Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey,
I was just doing a little research on maybe owning a veil in the future and i had a question about cages. Whats the best commerical one for a single or pair of veils? whats a good size? Assuming i can build stuff, and i already have screen material, is it more cost efficient for me to build a cage with painted or siliconed pvc pipe? are there any online guides for this out there?

BY the way, i also had a lighting question. I have an 18 inch 15 watt flourecent lighting fixture to go with the cage. Whats a good bulb to use? SHould i also get a clamp light for basking? what wattage? whats a good bulb? Im new to this, but i have to start somewhere.

Thanks,
Jeff

It all deppends. First of all you don't want to house a male and female Veil together! are you planning on getting a pair of babies/sub-adult or adults (that would determan how big you build the cage) you really dont want a 3 inch chameleon in a cage 3x2x4 (at least not till its bigger) "Reptarium" cages are good, comes in different sizes and can easily be moved outside to allow natural sun light.
Veils like to bask in the spot light. "Repti Basking Spot Lamp" is one from zoo med. Again the size of your chameleon will determan the wattage.
The best light I found worked for my veil was that great big one in the sky! I heard the reptisun 5.0 and 10.0 from Zoo Med are good (maybe the 10.0 in your case) *both come in tube lights as well as compact flourecent!
Nice to know you are asking questions before you buy, thats the way to go.

*more post will come from other users too, READ THEM! they will ALL help you

Good luck!

BTW
Chris had this to say about lighting
http://[bleep]/forums/showthread.php?t=14228

As for how old i was thinking about getting as old and esstablished as possible, but still too young to breed (as a newbie, i dont think im ready for that yet). I have been told because these animals dont need a great deal of space, i can house two togther (NOT two males) and they will find their own spots. I was thinking a male and a female because i would like to breed them at some point. If you are not supposed to house them togther, and your not supposed to change their environment because it causes stress, how do you breed them?

Is the reptarium better than the Fresh-air habitat one?

Thanks,
Jeff

I'm no expert when it comes to chams but I'm learning. I'm in the process of completing a home made cage that is 2'deepx4'widex4'tall, there is a removable divider in the middle so you could keep a male on one side and female on the other and then just remove the divider for breeding,, then put it back. The plans were EXCELLENT. I had plywood at home for the divider and bottom so i didn't need to buy that but the rest of the supplies (not incl. lighting) cost me approx. $100 (wood, screening, screws, hardware, stain) Email me and I'll forward the link to the website that I got the info from.Lo
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1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx (Angus)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Eddie)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon (Stevie Ray)
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko (Jimi)
2.0.0 Dogs (Black German Shepherd-Nicholas, Black Lab-Cooper)
1.1.0 Budgies (Kia and Simon)
0.0.25 Various Fishies (Freshwater)
2.1.0 Hubby and kids (Boy and a Girl)

Hey,
hmm, that sounds interesting. my email adress is captotterboy@hot-shot.com I do have a question about that. I heard somewhere that young veils should be kept out of sight of each other, even of different sexes. Since i am looking at pre-breeding age, does it go for them too? In other words, could i theoretically do a duel cage like that and have a screen divider that i could roll back when they get to breeding time and roll back into place to separate them again?

And while i am here, what is the rule of thumb for handling captive bread veils? I realize i should wait a few weeks to handle them at all when they are first moved in, but what about after that? Will they become accustomed to infrequent handling over time like my longtail lizards did? its not a big deal, as its not an important part of my wanting one, i just wanted to know.

Thanks,
Jeff

Just wanted to say that I've used both, and the ESU "Fresh Air Habitat" was vastly superior to the "Reptarium, for the following reasons:
1. Lighting and heating-being made of nylon mesh, it is quite difficult to SAFELY use heat lamps with a Reptarium. The ESU cage is made of metal screen, so you can plop your heat light right on top with no danger of fire or melting.

2. Family relations. Sad but true-crickets CAN chew their way out of a reptarium! You can imagine the reaction of non herp-oriented family members to dozens of crawling, singing insects under the fridge!

3. Visibility. You'll find you can observe your animals far more effectively in an ESU cage-that reptarium mesh is nearly opaque by comparison....

Hope this helps...
Brad Chambers

Yeah actually, it does. But what about the other stuff about the size and mixed sex pairs and and and and...

Hehe, no seriously, it does help. I think i like the look of the fresh air habitat better anyway.

Thanks,
Jeff

Hi Jeff, I've emailed the link to the website i got my plans from. Lo
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1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx (Angus)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Eddie)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon (Stevie Ray)
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko (Jimi)
2.0.0 Dogs (Black German Shepherd-Nicholas, Black Lab-Cooper)
1.1.0 Budgies (Kia and Simon)
0.0.25 Various Fishies (Freshwater)
2.1.0 Hubby and kids (Boy and a Girl)

Hopefully u read these...Iwas looking at building the same type of thing and was wondering if you could send me the plans also? If you could that would be wonderful. My e-mail is jason_stoller@hotmail.com

.
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1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx (Angus)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Eddie)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon (Stevie Ray)
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko (Jimi)
2.0.0 Dogs (Black German Shepherd-Nicholas, Black Lab-Cooper)
1.1.0 Budgies (Kia and Simon)
0.0.25 Various Fishies (Freshwater)
2.1.0 Hubby and kids (Boy and a Girl)

Thanks so much i can't wait to get started on the build.

Hey there, I was wondering if you would mind sending the website where you got these plans to me as well. I would really appreciate it. My email is david@coldbloodexotics.com. Thanks!!

David