Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,

My name is Ian and I am about to purchase my first chameleon. I am a college student and I'm from Mississippi. I have many years experience with maintaining tropical aquariums and some experience with ball pythons (through a friend). I've been fascinated with chameleons since I saw my first one in a pet store a while back. I'm committed to doing ample research before I ever bring one of these little guys home, so that's one of the reasons I'm here.

There is so much information out there, and though I feel like I've picked up a good bit of useful info, there are a couple of issues I'm still unclear about.

1) First off, the difference (pros/cons) between using separate heat/UVB lamps or a single, full-spectrum Mercury Vapor bulb. I'd prefer to use the mercury vapor for a number of reasons, but I'm not dead set. Also, the cage I'm looking at is 36"x18"x18", so if anyone has a wattage recommendation for a cage this size that would be nice.

2) I'm sure this comes up everyday, but I have to bring it up. From my research, the same names come up when discussing "beginner chameleons": veiled, jackson's, and panther. Yet some care sheets describe each of these as difficult to keep. Should I stick to these breeds (panthers are a little out of my price range) or consider any others? I understand other breeds are more likely to be wild caught, but let's assume we're only talking about CB chameleons. I really like the appearance of the flapneck's, parson's, and gracefuls, but if they are THAT much more difficult to keep I'd like to know to stay away. I understand that all chameleons are considered difficult to keep when compared to other lizards, so I question how much harder some breeds are.

I sincerely appreciate any and all information/experiences that you can share and look forward to being a part of this community. Thanks in advance, and sorry I wrote so much this time!

-Ian

I'm particularly curious as to how well plants respond the single mercury vapor light as opposed to the traditional 2 light set-up.

thanks!

Don't apologize for asking the right types of questions! You are doing just what we wish everyone did before buying a cham. I can hopefully answer your questions.

I don't know that much about the UVB Heat versus the mercury vapor lights...they may act much the same but I just haven't used them. I have kept mostly "montane" species like fischeri, jacksons, deremensis, cristatus, and melleri. I have also kept veileds and verrucosus, and have always used the house spotlights for basking and a ReptiSun 5.0 for UV exposure for all of them. The UVHeat and MV lights produce a lot of heat as well as UV, so the main concerns have more to do with overheating a cage if there isn't a humid shaded spot for the cham to retreat to. They are probably too intense for many of the montane species. Chams do burn themselves while basking as they don't have many temp sensors in their skin. They will burn some live plants if the leaves get too close. You have to be careful not to get water droplets on the bulbs or they can explode, and chams need a lot of daily misting. There isn't a set "wattage" recommendation for any size cage as there are too many other variable to consider. The temp of the room, the air flow, etc. The best way to judge the lamp is to set it up over the cage top and measure the temp of the basking perch with a temp gun, rather than the air temp like a bulb thermometer would. If it is too hot for the particular species, move the light away from the cage. Adjust the temp by moving the lamp.

That cage size will limit which species you keep...it is very minimal for a large veiled or panther. Larger cages are easier to get sturdy plants for and provide more microclimates...making it easier to offer the cham the range of temps and humidity it will prefer.

The whole beginner cham idea is more for the less informed impulse buyer. Because more veileds, panthers, and jackson's have been kept and bred over the years, we know a bit more about their preferences than we do the other species you listed. The chams themselves being cbb are also used to the limited foods we offer them and the presence of humans. Veileds and panthers are a bit more tolerant of keeping mistakes, usually overheating and keeping too dry. Providing the frequent misting and higher spectrum of humidity and cool temps at night make keeping jackson's and other montane species more involved. If your house won't cool off at night these species will suffer without AC or some type of cooler, but a veiled or panther may be OK. There needs to be at least a 10F drop in temp at night. This and the relative humidity of your house and your location may limit what you can keep without a lot of expense. It doesn't mean you can't choose them, just be prepared to spend a lot more on the setup. Also, check with your local vets to see if any have actually treated chams. There are a lot fewer vets for chams than most other herps.

As for conflicting information online, the sites I usually recommend (the information is tried and true) are:

http://www.adcham.com
http://www.chameleonnews.com
plus the sites that sponsor this forum. They are good sources of information from experienced folks.

Oops, forgot a couple of things...

Flapnecks and gracefuls are almost always wc and loaded with parasites. All chams have some, but the stress of capture, poor care by dealers, and lots of shipping cause a bloom of parasites and can easily overwhelm the cham. They don't have a big fat reserve to carry them through hard times like snakes do, and the constant threat of dehydration can damage kidneys. By the time they reach a pet shop here they can be in big trouble, and if you don't already know the signs of illness (ie, a cham newbie) they just don't tend to do well. Flapnecks have a wide range in the wild so finding out just what temp and humidity range suits any particular one is going to be difficult. Parsons are very rare and very expensive. Most dealers or breeders will be quite careful who they place their cbb offspring with. Trade quotas are quite tight too for good reason. You won't find a parson's for under $1000 USD, and they deserve at least a greenhouse or indoor room.

Hi, only kept Panther, so can not advise on breeds
But did use T rex combined heater and uvb light
Was o.k. in the English winter, but come summer nearly fried the little chappie
You can not use a thermostat with these lights and in a small enclosure like a viv it gets far to hot
Better to keep to separate heater you can put on to a thermostat and a separate Uvb light you can put on to a timer

just keep reading and asking