Soon to be owner

[Bayleelane4]

I’m currently buying things for a chameleon that I am getting soon. And I do not know much. Any advice on things I should get or any tips on taking care?

 

[AmandaS]

You will want a 2x2x4 tall screen cage, and a drainage tray to go under it. You will want a t5ho light bar and an automatic mister would be ideal. You will want a fixture so you can hang an incandescent bulb near for heat. You will need digital temp and humidity gauges. The dial kind are crappy. And you'll want a lot of plants such as photos, schefflera, hibiscus, ficus, dracena, and a few more. Will want to be set up with your crickets and roaches, have some silks or hornworms or pheonix worms also. Variety is key in a balanced diet. You will want to gutload your bugs with carrots, sweet potatoes, romaine and kale, apples, oranges, bananas. And you will likely need branches to help your plants create a nice path for your cham to feel safe...that is just the basics.

 

[Dbash44]

Some things will differ based off the species you plan to get. What do you plan to get? There’s great care sheets on the forum.

Basics for now are

Enclosure - 2x2x4 screen enclosure. You can eventually graduate to glass if you deem it to be fit once you get the hang of things.

Live plants - Schefflera, pathos, china doll, ficus, dracena, palm. If you’ve got a green thumb then maybe some other types. Those are the easiest to maintain and keep alive. Careful with outdoor plants unless you have A LOT of light. Consider some T5 6500k plant lights if that’s what you want to do for the plants. Make sure you provide places for your cham to hide since that’s how they feel safe.

Sticks/branches - easiest to get your own from a wild tree. If that’s too much work and you can’t find them for sale then dowels will do. Make sure you get different thicknesses so the cham can exercise its feets properly

Bendy vines - this is a preference of some keepers. Some people don’t like them. I would try to omit this one and get the branches I mentioned.

Mister - either a garden mister (with a hand pump) or a misting system like Mistking. Chameleons lap water from surfaces. No water bowls. Avoid a water fall or anything with a stagnant water source inside the cage.

Dripper - little dripper or big dripper. Could also diy one pretty easily.

UVB - T5 uvb light 5.0 or 6%

Heat bulb - strength will differ for each species of cham. No overnight bulbs unless night temps go below 60 degrees. Then use a ceramic heat emitter. Lights should be on 12 hours and off 12 hours.

Fixture for heat bulb - usually a ceramic base dome fixture.

Feeders - crickets, Dubia roaches, hornworms, silkworms, grasshopper, mantis, black soldier fly larvae

Sufficient gutload for feeders - depends on feeders but typically a variety of veggies or something like cricket crack or bug burger.

Drainage - somewhere for all the water to go. Many ways to do this. Just search the forum using the search tab
Here’s a video if it helps:



There’s a lot to it so just do your research BEFORE investing in a little scaly friend.

 

[Bayleelane4]

You will want a 2x2x4 tall screen cage, and a drainage tray to go under it. You will want a t5ho light bar and an automatic mister would be ideal. You will want a fixture so you can hang an incandescent bulb near for heat. You will need digital temp and humidity gauges. The dial kind are crappy. And you'll want a lot of plants such as photos, schefflera, hibiscus, ficus, dracena, and a few more. Will want to be set up with your crickets and roaches, have some silks or hornworms or pheonix worms also. Variety is key in a balanced diet. You will want to gutload your bugs with carrots, sweet potatoes, romaine and kale, apples, oranges, bananas. And you will likely need branches to help your plants create a nice path for your cham to feel safe...that is just the basics.

Thanks so much!!! I will look into all of that!