Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Tomorrow I am getting a chameleon, i think it may be an amilobe?? maybe. It has a crest on its head but not the size of even a female veil, but the crest is still there, it had no sort of horns coming from its nose either. Anyways, for now I am planning on keeping her/him in a 50 gallon tall aquarium w/ a screen lid, i eventually plan on getting her/him a screen cage. What should the temps be?? I was planning on using shredded newspaper for bedding. Any other advice would be appreciated.

Any info on proper care.....( i am also doing my own research, but you guys know first hand)

This isnt meant to be rude, but can I ask why you are getting a chameleon you aren't sure the species of? And the next day? Doesnt sound like you are ready to get him tomorrow. Is it a rescue or a new pet?

I would recommend doing alot of research (like you said you were)If you can hold of getting him for a couple days it might be better to get better set up. Depending on its size/age, the 50 gallon should be ok FOR NOW, but DEFINITELY not for long. If it is more than 4 months old though you need to get it a screen cage ASAP. He/she will need lots of vines, sticks and (safe and non toxic) plants to climb around on, a good one to use is a pothos plant, which you can pick up anywhere that sells plants. Lowes, Home depot, Meijers, Walmart etc.

Mave sure you have a UV light / basking bulb for him and places in his cage he can go to escape the heat when needed.
Definitly stay away from the shredded paper. They dont make nests or need it for anything. Plus when it gets wet it could mold and cause health probs. If you need a base, try laying sheets of paper towels, puppy raining pads or unprinted newspaper to collect moisture, then change those every week or so.

Make sure to have some sort of water available, whether by dripper, or sprayig a couple times a day. They need to have a higher humidity and water intake. (Depending on what species)

This isnt all that needs to be known, but just a start till you can get some more research done. Hope all goes well with your new guy and that this helped some.
Hopefully others will be able to post the "New Cham" Links. Dont have those memorized yet
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1:0 Veiled (Gene)
1:0 Sambava Panther (Knoxville)
1:1 Albino Clawed Frogs (Phedre and Jos)
?? Fire belly toad (Harold)
Various cats and dogs

I got a screen cage today, and bought some artificial vines and plants from the pet store. If the room I am keeping the chameleon in has four windows directly across the room from the cage(no need to worry about getting cold) do I still need to get a UVB light/bulb??

Yes - not all of the essential wavelengths of UV (particularly UVB) can pass through glass - so even if your cham is in full sunlight, but a sheet of glass is between the two, it will be of little to no benefit to your chameleon.
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Frogs - D. leucomelas, D. tinctorius, D. azureus, D. auratus, P. vittatus, P. bicolor
Chams - Werner's, Panthers, Veiled
Geckos - Cresteds, Gargoyles
Rough Scaled Sand Boa

This is pretty sad man. I started with a Veild and had him 5 yrs and still he is behind me as we speak. I just bought 2 panthers and wanted 1 of them to be an amilobe but too expensive and they look as coll as a sambava or tamataive in my opinion.
Just about everything you said looks like you purposely did the opposite of what is correct. There is too much to advise you on at this point in time so good luck.
I bet he never figured taking care of the feeders is half the job of owning a healthy cham! Man this just sucks, it has to be a joke.

you are very unprepared to be getting this chameleon tomorrow. Months of research should be done before getting your first chameleon. The fact that you are unsure of the species is of concern. Are you getting it from a breeder? How old? How big? Do you have a vet lined up?

Some people keep these but I do not think that they, F. oustaleti are the best starter chams.

Go to the link in my signature (below) and go to he links recommended. Do thorough searching of articles, profiles, diseases, lighting - everything!

Also, keep in mind that this forum slows down on weekends and will probably slow even more due to the holiday. Those of us who are here will do our best. Also, do a search on this forum for the species and read any posts you can find.

lele
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0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

Chameleon Help & Resource Info

I agree with you too, but i also am sure of the fact that i will give the cham a better home than what it has now. It will be housed in a ESU Reptile Fresh Air mesh cage, 60 watt heat lamp, artificial plants and vines, UVB lighting, no substrate, just the bottom of the cage which is kind of like a sheet of PVC. I have had a veil before, but i gave her to a friend of mine, she did fine in my care (over a year) w/ out a UVB bulb in fact lol.

>>I agree with you too, but i also am sure of the fact that i will give the cham a better home than what it has now. It will be housed in a ESU Reptile Fresh Air mesh cage, 60 watt heat lamp, artificial plants and vines, UVB lighting, no substrate, just the bottom of the cage which is kind of like a sheet of PVC. I have had a veil before, but i gave her to a friend of mine, she did fine in my care (over a year) w/ out a UVB bulb in fact lol.

No matter which ESU cage you got (3 sizes), it isn't large enough for an oustaleti and really not even for a pardalis. Keeping a veiled for a year isn't saying much and the fact that you think she looked fine after a year without UVB shows you most likely don't have any idea what to look for in terms of metabolic or other health issues. Is this cham WC or CB? Do you have a vet qualified to look for and treat parasites? You need to get live plants too. How are you planing on watering? Don't think you're doing any favors for this animal cause at the rate you're going, you're just prolonging its suffering cause you are not setup to care for it properly. Also, if its being kept in such bad conditions, you are supporting more animals to be purchased and kept in these same bad conditions. I think you should hold off, do some research and then, in a few weeks, think again about getting a cham.

