Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey there. I own a few leopards and a snake. the lll reptiles chameleon sale is looking good right now. what are some geeral suggestions for newbies? can chameleons be housed together? whats their general diet? habitat?
thanks!
shelby

I'm new to chams myself but I've read this entire forum so ill save some of the normal posters time.

All screen cage if possible (only use glass if you live in a vary and i do mean vary dry place)

There diet should be gut loaded crickets and worms, what worms seem to vary, depends who your talking to. Silk worms seem to be most recommended.

Its important to maintain temps of 65-85 65 being the low at night time. Use real plants in their house. Humidity is important 50-80, misting them regularly and using a drip system of some sort to provide them with water.

Depends a lil on what type of cham of course and like I said I'm new to chams to but these are some basics.

You asked..."what are some geeral suggestions for newbies?"...learn/read all you can before you get one...but be aware that all sites don't have good information. Here are some that do to start you off....
http://adcham.com/
http://www.chameleonnews.com/
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/skintests.htm

If you get the husbandry right chances are that your chameleon will do well. They need a UVB light source...either UVB tube lights or better still, direct sunlight. Neither should pass through glass or plastic. Exposure to UVB allows the chameleon to produce vitamin D3 which allows it to use the calcium provided for it. Insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous generally, so dusting them with a phos.-free calcium powder helps to make up for it. Gutloading the insects is important too.

Vitamin A and D3 are fat soluble and can build up in the system. Too much preformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD.

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A need to be in balance for good bone health.

Appropriate basking temperature is important for good digestion.

Hydration is important too. Drippers, automatic misting systems, and hand misting are all useful for this.

If you are only getting one, I would advise you to get a male...you don't have the eggs to worry about. Don't get one of the hard species...veileds and panthers are good starter chameleons.

If you get an egglaying female, make sure that you provide her with a place to lay the eggs. Some apecies produce eggs even when not mated and can become eggbound if not provided with a suitable place to lay the eggs.

You asked..."can chameleons be housed together?"...most can't. Even if you don't notice it, there will be stress when they are kept together. In the wild, they can move away from each other..but in cages, they can't. Constantly defending their territory is stressful. Females have to fend off the males constantly too.

You asked.."whats their general diet?"...most are insectivores. Veileds are omnivores once they are about 5 or 6 months old.

You asked..."habitat?"...UVB light, incandescent basking light, lots of greenery, no substrate for arboreal species, branches to climb on...hmmm...probably missed some things.

If you're thinking of getting a panther cham, I'd be happy to share my care document. It's a pdf that I can email.
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SandraChameleon@gmail.com
BC Canada

Glad to have you here also

Enjoy the forum!
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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

Glad to be here. Ive been a long time visitor of kingsnake. Used to breed reptiles years ago in Washington, also ran a rescue. We even had a monkey there once! You think chams take lots of care lemme tell ya, might as well have children if your going to get a monkey.

Decided awhile back i wanted to return to it, and always wanted a cham. Always steered clear of them though cuz there soooo fragile. But when i decided to go for it i knew kingsnake would be the place to go and on the cham forums i went

Thats such a coincidence, for Christmas I always got a live critter of some sort from my Mom . When 13 I had a terrible earache on Christmas Eve , it was so painful and no doctors available.

My Mom said I have just the present to help you feel better, I will give it to you early. It was a cage covered in a sheet, to my amazement as I uncoved my magical present it was a squirrel monkey (then they were legally sold).
OH what a surprise he was, named him Ollie. Ollie lived for years, only died after getting him a mate, she developed a resp infection and he also got it and did not makes it. But your right it was alot of work, they can do some dirty things, LOL but very funny lil guys.

Moral of story, never felt my earache after seeing my MONKEY, LOL

Glad your back into reptiles Stick around
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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

Just wanted to say nice to have you here.
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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve