Tank setup - questions !?

marxous

New Member
Hey guys! I know there is a wealth of info on this site, and its great to see it all here! I just joined up, bought my first Chameleon 2 days ago, a wonderful veiled. There seems to be a lot of contradictory information going around with regards to you need mega humidity vs, you need cross winds and an open enviornment, can anyone please clarify?

I have my baby currently in a 25 gallon glass aquarium with heat lights and uvb and large eco waterfall ( and of course tons of plastic and a few real plants. ) !!! my plan is within this week to purchase what i need to make her as happy as can be, but first i would very much like some opinions on a few ideas that i have had, and your input on what you think i may have overlooked.

i am planning on buying, or making a 260 gallon reptarium (mesh material)! roughly 4-6 feet tall and 30" square. Now i've been told that humidity is very important, but wont most of the humidity escape through the mesh material??? I am planning on buying an ionizer/mister for my water fall to increase the humidity levels, are these necessary? Are they reccommeded? I was also thinking about using a humidifyer that one would use in their house, put it in the enclosure and create a mass steam bath! I think that this would really boost humidity levels, however, you can not leave it on all the time cause it will drench your room :p. Is this a good idea???

Will an enclosure this big (2.5 ft deep and wide and 6 feet tall) be determental to her health, will it make it hard for her to find her food?

I want her to be as happy as possible! And i def. want her to live longer than 5 years! please any sugestions i would love to hear them.

Maybe in stead of a eco fogger that goes into the waterfall, i could get a bigger one, like a 3-head one and put it in a water dish to create more mist?

thanks guys, im just too exited give her everything she needs ( on a students budget =P )

-Marc
 
ok, i would recommend taking out the waterfall, unless cleaned everyday this is a huge breeding ground for bacteria and other harmful germs. do you have a drip system, i see you did not mention this, get a little dripper or a deli cup and put a tiny hole in it so water can drip from it. also with the set up you have now, the glass. like you said there is not a hole lot of air flow, and also can be another breeding ground for bacteria and other harmful germs ,so like the waterfall clean everyday or at least once a week. also those fogging things dont work, the disk burns out fast, as ive heard. i would recommend a just a smaller cage id go with a 65 gallon reptarium then to a 260 when she is a full grown adult, use the 65 after a few months because she will grow out of the 20 gallon tank you are using now. also you have a female. you know she will lay eggs right? she should start as early as 6 months old, so do research on that, she will need a little box of sand or dirt to dig and lay her eggs, and you will have to get rid of them after she has had them, just do alot of research and ask questions on her about this subject if needed. i would recommend a cool mist humidifier. just get one and get some pvc pipes and connect the pipes to the humidifier and have it go to the top of the cage and it will kinda create a fog like mist if you would like to say, lol. i think thats all i got. if you have any more questions just ask anyone and they probley would answer them. just do as much research as possible, and i strongly recommend removing the waterfall, they dont work as good as you think they would. they are just a hassle, good luck
 
I agree with John about removing the waterfall. These animals drink rain and dew on the leaves, very fresh and pure water source. Recycling water through a fountain or waterfall greatly compromises the quality of their drinking water and keeping it as clean as you'll need to is a lot of work. My fear with these is always that, after awhile, you'll get lazy and skip a day or week? Much easier to fill a dripper every morning and have some sort of screen covered collection container in the bottom of the enclosure that can be dumped daily (see pic in my gallery).
The tank is fine for now. Many people (including myself) kept their baby veileds in a glass or acrylic tank for the first few weeks.
Her next cage should be a small (18x12x20) screen enclosure that you can purchase or build.
She shouldn't go into anything huge till she's 5 or 6 months old, for all the reasons you mentioned.

-Brad
 
I was told that the waterfall will help a lot to create humidity though. If someone is dedicated enough to clean it everyweek, can i keep it in there? I really like it :(.

what about using a humidifyer idea to use pvc and run the pipeing to the top of the enclusore so that it falls down instead of having the mist spray everywhere from teh ground level. Can i use juat a normal room humidifyer?? Whats a cool drip humidifyer? what shoudl i avoid?

I'll take my glass aquarium and turn it on its side so its high and the screen is facing me, that should improve airflow, or sould i leave it with the tank as a normal fish tank would be with the opening facing up? if i was to turn the aquarium on its side how would i set up the lights? and i will def setup a drip system!

Im using a 5.o uvb compact flourescent, is that adequate? also today im goign to upgrade from a 75w heat lamp to a 125, good idea? im also thinking about getting a ceramic heat lamp as well. should i use both to add heat?

Thnaks for your help and concern!!! Im off to pets mart to use my 30$ credit!!! ( i payed too much for her $160! then i said i think i payed too much and they gave me a 30$ store credit after i found out they were selling veilds at 100$ at other places)

-THANKS AGAIN!
Marc!!!!!!
 
yes no waterfall, cool mist humidifier is found in any deparment store, wal mart, target, ect. be careful with the glass, it can make it hotter inside the cage so dont up the wattage of the heat lights. your humidity will really get high with the heat and dripper system with the uvb on the top of the cage. just be careful that it doesnt fall over or anything like that. just use that one heat lamp and you should be good. dont buy a chameleon from petsmart or petco ever! they do not take good enough care of there reptiles and you could get a bad on, so avoid those stores for a chameleon, go to chameleonsonly.com they have good chameleons and have been raising chameleons for over 25 years, so they have a good product that will be good for 85 plus 45 for shipping. the little extra is better. hope this and i was a little help to you. good luck
 
You'll be amazed at how much humidity is maintained with live plants!
Cleaning waterfall: how about 3 or 4 times a week! Seriously.

-Brad
 
Cleaning waterfall: how about 3 or 4 times a week! Seriously.

Unless your cham starts pooping in it.. which a lot do..do.. or feeders start drowning in it. Then, you will have to be ultra dedicated and clean it every day or twice a day. Poo filled humidity.. sound healthy?
 
ok so i made a screen top for my tank, so i can have some airflow in there, i will make a drip system, now i have a 150w heat lamp, one of the red ones (i thought because of the lower light, i could leave it on longer). should i leave it on all the time? or should i have not gotten a red one!?

I also bought another uv light, so now i have a 5.0 compact flourescent and a 8.o strip. should i use them both? is it possible to load a chameleon with too much uv?

i will remove the waterfall because i dont want her to get sick! I will also try and pickup a humidifyer from home hardware. hopefully she will love her new home!!!

thanks for all your imput! i will take a picture of the setup soon then you can tell me how to maybe make it better!
 
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