Chris
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Chris Anderson
parsonii_hoehnelii@hotmail.com
Editor - Chameleons! Online E-zine: http://www.chameleonnews.com/
Admin - Captive Chameleon Bloodline Tracking Database (CCBTD): http://www.chameleondatabase.com/
Author - Chameleon Care and Information Center (CCIC) - http://www.geocities.com/ccicenter/(Currently Down)

Ok, I am being quite serious when I ask this, but is this a troll? Because anybody who has even remotely done any type of research on a chameleon, or any animal for that matter, would in fact know to have a set-up already done for it's arrival. Please if this is in fact true, cancel your order for this animal. It should not be going to a place that is so un-prepared for it's care. Sorry if this comes across as being rude, but read some of this forum and you will see that people take months of planning before they even begin to consider purchasing one of these great animals. And if you still insist on getting this animal, find out the species, and do not sleep tonight. Just read and research everything possible about their care. Good luck, but listen to some advice too. And for the record, I know we all started out knowing nothing, but for the most part, we also did research and whatnot as well. Not just bought a cham for the sake of owning a cool animal. Yes, we all make mistakes and nobody's setup is perfect, but he won't even be providing basic needs at the rate he's going. Sorry again for being rude, or overly blunt.

Kevin

if in fact you do get this animal. We have all been trying to be very nice while responding, whihc can be difficult in this type of communication. Please understand that what we have said is not meant to piss you off or to make you think you came to the wrong place - you have not, we just wish you had come a lot sooner.

Having a veiled for a year (with no UVB) is not a good idea no matter how you look at it. Some keepers/breeders do it and only supplement with vit d3 with some success, but for the average hobbyist (you and me) it is simply irresponsible. I have a 2 year old female cham who developed MBD and most anyone on this forum can attest to the care that she has gotten. Point being that even in "ideal" setup problems can arise. Btw, why did you give yours away?

You still have not said if you are getting this from a breeder, a pet store, as a rescue, how old, how big...and, as Chris pointed out, you need real plants, have to have your water source prepared - and keep in mind that some chams have different preferences for drinking. Luna has NEVER licked water form a leaf but loves to take showers and sit under her dripper. In other words, you are going to make adjustments as you go.

What about feeders? gutloading? supplements? A VET??? Two of us have asked you about the VET with no reply.

OK, rather than repeat much of what was said and what will be said, just know that we post what we do b/c we truly care for the health and welfare of each animal that "comes to the forum" and do our best to help out ALL current or potential owners. Also, please do not just disappear. If you get this chameleon please know that we are here to help and do not judge - we may voice our concerns, but we want to get each cham on the right track.

In the meantime...besides checking out all the links in the article provided (my last post) also scroll down to the setup questions and post what your plans are for each.
Chameleon Help & Resource Information

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0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

Chameleon Help & Resource Info

The only advice I can give you is to hold off on buying the cham at the moment. I feel that the arguments for the Chameleon's needs have already being mentioned and have strong evidence that support their concerns. I do hope that you did, indeed, read those posts because everyone on this site/forum is here to help ensure that your animal will have a long and healthy life.

That being said, I must mention that buying and caring for your chameleon is a huge investment financially. Especially if you're choosing a panther chameleon. The amilobes especially are both beautiful and costly. Ask yourself this: if you do go and pick up this Chamelen (I think that you may already have) are you prepared to spend upwards of $1000 in the next few months on the animal, its cage, lighting, feeders, and vet bills all on account of being unprepared?

While I don't doubt that you will do research on the chameleon, the time just doesn't seem right for you to invest in the chameleon, not yet at least. Myself, during the winter months in Saskatchewan, I was setting up a home for my veiled. I did all my research, hat a vet lined up, and had the cage set up. I took 3 temperature readings per day and found that at night it got a little bit too cold to keep the chameleon comfortable (it was an empty cage, mind you, I was waiting for our annual reptile show to buy a Veiled). I tried for close to two weeks trying to get the temperature right (It got down to below -40C at night for about 3 weeks in a row). I moved the cage to a windowless room (only for the winter months, I planned) but the house jsut couldn't maintain the humid warmth I needed. I had spent about $300 on the cage and setup which are now packed away in my garage. I'm not complaining: I was so exicted at getting the animal that the price didn't really matter. I simply felt that I couldn't provide the animal with the environment it needed.

An unhappy herp is not very fun: it won't have its vibrant colours and it will most likely not be the pet you desire. I held off on buying mine because I knew that it gets too cold in the winter. I didn't buy it because I couldn't guarentee that it would be comfortable.

Maybe you might want to think about it too.

I know that i can't stop you from buying it, but please, hold off for a few months and make sure that you can provide it with the care it needs. Then go out and make your purchase. Bring it to a good home and then you can have an animal that you can enjoy for many years. Think about it.

-Michael-