Questions about Chameleons

[chemicall]

Evening all.

My girlfriend is interested in a chameleon. Great I think. I remember seeing some at the petshop, I forget exactly what they were though on the type of them.

I plan to build a plywood tank to house 1 or 2 if possible, but I am limited to 2 feet of depth, 7 feet long, and I can go any height.

I would only get one at first, but possibly a second later, would I be able to house 2 in a tank this size? and what would be some good candidates for my tank? as I know there are alot of different types of chameleons, and some obviously get bigger than others.

Also does anyone keep reptiles in plywood tanks here? What did you use to coat the wood?

Thanks for any info....

 

[Hoyo12]

You shouldn't put a Chameleon with any other reptiles. They get stressed really easily.

 

[chemicall]

You shouldn't put a Chameleon with any other reptiles. They get stressed really easily.

I mean a Chameleon with another Chameleon of the same species - or it just won't work?

 

[dirtyblacksocks]

Look into ambilobe panther chameleons. They're not a beginner pet (all chameleons) but not hard to care for by any means. You need to ensure that the cage you build for them has a lot of air flow going through it as they are prone to respiratory infections.

Good beginner information to go by:
http://www.the-lizard-lounge.com/content/species/panther-chameleon.asp

 

[Hoyo12]

One of the easiest (Still a bit difficult) chameleons to care for would be the Veild. It is also the most common sold at LPS, so it is probably the one you were looking at. But thats just a guess.

 

[Chris Anderson]

This article might help you get started: http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=74

If you have any particular questions, I'd be happy to help or point you in the right direction.

Chris

 

[chemicall]

Thanks guys, that was some good reading!!

Yes they were veiled chameleons at the pet store, I remember this now.

I see from the article veiled chameleons require atleast 48”x 24”x 24” (height x length x width) I plan to go 48" x 72" x 24". Thats about 359gallons of space, and my house does get cold in the winter. Should I get a ceramic coil bulb and a thermostat to remedy this? Should I mount the thermostat in the cage and build a smaller mesh screen cage with a door over the thermostat?

Should I use Reptisun 10.0 bulbs? how many would I need for my size of cage? As for basking I see I can use an Incandescent bulb, I'll just have to play with different wattages to find the 95-100 degree basking area.

For the cage I'm thinking screen for the front, all other sides plywood.

Will a couple 80mm computer fans mounted to the rear of the cage at either end give me suffice airflow? they would be mounted outside and so he can't touch them of course.

Anything I can do better?

It will be a while before I get a Chameleon, I plan to read and learn more first, and obviously have to construct the cage and get all the proper heating/lighting installed.

Thanks again.

 

[dirtyblacksocks]

Problem with running fans for air flow is that it breaks humidity down a lot - depending on where you live that can be a bad thing.

Look into a product made by ZooMed called a ReptiFogger - they work great.

 

[latshki]

never house chams together just for breeding, also is your 48x72x24 lxhxw
if so that is perfect you will want the uvb to go across the enclosure and have at least 2 sides made of mesh with preferibly no glass

 

[Salt Life]

ya veilds will kill each other
the males will fight each other and even females
and thay dont like people maby a female but not male