Alan,



A greenhouse is a good idea - but there are some things to consider before going to the expense of building/buying one and stocking it with chameleons.



First - the roof. This material should allow UVB to come through. Most glass does not, and most plastics do not. We have researched this and found that specialized glass or very specialized plastic (rigid) is needed to allow the natural sunlight to come through. It gets expensive too.



Second.... the chameleons.

If you have a lushly planted area - the chams can go from plant to plant and infringe on someone else's territory. Even if they were all the same kind of chameleon - it would be very risky to have such an environment. Males tend to fight. There are some chams that can live in groups - but few species.



We thought of a way for each cham to have it's own territory from the ground up - like stalls in a barn. Plant a leafy tree for each one, and put a barricade around the trunk. This barricade prevents a male from going down the tree, across the ground and up the next tree. You have to keep the trees from touching too - chams can jump! This sort of thing has been done in the collection center for an exporter in Madagascar. He puts one male per tree and perhaps a few females. Each group stays in their "stall". Otherwise, you would have to have screened cages.



Misting and exhaust fans will be needed in the summer and some sort of heat will be needed in the winter - thermostatically controlled, of course. This is what we use in our breeding facility (unfortunately not a greenhouse - yet).



Some things to consider...

Morgana - Reptayls, Ltd.

[ Show Entire Thread ]