What substrate to use?

ya what i do is get a pice of screen cut it into the shape of the pot you are using then i put it on top of the soil then i put the rocks on top of that and it will keep the humidity up just make sure to water it every day. also one thing you can do is go to lowes and get a cheep humidifier for like 25 bucks and put it in the room the cham is in.

you can use the waterfall at your own risk but im sure someone will chime in hear sooner or later and tell you the same thing waterfalls are bad. if you have ever taken a food safty class you will lern that it only takes 4 hours for bacteria to grow to a dangerus level. in a warm and humid enviroment like in water it can grow even faster.just tryin to warn ya i would hate to see ya post in a few month's "help i have a sick cham" just lookin out for ya. good luck.

one good thing about the reptraiums is that they seem to hold in the humidity better than the screen cages.
 
yeah that is a good point, i will get rid of that waterfall, I don't want him to get sick, and I have something else to put in there that would give him more room to climb. thanks for the tips. also for here anyways,well you are in mich. so you aren't that far.....it gets dry here in ohio and seems to be that way a lot.......i think it works well here.....I have heard horror stories of the reptariums, but i had a screened in cage and just couldn't keep any humidity in there so I thought I would just try something new.....also didn't know if you read the last post....where did you get dali......georgeous cham.....looking to buy a panther here soon.....
 
thanks i will tell him when i get home lol. i got dali from pam's chams, and have become freinds with pam since, she is full of helpfull info and has helped me out a lot. it gets dry up hear to but like i said if you get a cheep humidifier from lowes and do the plant thing you should be good. i have veilds but there is just somthing about panthers that i love. and with the reptarium some people dont like them cuz its harder for the light to get thru but i think if you use a 10.0 bulb you should be good. i use a 5.0 on mine and they have done fine. i have most of my chams in screen cages from lll reptile but i have my baby nosy's in a reparium for right now till they get a bit bigger. realy i think you will be fine for now with it but in a few months check out lll reptile they have good prices. i also get all my feeders from there, they have goo deals.
 
I took out that waterfall and the crushed coconut and it seemed to have made the enclosure bigger by about 4 inches which is cool, and now there is a lot less clean up lol.....i figured so much change would have bothered him, but he is still acting normal
 
substrate

In the beginning i couldnt live with the thought of a bare pvc bottom in my enclosure. Coconut fibre was used for a month. After some experience and dealing with all the water (and there should be lots of water),cleaning it up and leaving it bare , i see that it is definitely the way to go!
Stephen
 
Glad I read this, but have question

New with reptiles. We were told to use a subtrate, especially with females so we could know if she was laying eggs. If I take out everything, what do i watch for, she can't dig, so what is the best thing to do? Please be nice...I only know what I was told and have researched so far...with lot's of conflicting info. Thanks
 
orangepunchbuggy said:
New with reptiles. We were told to use a subtrate, especially with females so we could know if she was laying eggs. If I take out everything, what do i watch for, she can't dig, so what is the best thing to do? Please be nice...I only know what I was told and have researched so far...with lot's of conflicting info. Thanks
Click to expand...

LOL please be nice (must have looked through some recent threads) :D
 
At least your intelligent enuff to ask. Females need a laying bin with 1/2 ssand and 1/2 organic soil mix. Ilike mine to be a min of 12" deep. For my adult female breeders a nice bathroom trash can works well. If they are gravid they will roam the bottom of the cage and look for a bin to dig test holes before finally laying.
 
To go along with that question which I asked just now...I do have a glass aquarium at the moment because the rest of the family did the research on this while I had the flu. She is not full grown and I planning on making a new cage soon...just further researching and getting ideas. If I don't use the coconut fibres, I still have to have something on bottom to protect tongue as well as digging/eggs ect. So I need some suggestions for now. Not sure what the bottom of new cage will be yet either.
 
Lol. Yes I did some reading last night Texas P. Man. I also posted an additional part without looking to see if there was any answer yet...I was afraid I would loose my question, and I don't notice any email sent about reply to my email.

Thanks. I'm still a bit confused about this, but I have an eye infection problem with her which we found out was present when we bought her so she is back at store and going back to vets, so I have some time to make whatever little changes i can for now. I am confused with knowing when she needs to be out of cage and into something for laying. If the product was in bottom of cage...she would start digging right? Then we would know it was time for this. If nothing to dig in is in cage...what do we look for?

Also, had mentioned about aquarium in post...just after your answer. She has been back and forth from store to here to store to vets, so she has barley been here, maybe total of week. We followed everything we initially were told...which I now see was not best, but she is back there now and I just noticed something weird in her aquarium as well. I had the subtrate they gave us, everything they set us up with, humidity was spot on, heat also, but after she went back, I see in her cage little insects in the subtrate and walking on the big branch (purchased from store). Seems like 2 kinds...what on earth is that? Seems to be similiar as I get in house plants after watering.?

With the glass aquarium for now, can I take the subtrate out and cover in flat rocks...pond rocks? Just to cover glass? There's still glass on sides though.
 
A glass small aquarium is fine for a very limited time if the chameleon is small. DO NOT put a glass top on it! Leave it open or buy a screen cover, however you would be wise to invest in a screen cage instead of putting money into a glass tank less you want a pygmy chameleon. Take everything out of it and leave a paper towel bottom, you can have more if you like but it just gives bugs a place to hide and more to clean.

When the time comes for a chameleon to lay eggs you will generally will know. I take all my females out of the cage and place them into full size trash cans with climbing areas and plane ol damp organic soil in the bottom. In this they have no option but to dig. Some people keep them in the cage and insert a laying bin, some use a sand mix. Whatever floats your boat.


**last post: 03-23-2008, 11:21 AM** Nice!!! Way to dig for info.
 
Ok, thanks :)
No, of course, has proper mesh top, mesh air bars in the tank as well. It is a reptile tank that was suggested by the people. Spent the last 2 hours looking at pictures of cages here and everywhere, all with mesh...to make. There are pros and cons to every little detail, from types of mesh, to lids, to floors, to hinges! Iy yi yi...lol. I loved the green house on here...some guy in China.
 
I like newspaper. At first, I used an aquaruim with a screen top and paper towel in the bottom. When he struck at crickets, the paper towel stuck to his tongue and often the cricket got away. He looked frustrated at that. So I got a carpet. It looked nice but poop stuck to it. Made me crazy! That lasted 3 weeks. Now in the 4' screened cage there are a couple sheets of newspaper. Easy to clean daily so it doesn't get skunky for a long time. Plus, it keeps water from bouncing when it drips to the bottom. If not for newspaper, I wouldn't use anything. Just my personal preference.

Great info on rocks in plants, will be doing that :) Craft stores have some pretty ones.
 
I had reptile carpet at 1st when I had the rescued cham and it was gross. It really needed to be wash like every other day. Plus, the crickets would get under it and die. I ended up switching to paper towels with him until he passed. I didn't like them either.
When Rupert got here, I said I wouldn't use anything. It's so much better! Wipe the poos and etc up, spray, wipe again and it's done.
 
I also use cocunut fiber and a waterfall. Jalil never eats bugs on the ground. Even if he did the cocunut fiber is all natural and non-toxic, aswell as being finely grated. In the wild it is natural for a chameleon to eat some dirt/debris. Bacteria prefer stagnant water. As long as your cage is kept clean I would not anticipate a problem with bacteria in the waterfall, though it is something to keep in mind.
 
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