Chameleon vivarium help

[tigeralbinokeeper]

Hi guys,

Ive been searching all availiable websites finding as much info as possible on veitail/yemen chameleons. I have experience in reptile caring as i have kept bearded dragons and have kept and bred leopard geckos succesfully.

I have found that chameleons need alot of ventilation, so if i was to purchase an ALL MESH cage, with the obvious dimensions to be suitable to house a chameleon, would it be ok for it or is it best for a vivarium with just 2 sides that are mesh?

Thanks for the help guys, i dont want to find out that i am buying the wrong equiptment for the chameleon as they are a hardish lizard to care for.

cheers

 

[Ophiuchus]

I'm not a Chameleon guru or anything, but I'll share what I know.

Obviously, an all-mesh cage (some sold by Reptarium and ESU) would be ideal, but I think just 2 mesh sides would be fine. Just make sure you have a thermometer & hygrometer in there to measure temps and humidity.

Of course, they do need UVB and a basking lamp. And surely you know that they're not a hands-on pet, and are better off as a dsiplay animal.

 

[Kobi9019]

I'm not a Chameleon guru or anything, but I'll share what I know.

Obviously, an all-mesh cage (some sold by Reptarium and ESU) would be ideal, but I think just 2 mesh sides would be fine. Just make sure you have a thermometer & hygrometer in there to measure temps and humidity.

Of course, they do need UVB and a basking lamp. And surely you know that they're not a hands-on pet, and are better off as a dsiplay animal.

I have personally seen many Chameleons (most of them Panther Chameleons) that don't mind handling at all. Some even seemed to enjoy it . But I agree that they are for the most part not too tolerant of handling and it stresses them alot. Make sure that you mist them daily to keep their humidity up, Adult males need a minimum cage size of 24"L 24" W and 3'T DONT KEEP TWO MALES TOGETHER! or else they will fight to the death, you should either use the Zoo-Med Powersun UV bulb or Reptisun 5.0, 8.0, 10.0 Bulbs.

 

[Ophiuchus]

Some even seemed to enjoy it

Mmmm...gotta be careful about that anthropomorphizing.

And even though some may appear to tolerate it, its been shown that regular handling can knock a couple years off an already short lifespan of 5-7 years. And that's males...females live on average of 3-5.

Generally, the less you hold them and the less stress you put them through by breeding them, the longer they last.

Just something to keep in mind.

 

[walls]

I used to now one guy in Chicago that bred Panthers and he tried to never handle them. Also he kept thier cages so that they could not see each other because it stressed them out.

He used all screen cages if that helps.

I wish I remembered his name, he had beautiful animals and great set-ups. It would be nice to see if he is still involved.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

A friend of mine has a pretty nice male Jackson in a mesh cage.
He actually took two of those mesh cages, cut the bottom off of one and the roof of the other and stacked them on top of each other. So now the cage is about 6 feet tall. He has lots of plants and fake vines in it. It looks really nice and the Jackson seems happy. The only problem is that a lot of the heat escapes from a mesh cage.

 

[walls]

Yeah but they really need the air movement dont they? I always thought that they didnt thrive in a closed cage.

 

[Kobi9019]

Mmmm...gotta be careful about that anthropomorphizing.

And even though some may appear to tolerate it, its been shown that regular handling can knock a couple years off an already short lifespan of 5-7 years. And that's males...females live on average of 3-5.

Generally, the less you hold them and the less stress you put them through by breeding them, the longer they last.

Just something to keep in mind.

yea I probably shouldn't have posted that, but some people are successfull. Wow I forgot how short their life spans are makes leopard Geckos seem like old geezers. Thx for clarifying

 

[dovii88]

i have kept jacksons and the best thing is a all mesh cage with just the back closed in ...so that some humidity will stay..that is the hardest thing keeping the humidity ...u odnt want the cage to be to big because they will have a hard time finding there food..also they will drink water off leaves and other surfaces...wat i ended up doing with myne was buying a large ficus tree and building a barrier arround that and he would just stay in the tree and i put a light near the tree to keep it warm and i just put the whole tree in the shower 2 times a day so he could get his water..and the tree would too..

 

[Vicious_Fish]

The only chamelon I ever had was when I was 12 and I got a Sengel Chamelon. They are suppose to be one of the least hardiest of the group but I had mine for almost 5 years and it was full grown when I got it. I had in a 55 gallon aquarium. I would have done things different today if I had one. He was really calm when I handled him, about 2 or 3 times a week for a couple of minutes. He loved to drink water from the end of a spray bottle.