you starting out. I got very good information check out the thread that I posted! https://www.chameleonforums.com/jaspers-new-casa-30916/

I read through your thread already and got alot of info from it. Im super carefull and OCD when it comes to my pets, espicially when it comes to a new species or animal. You should see the kennel i built for my American Pitbull Terriers in my back yard when i adopted all of them, most say overkill, but my dogs love it/me for it

renzo0684 · Oct 8, 2009

I think the next step you should do is post some pictures of your progress.

please critique my first set up

SS4Luck

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warpdrive

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SS4Luck

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CleaTheChameleon

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SS4Luck

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hallenhe

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pssh

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renzo0684

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SS4Luck

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renzo0684

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