Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I am looking to get into owning chameleons. I have had multiple reptiles in the past. The longest living one was my Bearded Dragon that lived to be around 9.5 years old.

I have done a pretty good amount of research so I know what I'm getting into. I have pretty much completed my cage setup with the build and purchasing/placing plant. Any extra advice would be nice (I do know it is a bit large for a young one, but didn't really figure THAT out until later, I hope it will be OK).

What I have:

Cage is 50" tall, 26" deep and 28" wide.

I have a 24" 5.0 Repti Glo bulb along with a Zoo med basking lamp and a Repti Glo 2.0 light (I don't have the 2.0 light up and running yet, not sure if I will need it or not).

I have 2 live plants, a hanging Pothos and a Ficus (from what I know, these 2 are ok). I also have a Hibiscus plant that will be switched out occasionally with the Ficus for the flowers, or I can put it in now as it is MUCH smaller than the Ficus. I have already exchanged the pots the plants came in with new pots that have organic (no fertilizer) soil (now that was messy!)... and the plants have been cleaned.

I also have some fake plants/vines by the basking site so that I didn't kill the live plants... that is the idea anyway. I also have a thermometer, hydrometer and a dropper setup that isn't in the cage yet but purchased.

So... anything else before purchase? There is a 4" CBB Cham on sale right now at a local store that looks healthy so I was wanting to get him before he is gone, but as I've been working on this for a while I can handle waiting too if needed. I'll buy the supplements when I buy the Cham.

So, sorry for the long post. Hopefully my picture will show up too, but I can't see it in a preview.... hosted by Photobucket.

-----
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charlie)
0.1 Corn Snake (Diamond)
1.1 Felines (Blacky and Princes)
1.0 Canine (Skeeter)
2.0 Cockatiels

Ok, now we will try this again by posting in the gallery!

-----
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charlie)
0.1 Corn Snake (Diamond)
1.1 Felines (Blacky and Princes)
1.0 Canine (Skeeter)
2.0 Cockatiels

I know lots of folks say fiscus is fine. But I disagree. The plant is mildly toxic if your bugs or cham nibble it. Also, the leavesbranches arent particularily strong and when they break the white sap they weep is an irritant - could cause skin and eye issues. Plus, fiscus dont like to be moved, so putting in an out of the cage to swap with the hibiscus will make it an unhappy plant (will drop leaves). I'd just put the hibiscus in from the start. The cage doesnt need to be packed full of plants, in fact should not be packed full - needs to be lots of air movement and open spaces.
Your cage dimensions are fine. Careful about the mesh - it looks pretty dense which could stop much of the UVB from getting in (consider a wider mesh for the top).
-----
Sandra
BC Canada

Many many cham keepers have used Ficus with no problems from either sap or leaf toxicity. If you have a veiled who likes to chew on leaves, offer him something tastier than the Ficus such as chunks of fruit or veggies. Young chams don't browse leaves much. That seems to be something older chams do. What I do with a "new" Ficus that has a lot of small twigs densely packed, is thin it out with some mild pruning. I open up the internal shape of the plant to provide easier passage for the cham, and this helps avoid twig breakage as he moves around it. Take the plant out, prune the twigs and let the sap run. Once it seems to have stopped oozing, clean the sap off leaves off with a cloth and warm water. If the sap dries on branches it stays pretty inert. Yes, Ficus can be fussy and drop leaves if they are moved, but they do grow back if the plant is healthy. I tend to have a lot of foliage in my cages and think most cham prefer it that way. I really like your 2 hinged sides. This will give you a lot of easy access to the cage...great idea. Not sure about the ReptiGlo light. Is that for UV? I haven't heard that it produces much despite the claims. A more open wire mesh for the cage top will help the UV penetrate, stand up to the heat, and will support the weight of the light fixtures.

I will look into replacing the top mesh as requested. I wanted to try and find something that would keep the free roaming feeders in place which is why I went with the screen to begin with. I do have a 1/4" square mesh already I can put on only the top.

I can also look into putting the Hibiscus in the cage and take the ficus out. I have already cut a good bit from the ficus to open it up, but can always add more. I wanted the hibiscus first but was told that it likes a lot of sun which is why I went with the ficus.

Whatever it is, I just want to make a safe environment. I can start with the hibiscus to see if the cham likes to eat leaves or not, then can interchange later if possible.
-----
0.1 Feline (Kelly)
1.0 Canine (Skeeter)

I have now replaced the ficus with the hibiscus. I haven't had time yet to deal with replacing the top mesh. Here is the updated picture. You can see the hibiscus is much smaller.

-----
0.1 Feline (Kelly)
1.0 Canine (Skeeter)

I think that hybiscus plant looks good in there You might consider one or two thicker branches horizontally in the cage. I see the vine - they like these. You can buy coated electrical wire that also can be twisted and positioned to make walking climbing paths (make sure cut ends are not sharp or are covered - I use silicon to seal ends).
In total honesty, My males prefer choose exposed branches over foliage covered areas 9 times out of 10. So I make sure they have lots of open spaces with nice branches to perch on.
The females choose to be among the plant leaves much more often, probably 40% of the time.
-----
Sandra
BC Canada

You can keep feeders under control by using a plastic bin for feeding. It is larger than the typical deli cup and your cham can climb down to the rim of the box and shoot what he likes. It is sort of the middle ground between cup feeding (and the concerns about lazy tongue and boredom) and free ranging (concerns that the feeders get lost, start eating fecals, chew on the cham at night, lose their gutload). Metal mesh is safer to use on the cage top...lights can't melt it. To keep your Hibiscus happier you can use a single tube "regular" fluorescent light fixture set vertically along one side of the cage to increase the amount of direct light it gets.