Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was thinking about getting into them but i have a few questions what is a good first chameleon and what would do good in a planted high humidity terrarium?

Under "care sheets/FAQs/Features" section of this site there is a care sheet for veiled chamelons, which is a good first chameleon though not a good reptile for beginners. Read that first and if you have any more questions, the people on this forum have some more care sheets and will be able to answer any questions you have.

jeff

Hi Tony - If you have been doing research you have found that chams are not like other lizards in their requirements. If you are looking to keep one in a terrarium (I assume you mean glass) you will likely need to choose another reptile. Most of the common and more hardy chams (veiled, panther) require a minimum of 2x2x4 all-screen or mostly screen cage as an adult. Not tanks after 3 months.

If you are into setting up a cool vivarium you might consider the pygmy leaf chameleons. They are very small, adorable, but not necessarily recommended as a beginner cham - though their are some varied opinions regarding this on the forum

If you think you might be interested in them here are tow excellent articles:
www.chameleonnews.com/brevcare.html
www.chameleonnews.com/stumphabitat.html

As for info on chameleons, their care, feeders, vets, setup questions and a slew of articles please go to cham resource link below and check it out.

Have you kept other herps?

lele
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skippy
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh, Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

i have been keeping herps for what seems like forever, i stopped for a short while when i startedkeeping kids but have been getting back into it for about 2 years now i currently have 2 beardys and 2 leos, so i figured i would set up a planted viv just for something different.
the tank is a 75gal and will have a screen top. i havent decided what im putting into it yet (hence the questions) but was considering chameleons simply because its something i havent tried before. if you feel this setup wouldnt be proper ventalation wise than i will consider other species.
thanks for the links and info and dont worry i will do my reserch before purchasing any new critters
thanks again
Tony

be sure to check out the links I gave you you on the leaf chams - tiny and stumpy, but it is what gives them character - and they are terrestrial, so a tank is great - one link has a step by step setup. I have my beardie in a 75 gal. and sometimes fantasize about it being a big leaf cham colony! - don't think Darwin would be too happy about it! lol!
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skippy
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh, Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Oh he would be pleased.... pleased for the snack. ehehe.

Sorry, had too,
Jeff

If you are interested in a tank type thing, you could consider dart frogs or leaf tailed geckos (Uroplatus) instead. The dart frogs are diurnal and the Uroplatus geckos nocturnal, so consider when you'd like to be watching their activity. A high humidity tank would not be a good setup for any cham species but the little pygmy leaf species...and they are touchy.