how big of a tank for a valid

There's a lot of good advice here, as well as more info which would assist you greatly in other recent threads in this forum. My personal experience would be to lean towards a Reptarium, and not a wire screen cage. Reptariums might not last 10 years, but they are quite functional, allowing you to move the cage easily, which has a significant upside if you are able to get the chameleon outside for parts of the year to be exposed to natural sunlight. Metal screen cages will inevitably cause abrasion and claw problems. As for feeding, cup feeding solves some problems, but creates others. Not all chameleons take well to cup feeding, and it increases the risk of bacterial contamination with your crickets. It is a fact that chameleons prefer free ranging bugs, just as they encounter in the wild, and will grow fastest where they have access to such. Reptariums are ideal for this. Every solution has its own inherent problems, and feeding via free ranging bugs requires that you monitor the amount of bugs in the cage so as not to stress of injure your chameleon by overloading the cage with bugs, while still maintaining an adequate quantity to allow for healthy consumption. Pages could be (and have been) written about basic husbandry. Use the search engine in this site, or just scan some of these threads. Certain individuals, with a wealth of experience, have taken time to post some very well studied and thought out information. Good luck with your cham.

Jim Flaherty
The Chameleon Company, LLC

I personally find the repteriums to be quite useful. As Jim said, they are easy on the chams feet and light enough to move outside for natural sun. Further, I've found them particularly useful when dealing with shy specimens as the mesh seems to provide a little extra comfort since its harder to see in and out than screen mesh cages. As Jim said, many chams don't take well to cup feeding as they much prefer free ranging insects. When I've really wanted to cup feed for whatever reason, I've found that the design on this article has worked quite well. It seems to give a slightly more natural feel to a feeder that often increases the chances of the feeder working correctly. http://www.chameleonnews.com/year200...nts/hints.html

Chris